The wheelchair racer has become the first athlete with a disability to win The Don Award, capping a career which includes three Paralympic gold medals, seven world titles and an astonishing 35 marathon triumphs across 10 countries – and counting.
The mental health sector is celebrating the announcement of a psychosocial stream for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
The NDIA requires that the delivery of specialist behaviour support services and use of restrictive practices must only be undertaken by registered NDIS providers and specialist behaviour support funding must be managed by the NDIA. As we know, the NDIA, will only purchase supports from registered providers. So, what about other supports? Is it possible to self-manage part of the funding?
Complaints relating to sexual and physical misbehaviour towards children with special needs or disabilities by teachers and other staff in NSW schools have nearly tripled over the past two years, with more than 650 complaints made last year.
Troublingly, estimates show that only 89% of people with disability in Australia will be eligible for the NDIS. Sara explores how providers can support people who find themselves ineligible but still very much in need of support.
The South Morang centre opened earlier this month, bringing a close to a five-year campaign for an adult respite service in Whittlesea led by the council, Whittlesea Disability Network and local advocate group Respite Alliance Whittlesea (RAW).
The Australian Government will establish a Productivity Commission Inquiry into the role of mental health in the Australian economy and the best ways to support and improve national mental wellbeing.
Minister for Families and Social Services Paul Fletcher announced on September 26 that the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) had reached the milestone of registering its 200,000thparticipant. The number of NDIS participants is predicted to grow to about 460,000 by 202
Kids are naturally curious — this is a wonderful thing. But they also haven’t mastered social cues. This can make parents uncomfortable. What’s painful for disabled kids, and therefore for the parents of disabled kids, is the isolation, Willingham says.
The founder of an autistic-led social enterprise mentoring and empowering autistic people believes businesses are missing out by not actively including autistic people in their workplaces. Their business model as a social enterprise was unique in that Varney and his COO were both autistic, as well as having people with autism on their board.
For a person with a disability, advocates can be crucial to helping them navigate challenges associated with everyday life, like housing or education. But in New South Wales, there’s concern that such advocates will be forced to shut down when the state stops funding them in less than two years.
There were several reasons participants gave low scores. These included having inadequate funding to meet their needs, planners not understanding their disability, planners producing inconsistent plans, and a lack of transparency as to how decisions were made. These findings support concerns expressed in the sector that staff implementing the NDIS don’t have the necessary skills, training, experience, and resources (including time) to assess reasonable and necessary supports.
Beauty is being redefined — this is something on which most of us can agree. The era of the white, thin, Eurocentric model as the only embodiment of glamour is gone. The runways have embraced diversity of skin, shape and age. But for one group they still lag behind: people with disabilities.
Mr Martin continued: “The other members of the committee were all supportive for me to have a go. To me, I think this is what the Convention [on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities] is about. People with disabilities, including people with intellectual disability, having a say and showing the world that yes, we can do this.”
As predicted, new figures show that the National Disability Insurance Agency’s (NDIA) expenditure on consultants, labour hire firms and outsourced service delivery in 2017-18 totalled about $600 million. From The Australian: