Defiant Lives Files: Gayle Rankine Interview

Originally Published in the Disability Busters Newsletter January 2025

In the Defiant Lives Files Gayle Rankine, founding member of the First People's Disability Network Gayle talks about the disadvantages that Indigenous people with disabilities face and also shares stories of her own life.

I really enjoyed this episode and admired Rankine’s approach to life. I loved her forwardness and, as she says, “telling it like it is.” So often I think people with disabilities aren’t shown taking the mickey out of themselves, so this episode and Rankine’s wit was a refreshing change.

In 1989, when she was in her early thirties, Rankine suffered blood clots to her foot as the result of cardiovascular disease, leading to the amputation of her leg. Just ten years later, she began to lay the groundwork for the First Peoples Disability Network in Alice Springs.

I was shocked to learn that 50% of Indigenous Australians have a disability. At university, I studied multiple Aboriginal history courses taught by a wonderful Eastern Arrernte woman and member of the stolen generation. She taught me about the historical and ongoing intergenerational trauma that plagues Aboriginal communities.

Rankine says that because of the intergenerational trauma experienced by Aboriginal people, many won’t disclose their disabilities for fear of their children being taken away.

It’s tough, too, because, as Rankine says, “When you’re an Indigenous person with a disability, it’s hard to get it right because the wider community doesn’t understand the complexities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.”

There are so many complexities that impact Aboriginal communities, and the high number of people with disabilities needs to be addressed in a way that accounts for how those communities work first and foremost as human beings like everyone else. Unfortunately, the struggles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders seem too often to be placed in the too-hard basket, and to combine that with disability is made out to be a mammoth task.

The vast number of Aboriginal cultures and languages makes it hard to ensure members of the community receive the entitlements and support they deserve. During the film, Rankine says it’s really hard to get the word out to Aboriginal communities about how to receive appropriate disability services.

During the interview, Rankine says Aboriginal people with disabilities face “double discrimination.” This was unsurprising to me but I also thought it was great to hear Rankine calling it out for what it is.

I thought it was interesting that Rankine felt that whilst “disability has never been on the national agenda, but now we have the movement.” As much as I love the sentiment of this, it appears as though we aren’t progressing as much as we should and, in recent months, appear to be going backwards.

It made me think that if Rankine were interviewed today, what would her thoughts be and if her opinion on the progress of people with disabilities has changed? I wonder what her thoughts on the progress or seeming lack of progress in closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous living standards and health outcomes would be now?

This is a fascinating episode in the Disability Busters catalogue. I recommend that people not only watch it but also look further into Aboriginal Australians' challenges and how we can work together to close the gap.