Indigenous Conference Services

THE CONFERENCE

The 2026 National First Nations NDIS: One People, One Voice Disability Care Conference is scheduled to take place at the Hilton Hotel on the Gold Coast Queensland on August 5 - 7, 2026. This year's conference aims to unite First Nations communities, healthcare professionals, and NDIS service providers and is dedicated to empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living with disability and strengthening the delivery of culturally safe, inclusive care. This conference unites First Nations leaders, NDIS providers, advocates, and policymakers to share knowledge, innovation, and community-driven solutions that place culture and connection at the heart of disability support. It is a space for truth-telling, collaboration, and action where voices are heard, partnerships are built, and meaningful change is inspired. More than just an event, this conference is a movement towards equity, self-determination, and healing ensuring every First Nations person living with disability is supported to live strong in culture, confident in identity, and empowered in community.

Throughout the conference, participants will engage in culturally respectful dialogues, share traditional knowledge, and explore contemporary practices to address the unique challenges faced by First Nations peoples in the disability care sector. The event will feature a diverse range of speakers, including Elders, healthcare experts, and community leaders, all contributing their insights to foster a holistic approach to disability care. By bringing together a wide array of stakeholders, the conference seeks to empower First Nations communities, promote self-determination, and ensure that NDIS disability care services are both culturally appropriate and effective. This gathering represents a collective commitment to upholding the rights and dignity of First Nations individuals, reinforcing the principle of "One People, One Voice" in the pursuit of equitable and inclusive health and disability care services.

THE CONFERENCE PHILOSOPHY & AIMS

This year's conference themes focus on ensuring that the NDIS is accessible, respectful, responsive and calls for a powerful reimagining of how disability care is delivered, understood, and led across Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Guided by the themes below, the conference unites First Nations leaders, NDIS providers, advocates, carers, and policymakers to place culture, respect, and self-determination at the centre of disability support. It recognises that true inclusion begins when care reflects identity, culture, and connection to Country. This gathering is more than a conference—it’s a movement towards equity, healing, and culturally grounded care for all First Nations peoples living with disability. The 2026 conference will focus on three interconnected themes:

Strength in Culture – Empowering First Nations Voices
- Culture is central to healing, identity, and empowerment. This theme highlights the importance of embedding cultural knowledge and lived experience in every aspect of disability care, ensuring support that honours Country, community, and connection.
Building Culturally Safe and Inclusive Systems
- This theme focuses on creating NDIS frameworks and services that are not only accessible but culturally safe and inclusive. It calls for stronger partnerships, workforce development, and accountability that reflect respect, trust, and understanding.
Pathways to Empowerment – Innovation and Community-Led Change
- Real progress happens when communities lead. This theme promotes Indigenous leadership, innovation, and self-determination as the foundation for lasting change—ensuring every First Nations person with disability can live with dignity, pride, and independence.

THE CONFERENCE OBJECTIVES

The overarching conference objective is to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living with disability by creating a culturally safe, inclusive, and action-driven platform for dialogue, collaboration, and change. This conference seeks to bridge gaps between policy and practice, amplify First Nations voices, and ensure that disability care is guided by culture, community, and self-determination—not bureaucracy.

Provide a culturally safe platform for open, respectful dialogue on the challenges and successes of delivering disability care for First Nations peoples.
Amplify the voices of lived experience, ensuring that First Nations people with disability, their families, and carers lead conversations about the design and delivery of support services.
Highlight community-led initiatives that strengthen inclusion, accessibility, and independence while reflecting Indigenous values, language, and connection to Country.
Support NDIS providers, disability workers, and community organisations to embed cultural safety and respect into everyday practice and service design.
Foster collaboration between governments, NDIS agencies, community-controlled organisations, and advocacy groups to drive culturally responsive reform.
Promote Indigenous leadership and workforce development within the disability and care sectors, empowering First Nations professionals to lead change from within.
Encourage knowledge sharing and innovation, showcasing success stories, research, and emerging models that prioritise holistic wellbeing and cultural identity.
Address systemic barriers and inequities through honest discussion, policy advocacy, and shared accountability.
Provide professional learning and development opportunities that enhance participants’ skills, confidence, and cultural capability.
Celebrate resilience, culture, and community strength, recognising that the path to equity begins with honouring identity and empowering self-determination.

This year’s conference is a collective commitment to reimagining disability care through the lens of culture, compassion, and community. Together, we walk toward a future where every First Nations person living with disability is supported to live well, live strong, and live proud.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

The conference is open to everyone dedicated to improving disability care, inclusion, and cultural safety across Australia. It brings together First Nations people with disability, their families, carers, community leaders, Elders, and Traditional Owners who are passionate about creating meaningful change. The conference also welcomes NDIS providers, health and allied health professionals, mental health practitioners, policy makers, educators, researchers, and government representatives committed to building culturally safe and responsive systems. It is an essential gathering for community organisations, advocates, and emerging leaders seeking to strengthen partnerships, share knowledge, and drive reform within the disability sector. Whether you work in service delivery, policy, education, or advocacy, this conference offers a powerful space to connect, learn, and collaborate toward a future where every First Nations person living with disability is empowered to live strong, independent, and proud—grounded in culture, community, and belonging.

In Australia, protocol requires us to recognise the Traditional Owners of the land on which we gather. All presentations must therefore begin with an acknowledgement to Country and to local Traditional Elders: "We wish to acknowledge and respect the traditional custodians whose ancestral lands we meet upon. We acknowledge the deep feelings of attachment and relationship of Aboriginal peoples to Country. We also pay respects to the cultural authority of Aboriginal peoples visiting or attending from other areas of Australia who are present here." Indigenous Conference Services acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional people of the Country. "Welcome to Country" ceremonies and "acknowledging the traditional custodians" of the land demonstrates respect for Aboriginal people as Australia's First Peoples. Ceremonies and protocols form a fundamental part of Aboriginal cultures.