Resources

Perth low-sensory nightclubbing experience a hit for people with a disability

Consider a packed, dimly lit nightclub full of loud raucous conversations and music. It can cause sensory overload for neurodiverse people, prompting them to wonder if they should have stayed home because they find it incredibly difficult to acclimatise to an unaccommodating reality. It is far more difficult to meet new people and form friendships … Continued

Without change, the trauma of the disability royal commission will have all been for nothing

For four-and-a-half years, the disability community has bared its soul. The country has learned how we’ve been sexually abused, physically attacked in our homes or in public, had our children removed, and discriminated against in every aspect of our lives. In some cases, our mothers were told by medical professionals not to have us in the first place.

Congratulations to MDI’s 2023 Seed Funding recipients!

Melbourne Disability Institute are delighted to announce the recipients of MDI’s 2023 seed funding round. Nine exciting new projects have been selected to receive funding of around $30,000 each. The interdisciplinary, disability focused topics explore a diverse range of issues including inclusive pathways for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students transitioning to post-secondary education and … Continued

Speech Disorder Casting Call

McGregor Casting are currently searching for a person aged 30-55 with a condition potentially leading to a speech disorder to feature in a new television commercial for a tech company. The television commercial will be shooting in New Zealand, so the successful applicant will need to be able to fly from Australia to New Zealand … Continued

10 reform areas for the future of the NDIS

The Review’s final report will be given to Disability Ministers at the end of October. It will then be up to Australia’s governments – Commonwealth, State, Territory, and Local – to respond to the Review’s recommendations. At the moment they are still carefully reading  submissions and finalizing their report and recommendations. However they have identified … Continued

National Online Survey – The Disability Services Sector & Virtual Reality Technology Acceptance

This is an important national survey that collects information about the Australian disability sector’s readiness and acceptance of adopting virtual reality (VR) technology to advance its training practices. Why is it important? This is important because some service providers have already started to adopt VR as an empathy inducing training intervention because of VR’s unique … Continued

Lesley Hall Arts and Disability Scholarship 2023

The Lesley Hall Scholarship is an annual program for Victorian Deaf and Disabled artists and advocates. The scholarship is a $5,000 grant. Applications are now open! and close Monday 23 October at 5 pm. This program supports a Deaf or Disabled artist, arts workers and creatives living in Victoria who use their creative practice to … Continued

Aviation Green Paper.

Closing date: September 19, 2023

On 7 September 2023, the Australian Government released the Aviation Green Paper. The Green Paper provides the principles, initiatives and policy settings the government is considering to shape Australia’s aviation future. The Green Paper marks an important stage in developing the Aviation White Paper, which will set the policy direction for the aviation sector out … Continued

Wheelchair kids are Weet-Bix kids: Normalising disability in advertising

Have you noticed any changes to television commercials for some of Australia’s best-known brands recently? The Weet-Bix kid, who dreams of scaling Everest, is in a wheelchair. The Bonds model is signing in Auslan. The ANZ employee who tells her colleague to stop speaking in a ridiculous voice is a bilateral above-knee amputee. And the … Continued