Resources

Farewell to Rosemary Crossley, 1945-2023

Dr. Rosemary Crossley, AM, PhD, died on 10/5/2023. She was 78 years old. She became famous as a therapist with and advocate for people with little or no functional speech. In case after case Crossley was able to establish a means of communication with the client, demonstrating that their diagnoses of intellectual disability had been … Continued

Ending the postcode lottery: Addressing barriers to sexual, maternity and reproductive healthcare in Australia

Under Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031, federal, state, and territory governments have committed to improving health services to create better health outcomes for people with disability.  Notwithstanding this, it was brought to the committee’s attention that people with disability continue to face a range of barriers including accessing appropriate, accessible, responsive and equitable reproductive health services and education.

NDIS participants slam ‘discriminatory’ price gouging in review

National Disability Insurance Scheme participants say they get charged more than double the cost for the same service an able-bodied person could get from an allied health professional, an independent review into the $35 billion-a-year scheme has highlighted.

NDIS Appeals: Tips for writing a Parents’ Statement of Lived Experience

A popular topic that came up in the Q&A at the Advocating for your child in the NDIS appeals process event held on 15 May 2023 as part of Victorian Law Week, , was how to prepare a “Parents’ Statement of Lived Experience” in a child’s NDIS funding dispute (review application) at the Administrative Appeal Tribunal (AAT).  Here’s 10 tips to get you started…

EOI to join the Experts in Our Health Community of Practice!

Women with disabilities experience multiple barriers to accessing health services. The Experts in Our Health Project supports health professionals and staff to improve the accessibility of services and implement inclusive co-design practices. The focus of the Community of Practice (CoP) will be to learn, discuss and reflect on barriers to healthcare and practices that uphold rights and support access.  The COP will meet once every two months for 2 hours online between July and December 2023.  Expressions of interest are invited from staff across a range of health services including Women’s Health, Community Health, Allied Health, General Practice and Hospital services.

Parenting Help Easy English

The Easy English parent guide and activity booklet are for parents with disability. They explain how parents can get help with raising their children.  The resource includes help with your baby, activities for your child, and help with paperwork. 

Paid co-design opportunity for Disabled young people

Closing date: June 30, 2023

Get the Go-Ahead Young Experts Group is a new co-design opportunity for Disabled young people aged 18-25 of any gender with a connection to the Eastern region of Melbourne.  Young Experts will contribute to an affirmative consent education project including  co-design workshops to shape resources about affirmative consent and sex ed for Disabled young people as well as capacity-building online workshops starting in August to learn more about affirmative consent, sexuality, prevention of gendered violence, and accessibility.  You will be paid $150 per workshop.

Let disabled people tell their stories! (update guardianship and administration law)

Closing date: July 30, 2023

Did you know that disabled people cant legally talk to the media about their guardianship or administration hearings and experiences? They have to go to VCAT to ask permission. If they are unhappy with what happened to them at VCAT, they have to go and ask VCAT for permission to talk to the media about that. Uli wants to change the law so that people with disability have the equal right to speak about their experiences just like everyone else.  You can support the campaign by signing a petition or endorsing a letter to the Attorney general.

Victoria Budget 2023

Significant Initiatives Victorian State Disability Plan $3.9m for 2023-24 ($8.3m/3 yrs) will be invested to deliver a range of initiatives including the continuation of  Disability Liaison Officers to identify and address barriers for people with disability in accessing health services. Funding for the Victorian Disability Advocacy Program to support people with disability through access to advocacy … Continued

Vale Frank Hall-Bentick

On May 24th the death of Frank Hall-Bentick was announced. Frank and his sister Lesley Hall founded the Disability Resource Centre in Melbourne where they advocated for accessible public transport, deinstitutionalisation, equal opportunity employment and much more. “he was one of the country’s, and the world’s, most prolific and celebrated disability advocates. A recipient of … Continued

2 vacancies in ACD’s communications team

Closing date: June 9, 2023

If you have experience in delivering well-organised events or you have a passion for digital marketing, these opportunities might be for you!   The Digital Marketing & Communications Advisor is an opportunity for a skilled digital marketing professional to join a small, passionate Communications team and play a key role in supporting ACD to reach more families of children with disability while the Events & Communications Officer is a brand new role responsible for coordinating ACD events and assisting with general communications activities.

What does the Victorian State Budget mean for people with disability?

Students with disability and transport are the main winners in this year’s budget.  $235 million will go towards students with disability and their families, along with expanding out of school hours care availability to accommodate their needs.   For Victorians that are unable or unwilling to drive, $190 million will be used to cap public transport fares at the metro rate.  A further $601 million will be spent to build 23 VLocity trains, and $219 million will go towards morel V-Line services, including extra weekend services on major regional train lines. Similarly, $32 million will be set aside for the Students with Disabilities Transport Program, which provides transport assistance for students with disability to attend specialist schools.

Radiothon: Keep Raising Our Voice’s on the airways

Closing date: June 30, 2023

Raising Our Voices is a radio show controlled and run by people with an intellectual disability and acquired brain injury!  It’s been making radio shows on 3CR 855AM since August 1987 and it may well be the oldest radio show run by people with a disability in the world. Raising Our Voices talks about things like disability rights, discrimination, closing institutions, pensions, housing issues, transport and self advocacy. Your help is needed to raise $650 out of $275,000 for 3CR Community Radio.  Please dig deep to help keep 3CR going, and to keep Raising Our Voices on the airways.  No amount is too small even $2 is tax deductible.