When Karen McKenzie received an unexpected letter from the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) in August, she had to read it three times before it sank in. Her son Jarrod, who has autism and severe intellectual disabilities, needs help to eat, get dressed and use the bathroom, but the NDIS funding that paid for his carers had been cut by more than half.
Disability Advocacy Network Australia CEO Mary Mallett labelled the NDIA’s decision to deny Laura funding for supported accommodation as unfair. “It isn’t fair and … it is completely inappropriate that an 86-year-old grandmother should be expected to pick up the burden,” Ms Mallett said.
Samantha Connor has a strong track record as a disability and human rights advocate and is a passionate believer that disabled people have the right to be unapologetic in taking up space in the world. She is this week’s Changemaker.
In 2017 the McGarrigles, supported by Victoria Legal Aid, won a landmark case over NDIS transport funding that had implications for thousands of other participants. The agency appealed to the full bench of the federal court. Its appeal was dismissed. Fast forward four years later and the McGarrigles are once again at loggerheads with the agency.
Although we’ve had to grieve my past self and career plans, you’ve freed me from the weight of my own expectations about who and what I should be. You’ve helped me become braver than I ever imagined. I’ve faced down institutional discrimination while fighting for the disability supports I desperately need. These battles have taught me more about advocacy than law school ever did.
The mother of an eight-year-old boy with severe autism has detailed her “exhausting” administrative battle for NDIS funding while recovering from breast cancer as her son became physically aggressive.
The Australian Human Rights Commission will decide on the validity of a law which discriminates against over 65s seeking support from the NDIS. The National Disability Insurance Scheme is not available to Australians who were older than 65 years old when the scheme was introduced, or who need disability support after they turn 65.
“My disability is the reason that I’m not on a number of boards that I could have been on,” Innes told Pro Bono News. He said that while there had been moves in recent years to create more diverse boards, (particularly in the NFP sector), people with disabilities had been left out of the equation.
The Australian Human Rights Commission has accepted a discrimination complaint against the National Disability Insurance Agency, challenging the age limit that restricts funding for service to those aged under 65.
Mona Minkara is a bioengineer at Northeastern University, where she leads a laboratory focused on applying computational modeling to pulmonary research. She is also one of the only blind faculty members in her field. Recently, Minkara embarked on a different kind of experiment. She and 11 other individuals who have mobility, vision or hearing disabilities traveled on a parabolic flight with the Zero Gravity Corporation. The mission—which allowed participants to feel weightless but did not actually reach space—was organized by AstroAccess, an initiative dedicated to “advancing disability inclusion in space.”
Have you ever wondered what it is like to live with a disability? The I Can’t Stand Podcast is for everyone who has a question or just wondered about disability. No questions are off-limits any question you have is allowed. Every week Peta will answer any question you have, based on her experiences as a single, 30- something woman who has Cerebral Palsy. Have a question?
A Senate committee looking into the purpose, intent and adequacy of the DSP on Monday heard a range of longstanding concerns from people with disability and advocacy groups that the system is failing those who need it the most. Speakers said people who should be eligible for the DSP are often shunted onto much lower payments with job-seeking requirements, applicants have to “jump through hoops” to get support, the process does not “understand” certain conditions, and eligibility requirements are too bureaucratic and focused on the medical model of disability.
People with disabilities can be particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change — so why shouldn’t they be at the forefront of climate activism?
Indigneous woman Lisa Sansbury tells her story of trauma and abuse after being removed from her family at a young age. She tells her story in a painting to be submitted to the Disability Royal Commission with the support of her Indigenous advocate at Grampians disAbility Advocacy.
Ballarat-based Grampians disAbility Advocacy (GdA) has launched a video to encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to share stories with the Disability Royal Commission. This Is My Story gives voice to the experiences of Ballarat-based Indigenous elder Lisa Sansbury.