The Commissioner is committed to listening to South Australia’s young people living with a disability. In 2019, we will be conducting a series of consultations across metropolitan South Australia providing these young people with an opportunity to identify key issues of importance to them. The consultation will enable their views to be heard to shape, design and implement models of collective advocacy that will inform service providers working within the disability sector, how to better meet the needs of South Australia’s young people living with a disability.

In 2017, the Commissioner conducted a Listening Tour involving 94 consultation sessions with 1,419 children and young people from across South Australia. Throughout the tour there was a genuine commitment to meeting with children who represented South Australia’s diverse population, with a number of sessions held for specific population groups including children and young people living with a disability. It became evident during the consultations that these children and young people are often overlooked when decisions that ultimately impact on their lives are being made. Hosts of these groups reported limited opportunities for children and young people living with a disability to participate in decision-making processes, express their views, or be genuinely listened to.