Designing inclusive publics: systemic listening in disability support

While disability policy initiatives worldwide increasingly promise to include people with disability in decision-making, research and public inquiries reveal ongoing disempowerment and a persistent lack of opportunities for their voices to be heard. This paper explores radical listening as a potentially transformative interpersonal approach to strengthen participatory democracy in the everyday spaces where people access essential services and interact with their communities. Through case study analysis of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)–Australia’s new marketised disability service model–we use systems thinking to analyse how institutional factors such as policy and governance structures, market dynamics, and organisational cultures inhibit meaningful listening. We propose a revised model of radical listening that considers both interpersonal and institutional factors, highlighting the need for multi-level interventions to create responsive policies and services that genuinely value the voices of all citizens. In doing so, the paper contributes to current debates about how democratic participation and voice might be reimagined and revitalised in public institutions–a critical task in efforts to future-proof the public sphere.