International negotiators meeting under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) adopted on June 27 a landmark new treaty that boosts access to books for the benefit of hundreds of millions of people who are blind, visually impaired and print-disabled. The treaty, approved after more than a week of intense debate among negotiators … Continued
Celebrating 20 years of the Disability Discrimination Act Twenty years ago, life for millions of Australians got easier. The then Deputy Prime Minister in the Keating government, Brian Howe, introduced an Act that would, for the first time at a national level , make it unlawful for people with disability to be discriminated against. The … Continued
One in five Victorians and over four million Australians have a disability. The language and images used in mainstream media to depict disability influence community attitudes by setting the overall tone for how disability is portrayed and framed in society. It can impact on how people with a disability see themselves, both in terms of … Continued
I’ve been thinking about the Jill Meagher case and feeling sad. Sad for Jill and her family, and sad for all the women out there who remain invisible and unsupported when they experience acts of violence. I live just a couple of kilometres from where Jill was taken. Because I’m a woman who is deafblind, … Continued
Down syndrome was first described by John Langdon Down 150 years ago. A child either has or has not Down syndrome and a diagnosis is definite soon after birth, but the experience of having Down syndrome is not static. As with prenatal diagnosis, medical progress has significantly affected those with this condition. The same discipline … Continued
VICTORIA Police apprehend a disturbed person in the community on average every two hours and transport them to a hospital emergency department, according to a study into the challenges of policing the mentally ill. Such callouts do not often lead to criminal charges, with the bulk of people having threatened or attempted suicide or other … Continued
When, at 23, Joanne Webber was told she had a rare eye condition, she received lots of support. She was diagnosed for free at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital and was helped by the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind. “I met with mentors of similar age to me and met people with … Continued
A striking lack of PDF files differentiates the Victorian Government’s Department of Primary Industries web site from just about every other government and business site in Australia. Since DPI Systems and Technical Manager Mark Bryant completed a PDF purge in July 2011 the DPI site has also registered an astonishing increase in page views – … Continued
Media Release, , 8 May 2012 Captioning levels on subscription television services will be increased over the next three years, under an agreement reached between the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA). The agreement was reached together with leading captioning expert body, Media Access Australia and … Continued
Transport Department project officer Paul Smith designs tram stops so they are easier to use for people with disabilities. But it took the temporary loss of his own vision during a cross-town tram trip to fully appreciate how tricky using public transport is for the blind. The experience was part of a Guide Dogs Victoria … Continued
Victorian Education Minister Martin Dixon says a plan for a prep-to-year-12 school for students with autism in Melbourne’s western suburbs is ”non-negotiable”, with work on the new school to begin within two years. Specialist autism P-12 schools are controversial because some experts argue autistic children should be educated in mainstream schools to improve their social … Continued
Clifton Hill Primary principal Geoffrey Warren is the first to admit to ”considerable doubts” when asked to enrol a student with severe autism several years ago. Adam Dickson, then eight, was ”shutting down” at an autism school and his mother Stephanie Gotlib became concerned he was depressed. Ms Gotlib, the executive director of Children with … Continued
For many years, people who are blind or vision impaired have not had access to cinema or television. Audio description can change that. Senator Stephen Conroy last week announced that ABC1 will trial audio description in 2012, giving people who are blind or vision impaired access to something most of us take for granted. Movie … Continued
Stella Young, disability advocate, comedienne and editor of ABC’s Ramp Up website is about to take possession of a brand new top of the line wheelchair; something that has been a long time in coming. She has had the same wheelchair for 17 years but it is not without regret that she must let it … Continued
This presentation was part of the 2012 Strengthening Disability Advocacy Conference: You Be The Judge held at Melbourne Park Conference Centre. This is a biennial event hosted by the Disability Advocacy Resource Unit (DARU), the Self Advocacy Resource Unit (SARU) and Disability Advocacy Victoria (DAV), the sector’s peak body.