ADCET Podcast: What We're Learning - Empowering Disability Services in Australian Higher Education

This ADCET podcast is the audio version of our webinar: What We're Learning - Empowering Disability Services in Australian Higher Education. 

Despite supporting more than 98,000 students with disability, there is limited understanding of the experiences and needs of disability practitioners in Australian universities. In this session, Darlene McLennan shares early findings from her ACSES Equity Fellowship, exploring what disability support looks like across the sector, the realities of practitioner roles, and what students say matters most. 

Drawing on national surveys, interviews, and sector consultation, this webinar highlights emerging insights into service structures, workload challenges, professional development needs, and the balance between compliance and meaningful inclusion. It also examines the tensions between individual support and systemic change, centring the voices of both practitioners and students. 

These early findings offer valuable perspectives for practitioners, service managers, university leaders, and students, with important implications for the future of disability support in higher education. 

(March 2026)