18/03/2026
Can you imagine what it’s like to have a disability and be declined support because you don’t meet a government’s criteria — because you “didn’t tick the right box”?
Can you imagine having an intellectual disability and a drug addiction, and being turned away from detox or rehab because services say you “won’t be able to follow the program” due to your disability?
This is the reality for so many people.
And what happens then?
You lose hope.
And when hope disappears, people genuinely start believing their only options are incarceration… or death.
Then, when they finally end up in court for crimes connected to their circumstances, they aren’t offered incarceration (believe me some people see this as a better option), which would at least provide access to psychology, psychiatry, medication, rehab). Instead, they’re given parole, where they’re expected to meet strict conditions and report to a government worker who has no lived experience, no understanding of their trauma, and knows nothing except the offence written on paper and no supports in place.
Our systems are failing the most disadvantaged and vulnerable because everything depends on ticking boxes, meeting criteria, and navigating endless red tape.
We are one of the most heavily regulated countries in the world — and regulation doesn’t just come with a financial cost.
It comes with a cost to people’s lives.
And none of this is okay.
