Please Note That There Will Be No Update Next Week Due to Easter. Have a Lovely Break

DARU Update

18 April 2011

Please note that there will be no Update next week due to Easter. Have a lovely break.

• WHAT’S NEW IN THE SECTOR

• IN THE NEWS

• EVENTS

• PUBLICATIONS AND RESOURCES

• TRAINING

• SUBMISSIONS, CONSULTATIONS AND FORUMS

• FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

• PAID AND VOLUNTARY POSITIONS

WHAT’S NEW IN THE SECTOR

New Advocacy Group - Post Polio Victoria Inc.

Many people with polio perceive advocacy as a valued role and it was felt there was a need to establish a group to fill this gap and complement services currently available to the polio community. Post Polio Victoria (PPV) will advocate for post-polio needs to health professionals, services and government authorities.

In order to assist people with polio to reach their potential for quality of life and to stay connected to their community, PPV will consider

Strategic issues beyond the scope of individuals or groups to undertake

• Ways to inform the polio community and other relevant organisations, of appropriate steps individuals who have post polio can take to address these issues and
• Raising funds to support the work of PPV’s role.

Their plan is being developed and an open meeting is intended for around the middle of 2011 to further refine the objectives. All interested people are welcome to attend.

The committee currently comprises:

• Liz Telford, President, 0417006 455,
• Martin Grillo, Vice President, 0430-345-679,
• Jill Pickering, Secretary, 9428-4709,
• Geoff Dean, Treasurer, 5662 2643,
• Ron Bell, Communications Officer, (9725-8943,

Please contact any of the committee if you would like to find out more or offer your views and ideas.

Melbourne East Disability Advocacy Rebranded

Melbourne East Disability Advocacy provides individual advocacy and organises volunteer advocates to be matched with people in the community with intellectual disabilities.

Formerly known as Citizen Advocacy Inner East, they continue to operate in the cities of Boroondara, Whitehorse, Manningham and Monash.

Addressremains the same at 1059 Riversdale Road, Po Box 302

Surrey Hills Victoria 3127

Phone Number03 9808 8633

Email

Website URL:

IN THE NEWS

A Tribute to Brenda Gabe

The Disability Advocacy community were saddened to learn of the passing of Brenda Gabe on Thursday April 14th Brenda had a lust for life and was a fierce champion for people with a disability.She was the Chairperson of both the DARU Project Governance Group and VDAN – Victorian Disability Advocacy Network Her tireless efforts in these and other roles have and will continue to have a positive impact on the whole community. We have all lost a very loyal friend. She will be sorely missed. Our deepest sympathy go out to her husband Peter, daughters Adele and Felicity and their families. From all at DARU and VCOSS

PM TakesAim at Welfare

The Age Michelle Grattan 14 April 2011

Julia Gillard has vowed to use Australia's economic boom to break welfare dependency, saying next month's federal budget and the October taxation summit would drive reforms to get more people working.

In a speech last night, the Prime Minister said the nation had a special chance to ''entrench a new culture of work and opportunity in families and communities who have been denied this for so long''.

''Every Australian should pull his or her own weight,'' Ms Gillard declared. ''It's not fair for taxpayers to pay for someone who can support themselves.''

Her speech, ''The Dignity of Work'', strongly reinforced her message that the May 10 budget will contain major reforms, with ministers looking at ways to reduce the number of people on the disability support pension, which at around 800,000 Australians, is vastly more than the number receiving unemployment benefits.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has also urged big changes to get people off welfare, including mandatory work-for-the-dole for the long-term jobless under 50, and a new benefit for people whose disabilities can be readily treated.

In her speech to the Sydney Institute last night, Ms Gillard (-) said the reality of Australia was that there were people who could work but did not.. ''I want to help individuals, families, and communities whose worklessness has seen them excluded from society and the economy through decades of economic growth,'' she said.

''It's not right to leave people on welfare and deny them access to opportunity.''

She stressed that not everyone on a welfare benefit could work, and that some others could not work immediately. Some needed practical help to overcome ill health or meet family responsibilities.

Ms Gillard said she saw low unemployment as ''a new opportunity to break persistent cycles of social and economic exclusion''.

Reforms aimed at improving workforce participation would not only nurture the boom but also ensure the opportunities the boom created ''are felt across our country and for years to come''.

To read the full article, visit:

Australian re-elected as Chair of UN Disability Committee

Joint Media Release, Attorney-General, Hon Robert McClelland MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers, Senator Hon Jan McLucas, 12 April 2011

Attorney-General Robert McClelland and Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers Senator Jan McLucas today congratulated Professor Ron McCallum AO on his reelection as Chair of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for another two years.

