1 billion people. 5.5 Million aussies.
Across the world, more than 1 billion people have disability. In Australia it’s 1 in 5 people. In our home town of Newcastle, it’s 30,000 members of our community.
When businesses, organisations, and groups overlook accessibility and inclusion, they’re not just missing the mark, they’re missing out. Not only on customers, clients, and talent, but on innovation, insight, and community connection.
Studies show that inclusive and accessible businesses in Australia are more than 25% more profitable. But the benefits go far beyond the bottom line.
Inclusion is an opportunity to build stronger, more responsive, and more human organisations.
Lived Experience Disability Consultants
We work with organisations to move beyond compliance to create meaningful, lasting inclusion through lived experience, diverse sector expertise, practical strategies and genuine collaboration.
We bring more than our lived experience. Disability is diverse and unique to every person. Our consultants are experts in identifying a broad range of barriers to access and inclusion for people with disability.
Our consultants draw from specialist professional experience across sectors and specific sector-based access solutions. We bring up to the minute knowledge of what solutions are making a real impact for people with disability. We work with organisations, business and community to drive real cultural change towards equity.
We bring critical diversity to the table:
- Diverse lived experience of disability
- Intersectional identities across LGBTQI+, First Nations
- Diverse advocacy experience across sectors and intersectional issues such as Domestic Violence
Our consultants have professional backgrounds across:
- Arts & Culture
- Local Government & Politics
- Education
- Community Advocacy
- Not-for-Profit & Charities
- Policy
powered by CDAH.
DisCo is proudly powered by Community Disability Alliance Hunter (CDAH), a grassroots, Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO), which was the first of its kind in the Hunter region.
Since its beginning, CDAH has been a trusted source of insight for government, businesses, and community groups seeking to better understand the needs and experience of people with disability.
When you work with DisCo’s lived experience consultants, you’re not just accessing one person’s expertise, you’re drawing from the collective strength, knowledge, and leadership of a whole community.
The power of Disability lived experience.
Tapping into the expertise and lived experience of people with disability allows authenticity, creativity, and practical insight to be brought to the table. It challenges assumptions, creates innovation, and drives meaningful change.
True inclusion means co-designing with (not for) people with disability. It means listening deeply, acting boldly, and committing to a future where everyone is welcome, valued, and heard.
At its core, this is about community. It’s about building spaces, services, and systems that reflect the richness and diversity of all of us.
our shared vision. DISCO & CDAH.
We share collective lived experience to empower people with disability, promoting voice, choice, and control over our lives.
We aim to:
- Strengthen knowledge and skill
Provide information, advice, mentoring, peer support, training, and development to increase knowledge and skills for people with disability - Collective advocacy
Serve as a collective voice for people with disability, advocating for the rights and needs of the community - Community inclusion
Build an inclusive community that welcomes all people with disability - Value disability lived experience
Share collective lived experience to empower people with disability, promoting voice, choice, and control over their lives. - Uphold Human Rights and the UN Convention
Adhere and be guided by the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and human rights frameworks.
Book your free consultation.
Want to learn more about how DisCo can support your business or organisation to increase equity, access and inclusion and reach more customers?
Book a Free 30 minute Initial Consultation with Michelle Teear,
our lead Senior Lived-Experience Consultant.
You will receive:
- Initial actionable tips on us
- A plan on how we can support your goals