ADCET Panel Session: Disability Action Plans in Universities — What actually works?

Thu 20 Aug 2026 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm AEST

Online

Event details

Disability Action Plans are one thing on paper and quite another in practice. Most universities have one, but the gap between a well-written plan and real change on the ground can be wide. This panel brings together people who have done the work to talk honestly about what that gap looks like and how they've tried to close it.

The focus is practical. We'll work through the whole life of a plan: how consultation is done and who genuinely owns the outcome, how you move from a document to actual implementation, and how you hold the institution accountable once the initial energy has faded.

Will ask our panellists what worked, what didn't, what caught them off guard, and what they'd do differently if they were starting again.

Towards the end we'll turn to the shifting policy environment, including the new Disability Support Fund (DSF) requirements. From January 2027, Table A providers face new obligations around disability governance committees, co-designed education and workforce inclusion strategies, and expanded reporting. We'll talk briefly about what these changes might mean for how Disability Action Plans need to evolve, and how institutions can get ahead of them rather than scrambling to catch up.

This session will be valuable for anyone involved in developing, implementing or reviewing a Disability Action Plan, including disability practitioners, equity and inclusion staff, policy teams and senior leaders.

Facilitator

Darlene McLennan has managed ADCET since 2013 and has worked in the tertiary education and disability sector since 2005, starting as the National Disability Coordination Officer for Tasmania. She has led ADCET's growth into Australia's leading resource on disability in tertiary education, overseeing the development of the ADCET Academy eLearning modules and national projects in Universal Design for Learning and transition support. In 2025 she was awarded an ACSES Equity Fellowship focused on professional standards and capacity building in disability services. Darlene holds life memberships with ATEND and EPHEA, and her lived experience as a person with a Specific Learning Disability informs her work.

Panellists

Panellists will include colleagues from Central Queensland, Charles Sturt and Murdoch Universities. Bios will be added closer to the event, with more speakers to be announced soon.

The webinar is free to attend, and it will be live-captioned.

Registrations for this webinar are now open

Webinar Connection Info

ADCET webinars use Zoom. In order to participate you will need to have access to the Zoom platform.

• Download and create a free account at Zoom
• How to attend a Zoom event and use audience controls
• Accessibility features in Zoom

ADCET is hosted by the University of Tasmania

Contact details

Event website
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_M7Nt6dV_QxOpFFIZhnkbOQ

Event times in your timezone