It’s an election year in Victoria. This conference is a platform to let our politicians know about what needs to change for people with disability. It’s time to celebrate diversity and showcase a range of perspectives while keeping a keen focus on what needs to change.
Although many specialist disability services are funded through the NDIS, the NDIS approach is to maximise participants’ access to mainstream programs. How do community organisations learn how to be more inclusive? And what are the barriers preventing full participation of people with disability? Basically, the answer is attitudes. Changing attitudes is difficult. It requires consistent and targeted campaigns.
There have been some successful perception changing campaigns recently with the ‘Vote yes’ for same sex marriage equality, the ‘white ribbon’ campaign to raise awareness about the consequences of family violence and historically with the ‘Slip, slop, slap’ and ‘Quit’ campaigns that educated the community and change behaviour and attitudes in mainstream society.
Doing Disability Differently will feature a keynote address, debate, plenary and panel sessions that investigate how the power and diversity of disability identity and pride might be harnessed to affect real change to promote flexibility, respect and humanity for people with disability in the community.
This conference is for anyone who is interested in strengthening and upholding the rights of people with disability.
Reflections from SDAC18
It’s all over for 2018. Marie McInerney was the roving reporter for the day. Check out what delegates were anticipating and what presenters were saying behind the scenes in her series of interviews.
