Powerd NewsWrap 7th January 2026

Speaker 1  0:00  
Welcome to a Vision Australia radio podcast. Love our podcasts. Why not listen to us live, tune in anywhere, anytime, ask your smart device to play Vision Australia radio, or visit va radio.org,

Speaker 2  0:21  
on the Vision Australia and reading radio networks. This is the Powerd news rack.

Sam Rickard  0:42  
G'day. I'm Sam Ricard. It's the seventh of January and we're back for another year. We're reading articles from the Powerd dot media website, and joining me for a brand new year is the writer of these articles, Emma Myers, good day. Emma, Happy New Year. Sam, Happy New Year to you as well. So we're doing a bit of a clean up on some things that we didn't get around to doing last year, and they're actually rather important really, because they do affect us in slightly different ways each time. The first article we're looking at here is the ramifications of the social media ban. Can you sum it up in just a very short sentence? I told you, so that's a very short sentence. Okay, how did you approach this particular story? I mean, did they come to you or what? What was the

Emma Myers  1:35  
standard look? I actually wanted to know exactly how the younger people of our community were coping after having their social media access restricted, because when you're young and you have a disability, it can be quite a challenge to get out of the house and socialize. And so for a lot of young people with disability, social media is, in fact, a lifeline

Sam Rickard  2:06  
that would make sense. I mean, as someone with a well, relatively a moderate disability, really, I found that socializing myself to be fairly challenging, because you can't see people's facial reactions. You don't know how they're responding to you. So for people with other challenges, you might say the internet and social media itself might be a godsend.

Emma Myers  2:32  
He writes them, and I actually spoke with a parent of a 12 year old who has a disability, and she said that her daughter has only recently found a group of friends online, because they're spread out all over the state, and the best way for her, for her daughter To communicate with her peers is online, and so she is fearful that all of the social progress that her daughter has made will disappear. We just have to wait and see what happens. But I'm definitely going to be following the story and providing an update every couple of months. Oh, I

Sam Rickard  3:24  
look forward to hearing from it. Okay, so in the meantime, we will, of course, be going straight to a few of our well older news stories, as it were with Lexi, and we'll be back on the other side to talk about something that most of us seem to have assumed, who had already been in place. You Sam,

Speaker 2  3:43  
thank you, Sam, many young people with disability would now no doubt be feeling a range of emotions after losing access to their online profiles following the implementation of the Australian Government's under 16's social media ban, which came into effect last week according to the east Safety website, the social media age restrictions have been introduced to protect young Australians from online pressures and risks that can be harmful to their health and well being. However, the social media ban has already proved to be deeply isolating with many younger members of the disability community having lost their ability to communicate with their peers in a safe and accessible way, according to children and young people with disability Australia, CEO of children And young people with disability Australia, Sky kokoschke Mall says the changes which came into effect on the 10th of December carry very real mental health risks. Since last week, we have already heard from several disabled young people and families who are concerned about being isolated or further disconnected. It from an already inaccessible world. Jennifer Crowther is a mother of 12 year old daughter with disability. She explains that her daughter has only recently found an online community of like minded peers, but they live across Western Australia, making it almost impossible to connect in person. I think the blanket ban has not considered marginalized groups who may rely on these platforms to help develop their network of supports. Miss Crowther says, My fear is that for children with disability who already find it hard to connect, they are even more isolated through the social media ban, a reported 70% of young people with disability declared it is easier to be themselves online, compared to 59% of youth without disability. According to the new playground publication by the East Safety Commissioner in 2023 Ms kokoschke Moore argues that many community spaces remain inaccessible for children and young people with disability, social media platforms offered a reliable alternative for genuine connection and self expression, with about seven in 10 disabled young people saying it was easier to be themselves online, and many using social media to make friends. The CEO of children and young people with disability Australia is calling on the government to address the concerns of the disability community before it is too late. It is vital the government and social media platforms address these impacts before restrictions purportedly designed to improve social and mental well being cause more harm. Mr. Coski Moore stresses,

Sam Rickard  6:56  
so you may be wondering why we spell the name of the website the way we do that is because p o w e r e d, dot media is a completely different website. If you want Media Management, by all means, go to that website. If you want us, go to p o w e r d dot media. Now back to the show.

