Heat and Disability Symposium [online]

Heatwaves are Australia’s deadliest natural disaster, but they don't impact everyone equally.

For people with disabilities, extreme heat is more than just an inconvenience - it is a critical health and accessibility crisis. From the rising cost of energy for essential cooling to the lack of accessible, heat-safe public transport, our current systems are failing to protect the one in six Australians living with disability.

Join Sweltering Cities, Disability Advocate El Gibbs, and Dr Elizabeth Humphrys and Professor Beth Goldblatt from UTS alongside a panel of leading disability advocates and experts for a vital, participatory symposium. Together, we will move beyond simply identifying the problems and start designing the solutions for a cooler, more inclusive future.

What to Expect (more detail below)

Keynote and Panel Discussion: Hear from disability rights advocates and researchers on the frontlines of climate and health justice. We’ll dive into the latest data from the 2026 Summer Survey, which reveals that 87% of people with disabilities felt unwell during recent heatwaves.

Participatory Workshop: This is your chance to set the agenda. In the second half of the event, we’ll move into a collaborative workshop where you can share your observations, explore case studies, and help us co-design the policy changes we need.

Why Attend?

This event is for advocates, community members, policymakers, and health professionals who believe that designing well for people with disability means designing well for the whole community. Be part of the conversation that takes our stories from the sweltering streets to the halls of Parliament.

Accessibility

We are committed to making this event accessible for everyone. Additional information about accessibility will be shared ahead of the event.

If you have specific access requirements, please let us know in the registration form below.


Agenda includes:

Setting the Scene: El Gibbs will speak about why heat is a disability justice issue, an overview of the current context, and the goals for the session.

Panel and Q and A: We’re bringing together experts who will speak to different aspects of how heat and disability intersect. We’ll cover work, health, community and more. 

Our panelists include: 

Dr Elizabeth Humphrys is a political economist of labour and work, and the Head of Discipline of Social and Political Sciences at UTS. She researches the impact of economic crisis and climate change on workers, and control within the labour process. Elizabeth takes a multidisciplinary approach, drawing also on sociology and history, to seek ways to make work safer and more equitable.

Elizabeth's current and recent projects have investigated: climate change and workers' health and safety; impacts of neoliberalism on labour; industrial and social contexts of hi vis clothing in Australia; experiences of disabled professional workers; and, the 1970 West Gate Bridge disaster.

Kelly Cox works with other disabled people to affect change around disability and human rights issues. That has included better provision of service within the NDIS, lobbying for a Royal Commission and a wide range of other local, national and international issues. As a disabled woman Kelly has first-hand understanding and lived experience of issues affecting disabled people. She has been actively involved in representing the rights of disabled women in disability rights spaces and is a contributing member of the disability rights movement in Australia.

Kelly currently holds a range of advisory positions for state and federal Governments and has previously worked in NDIS service Provision, Aboriginal Aged Care, for a Local Aboriginal Land Council and most recently as a Senior Policy Officer / Systemic Advocate to represent First Nations people with disability.

She grew up on Biripi Country and currently lives in the Bundjalung Nation. She has a developed understanding of the barriers disabled First Nations people encounter while trying to access services and supports. She is passionate about working to uphold the rights of all disabled people to ensure they are able to live the life they want and holds specific interest in violence prevention and intersectional issues and the way these further marginalise and disadvantage people with disability.

She believes that we should make sure all disabled people have a voice, especially people who come from exceptionally marginalised backgrounds.

Representatives from Inclusion Australia, the national voice of people with an intellectual disability and their families. Find out more about their work here. 

Dr Catherine Pendrey is the President of the Climate and Health Alliance, Australia's peak body on climate and health, as well as a general practitioner, medical educator and qualified epidemiologist. Catherine has over 15 years experience working to address the health impacts of climate change with experience spanning policy, advocacy, research and education. She has previously spent several years in remote and very remote regions of the Northern Territory working for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations. She is currently based in Naarm (Melbourne) and serves on the Australian Government's Climate and Health Expert Advisory Group.

Summer Survey deep dive: Sweltering Cities WA Community Campaigner Nat Edwards will deliver a briefing on the results of the 2026 Summer Survey with a focus on the hundreds of people with disability who completed the survey and shared their experiences, stories and ideas. 

Workshop Session: Using case studies to explore how heat intersects with disability and other issues like housing, planning, racial justice and more.