A Note from the Minister

June 2015

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Easy English version /

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What’s in this document?

A note from the Minister

About the Awards4

Types of Awards

Who can win an Award?

Can you nominate someone?

How do you make a nomination?

The rules that apply

The judging process

The Awards Ceremony

Summary of how to nominate

Word list

A note from the Minister

The New South Wales Government is very excited to take part in these Awards with National Disability Services.

It is the 4th year of the NSW Disability Industry Innovation Awards.

The government is continuing to make sure that people with disability, their family and carers can get the help and support they need.

The NDIS in the Hunter area has been very successful so far.

During the trial, we have learned a lot about the best ways to provide services that meet the needs of people with disability.

I am thrilled that NSW is the first state in Australia to take the National Disability Insurance Scheme into new areas.

I encourage you to make a nomination if you know an individual or organisation that is making a difference.

The Hon. John Ajaka MLC

Minister for Disability Services

About the Awards

The NSW Disability Industry InnovationAwards celebrate the great work that is being done to improve the lives of people with disability in NSW.

Innovation means thinking of new ideas and ways of doing things.

These Awards are all about innovation for people with disability.

In NSW, a lot of changes are happening for people with disability at the moment, especially in the way people receive support.

We are encouraging this change by giving Awards to people and organisations who are doing a great job.

An organisation is a large group of people who work together. In this document, we are mostly talking about organisations that provide services for people with disability, and their families and carers.

This year, there are 8 types of Awards.

Types of Awards

Leadership in Community Partnerships and Transformation Award

This Award is for a person or organisation that is improving the way our community accepts people with disability, and helping people with disability take part in the community.

Leadership in NDIS ReadinessAward

This Award is for an organisation that is doing really well at getting ready for the NDIS.

Excellence in Individualised Decision Support and Service ProvisionAward

This Award is for a worker who is doing a great job of making sure people with disability are at the centre of decision-making about their lives.

Leadership in Community Accessibility Award

This Award is for an organisation that is improving the way people with disability take part in the community.

Excellence in Employment Inclusion Award

This Award is for a person or organisation that is giving people with disability opportunities to work.

Excellence in Promoting Cultural Competency Award

This Award is for a person or organisation that is making sure that people with disability from all cultures are included.

Excellence in Indigenous ProgramsAward

This Award is for a person or organisation that is supporting Aboriginal people with disability to make choices and have control.

The Minister's Award for Excellence

The Minister will offer this Award to the winner of one of the other Awards. This Award will go to the person or organisation that the Minster feels is the most committed, creative and innovative of all the Award winners.

Who can win an Award?

Some of the Awards are for individual people, some are for organisations and some are for both.

Individuals who can win an Award are those who work with people with disability. This may be a volunteer or someone who gets paid for their work.

The organisations who can win an Award are those that work with people with disability.

The organisations will be not-for-profit, community-based organisations.

A service that is part of the government or a local council cannot win an Award.

However, if a community organisation works in partnership with the government or a local council, this is ok.

A person or organisation who wins must work with people with disability in NSW.

And the innovative or new way of working must have taken place in NSW.

Can you nominate someone?

When you suggest a person or organisation for an Award, it is called a nomination.

Anyone can make a nomination.

An organisation or person can even nominate themselves if they want to.

How do you make a nomination?

You can go online and make a nomination

Or you can complete a nomination form.

You will need to provide some details about yourself and the person or organisation you are nominating.

The form also has 4 important questions that you need to answer.

These questions are explained on the form.

You can make a nomination in writing.

You can also make a nomination in a recording, using:

audio
film
photographs.

Please contact us for more information about how to do this. Our contact details are on
page 20.

Here are some important things to think about when making a nomination:

you might like to talk to other people about your nomination – they might give you different ideas about how to answer the questions on the form

make sure you answer the 4 important questions

give clear examples of the good work the individual or organisation is doing
don’t repeat any examples in your answers to the different questions
keep all your answers short and simple
you can use full sentences or dot points when answering the questions.

Don't forget to tell us how innovative the person or organisation has been.

You can tell us the new ideas they have come up with, or explain any new ways of working with people with disability.

We suggest that you keep a copy of your nomination form and any other pages you send to us. Once we have your form, we won’t be able to send it back.

Please send us your completed nomination by 5pm on Thursday 3 September 2015.

We will not be able to take any nominations that arrive after this time.

The rules that apply

As well as the information we have
provided above, there are some rules about the Awards:

You must contact the person or organisation you are nominating and make sure they:

•know that you are entering their name for an Award

•understand that they may need to provide more information

•are happy for these things to happen.

You will not be able to discuss the judges’ decisions with them if you disagree with their choices.
When you make your nomination, the information and photographs you send may be used by the event organisers to advertise the Awards.
Everyone who is a finalist for an Award will be asked to work with National Disability Services to write a short story about the work they won the Award for.

All Awards will be given to the winners at the Awards Ceremony. There is more information about this on page 19.

The judging process

The judging panel will be a group of people who are experts in the different areas relating to each of the types of awards.

This might include:

business people
people who work in the disability sector
people who work for other organisations.

There is a set of rules for the way that the
Awards are judged. The judging panel will follow these rules.

The panel will choose the winner of the Award from the nominations.

The winner must be approved by the Minister for Disability Services.

The AwardsCeremony

The Awards Ceremony will be held in
November 2015.

The Awards Ceremony will be held in Sydney.

We will tell all the people who are finalists for an Award. They will be invited to the Awards Ceremony, where the winners will be announced.

The Minister for Disability Services will give the winners their Awards.

Summary of how to nominate

Nominations open

You can start sending us your nominations from Wednesday 10 June 2015.

Nominations close

Please send us your nominations before
5pm on Thursday 3 September 2015.

We will not be able to take any nominations that arrive after this time.

Where to send your nomination form

You can go online and make your nomination

You can also send a completed nomination by post, email or fax. Our contact details are on page 21.

Contacting you about your nomination

We will contact you about your nomination within 10 days of receiving your form.

If you do not hear from us, please email:

Ms Ashley Kadib
Sector Development (Administration and Policy) Officer

National Disability Services
GPO Box 2687
Sydney NSW 2001

02 9256 3174

02 9256 3123

More information

If you need any more information about the awards, please have a look on our website:

Word list

Community

A community is the place where you live. It is not just your home. It is outside your home as well. It includes the people who live in your area.

Innovation

Innovation means thinking of new ideas and ways of doing things.

Organisation

A large group of people who work together.
In this document, we are mostly talking about organisations that provide services for people with disability, and their families and carers.

Nomination

When you suggest a person or organisation
for an award this is called a nomination.

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