It's been a massive year for our movement--thanks to you

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Hi there,

We want to say a huge, heartfelt thank you.

This year our community has proven once again that we have enormous power when we join forces and work together.

Though our fight for an NDIS that works for all of us is far from over, we have achieved a tremendous amount, and you should be so incredibly proud - we know we are!

Now that the 2022 is coming to a close, we wanted to take a moment to look back at some of the amazing things we've accomplished together this year.

Ahead of the Federal Budget in February we officially launched the Defend our NDIS campaign at an event in Canberra. The launch event made headlines, and sent a clear message to our leaders in the Federal Government - people with disability were not going to stop until fixing the NDIS was at the top of the agenda.

From there, we headed up to Parliament House, to deliver an open letter calling on our leaders to defend the NDIS. The letter was signed by thousands of people with disability, their families and allies like you, as well as organisations working in the disability sector.

We delivered the letter straight into the hands of representatives of the major parties - including now Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for the NDIS Bill Shorten, Senator Jordon Steele-John and Senator Holly Hughes - ensuring that we could not be ignored by these key decision-makers.

That was just the beginning.

In the months before the federal election, we made sure fixing the NDIS was a top election issue.

In April, we held 10 online Defend our NDIS rallies. The rallies took place in each and every state and territory in Australia, and were an incredible demonstration of unity as people with disability, our families, advocates and people working for disability providers all came together to send one, united message to federal politicians; defend our NDIS.

Then, just weeks out from the election day, the National Day of Action to Defend our NDIS made headlines.

People with disability, our friends, families, advocates and others from the disability community organised local events right across the country and came out in the thousands to show our leaders that they couldn’t ignore your calls for change.

There were marches, morning teas, defend our NDIS cupcakes, musical performance - the events were all different, and all incredible!

But we weren't done yet.

Just two days out from the election, we took to the streets of Melbourne for a rally.

Hundreds of people turned out to march from the offices of the NDIA to the AAT, a journey far too many of us have been forced to endure over the last few years.

As we marched along Collins street alongside hundreds of people with disabilities and our allies, we were overwhelmed with pride and awe at what our community can do.

It was a truly electric moment of solidarity and hope, as we witnessed yet again that people with disability are a force to be reckoned with, that we won’t stop until we get the NDIS we fought for and deserve.

We still get goosebumps every time we watch the video from the rally - if you haven’t watched it before, now is the time! And if you have watched it already, why not check it out again? It is so incredibly inspiring [[link removed]].

Watch the video now [[link removed]]

In the months since the election, we haven’t let up the pressure.

In September, we were part of the Disability Jobs Summit at Parliament House. The day was all about getting ideas and feedback from people with disability on how we can create an employment system that truly serves our community’s needs. The event was lead by people with disability, and our ideas were delivered directly to the Minister.

We’ve also continued to push the new Federal Government to uphold their promises to fix the NDIS in collaboration with people with disability

In October, Minister Shorten announced the new NDIS Review, which will take a hard look at where the NDIS has failed people with disability and how it can change.

The Review offers us hope that the new government will listen to our community and take action to fix the NDIS.

We are so glad to see that some of Every Australian Counts’ closest allies, including Professor Bruce Bonyhady, one of the architects of the original NDIS scheme, former Every Australian Counts director Kirsten Deane and Every Australian Counts champion Dougie Herd, have been made part of the NDIS Review Panel so they can be close to this process as it unfolds.

There is still a long fight ahead of us to get the NDIS back on track. But we deserve to take a moment and let all our hard work and all of this year’s wins sink in. Every one of you has played a part in this year’s accomplishments.

We are so proud of what we’ve achieved together.

Enjoy your holidays, and let's get ready to continue the fight for an Australia where people with disabilities have the support we need and the NDIS we were promised.

Dr George Taleporos, Independent Chair of Every Australian Counts on behalf of the Every Australian Counts Team

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