Join Us for the Disability, Law and Society Conference

Whether you're a student, researcher, activist, advocate, or someone passionate about disability justice, this conference is for you. We warmly welcome people with disability and encourage active participation from across the community.

This dynamic, inclusive and hybrid event brings together voices from across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to explore critical issues at the intersection of disability, law, and society. Expect thought-provoking discussions, collaborative learning, and opportunities to connect with others driving change in disability law.

Organised by: Linda Steele (UTS), Piers Gooding & Chris Maylea (La Trobe University), and Anna Arstein-Kerslake (University of Melbourne).

This conference is supported by funding from UTS Law, UTS Disability Research Network, Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion, La Trobe Law, La Trobe CERI and Melbourne Law School.

If you are interested in attending the keynote opening panel on Wednesday 10 December, you can book tickets here.

If you would like to discuss your accessibility requirements, please email law.staffevents@uts.edu.au

Day 1 - Thursday 11 December 2025

Time	Room 1	Room 2
9:00am - 9:15am	Participants arrive and register	Participants arrive and register
9:15am - 10:45am	Health, Consent & Reproductive Rights Legal narratives on abortion care for women with cognitive disabilities – Resisting stories of choice and control against a background of reproductive injustice Julia Duffy Informed consent: Myth or Reality? Annmaree Watharow Anti-Ableist Reproductive Rights Anna Arstein-Kerslake, Eilionoir Flynn and Theresia Degener	Abolition, Ethics and Accountability Resisting police reform: Building insurgent research in the aftermath of the Disability Royal Commission (DRC) Simone Rowe, Leanne Dowse, Michael Baker A Dialogue on Modern Slavery Tabitha Lean and Shaun Bickley Maddening ethics: resisting and disrupting unethical ethics practices in the academy Indigo Daya
10:45am -11:00am	Morning Tea	Morning Tea
11:00am - 1:00pm	Professional Practice and Pedagogy The role of trauma-informed lawyering in protecting legal services clients’ human rights: Preliminary Enquiries Puneet Sansanwal Reframing Access and Competence in Clinical Legal Education: Toward an Anti-Ableist Pedagogy Tess Sheldon and Roxanne Mykitiuk Inaccessible Justice: Improving civil and administrative legal systems for people with disability Kate Davies and Sarah Ratcliffe	Global Disability Rights Reform The Persistent Dark Side: Shackling, Mental Disability, and Human Rights Violations in Indonesia Vicko Taniady Towards Deinstitutionalisation: Incorporation of Community-Based Support System Into Mental Health Intervention Plan in Jakarta Hisyam Ikhtiar Mulia Te Kete Rongomau: Respecting our rights, will and preferences Sarah Gordon Realizing Article 33 of the UNCRPD: Models of Inclusive Implementation Mechanisms Between Australia and South Africa Silomo Khumalo
1:00pm - 1:45pm	Lunch	Lunch
1:45pm - 3:30pm	Accountability and Ableism Accessibility Under the CRPD: Evaluating Human Rights Complaints Services for Victorians with CCN Julia P Manning Presumed human: Reframing disabled rights and common law requirements Hannah Solomons The Disclosure Dilemma: Jobseeker Strategies in Discriminatory Recruitment Contexts Frederike Scholz	Disability Data Disrupting Disability Data Panel discussion with Scott Avery, Panos Karanikolas, and Philippa Duell-Piening (chair: Piers Gooding)
3:30pm - 5:00pm Afternoon Tea during 3:30pm session	Implementing and Monitoring Disability Rights Reforms Realising Article 12 of the UNCRPD: Cross-Pollination of Emancipatory Research with Law Reform Processes Lydie Schmidt Rethinking Adult Support and Protection in Japan: A Culturally Grounded and Rights-Based Approach Yukio Sakurai Setting Expectations for Disability Human Rights Monitoring under OPCAT: Lessons from lutruwita/Tasmania Yvette Maker	International Perspectives & Advocacy A collaborative session chaired by Dina Afrianty with a feature presentation by Prof Amita Dhanda with responses from colleagues Bridging academia and advocacy in the Asia-Pacific region Amita Dhanda (Re)Building the foundation: disability rights activism and fragmented legal/policy development in China Chen Bo Shining a Light on Unheard Voices: Addressing Barriers and Fostering Disability Inclusion In UK and Indonesian Higher Education Institutions Wuri Handayani A perspective from the Phillippines, Arlene Cosape

