International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is celebrated each year on 3 December. It’s an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements and contributions of people with disability.
2024 focus
Western Australia has adopted its own unique theme for IDPwD since 2022; this year’s theme is ‘Confident, Capable and Creative: Come with Me’, which highlights the strength, resilience and capability of people with disability, and recognises the value of us all driving change together an as inclusive community.
It also highlights the value and importance of the role everyone has in making a positive change to the lives of the 515,000 Western Australians with disability.
Our dedicated webpage shares key statistics, information about how you can get involved in IDPwD and resources that promote further awareness, acknowledgement, participation and inclusion of people with disability.
IDPwD means something different for everyone.
For Department of Communities project officer Meredith Grose, it’s a day of reflection.
“The day allows me to reflect on how fortunate I am to have access to meaningful work, whereas others who live with disability in other countries do not have the same opportunities,” she said.
“It also allows me to celebrate my own achievements within the disability community.
“It is important to recognise 3 December, as one in five of us live with disability, which means a large part of the population either live with or are touched by those who live with a disability.”
For fellow colleague Rebecca Wheeldon, a Senior Learning and Development Consultant, it’s an opportunity to highlight how people with a disability can be confident, capable and creative when they feel empowered to pursue their dreams.
“Most disabilities are those you may not even see from the outside,” she said.
“It is wonderful to have a day dedicated to acknowledging people with a disability. We can use this as a starting point to make sure we celebrate and show support to our awesome people with different abilities every day of the year.”
The day also highlights the importance of access and inclusion within our community and encourages us to challenge the way we think about disability to help build a more inclusive Western Australia.
This is an important topic for both Rebecca and Meredith.
“It’s up to everyone to make the world more inclusive and if only for one day, we can ask people to re-evaluate their own attitudes towards disability and ask themselves ‘how can I choose to include?’” Rebecca said.
“I would love to see more consultation about accessibility in the community with people with all ranges of disabilities.
“The entire community will benefit by not only accommodating but actively including persons with disability.”
Meredith said she would like to see access and inclusion ‘built in’, rather than be an after-thought.
“This is so often the case,” she said. “Access and inclusion should be a part of our DNA over the entire year, not just on 3 December.”
