A leading economist has called for a portable training system for disability support workers, as he warned the market-oriented delivery system built into the National Disability Insurance Scheme could promote an unstable “gig economy mentality”.
New South Wales disability advocates have breathed a “collective sigh of relief”, after the state government backflipped on plans to cut funding for disability advocacy groups. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Disability Services Ray Williams announced on Friday that up to $26 million would be available for advocacy services until 2020.
The Premier announced yesterday that there will be funding for disability advocacy organisations for the next two years in NSW. This is a great first step towards ending the uncertainty for people with disability across NSW who have been campaigning hard to keep their services.
Fearnley believes the Gold Coast has “nailed it” in its effort to host the most inclusive Commonwealth Games in history, but he wants Aussies to take the message into everyday life. “I think that tomorrow maybe we can go back to work and speak to your co-workers about getting more people with disabilities in there, or education facilities or in public transport.”
As well as being a world champion tennis player, radio presenter and Paralympian, Dylan Alcott is known for crowd surfing in his wheelchair at rock concerts around the world. While crowd surfing isn’t for everyone, Mr Alcott, a paraplegic since birth from a spinal cord tumour, wants all disabled music fans to be able to go to music festivals. So he and promoters Untitled Group created their own.
Here sits senator Jordon Steele-John, the West Australian Green who in November last year, just weeks after turning 23, became the Australian Parliament’s youngest-ever senator. He’s sitting alone at the back of the room because he can’t get to the floor of the chamber to greet the new arrival. It’s an all too common experience for someone … Continued
Victoria’s education department has confirmed a third of the buses transporting students to and from the school are not wheelchair-accessible.
The state government will reverse funding cuts to dozens of organisations that advocate for people with a disability, after sustained pressure from groups that faced collapse.
Concerns have been raised about the suitability of a bus service for students with a disability at a school in regional Victoria. A mother at the Ballarat Specialist School says no one can tell her how her 7 year-old boy lost his tooth when he was injured on the bus home from school. Another parent says the school contracted a bus with a turning staircase to pick up her daughter, who uses a wheelchair.
Board member of Disability Advocacy Australia Julie Phillips said there needed to be a significant change in approach to dealing with people who suffer from a disability.
“It’s outrageous that these sorts of things continue to happen in Victoria and Australia where the symptoms of people with disability which are due to autism or mental illness are being interpreted as people being deliberately obstructive,” she added.