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AFTER spending 15 years of my life representing workers as a union official, I thought I'd seen some stark examples of unequal and unfair treatment.

But I was unprepared for what I've seen in the three months since Kevin Rudd appointed me his parliamentary secretary for disabilities and children's services.

In that time I have met hundreds of people with a disability, their carers and their advocates and my eyes have been well and truly opened to the stark reality facing Australians with disability.

People who have a disability possess varying degrees of impairment. Impairment is a fact of life, and it's a rare person who has no challenges to overcome.

People with a disability, by and large, can live with their impairment, and try to live normal lives. That is something as a nation we should applaud. We are the country of the battler, always cheering for the underdog who makes it to the top.

But somehow, people with disabilities don't qualify for that backing. They are treated as second class citizens.

This is clearly not news for the hundreds of thousands of Australians with disability. For the rest of us, it's time to take a good hard look at ourselves.

I don't believe it's out of malicious intent, it's just thoughtless behaviour born of awkwardness and fear of the unknown.

Readers may ask, and rightly, well, what are you going to do about it? You're in Government now.

We are going to do plenty about it. Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Jenny Macklin and the entire Labor Government are committed to social inclusion, to making sure all Australians have the same opportunities in life.

The rest of us have to want it too, and have to take steps to make sure it happens.

Imagine if, because your skin colour was different, you couldn't get on a bus or go into a shop.

People would be outraged, and would demand change - and rightly so. Yet people with disabilities face it everyday.

People with a disability shouldn't have special opportunities, they should have the same opportunities.

I'm only sorry its taken me this long to realise the silent suffering of so many of my fellow Australians. I'm going to add my voice to theirs. I hope you'll join me.