On 14 November 2024, the Australian Government launched Equity: the Arts and Disability Associated Plan (ADAP), a bold four-year roadmap aimed at achieving greater equity for creatives and audiences with disability across the country.
UPDATE 2 April 2025: The Australian Government has committed to establishing an Implementation Advisory Group of d/Deaf and disabled artists and arts workers to guide the implementation of actions and commitments for Equity: the Arts and Disability Associated Plan. The EOI for the Advisory Group will be open for applications from Tuesday 25 March 2025 and will close at 4:00pm (AEST) on Monday 5 May 2025. Further details of the application process for the Advisory Group, including an EOI Form, accessible translation in Easy Read, FAQs and contact details can be found on the EOI webpage.
This plan, backed by an $8.1 million investment, builds on Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-23 and the National Cultural Policy, Revive, and will drive change in the arts and cultural sectors, including the screen and games industries.
As part of the Plan’s implementation, Screen Australia is collaborating with Creative Australia and the Office for the Arts to ensure that the Screen and Digital Games sectors’ unique needs are met. Screen Australia is committed to engaging with the sector to ensure the actions reflect the specific challenges and opportunities for increasing accessibility and equity within our industry.
Equity focuses on three key priority areas:
- Recognising artists and arts workers with disability as central to Australia’s arts sector
- Strengthening inclusive organisations and governments
- Ensuring fair and equitable access to arts and culture for all audiences.
To support this, the Government is funding several initiatives, including the Arts and Screen Employment Pathways Pilot Program, which aims to create opportunities for skilled workers with disability in the screen industry, while also helping organisations increase their accessibility. This is just one of several initiatives that aim to build a more inclusive and accessible arts and screen sector.
Watch the Webinar
To help you understand how the ADAP affects the Screen Industry, a webinar is available for viewing. This session outlines the ADAP’s key initiatives and invites feedback from the screen community on how we can collectively achieve a more inclusive and accessible industry.
How can I get involved?
An Implementation Advisory Group will be established for the duration of the ADAP to help shape the implementation of actions and commitments, contribute to monitoring and reporting activities, and co-design the Plan’s evaluation framework. This will be a paid advisory body made up of people with disability from diverse backgrounds from across Australia and with experience in the arts, screen, games and cultural sectors.
More information will be available on the Office for the Arts’ website, and Screen Australia’s fortnightly Screen News and social media channels in the coming months about an expression of interest process to appoint members to this group.
In the meantime, if you have questions or thoughts about how Equity can advance accessibility in the screen and digital games sectors by emailing [email protected].
For more information, including access to the ADAP, visit: arts.gov.au/equity.
