Responding to the World Report on Disability in Australia: lessons from collaboration in an urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school

Abstract

The timely release of the World Report on Disability serves as a challenge to members of the health professions to review and renew their response to inequity of access and provision of services to children and adults with a disability. This paper responds to the lead article by Wylie, McAllister, Davidson, and Marshall, and provides commentary on two of the recommendations of the World Report on Disability in the context of a novel inter-professional service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with communication and learning needs. Speech-language pathology and occupational therapy students reported on their learning within a model of service delivery based on partnership with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school community and inter-professional collaboration. Lessons learned have the potential to inform future services for under-served populations and to impact on capacity building through health professionals gaining experiential knowledge and understanding of an urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.