DPSC Stream 1 — Individual & Family Capacity Building (DAS)

Working title (form field, ≤250 chars)

Speak Strong NT: peer-led self-advocacy skills, supported decision-making and family capacity building for people with disability in Central Australia, the Barkly and remote NT

DAS converts 15 years of frontline advocacy practice into a peer-delivered capability program — paid peer mentors, practice-based self-advocacy skill paths, supported decision-making coaching for individuals and families — remote-first, with First Nations co-facilitators. The Speaking Up succession, substantially expanded.

Project description (form field, ≤1,000 chars)

Speak Strong NT builds the knowledge, skills and confidence of people with disability in Central Australia, the Barkly and remote NT communities to understand their own disability and rights, advocate for themselves, make supported decisions and increase social and economic participation. People with disability lead the program as paid peer mentors and co-facilitators, with a curriculum covering rights awareness, speaking up in plan meetings and services, making complaints, and decision-making with support. Families, carers and kin complete a parallel decision-supporter pathway so they can back their family member's decisions rather than make decisions for them. Practice-based digital tools, Easy Read and first-language materials extend reach into very remote communities, with local First Nations co-facilitators and interpreters delivering on country. The program succeeds the Speaking Up project with greater scale and scope, continuing a peer support lineage running since 2016.

Activities

1. Peer Leadership Academy — 2yr pathway: member → trained peer mentor → paid co-facilitator (25-30 graduates over 5yrs)
2. Self-Advocacy Skill Paths — 6 practice-based modules, peer-delivered + guided digital pathways (plain language / Easy Read / audio / first-language) incl. AI rehearsal partner for plan meetings
3. Supported decision-making program — practice clinics for PWD + 'decision supporter' pathway for families/kin
4. Remote community delivery network — local First Nations co-facilitators employed casually (Frank Curtis model), on-country delivery with community-controlled orgs
5. Monthly Peer Action Groups + quarterly lived-experience steering (existing Revised Framework architecture)
6. Data, evaluation, open licensing of curriculum from Y4

Eligibility self-check

• Self-advocacy capability building, never representation — no advocacy delivery (§5.4 clear)
• Succeeds Speaking Up with materially greater scale/scope — answers §4.4 CfP and ILC-duplication carve-out
• No information/referral function — stays clear of Stream 3 reclassification and Disability Gateway duplication
• PWD involvement mandatory (§5.1): existing Leadership Group + Revised Lived Experience Framework satisfies by design

Condition for Participation: winning any DPSC grant requires Speaking Up ILC (4-JMYB4Y9) to terminate 1 business day before DPSC activity commences (1 Jul 2027). Clean handover; unspent funds may roll in where scope aligns. REFUTERS (11 Jun): submit full-dress after fixes — travel under-costed ~3x, defend CB&PLG/PATH duplication line, name + demarcate Inclusion Australia's 'Speaking up in the Bush' (delivers in Alice via Inclusion NT), assemble Mar-Jun restructure run-rate as the underspend answer. See dossier §3.