Events

Join CPActive for a powerful online Town Hall as we celebrate 80 years of Cerebral Palsy Alliance and more than eight decades of disability advocacy! This special event will honour the trailblazing advocates who have paved the way for inclusion, rights, and change for disabled people.

Through Stories That Made Us, special guests will share their powerful advocacy experiences in an interactive and engaging format—reflecting on how far we’ve come and the challenges still ahead. Together, we’ll celebrate our wins, acknowledge ongoing barriers, and explore the future of disability advocacy.

Join CPActive for this special event where we honour the work done by the advocates who have come before us. Hear from our community members who are striving for change and build your knowledge on how to be a better ally to people with disability.

CPActive is hosting an exclusive online Lived Experience Lab—Your Right to Vote—designed to empower people with cerebral palsy and similar disabilities to make informed decisions at the ballot box this upcoming federal election. This interactive forum will cover everything from voting rights and enrolment to understanding the policies and commitments of different parties on disability inclusion.

With special guest speakers and expert insights, we’ll break down key election issues, discuss the power of the disability vote, and provide practical steps to ensure your voice is heard.

Don’t miss this opportunity to be informed, engaged, and ready to vote with confidence!

Who is this event for?
CPActive Lived Experience Labs are a space for people with CP and similar disabilities and their family members to come together as a community, share their experiences and raise the issues that matter to them. These events are a place you can connect with others and amplify your voice for change.

This Mental Health month, CPActive, in collaboration with Sydney Childrens Hospital Network (SCHN) and CPA Research Institute, are hosting a Lived Experience Lab to connect and support our advocacy community.

This free, online, one hour community event is not to be missed for anyone with CP (or similar disability), family members or carers.

This Lived Experience Lab has been co-designed with our CPActive Champions as advocacy burnout and mental health have been identified as areas of priority for our community.

What can I expect from this Lived Experience Lab?

This will be an interactive, online event to connect and collaborate with your community. You will hear stories from experienced mental health practitioners and other advocacy leaders who have lived experience of CP about their strategies to maintain positive mental health.

CPActive Steering Committee want to open a discussion about the challenges that people with physical disability face when getting support for mental health challenges and present strategies and pathways that will support wellness for our community.

This will be an interactive event with plenty of opportunities for your input, including open discussion, breakout rooms and other interactive features.

Who is this event for?

CPActive Lived Experience Labs are a space for people with CP and similar disabilities, their family members and carers to come together as a community, share their experiences and raise the issues that matter to them.

This event is focussing on wellness and mental health and will cover topics to support positive mental health habits and reduce advocacy burnout.

Who will we hear from at this event?

Thea Keane is a counsellor with over 27 years of experience supporting people with a range of mental health difficulties. Thea was also born with cerebral palsy, and has first-hand experience of what it is like to navigate a predominately able-bodied world with a disability. It has been a journey of highs and lows. Thea believes that this personal experience heightens her ability to work with those experiencing disability.

Venessa Crane is a Research Partner with The Sydney Children’s Hospital Network working with the Feelings Program team to develop a research project aimed at better understanding the mental health support needs of children and adolescents with cerebral palsy. Venessa has had cerebral palsy all her life, and is also a wheelchair user. Venessa has a background in office skills, IT and welfare, but is currently a full time artist and also works in theatre.

The CPActive Steering committee will also be part of the discussion, always there to listen and learn from our community.

Want to learn more about Mental Heath Month?

Check out the website: Lets Talk About It | Mental Health Month (wayahead.org.au)

Read some more here:

“Let’s Talk About It” emphasies the significance of open dialogue and communication regarding mental health across various platforms and settings. The theme’s “Talk” aspect highlights the importance of inclusive discussions, considering diverse needs and utilising different mediums for conversation. Meanwhile, the “It” component, is open-ended, allowing individuals to choose the topics they want to discuss. This could encompass conversations of lived experience stories, navigating mental health systems, or seeking resources and support. By embracing this flexibility, we empower people to engage in discussions that are meaningful and relevant to their own experiences. Whether it’s sharing coping strategies, advocating for better access to mental health care, or simply lending a listening ear, the “It” component encourages a wide range of conversations that promote understanding and support of mental health.

“Let’s Talk About It” further highlights the importance of connecting with others, as supported by research showing how relationships with family, friends, and broader community connections can support one’s well-being. Engaging in conversations about mental health and sharing lived experience stories with supportive individuals can improve psychological well-being and overall wellness. Through collective unity and compassion, we create environments where individuals feel empowered to openly discuss mental health, find reassurance, and seek support.

Join CPActive as we present the 2025 NSW Government Graduate Program information session, co-hosted with the NSW Public Service Commission.

