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
Parents of women with intellectual disabilities are going straight for sterilisation procedures rather than ”existing and viable options” to help control menstruation and contraception, a national Senate inquiry has heard. Associate Professor Sonia Grover, a gynaecologist at the Royal Children’s Hospital, told the hearing she was horrified when she received ”straight-out” requests for hysterectomies. She … Continued
Access to employment is a fundamental right that everybody should be able to enjoy. However, discrimination based on characteristics such as age, race, disability, and parental or carer status can prevent some people from gaining employment, even if they are the best person for the job. Discrimination can happen at different stages of the recruitment … Continued
Acquired brain injury (ABI) is a common cause of disability among people of all ages. Disabilities related to ABI are often complex and may cause limitations in many areas of life. This bulletin examines ABI in Australia: its causes, the prevalence and severity of disability related to ABI, and the needs of people with ABI … Continued
The recent removal of a child from a young mother with a disability, reported in (the) Saturday Age, is heart-wrenching and disturbing and leaves me and those involved in the case in emotional turmoil. Goodness knows, then, how the poor mother, ”Rebecca”, is coping, let alone her child. It appears, however, that the removal of … Continued
It is more than three months since Rebecca’s child was taken from her, but the pain is still raw and the decision still impossible for the grieving young mother to fully comprehend. She had fought hard during the court hearing to keep the little girl who had been the centre of her world for eight … Continued
This video documents the power of women leaders with disabilities in their quest to be included in international development programs. It contains interviews with highly accomplished women with disabilities who highlight the vision, determination, challenges and recommendations for including women and girls in international development programs. Their eloquent and passionate message resonates the need for … Continued
The Disability Act 2006 is the legislation for people with a disability in Victoria. It replaces the current Intellectually Disabled Persons’ Services Act 1986 and Disability Services Act 1991. It is guided by the principles of human rights, and provides the framework for a whole of government, whole of community approach to improve the social and economic participation of people with disability in the community.
Disabled Victorians will not be guaranteed the protection they need under draft laws for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the Victorian government has warned. Prime Minister Julia Gillard had said few actions in public life had given her greater pleasure than introducing the disability scheme on Thursday. ”The scheme is ambitious, and necessarily so,” she … Continued
When Jenny Macklin stepped up to the podium at the National Press Club last month to talk up the country’s first national disability insurance scheme, an elephant lurked ominously at the back of the room. The Minister for Disability Reform spoke with genuine passion and excitement about a looming revolution, telling her audience the scheme … Continued
There are 410,000 families in Australia for which the introduction of the national disability insurance scheme legislation in Federal Parliament this week will represent a monumental day in their often difficult lives. It is an idea whose time has come, and this legislation should be supported across the house. It is not a time for … 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
Up to 10 people die violently or through neglect each year in state-monitored homes designed to protect the mentally ill, disabled and elderly, while many vulnerable residents have been sexually assaulted and abused. In the most extreme case this year, a 66-year-old schizophrenic manwas charged with murder over the death of his room-mate at Bellden … Continued
If you have an obvious disability, you’ve probably got used to people’s awkwardness, as they struggle with what to say, how to act, where to look. Often pre-conceived ideas or prejudices about difference have developed without them even realising. A Victorian initiative wants to help confront this awkwardness early on, at school. The Young Ambassadors … 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