Day 2 - Friday 12 December

Time	Room 1	Room 2
9:00am - 11:00am	Movements and Resistance Understanding the International Mad Movement(s) from the perspectives of Mad peoples resistance stories Matthew Jackman Disabled Belonging as Agentic Resistance: Counterstories at the Intersection of Displacement, Refugee Designations and Disability Law in Australia and Latin America Alexis Padilla and Kelley Johnson Co-production in Prefigurative Disability Law Research Methods Clare Williams Cripping Transformative Justice: Crip Methodologies from the Field Danielle Santos	Disability Support, Rights & Policy Reform Beyond the Buzzword: ‘Intersectionality’, Gender Inequality and the 2023 NDIS Review Diana Piantedosi and Sophie Cusworth Can the NDIS be saved? Nita Haynes Human Rights and Dementia: People with dementia don’t know what they don’t know Kate Swaffer Supporting or Subordinating: The Place of Supported Decision-Making in Australian Democracy Reece Blackett
11:00am - 11:15am	Morning Tea	Morning Tea
11:15am - 12:45pm	Children, Education & Institutions Resistance and Accountability: Ending Solitary for Children with Disability Raahat Shaik Disrupting Segregation: A National Roadmap to Achieve Inclusive Education Emily Cukalevski, Catia Malaquias, Stephanie Gotlib and Loren Swancutt From Little Things, Big Things Grow Charlotte Chilvers	Health, Rights & Ethics Life and/or Liberty: Do We Have to Choose? The CRPD and Mental Health Detention for Suicide Prevention Katie Price Looking for Suicide in All the Wrong Places Stephen Kilkeary Embedding Human Rights in Mental Health Practice: Development of the Recovery Knowledge and Attitudes Scale (R-KAS) Naomi Badu
12:45pm - 1:45pm	Lunch	Lunch
1:45pm - 3:15pm	Disability Institutions and Memorialisation Remembering Disability Institutions: Moving Forward by Looking Back Panel discussion with Leigh Creighton, Robert King, Jack Kelly, Jim Simpson, Phillippa Carnemolla, Linda Steele and Kelly Willis	Discrimination, Rights and Law Does Guidance for States on Ethical and Rights-Compliant Neurotechnology Address Disability Human Rights Concerns? Reyhan Ramazanova The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Hiring: A New Frontier for Disability Discrimination? Natalie Sheard The Treacherous Twins – Ableism in the Interpretation of the Concepts of “Reasonable Adjustment” and “Unjustifiable Hardship” in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) – An Exploration Applying Standpoint Theory to the Case of King v Jetstar Heike Fabig
3:15pm - 3:45pm Afternoon tea served during 2:45pm session	Voice and Rights in Reforming Systems Knowledge Translation and Implementation Science: The Missing Ingredient in Our Response to the Disability Royal Commission Jade McEwen Towards Voice and Visibility: Adopting an Interrogative, Social Model Approach to Australian Social Security Law Darren O’Donovan Disability and Refugee Rights in New Zealand: Bridging the Gap Lida Ayoubi and Deborah Manning Abolition Pragmatism: Comparative Lessons from Nova Scotia’s Rapid Covid-19 Decarceration and Disability Rights Coalition Settlement Sheila Wildeman
4:45pm	Conference Close

Day 1 - Thursday 11 December 2025

Health, Consent & Reproductive Rights

Abolition, Ethics and Accountability

Professional Practice and Pedagogy

Global Disability Rights Reform

Accountability and Ableism

Disability Data

Implementing and Monitoring Disability Rights Reforms

International Perspectives & Advocacy

Day 2 - Friday 12 December

Movements and Resistance

Disability Support, Rights & Policy Reform

Children, Education & Institutions

Health, Rights & Ethics

Disability Institutions and Memorialisation

Discrimination, Rights and Law

Voice and Rights in Reforming Systems