We were honoured to have over 90 people join us last night for the screening of “Moving Forward From Institutions” — a short film that reflects on the history of disability institutions in NSW and honours the voices of people who advocated for their closure. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who came.
The event brought people together in reflection, solidarity and action for a more inclusive future. We’re proud to collaborate on this important work with the Council for Intellectual Disability and researchers from the University of Technology Sydney, Dr Phillippa Carnemolla and Dr Linda Steele.
We invited everyone to write a Letter to Future Generations and received over 80 heartfelt responses. These letters shared reflections on how we can honour and remember people with disability who lived and died in institutions – and how to make our communities places of true belonging and inclusion. One person wrote, “We must truly listen to the voices of people who lived it – and learn from the mistakes of the past. Hearing these stories made me realise just how far we still have to go. This film was a call to action where I found myself asking: Who is still being left out? And what can I do to bring someone in?”
The event was also a fundraiser for Rob, who features in the film. Rob is getting closer to his goal of buying a wheelchair-accessible van — and your support is helping make that happen.
🧡 Please share the video with your networks:
👉 Watch the film on YouTube
💛 You can still support Rob’s fundraiser:
👉 Donate to Rob’s GoFundMe
🙏 Special thanks
Huge thanks to Soul Hub Newcastle for generously hosting the event, and to Scarborough Wine Co for donating wine to support Rob’s fundraiser. We’re so grateful for your community spirit.
We all have a part to play in building communities where everyone matters, where everyone belongs, and where everyone is a full and equal citizen.
The doors of the institutions may be closed, but their legacy — and many of their practices — live on. We are concerned that the NDIS, for all its promises of inclusion, has in some ways disconnected people even further.
That’s why acknowledging institutional injustice matters. If we don’t name and understand what happened, we risk repeating it — just in new forms.
It’s time for us — as a community — to lead the way.
Because relationships and community are everything.
They are the heart of inclusion.
It’s relationships and community that can help repair the harm of institutionalisation. We can be part of the healing – and everyone has something to offer.
If you want to take action in repairing the social bonds that were broken by institutions — and still broken by current institutional practices — please don’t be shy. Reach out. We’d love to meet you for a coffee and hear how you’d like to be part of this.
Because people belong to community.
Not to the NDIS.
Not to providers.
We belong to each other.
There is no justice in this country without First Nations justice.
We acknowledge that we live and work on the stolen lands of the Awabakal and Worimi people. We acknowledge Traditional Owners across the country and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We recognise that sovereignty was never ceded and we pay our respect to Elders past and present. This is, was and always will be Aboriginal land.
