Ableist Cities Symposium

How do our cities shape who belongs, who participates and who is left out?

The 2026 Ableist Cities Symposium brings together musicians, designers, authors, artists, researchers, industry professionals and people with lived experience, to explore how cities could be reimagined for people with disability. Through keynote presentations and panel discussions, the symposium will examine the role of creative practice in challenging ableist assumptions and imagining more inclusive futures.

The program features an opening keynote by Leon de Bruin, an educator, performer and researcher at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music; presentations from Emily Elliott, an interior designer, disability advocate and adaptive athlete living with Cerebral Palsy, and Wendy Jasper, a practising abstract painter and advocate within the disability and creative sectors; and a closing keynote from Clem Bastow, autistic advocate, screenwriter and cultural critic.

Guest speakers include Dorsa Fatourehchi, Imogen Howe, Mary Ann Jackson, Dr Jessica Moulton, Dr Sarah Timperley and Sonya Veronica Iskandar.

The symposium is convened by Dr Kirsten Day and Dr Andrew Martel.

By sharing lived experience, research and creative practice, the symposium invites participants to rethink how we design cities, workplaces and public spaces to be more accessible, inclusive and responsive to diverse ways of experiencing the world.