Australia: Less Bang For Your Buck – NSW Budget Is Missing Key Opportunities For Everyone
We've crunched the numbers and can show that the financial cost of discrimination and exclusion is far higher than the costs associated with investing in inclusion.
'Despite repeated calls from people with disability, the NSW Government has failed to deliver a clear and sustained investment in disabled lives in the 2025-26 Budget, the outcomes of which will be felt by all,' said Trinity Ford, President, People with Disability Australia (PWDA).
The key messages from PWDA's pre-budget submission are that making NSW more inclusive and accessible offers:
Wellbeing benefits for people with disability.
Wellbeing benefits for the wider community.
Opportunities to save over $12 billion.
These key benefits and opportunities have not been considered throughout the Budget.
A targeted investment in Foundational Supports was clearly missing—and that's deeply concerning.
"The complete omission of any specific funding for Foundational Supports is a serious missed opportunity—and one that Australia can't afford. We are increasingly concerned that this may signal a deliberate move to sideline foundational supports from the Government's agenda. We will be raising this urgently with Minister Washington and will be monitoring the Government's position closely', said Ms Ford.
A commitment to accessible housing is also lacking within announcements. Although the Government has committed to improve housing for the people of NSW, PWDA is disappointed the Budget does little to directly address the housing crisis facing people with disability.
Currently, 66,698 households are on the NSW social housing waiting list. The government's own data acknowledges that around one-third of these applicants are people with disability.
The Government is committing billions to fast-track 465,500 new homes over the next five years through private and mixed development initiatives. However, most of these are not social or accessible housing, and there are no clear guarantees of how people with disability—especially those on low incomes—will benefit.
"Making all new homes accessible by mandating the National Construction Code's minimum accessibility standards would not cost the government anything—and it would help more people with disability live independently, instead of relying on social housing', said Ms Ford.
Right now, homelessness is costing NSW about $6.5 billion every year. Over 10 years, that adds up to $65 billion. If the Government invested just one-third of that amount—$26 billion over 10 years—it could stop many people from becoming homeless and save almost $4 billion each year.
PWDA welcomes the NSW Government's investments toward improving access to support for victim-survivors of violence and trauma. However, there is no mention of how these funds will support people with disability—despite clear evidence people with disability are at significantly higher risk of experiencing violence and need different interventions.
'Funding responses to violence must be inclusive. Without specific measures to address the unique risks and access barriers faced by people with disability, we risk leaving behind the very communities most in need of protection,' said Ms Ford.
PWDA is calling on the NSW Government to commit to the inclusion and wellbeing of people with disability.
'Continued discrimination against people with disability, and doing nothing to address it, is expensive. There are clear gaps in the 2025-26 NSW Budget. People with disability are being left out, which will end up costing the Government and taxpayers more in the future,' said Trinity Ford, President of PWDA.
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