Mr McClelland said Professor McCallum has been Chair of the Committee since 2009 and was an inaugural member of Committee in 2008. In 2010 Professor McCallum was also re-elected as a member of the Committee for a four-year term.

Professor McCallum has long been a campaigner for the rights of persons with a disability, Mr McClelland said.

Australia was one of the first western countries to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and continues to be a strong advocate for other countries to do the same.

Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers Senator Jan McLucas welcomed Professor McCallus continued appointment.

"I have the privilege of working with Professor McCallum on the Australian Government's National People with Disabilities and Carer Council," she said.

Professor McCallum is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Sydney and has had an extensive career in industrial relations. He was the first totally blind person to have been appointed to a full professorship at an Australian University.

In 2006, Professor McCallum was awarded an Order of Australia medal for his extensive contributions to social justice including providing assistance to visually impaired persons.

To read the full article, visit:

Jetstar Gets itWrong for People with Disabilities

NZ Labor Party Media Release, 13 April 2011

Labour’s Spokesperson for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni, is appalled at the treatment of two Attitude TV presenters, Dan Buckingham and Tanya Black, by Jetstar airlines.

“The fact that they were held up for more than half an hour whilst on an airbridge, kept in the dark as to the reasons for their delay, advised they needed carers because they were in wheelchairs and then finally told they were able to board if they kept quiet about the ordeal is undeserved and completely unacceptable

“The irony of course is that the two were travelling to meet with Office of Disability Issue and IHC officials regarding the Governments ‘Making a Difference Campaign’ which aims to change attitudes towards people with disabilities – after this fiasco the Government clearly has its work cut out for them

Jetstar’s CEO David Hall has personally fronted the issue but Carmel has said “the real measure of how genuine his apology is and his understanding of the issue will be a better informed workforce, better treatment of people with disabilities, and a revision of Jetstar’s policy that allows people with disabilities to exercise autonomy over their travel arrangements

“People living with disabilities, just like everybody else, want to be respected and consulted when it comes to the things that they need – Jetstar failed to do both

“The reality is that not all people living with disabilities will have the same needs. Rigid policy prescriptions that don’t respect that reality need to be a thing of the past and if we are going to have any success in changing attitudes towards people with disabilities both the public and private sector need to be on board

To read the full article, visit:

Haven Gives Mentally Ill a Place to Call Home

The Age, Kate Hagan, 12 April 2011

At 41, Paddy Swan has finally found a home of his own. Diagnosed with an acute psychotic illness in his final year of school, Mr Swan has spent the past two decades in hospital or in the care of his ageing parents.

For David and Billie Swan it has been exhausting, and caused worry about what would happen when they were gone.They wrote to politicians for years pleading for their son to beadmitted to a community care unit, a residential facility providing temporary support for people with serious mental illness. ''We knew he needed something to break the cycle,'' Dr Swan, a retired GP, said. ''We didn't want him to become totally reliant on Billie in particular.''

Dr and Mrs Swan met other parents at monthly meetings at the unit, where their son's condition stabilised, and found they had commonconcerns. The other parents included Allan Fels and his wife, Isabel Cid, who have spoken publicly about their daughter Isabella's experience of schizophrenia.

Ms Cid was also part of a group of women carers determined to find a property on which to build a permanent home for people with chronicmental illnesses.

The women persuaded the Fels' Catholic Church, St Joseph's in South Yarra, to donate its former convent. Five years later, with support from the state government and philanthropic trusts, it has become Haven South Yarra, a home for 14 people with chronic mental illness including Mr Swan. It will be officially opened by Mental Health Minister Mary Wooldridge tomorrow.

The one-bedroom units are self-contained but open onto communal spaces. Residents will pay rent from their pensions, which will go to a non-profit organisation for property maintenance and repairs.

The model is unique in drawing on a range of people for support. The involvement of families and carers is encouraged, volunteers will help run activities, and workers from Prahran Mission will be on hand around the clock to foster friendships and ensure residents' safety.

''Secure housing is one of the biggest issues facing people with mental illness,'' Mr Pawson said. ''People who can't manage by themselves in public housing are stuck in inappropriate places such as boarding houses, or with ageing carers, which is totally unsustainable.''

Ms Wooldridge said the government was ''very supportive of creativity and innovation in this area. This is about carers identifying solutions and making it happen and they're to be absolutely commended for that.''

To read the full article, visit:

Bouncer Thought Disabled Man was Drunk

ABC News, Jason Om, 11 April 2011

A South Australian man with cerebral palsy says he was refused entry to the Adelaide Casino because the bouncer thought he was drunk.

