People with disabilities left the workforce four times faster than they were hired in the past year leading concerned disability advocates to call for reforms to federal government hiring procedures. In the past year, 535 people with disabilities left the public service, 46.4 per cent of whom were retrenched, compared with only 119 engagements in … Continued
We used to call them sheltered workshops. That’s a thing of the past – they’re now branded as ‘Australian Disability Enterprises’, places where people with disability are routinely placed and where you can earn as little as $1.79 an hour. A kinder term, but ‘lipstick on a pig’ in the eyes of many. Workers are … Continued
Unscrupulous training colleges are targeting people with disabilities and the homeless in order to cash in on government education funding. The ABC has obtained evidence some colleges are recruiting people with intellectual disabilities to costly diploma-level courses funded with expensive VET-FEE-HELP training loans. But the training offered is often unsuited as those targeted have a … Continued
Blinded when she was 20, Ms Henley uses a form of “echo-location” – clicking her fingers or tongue to produce echos much like a bat’s navigation – to find her way around a new office and a new city. “The noise bounces off objects in your environment. You can use it to work out different … Continued
Dissociative identity disorder (DID) continues to be a largely misunderstood – and sometimes controversial – mental illness. Lucy Adams shares her experience of living with the disorder. Colac woman Lucy Adams knew something was wrong when she noticed she was dropping out of her own life. “I used to lose time and I thought I … Continued
A recent forum saw women with disabilities ask the three major parties contesting the Victorian State Election in November to answer questions around healthcare, equal access and violence against women. Women with Disabilities Victoria (WDV) has long been at the forefront of Systemic advocacy, ensuring that the voices of Victorian women with disabilities continue to … Continued
After months of uncertainty, Minister for Community and Disability Services and Reform Mary Wooldridge says a tender process will deliver for the Sandhurst centre. Last year the state government announced it was going to close the Sandhurst centre in Bendigo, which houses people living with disabilities. The government is moving the residents into more 21st … Continued
A union leader says an 18-day tender period for new disability services in Bendigo is rushed and lacks detail. The Victorian Government has advertised tenders for private operators hoping to provide services to residents of the Sandhurst Centre after the facility closes in 2016. The Minister, Mary Wooldridge, says running the tender process much sooner … Continued
Tips for planning for the evacuation needs of disabled persons in the community In any disaster planned for by emergency management personnel, one in five people encountered will have a disability of some type – Michael Rieger/FEMA In 2013, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, noted that people with disabilities … Continued
Thousands of disabled Australians earn just a few dollars an hour working at disability enterprises. A recent Federal Court decision will lead to higher wages, but some employers fear this will send them broke. Is this a cunning ploy to get out of paying more or are their fears justified? And some parents believe these … Continued
Tyrone Sevilla is the boy deemed not good enough for Australia. The Immigration Department has resolved to deport the nine-year-old to his native Philippines, because his autism has been judged a financial burden on taxpayers. His mother, clinical nurse Ma Cecilia “Maria” Sevilla, is also likely to be forced to leave her home in Townsville … Continued
Tracey Hayes has photos of her twin boys strapped to chairs at Monash Special Developmental School in Melbourne Other parents of autistic children have also made complaints about how their children have been treated in Victorian schools Rebecca Cobb claims she was forced to pull her autistic son Tristan out of Marnebek school, in Cranbourne, … Continued
The theory of overcoming barriers for entry into the workforce by disabled people is great. The practice, however, is something else altogether. Rob Potter explains. Discrimination against disabled people is a difficult subject to broach, much less comprehensively discuss. This is compounded by the fact that we live in a society that thinks it actually … Continued
Inclusive education, where students with disabilities are educated within mainstream classrooms rather than special schools or classes, is widely recognised as being the best way to ensure everyone gets a good education. However, resourcing is a major issue, with schools not receiving adequate funding or training. One of the major barriers to adequate funding is … Continued
‘Strengthening Disability Advocacy’, a conference aimed at providing self-advocacy skills to those with intellectual disabilities, gets underway today in Melbourne and three people heading to the conference join us this morning. The National Disability Insurance Scheme is being rolled out and the government has foreshadowed tightening eligibility to the disability pension, the Disability Discrimination Commissioner … Continued