The Women with Disabilities Victoria (WDV) Experts by Experience Advocates (Experts) are a group of 12 women with diverse experiences of disability. The Experts support the development of policies, products and services by sharing their lived experience expertise through consultations and co design sessions. The Experts meetings are held monthly on Thursdays, from 11:00am to … Continued
The Victoria Health Department have developed a range of fact sheets, video content, easy English guides, posters and other supporting communications products, including information that will be translated into community languages on the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022.
People with cognitive disability are often excluded from committees and consultations. The Voice at the Table Project seeks create change and ensure that people with cognitive disability can speak up and have an equal voice on boards, committees and consultations. People with intellectual disability and acquired brain injury co-design and co-deliver the training. Voice at … Continued
Together: Building an Inclusive Youth Sector is an online resource that supports the Victorian youth sector and those who work with young people to be more accessible and inclusive of young disabled people. Together ensures that disabled young people have their human rights met and are able to access the same services and community activities … Continued
Victoria will have a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act from 1 September 2023. The new Act replaces the Mental Health Act 2014. It has new rights-based principles that promote the values, preferences and views of Victorians with mental illness or psychological distress. The new principles guide how service providers should deliver assessment, treatment, care and support.
This project features content and resources about disability pride created by disabled young people. It aims to encourage all Victorians to see disability as a strength. Shifting the community perception of disability is an essential part of helping to remove the barriers disabled young people face across all aspects of their lives. There are resources for employers, organisations, the wider community and disabled young people. Around 30 disabled young people in Victoria participated as part of the Project Advisory Group. The Gallery is an opportunity to meet the content creators and check out their amazing art, videos, poems, written pieces and more.
Access Hub provides information about communication options and services to assist you to make a phone call and connect online, including the National Relay Service, for people who are d/Deaf, hard of hearing and/or have speech communication difficulty. You’ll find information in plain English, Auslan, pictures and videos, accessibility features such as high contrast text and easy ways to find the information you need
This practice guide is for non-specialist practitioners working in areas that increase the likelihood of exposure to women experiencing Reproductive coercion and abuse RCA but do not have specialist training or experience in domestic and family violence. RCA refers to any deliberate attempt to dictate a person’s reproductive choices or interfere with their reproductive autonomy and is typically perpetrated against women, and other people with female reproductive organs, in a context of fear and control within an interpersonal relationship
This series of booklets covers topics including advocacy, employment and succession Planning. They offer practical advice to help you advocate and build safeguards for your family member with disability, and will assist you to have the conversations you need to have in order to prepare for the future, working towards a more inclusive and valued life that improves the economic, social, and personal well being of your loved ones.
This video series explores the importance of the social model of disability framework when responding to disability issues in culturally and linguistically diverse communities.. The videos highlight the experiences of six people with disability and what the social model of disability means to them. The videos are available in multiple languages and with English subtitles.
‘Our Regulatory Approach’ explains the high-level principles that guide the work of the Commission to meet their vision for people with disability to be able to choose services that best meet their needs and supports their quality of life free from abuse and neglect. It describes who the Commission is, how they do their work and what to expect from them. It also sets out the work they undertake, how they make decisions and the types of action they can take.
Despite the numerous inquiries, reviews, and new programs being introduced in the past two decades, there is a lack of significant improvements in educational outcomes for children with disabilities in Victorian schools. Very little useful data is collected and recurring problems in the school system, such as restrictive practices, restricted attendance based on disability, and issues with suspension, expulsion, and exclusion continues.
Julie Phillips, Manager, Disability Discrimination Legal Service, presented this topic at the Advocacy Toolkit session held for advocates on 16 May 2023. This is a summary of that session and provides useful resources to assist advocates working with children with disability in the Victorian education system.
The Charter was released in February 2023 and aims to improve outcomes for parents and carers with disabilities who come into contact with Child Protection in Victoria. The Charter recognises that parents and carers have the right to a relationship with their children. In this session, Miranda Bain, the Funds In Court Human Rights Advisory Committee Deputy Chair, Susan Arthur, representing Positive Powerful Parents Self Advocacy Group for parents with intellectual disability, Frederikke Jensen, the Advocacy Manager at VALID and Denise Boyd, Executive Officer at, STAR Victoria, discuss the principles and design of the Charter and how it works operationally. Is it effective as an advocacy tool? Does it uphold the rights of parents with disability when they come into contact with the child protection system?
The Ready to Go Home resources have been co-designed and co-developed with health consumers with disability, disability service providers and health professionals to improve the hospital experience for a person with disability, and reduce barriers that contribute to discharge delays. The resources include a series of guides for people with disability and their supporters on topics including preparing for a scheduled or unscheduled hospital stay, what to expect while you are there, decision making during your stay, discharge and what happens afterwards. An associated ‘My hospital kit’ is also available.
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…