Mark Thiele was on a night out with friends when he attempted to enter the Casino, but was pushed back by a bouncer. Mr Thiele says the bouncer mistakenly thought he was drunk, but the Casino is sticking by its decision.

"I had said to the man that I wasn't a drunk, I was crippled," said Mr Thiele. Mr Thiele says he has not had a problem at venues until now.

He says he is considering lodging a complaint with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission or under South Australia's liquor laws.

The casino's general manager, David Christian, has offered an apology of sorts.

"It was certainly not our intention that Mark would have felt discriminated against and I'm sorry that he does feel that way," he said.

National disability discrimination commissioner Graeme Innes says he would like to hear the case. He says there is a lot of misunderstanding towards physically disabled people.

"One of the broader things that I would say about our community generally is that there's a negative or very limiting view of people with disabilities in the community," he said.

"That's because there isn't enough disability awareness training in a whole range of areas where customer service is provided."

He says the allegation that someone with cerebral palsy has been mistaken for being drunk has been made under the Discrimination Act on a number of occasions.

"It's not a new occurrence but I wouldn't say it happens once a week either," he said.

"It is something which requires appropriate training of staff, if staff are making those decisions to be able to take actions which will allow them to distinguish between a person's inebriation and a person's disability.

To read the full article, visit:

EVENTS

The Universal Access Challenge Access for Everyone, Everywhere

When: / Wednesday 27 April 2011, 6.00 to 7.30pm - entry from 5.30pm
Where: / BMW Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne
Register: / Free event. Registration not required.

A stimulating and important discussion around changing attitudes touniversal access and the practical challenges and barriers associated with improving the design of the built environment with accessibility in mind for everyone regardless of ability.

Speakers include:

• Peter Bickle - Architect, Ashton Raggatt McDougall - Project Architect on the Hamer Hall the Southbank Cultural Prescient Redevelopment
• Janice Florence - Access Advocate, Melbourne
• Senator the Hon Jan McLucas - Federal Government Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers
• Dr George Taleporos - Coordinator Youth Disability Advocacy Service TBC
• MC - Stella Young - Editor Ramp Up, ABC TV

Auslan Interpreters will be signing the event. Best access is through Fed Square Atrium; a car park is located next door; lift access to the lower floor area where there is plenty of space.

For any special access requirements, contact Jeff Taylor 9658 9965 or for general information about the Melbourne Conversations series, Visit:

National Disability and Carer Congress – Free Tickets

National Disability and Carer Congress: Make Every Australian Count represents a not to be missed opportunity to examine, analyse, debate and discuss the proposal for a National Disability Insurance Scheme. The conference will examine the interim report on Disability Care and Support released by the Productivity Commission, hear from international experts regarding developments in disability policy around the world, and, most importantly, feature the hopes for reform of people with a disability, their families and carers. Attendees will also have the chance to hear what our elected representatives believe needs to be done to better support people with a disability, their families and carers in the community. The time has come for transformational change – come along and hear what the future holds for people with a disability their families and carers and the organisations that support them in this country.

A small number of free registrations are available. These will be issued on a first come first served basis. Applicants if travelling outside of Melbourne will have to meet their own travel and accommodation costs. If you are interested, email:

For more information about Congress, download the brochure from:

Australia's Disability Employment Services Conference 2011 – Draft Program Released

Program highlights include:

• Persistence Pays, Michelle Colmer
• Can’t Walk. Can Fly Dale Elliot
• Demystifying change Bill Synnot, Specialist & Presenter, Bill Synnot & Associates
• Assessment of Efficiency of DES Zac Ashkanasy, Principal, The Nous Group
• DSP blow out – What, Why & Where to from here Associate Professor Roger Wilkins, University of Melbourne

For more information on the program and conference, visit:

PUBLICATIONS AND RESOURCES

Consumers with Disabilities and the TIO

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has developed a fact sheet to provide information about how they can help people with disabilities.

The TIO is a free and independent dispute resolution scheme for consumers and small businesses who have not been able to resolve a complaint with their telephone or internet service provider. They investigate complaints about the supply of disability equipment, particularly where Telstra is not complying with its obligations as the Universal Service Provider; that is, if it is not providing consumers with reasonable access to a standard telephone service, including a rental handset.

While providers other than Telstra are not bound to supply disability equipment under the Universal Service Obligation, it is expected that all service providers who bill a customer for local access should ensure that their customer's disability requirements are met – within reason – in relation to the provision of telecommunications services.