Which Way? Experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing Attaining Supports to Meet Their Interwoven Socio-Cultural, Health and Disability-Related Needs and Aspirations Within the Context of Australia’s N

The life experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing are often more complex than for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are hearing, or non-Aboriginal Australians who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. In turn, this can make engaging with and benefiting from policies and programs such as Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) more complex, particularly for individuals living in remote settings. To understand more about these complexities, yarnings were held with 15 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander NDIS participants who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing living in rural and remote communities in the Northern Territory. Alongside analysis of the emerging narratives, we analysed NDIS quantitative data to examine how NDIS plan budgets were being utilised by this group in comparison to the wider NDIS population. This paper’s focus is on yarning participants’ experiences navigating the NDIS to gain supports that meet their interwoven socio-cultural, health and disability-related needs and aspirations. We highlight that with sufficient cultural and communication supports, some yarning participants were able to effectively utilise their NDIS plan to attain supports to achieve positive socio-cultural, health and disability-related outcomes. However, the NDIS must enhance collaboration with participants, local communities and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, disability service providers, and interfacing systems such as the health system, to develop more locally led solutions that empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Deaf or Hard of Hearing participants to achieve better outcomes.