Conversations about disability in Australia have too often been shaped by Western systems — systems that frame disability through medical diagnoses, individual deficits, and bureaucratic pathways to support. But for First Nations peoples, including the Quandamooka community of South East Queensland, disability is understood through a different lens. It is woven into kinship, spirituality, and cultural responsibility.

To decolonise disability is to shift the conversation away from deficit frameworks and toward Indigenous ways of understanding care, connection, and community. This means listening to First Nations people, acknowledging their history, and recognising the cultural principles that have sustained them for generations.

Understanding Disability in First Nations Contexts

Among First Nations communities, disability is not only a health status — it is a part of the collective story. Western models often view disability as an individual problem to be fixed or managed. In contrast, Indigenous perspectives embed disability in family, culture, and land.

Disability, in this context, is not shameful. It is relational — shaping and shaped by the networks of care that surround a person. These networks extend far beyond immediate family, reaching into kinship groups, Elders, cultural custodians, and Country itself.

This relational view means that disability is seen through connection, belonging, and responsibility, not isolation or individual burden. Such an approach has profound implications for how care and support are structured.

Critiques of the NDIS and Its Western Frame

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been a transformative program in many ways, offering individualized support to thousands of Australians with disabilities. But for First Nations communities, its framework often fails to align with Indigenous worldviews.

Several key criticisms emerge:

• Individualised plans don’t always reflect collective ways of living and caring.
• Administrative complexity can exclude families with lower access to resources or digital tools.
• Definitions of disability often clash with Indigenous understandings, overlooking cultural and spiritual dimensions.
• Cultural safety is not consistently embedded in planning or service delivery.

When policy is built on Western assumptions, it can unintentionally disempower Indigenous people by forcing them to fit into systems that don’t reflect their cultural reality. Decolonising disability, then, is also about reimagining support systems to reflect collective responsibility, cultural strength, and Indigenous-led wisdom.

Quandamooka Country: History and Cultural Continuity

The Quandamooka people are the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters around Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island), Mulgumpin (Moreton Island), and parts of the mainland surrounding Moreton Bay. Their culture is ancient, resilient, and deeply tied to Country.

For Quandamooka people, wellbeing is inseparable from land and kinship. Every relationship — with people, animals, and the environment — is guided by principles of balance, reciprocity, and care.

Disability, in this cultural landscape, is not external to community life. It is part of the living system of relationships, supported by layers of kinship, responsibility, and collective wisdom.

uandamooka Caring Principles: A Cultural Lens on Disability

At the heart of the Quandamooka worldview are caring principles that reframe how disability is understood and supported. Rather than focusing on what a person “lacks,” these principles emphasise their place in the community — their cultural significance, their role in sustaining connections, and their identity within kinship structures.

Three key ideas emerge:

1. Disability is Triadic in Nature
   In Quandamooka society, disability is not viewed in isolation but as part of a triadic relationship — individual, kinship, and Country. Care flows through these three layers. The person with disability is held and supported by community and land, rather than being seen as a separate unit of care.
2. Collective Wisdom and Custodial Ethic
   Caring is guided by collective knowledge passed down through generations. This includes spiritual practices, communal decision-making, and a custodial ethic that ensures everyone is cared for. Elders, family, and wider community play key roles in care.
3. Kinship Circles as Protection
   Kinship structures act as protective circles. Instead of formal service plans, support is embedded in relationships, responsibilities, and shared care. This creates a sense of safety, belonging, and identity that Western systems often fail to provide.

Beyond the Medical Model: Cultural Significance of Care

Mainstream disability frameworks often rely on medical assessments, eligibility rules, and formal services. While these may provide resources, they miss the spiritual and cultural layers that Indigenous people place at the centre of care.

In Quandamooka ways of knowing, care is not transactional. It is about reciprocity, respect, and maintaining balance. People with disabilities are valued members of the community, often holding unique roles as knowledge keepers, storytellers, or cultural anchors. Their presence is essential, not peripheral.

This shift from “care for” to “care with” reflects a deep cultural logic of interdependence. It challenges the Western notion of independence as the highest goal and instead honours collective strength.

Collective Protection Through Kinship

One of the most powerful elements of Quandamooka conceptualisations of disability is the idea of collective protection. This protection is activated through kinship circles that extend beyond immediate family.

This isn’t charity. It’s a structural, cultural responsibility.

• It ensures that no one is left without support.
• It keeps cultural identity strong.
• It prevents isolation.
• It reaffirms each person’s place within the collective whole.

This approach resonates strongly with other Indigenous worldviews, such as Māori disability perspectives, where compassion, acceptance, support, and interdependence are also central to wellbeing.

Intersections with Māori Perspectives

Māori communities, like the Quandamooka, frame disability through whānau (family), wairua (spirituality), and mana (dignity). Disability is understood through connection and contribution, not deficit.

The shared themes between Māori and Quandamooka approaches — kinship, collective care, respect for cultural identity, and spiritual grounding — demonstrate that Indigenous frameworks offer powerful alternatives to deficit-based systems. They remind us that disability is not something to be “fixed” but something to be held within community.

---

Decolonising Disability in Practice

Decolonising disability is not just a theory. It requires real changes in policy, practice, and everyday relationships. This can look like:

• Embedding Indigenous decision-making in disability service design and delivery.
• Recognising kinship structures as legitimate frameworks for support.
• Training non-Indigenous providers in cultural safety and humility.
• Supporting community-led programs that are grounded in local knowledge and practices.

Shifting the Narrative

To truly decolonise disability, we must shift how we talk about it, think about it, and act on it. Indigenous perspectives like those of the Quandamooka people remind us that care is more than a service; it’s a relational and cultural practice.

Western systems often centre on the individual. Indigenous systems centre on the web of relationships a model that could benefit everyone, not just First Nations peoples.

A Way Forward

Quandamooka conceptualisations of disability invite us to rethink care at its core. By embracing collective protection, kinship, cultural responsibility, and spiritual connection, they offer a richer, more humane understanding of disability.

This isn’t just about making existing systems more “inclusive.” It’s about reshaping the foundation — creating systems that reflect Indigenous ways of knowing and caring.

Decolonising disability means shifting power, listening deeply, and honouring the knowledge that has sustained communities for millennia. It is both an act of cultural respect and a practical step toward more just, compassionate, and connected futures.