News Hub Opinion
Voices of experience on living with disability, inclusion and how the NDIS is transforming lives.
The quiet revolution
We’ve all witnessed it – in the shopping centre, at the movies, on the tram. A child screaming and hitting out, a desperate mother trying to keep it together.
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WA need our perspective, not theirs
Around the country, disabled Australians and their families were celebrating. Australia is #ndisready, social media proudly proclaimed. A sea of purple signs, bearing the words ‘I <3 ndis’, rolled across our computer monitors and television screens.
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People get ready… as the NDIS becomes a reality
Up until now, for many of us living with disabilities or caring for someone with a disability, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been something that we have only advocated for and dreamt about. But on 1 July, the NDIS moved from trial phase to full rollout and for thousands of Australians, the advocacy will finally pay off and it will be time to turn those dreams into reality. Here is some advice on what you need to do to get NDIS ready.
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Let’s give the NDIS a chance; A mother’s perspective
I would like to share our NDIS journey and how it has changed our lives for the better. I hope it will give people some perspective and give people hope that the scheme is destined for greatness.
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The importance of home
As the full roll out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) commences across Australia, many people with disability, and their families and support networks, are still unsure of exactly what it will mean for them when it finally comes to their area – especially when it comes to people’s options of where and how they live.
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Quang’s transport tips
Disability advocate Quang Nguyen explains just how important transport is for every day life.
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Let’s hear them roar!
Disability advocate Leigh Creighton has made it his life’s mission to speak out for the rights of people with disability. Here’s his story.
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All the world’s a stage for David
David Baker’s workforce participation has come from inspired teachers, personal helpers and mentors in the arts and Victorian TAFE theatre courses. Now he is getting ready to mentor others.
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Talking cents about the NDIS
It was with apparent naivety that I was shocked to see in last week’s The Australian “$5bn budget hit as NDIS fund dwindles”. Could it be that the NDIS, the only policy in Australian that our last four Prime Ministers are in complete agreement on, is up for question again?
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Paying lip service to accessibility
One of the worst aspects of living with a disability and being unable to work is the social isolation. Being trapped in your home, day after day. The social isolation is a huge causative factor in depression, which goes hand in hand with chronic pain and illness.
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Is there room at the advocacy table?
It can be hard for parents to take a step back and allow their children to have their own voices. However, when it comes to advocacy, it’s especially important to find the right balance. Here Renee Bugg, parent to Poss who is on the Autistic Spectrum, talks about how they’re meeting the challenge.
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Open letter to SMH – ‘Primary disability sector supports NDIS, point blank’
Disability advocate Tricia Malowney wrote an open letter to Rachel Browne, journalist at the Sydney Morning Herald – in response to a December 7 article called ‘Disability sector has grave concerns about NDIS roll out’ – explaining that people with disability and their families are the primary part of the ‘disability sector’.
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Making it work
Participation rates of people with disability in the workforce in Australia are well below those of other comparable countries. And of those people with disability who are participating in the Australian workforce, a higher percentage is unemployed than people without disability who participate in the workforce.
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Anthony takes charge
Hi I am Anthony and I have now been living on my own for over 18 months. This has been a very exciting, challenging and personally rewarding time for both me, my family and my support networks.
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For some, the long cold wait is over
The signing of bilateral agreements this week between the Commonwealth and Australia’s largest states, Victoria and New South Wales, was a historic moment for people with disabilities and our families and carers. Not only was it a demonstration of how politicians can work together to achieve something good, but it also means that for at least 200,000 Australians, we finally have certainty about our lives and our futures.
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Any delays in the NDIS will not serve people with disabilities
As final negotiations are occurring between the States and the Federal Government around the timing of the rollout of the NDIS, we are approaching a critical time for people with disabilities. It is concerning that a number of prominent voices have been calling for a delay to the full roll-out when they do not represent people with disabilities and may have vested interests.
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How to speak to your employer about mental illness
Long ago — maybe I was 19 — I walked out of a job on the second day and just never went back. It was a temp job, entering data into a machine and then checking the data and then entering more data. I was being paid $18 an hour, which was pretty good at the time.
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Caring for the poet
Dylan Owen-Buoy has been challenged by autism since his kindergarten days but it hasn’t touched his soul.
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Who should be steering the NDIA?
In recent weeks there has been a lot of talk about potential changes to the Board that governs the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
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My friend Bradley
I have been an advocate for a man with complex needs for nearly 20 years. The journey I have been on with him and his family over this time has seen some great outcomes for him, but it remains a constant struggle to ensure he has the funding needed for his support. We are hopeful that the NDIS will change this!
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I love my job – support workers embrace opportunities under the NDIS
As the roll-out of the NDIS comes to a town near you, or continues to bed-in across trial sites, the changes and challenges facing workers in the disability sector are becoming increasingly apparent.
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We are worth the investment
“I say the ‘I’ in NDIS should stand for ‘investment’. We are worth the investment. To move forward we need people to believe in us, to back us up, and create opportunities. When people have confidence in us then we start to believe in ourselves. We need to change the words to change the thinking.” A quote by Michael Sullivan, from an article by Julia May, Sunday Age, 15 February 2015.
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Two year anniversary marks the dawn of reform
This week, two years ago we celebrated the dawn of a reform that finally provides opportunities to people with disability to be included in every part of community life. It was a day in which we as a nation made a statement that we would accept people with disability, Australians that we had so long ostracised and denied. On July 1 2013, the National Disability Insurance Scheme first came to life.
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