Speaking on Wednesday 4 December, the day after International Day of People with Disabilities, Hannah became the first woman with a visible disability to speak at Australia’s agenda-setting home of journalism.
Entitled ‘Wheels In Motion: Inside A Storyteller’s Brain’, Hannah’s address touched on mental health, the Krazy Kosci Klimb, her successful advocacy campaigns against Beyonce and Lizzo’s ableist song lyrics, the Paralympics, the vital importance of early diagnosis and intervention, and much more.
You can watch Hannah’s full address on ABC iView here
The Cerebral Palsy Alliance team were privileged to have front-row seats – supporting Hannah in Canberra were CPActive Champions Eirean, Eleanor and Luther, alongside several members of our research and influence departments.
The centrepiece of the wide-ranging oration was on disability representation, with Hannah’s recent breakthroughs in the likes of 2024 film Audrey and SBS TV series Latecomers demonstrating just how rare it is to see a person with disability on Australian screens.
“Stories are the building blocks we use to teach children about the world. They’re how we learn to identify the bad guy or find the hero. Without representation in them, what are we supposed to do?” Diviney said.
With a packed room hanging on her every word, Hannah called for more opportunities to ensure the next generation of people with disability grow up with exposure to the full spectrum of human opportunity.
“Every time I went looking for representation, I never found it – not in books, television or movies, toys and games on the shelf – nowhere. That leaves holes in you, not having any representation… these holes can be entirely preventable if people with power are brave enough.”
“We need you to believe in disabled stories and not just pick one or two, whether it’s me, or Dylan Alcott or Chloe Hayden. There’s a whole diverse range of disabled people out there, and all of us deserve to be heard.”
Hannah also used her platform to outline a vision for ambitious political reform, including calling for the next minister for the NDIS to have lived experience of disability or to conduct ‘immersion and empathy training’ for politicians, and criticised the government’s social media ban as being harmful to young people with disability.
“If this forum is reflective of those who have power in this nation, the lack of disabled voices makes a sad sort of sense… While you were building this, we were hidden from view and institutionalised,” she said.
“I may be one of the first [people with disability] to speak at the Press Club, but I won’t be the last.”
In what was a significant day for the Australian disability community, Hannah’s closing remark resonated loudest of all:
“No more surviving, let’s thrive instead… let’s make things better.”
