Victorians with a disability are not reporting abuse because they fear they will not be believed, no action will be taken, or they will be punished, a damning Ombudsman investigation has found.
Victoria’s disability services commissioner has defended his decision not to conduct any investigations in the past four years, despite receiving “lots of complaints” about the state’s biggest disability services provider, Yooralla.
In 2014, a disabled woman named Stella Young took the stage at TEDx in Sydney and introduced the audience to the concept of inspiration porn. She explained that disabled people are most commonly seen only in stories and images that pornographically “objectify one group of people for the benefit of another group of people.”
There is much to be gained by drawing the curtains from public institutions, by exposing their failings and wrongdoing. That has never been more apparent than it is today. A plethora of royal commissions and independent inquiries at state and federal levels are examining corruption, perversion, misconduct and malfeasance by public officials or by those … Continued
A deaf woman excluded from serving on a jury because she required an Auslan interpreter is suing the Queensland Government for discrimination.
Campaign to change social attitudes towards people with disabilities was inspired by writer, comedian and advocate Stella Young, who died in December.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person, in many areas of public life, including employment, education, getting or using services, renting or buying a house or unit, and accessing public places, because of their disability. Disability discrimination occurs when a person is treated less favourably, or not given the same opportunities as others in a similar situation because of their disability.
The Charter is a Victorian law that sets out the basic rights, freedoms and responsibilities of all people in Victoria. There is twenty fundamental human rights protected under the Charter and the relationship between government and the people it serves is described. It requires public authorities, such as Victorian state and local government departments and agencies, and people delivering services on behalf of government, to act consistently with the human rights in the Charter.
A new Guide Dogs Victoria survey found two-thirds of guide dog handlers faced discrimination in the past year, including at shopping centres and cafes. Legally, the only place guide dogs are not allowed is in operating theatres and at zoos.
New data shows that in the whole of Melbourne there is only one suburb where a woman on an average weekly wage can rent a two-bedroom home and not be in housing stress (when you spend more than 30 per cent of your income on housing)
As I leave the disabled bathroom behind, a mother glares at me. “You shouldn’t be using that,” she says. “That’s for disabled people only.” When this happens, as it regularly does, I always feel torn. On the one hand, I’m grateful that someone has thought about the disabled members of our community. They are trying … Continued
Despite rapes, deaths and neglect in care, the disability sector is obsessed with self-protection. The Age has recently detailed horrendous events that occurred in a disability house in the 1980s and 1990s. The question that cannot be avoided is: what has changed? Max Jackson is a consultant in the disability sector and former chief executive … Continued
In Canberra today, the committee heard that parents with a disability often had their children taken from them straight after birth, and that those children were left in the foster care system before being told to fend for themselves when they turned 18.
At 16, Bree Synot was feeling ready to give up on life. Born with osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bones, the prospect of finding a wheelchair-friendly house suitable for her needs was always going to be tough.
Victims of alleged abuse in care are expected to give “harrowing” evidence at an the inquiry into the abuse of disabled people in institutions and homes in Australia, set to start in Perth on Friday. “I suspect it will be shocking and harrowing, but hopefully the evidence is too strong for the federal government to … Continued