The ability of government policy to further promote the progression of enabling technologies for people living with disability

Dear Editor,

The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (2023) made 222 recommendations for transformational change to achieve the overarching vision of fostering an inclusive Australia.

We have seen an unprecedented adoption of enabling technologies since the initial responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Effective government policy that encourages innovative technological solutions within an open market has the potential to reduce environmental barriers and enhance social participation by people living with disability and their families. For instance, domestic robots, standing wheelchairs, autonomous cars, speech generating software, fall detection devices, transcription functionality within video-conferencing platforms and environmental control systems are all achieving this objective...