Stephen Hawking was one of the most prominent people in history to use a high-tech communication aid known as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Today, many Australians who need AAC still lack access to the technology and the support they need to use it. It’s time for that to change.
With only 53 per cent of people with a disability employed and only half likely to finish year 12, it’s time to take stock of our disability discrimination laws.
rexplains the cruel cycle of poverty and devastation being inflicted on the mentally and physically ill by ongoing welfare cuts. THIS story is to explain to people who don’t live with mental illness, the security a home can bring.
As remarkable as he was, in an almost unbelievable coincidence his life was also bookended by genius: he was born on the 300th anniversary of Galileo Galilei’s death and passed away on the 139th anniversary of Einstein’s birth. Professor Hawking, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at 21, never let his disability affect his curiosity and desire to learn, dedicating his life to study the universe and its origins.
Well, the National Disability Insurance Scheme has finally achieved what dealing with the daily challenges of living with a high-level disability (quadriplegia) for 45 years could not. I now hate my disability. I have never felt so powerless, so angry, so hemmed in, so sickened by the injustice I and so many others with disability are facing. I have never felt so disabled. And it is all because of the NDIS.
From July this year New South Wales and South Australia the NDIS will be fully rolled out. But many disabled people and their families – and their advocates – claim the system isn’t delivering.
25 years ago today – 1 March – the Disability Discrimination Act came into effect. It was Australia’s first piece of legislation to protect the rights of people with disability. A quarter of a century on, the DDA has been used by thousands to fight discrimination in areas including employment, education and access to goods and services.
Despite less than desirable results, governments are not slowing down the roll out of markets within social service settings. The latest and, arguably, most extensive use of markets is the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
A young disabled woman who was unable to speak was reportedly “half dragged and half carried” from a taxi in a “shocking” incident allegedly witnessed by community workers.
The result of this underfunding is major overcrowding. It is lack of accessibility for the diverse and sometimes complex needs of people with disabilities. It is the lack of medical services for people who need medical care. And it is staff who are under-trained, who are expected to control the inmates in overflowing prisons, rather than treating them humanely. Able-bodied and healthy prisoners may be able to cope with prison guards being inconsiderate, abusive, and worse. For people with disabilities, the results can range from humiliating, to dangerous.
Tougher compliance measures have led to a sharp decline in people accessing the Disability Support Pension, with the Department of Human Services revealing almost 75 per cent of claims for the scheme were rejected in 2016-17.
“The fear of not being able to navigate busy, cluttered and visually oriented environments is a major barrier to participation in normal life,” says Meere, 52, “be that going to the shops, going for a walk in the park, going to work, looking for work, or simply socialising.”
Kriti Sharma, a disability researcher at Human Rights Watch, joined Chris Mason to discuss the current situation for disabled prisoners in Australia.
A new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) suggests Pete’s story is not uncommon. It has uncovered widespread instances of abuse of prisoners with disabilities in Australia.
Nearly a million Victorian children returned to school last week. But thousands did not. Exclusion is a cruel yet quietly accepted component of our education system.