This virtual event is focused at showcasing the 2025 NSW Government Graduate Program, giving you the opportunity to find out more about starting your career with Australia’s biggest employer.

You will hear from current NSW Government graduates about their experiences in the program, and get insights on working in the public sector from members of the NSW Public Service Leadership.

Learn about how the program works, including:

• Information about the program and the 5 streams
• The application and selection process
• The types of work you could be involved with that contribute to the future state of NSW
• Access and inclusion practices of the NSW Public Service

CPActive is working with the NSW Public Service Commission to support accessible and inclusive pathways to careers in the public sector for people with disability. This is your chance to find out more and start your career in public service in 2025!

The 2025 NSW Government Graduate Program is open to applications now and closes on the 14^th August. See the NSW Government website for more details and apply today.

On July 9th, CPActive is hosting an exciting event dedicated to strengthening community through storytelling for people with cerebral palsy (CP) and allies.

Modelled around the power of shared experience, “Stories that Activate” is a unique opportunity to hear from people living with CP as they express their experiences through their chosen artform.

By understanding the experiences of people with disability, able-bodied individuals can become more effective allies and advocates for positive change. 

This event will showcase artists with CP who share their experience through music, short film and other mediums, and aims to create a space where stories of resilience and advocacy can spark meaningful conversations and strengthen our collective commitment to inclusivity.

We will also have a short panel discussion with our featured artists to learn more about the experience of sharing stories through art, authentically.

Whether you are part of the CP community, a family member or carer, a healthcare professional, or simply someone who wants to learn and support, “Stories that Activate” promises to be an enriching and enlightening experience. Together, we can build a more inclusive world, one story at a time.

Register today to experience ‘Stories that Activate’!

Tell us what you want from CPActive this year!

Our newly formed Steering Committee have a few questions for our CPActive community –  What issues matter to you? How do you want to use your voice for meaningful change? What would you like to see from CPActive in 2024?

Tell us at our at this CPActive Lived Experience Lab!

Who is this event for?

CPActive Lived Experience Labs are a space for people with CP and similar disabilities and their family members to come together as a community, share their experiences and raise the issues that matter to them. These events are a place you can connect with others and amplify your voice for change.

What can I expect from this Lived Experience Lab?

This will be an interactive, online event to collaborate, share ideas and continue learning from the community of people who attend. The CPActive Champion Steering Committee will share some of the work they are up to and facilitate discussion on topics that they feel are important for the CP community.

There will be plenty of opportunities for your input, including breakout rooms, polls and we always encourage people to use the chat or the interactive feedback tool we’ll have on the day.

What happens after the lived experience lab?

The CPActive Champion Steering Committee will use your input and feedback to shape the CPActive advocacy priorities for the year. We’ll also be sharing some of our findings at our first public Town Hall event we’re planning to hold in June.

Register today!

CPActive is on a mission to create a world of opportunity, access and possibility for people with disabilities. And right now, there’s a proposal underway with state and federal governments to build a Hub for Human Potential. We are asking the CPActive community to come together and share  what YOU think the Hub should be able to deliver. 

Come along to get a briefing on the Human Hub for Potential concept – what it’s all about – and have your voice heard about how this incredible initiative could support people with disability in Australia. 

You’ll also hear from exciting guest speakers, including Georgina Henry, a Research Assistant of Epidemiology at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Institute.

The three pillars of innovation in this Hub will be: 

1. Learning: Education and upskilling
2. Livelihood: Entrepreneurship and enabling work
3. Living: Inclusive play, travel, sport and recreation 

Do you have experiences to share, ideas or tech solutions, or even suggestions around how the Hub for Human Potential can solve the problem around the tech innovation we need in Australia? Come to this special community forum  and tell us all about it.

Who is this event for?

This event is a small group session focussed on hearing the experiences and ideas of people with lived experience of disability, including family members and carers. 

While we encourage allies and supporters to attend many of our CPActive events, this lived experience lab is primarily for people with lived experience of disability.

We need the voices of lived experience to be at the heart of this design process. So come along and tell us what you think.

Register now!

An international event not to be missed, this awards ceremony will showcase all the best and brightest ideas to change the lives of people with CP. 

This World CP Day we asked the global community to share their ideas. And now, we’ll be showcasing the top ideas and announcing the winners of this year’s contest. 

The awards ceremony will be hosted by Australian disability rights advocate Elly Desmarchelier and feature some more exciting guests and panellists to be announced soon.

We will be announcing up to two winners of the World CP Day Awards, with a USD $5,000 cash prize, so come along and find out with the rest of the world!

More details about special guests will be announced closer to the date, but RSVP now to reserve your spot.

Captioning will be provided, if you have any additional access requirements please include them when registering, or questions please email info@cpactive.org.au.