Speaker 2  7:22  
Many Australians with disability who are registered with the National Disability Insurance Scheme or NDIS could soon experience a positive shift in the quality of services following the federal government's decision to make NDIS registration mandatory for two service areas supported independent living, or S i l, a type of funded housing option for those with disability who require a higher degree of care. And digital service providers like higher up, a company which matches individuals with support workers based on compatibility will now be subject to mandatory registration with the NDIS, as revealed in the federal government's mid year budget update. The new changes could help regulate service providers to ensure participants are receiving high quality care. The registration tactic could also ensure independent audits and worker screening checks are undertaken on a regular basis according to National Disability Services, we commend ministers Butler and McAllister and the NDIS commission for listening and acting. This announcement signals a commitment from this government to improved safeguarding and quality for NDIS participants, nds posted in a statement, nds and our members have advocated for better regulation of the sector for many years. This is a very welcome step towards more comprehensive oversight of the NDIS market, independent chair of disability advocacy group Every Australian Counts, Dr George teleporus took to his LinkedIn page to provide his perspective. Dr teleporus says that making registration mandatory for group home and platform providers, is an improvement. But he also cautions against changes that would affect participant autonomy. This must come with a clear government guarantee that these changes will not impact on the choice and control of people with disability and our families who live in individualized living arrangements, including people who self direct supports and directly engage support workers mandatory registration of supported independent living and digital platform provide. Is will begin from the first of July, 2026

Sam Rickard  10:04  
Thank you, Lexi, so off air, you told me that this was something you thought was already in place. Yeah.

Emma Myers  10:11  
I mean, it's a positive to come out of the NDIS. And how often do you see those? But yeah, I actually thought that registration was mandatory for all services under the NDIS. But it appears that I was wrong, and I can now see another reason why there's a lot of fraud going

Sam Rickard  10:38  
on to play devil's advocate. I've got to say that it does sort of bite into the whole thing of choice, and that is often registration is quite difficult, and that's why certain organizations or companies even don't do it, because it's can be expensive and it can be difficult and it can take an awful long time, so it takes away one's ability to choose who might happen to mow your lawn or clean your house or something like that. But it's on the other hand, yes, I mean, the government does need to clamp down and make sure there is less fraud from service providers, because it's not usually us, the people receiving the services that are committing the fraud.

Emma Myers  11:23  
Yeah, you're right, Sam. And so I think that this can only be a good thing. And so what's happened is the NDIS has made registration mandatory for supported independent living services and digital service providers like higher up who match individuals with support workers based on compatibility.

Sam Rickard  11:49  
I've got to admit, I am rather shocked at this sudden outbreak of common sense. It's highly uncharacteristic. It certainly seems like they've taken a pill and it's like, oh, I can actually do something sensible, for a change.

Emma Myers  12:01  
It only took them over a decade,

Sam Rickard  12:04  
indeed, and these ones are kind of these particular service providers are no brainers. If you have people providing services in somebody's own home, and indeed providing the home themselves, then yes, they need to be, they need to be registered with the NDIS or somebody.

Emma Myers  12:26  
Well, one disability advocate who's highly regarded in the disability sphere is Dr George teleporos, who says that making registration mandatory for group home and platform provided is an improvement. However, you did caution against changes that would affect participant autonomy, which is a big concern for our community, as is.

Sam Rickard  12:56  
That's what I was kind of trying to say myself. And so, so, yeah. I mean, I think what needs to be reformed, in fact, is the registration process. That's what it should be looked at Next. Anyway, we are starting to run out of time once more. 15 minutes is a very period of time. We've got some positive news coming up in ahead of us, haven't we, about wheelchairs being provided for kids?

Emma Myers  13:19  
Yeah, this is a great story, Sam, it's about an international airline partnering with an Australian based charity to provide wheelchairs for children in developing countries.

Sam Rickard  13:32  
I'm looking forward to that dairy I ask, is there anything else in the works?

Emma Myers  13:36  
Well, I'm also looking at sex education through our community. Interesting.

Sam Rickard  13:40  
All right, that is a wrap for this rep until next week. Bye, for now, bye.

Speaker 2  13:49  
You can find these articles and more by going to Powerd spelt P, O, W, E, R, D, dot media, along with the podcast of this show the Powerd news rap was brought to you by disability media Australia. This show was produced by Sam Rickard in the Adelaide studios of Vision Australia radio.