Meeting Place 2021 launched its online forum with a bang this year as keynote speakers offer reflections to overcome ableism and tips for the revolution. Speaking from a series of heartfelt experiences, keynote speakers Georgia Cranko, Riana Head-Toussaint and Joshua Pether address this year’s theme: Reflect; Redefine; Revolutionise!, highlighting ways they grapple with toxic structural inequalities to lead the revolution.
The panel, made up of 28 organisations with demonstrated connection to people with disability, will offer support so that participants can take part in co-design, consultation and engagement opportunities. It was selected after an extensive selection process.
Vaccine passports will be a key item on National Cabinet’s agenda today. But as the country prepares to open up, with NSW hurtling toward that milestone, there are grave fears that Australians with a disability will be left behind with vaccination rates still lagging. Guest: Professor Anne Kavanagh.
People with Disability Australia (PWDA), along with other disability organisations, say they are still waiting for a clear plan and targets to ensure priority groups are vaccinated – including people with disability and chronic medical conditions – before plans to open-up are implemented.
“I can’t believe I just won the Golden Slam,” Alcott said following his win. “I used to hate myself so much, I hated my disability, I didn’t even want to be here any more. I found tennis and it changed and saved my life. Now I’ve become the only male ever in any form of tennis to win the Golden Slam which is pretty cool.”
“Thanks for making the dreams of a young fat disabled kid with a really bad haircut come true because I can’t believe I just did it!” he told the Louis Armstrong Stadium crowd. “I just can’t believe I just won the golden slam!”
The draft legislation of the new NDIS Act is finally here, marking the beginning of the end of what has been an anxious and emotional journey for the disability community. The Act was dropped last Thursday by the Department of Social Services (DSS) for a period of public feedback. Additionally, they have introduced new Rules.
Sutherland said normalising disability and seeing more people with disability participating in society was vital to changing people’s attitudes and getting rid of stereotypes. People with disability often face difficulties in the mainstream workforce, and Sutherland noted this was an area where Australia needs to make inroads.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has introduced a temporary measure to further support participants during the COVID-19 pandemic, with those in lockdown areas no longer needing to use their support funding to pay someone to cook and shop for them.
A Senate committee looking into the purpose, intent and adequacy of the DSP on Monday heard a range of longstanding concerns from people with disability and advocacy groups that the system is failing those who need it the most. Speakers said people who should be eligible for the DSP are often shunted onto much lower payments with job-seeking requirements, applicants have to “jump through hoops” to get support, the process does not “understand” certain conditions, and eligibility requirements are too bureaucratic and focused on the medical model of disability.
People with disabilities can be particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change — so why shouldn’t they be at the forefront of climate activism?
It would be an 18-month search with many setbacks. “It was such a patronising experience,” Ms Chong said. “My skills, profession and my dignity were trampled all over. I’d learnt an important lesson though: It’s never a good time to disclose [a disability], but any delay will just complicate things further because it’s detrimental to building trust.”
In less than a decade since “inspiration porn” first surfaced in Ramp Up, an Australian publication focused on disability, the phrase has gained increasing prominence and layers of meaning. It has motivated, or shamed, some news organizations into reconsidering the language and substance of their coverage of people with disabilities. It has gained particular resonance at the Paralympic Games.
In a recent national survey, almost one-in-five people described themselves as “clueless” about how to discuss disability. Wheelchair basketball Paralympian Bridie Kean said while people were more understanding than in the past, she could still be surprised by how someone referred to a person in a wheelchair.
The first doses of vaccine arrived on Australia’s shores on February 15 and most of the highest priority people were to have received at least a first dose by April. The strategy was sound – but you need more than words on a page to make strategy become reality.