Using Strategic Communication to Advance Disability Inclusion
Cheta Nilawaty is a journalist at Tempo and a leading voice on disability inclusion in Indonesia. In 2016, after ten years as a field journalist, she gradually lost her sight because of retinal detachment caused by diabetes. Following several surgeries, she became completely blind. With support from Tempo, Cheta undertook training at Mitra Netra, where she learned to use screen-reading technology, Braille, a white cane and other tools that enabled her to return to work in 2017. The experience reshaped her understanding of disability and strengthened her determination to challenge the assumption that people with disabilities cannot work or contribute professionally.
Study experience in Australia
Motivated by her experiences as a journalist with visual impairment, Cheta applied for an Australia Awards Scholarship in 2019 to pursue a Master’s in Strategic Communication at Murdoch University. She began her studies in 2022, following delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cheta entered the program with a clear goal: to develop communication systems and media platforms that are more accessible to people with visual impairments. Studying in Australia also provided an opportunity to experience inclusive systems directly. Murdoch University’s Accessibility and Inclusion Officer worked with her to identify her requirements and ensure that lecturers were informed about the adjustments needed for her participation. This experience gave her a practical understanding of how institutions can move beyond general commitments to inclusion and provide targeted support that enables people with disabilities to participate equally.
“The officer not only made a list of my requirements, but also distributed the list to all the lecturers in classes that I took.”
Through her studies, Cheta learned to consider how audiences consume information in rapidly changing digital environments and how communication can be designed to influence public attitudes and policy. Her exposure to accessible university systems reinforced the importance of building inclusion into platforms from the beginning, rather than treating accessibility as an afterthought.
Applying her skills in the workplace
After returning to Indonesia, Cheta resumed her work with Tempo, where she now manages and develops digital content for Difabel, the organisation’s channel focusing on disability and inclusion. She is applying her training to strengthen the channel’s relevance in a media environment increasingly shaped by short-form, mobile and social-media-based content.
Her strategic communication skills are helping her develop content that is more creative, audience-focused and effective in presenting disability issues. She uses journalism to challenge stereotypes, promote inclusive policy discussions and demonstrate the contribution of people with disabilities to society and the workplace. She hopes her work will help shift public perceptions of people who are blind and bring disability inclusion into mainstream conversations.
“Inclusion should not stop at having people with disabilities dancing or singing in events to celebrate the day,” Cheta said.
In the long term, Cheta hopes to create employment opportunities for people with disabilities within the media industry. One idea is to establish a podcast produced and managed by people with disabilities. Cheta’s advocacy is grounded in a rights-based understanding of disability. She argues that exclusion is often created by inaccessible environments, inadequate support and limited public awareness—not by a person’s impairment. For Cheta, genuine inclusion requires institutions to provide equal access, build accessible platforms and ensure that people with disabilities can participate meaningfully in professional, social and public life.
