NSW confirms bi-partisan approach to NDIS
Bipartisan political support for the continuing roll out of the NDIS was strongly in evidence at the recent NSW conference of non-government support providers, National Disability Services.
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She’ll be right says COAG but housing crisis remains
If the communiqué released this week from meeting of the COAG Disability Reform Council is anything to go by, Australia is all systems go for the NDIS. But the supply of affordable and liveable housing remains a key question.
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Home Sweet Home: the housing crisis for people with disability.
Home, sweet home. Three simple words that say so much about our happiness, our dreams and goals in life.
Many Australians take those words for granted. But some people, including people with disabilities, may never be able to utter those three simple words, and all because of a lack of suitable housing.
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Housing: the big sleeper
Anyone with a disability will tell you that finding affordable, accessible housing is next to impossible. There are huge wait lists, too many young people in nursing homes and growing numbers of older parents despairing what will happen to their children when they can’t care for them anymore.
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Expanding my horizon
It’s taking Stephen a while to get his head around being able to do things now that previously would have been impossible without the NDIS.
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A scorecard on the NDIS trials
As we near two years since the start of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) we are beginning to get a handle on how this complex reform is living up to its promise to improve the lives of people with disability through choice, control and person centred support within an insurance approach.
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Attitude is the biggest barrier
Despite great leaps towards inclusion for all, our society still seems to have a fairly limited awareness of the need to or even how to make our communities accessible to all citizens.
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RecruitAbility? Just give us a job!
The Australian Public Service has launched a new scheme, RecruitAbility in an effort to raise the woefully low number of people with a disability they employ.
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NDIS Step 1: Think and Prepare
The NDIS is coming. Admittedly not fast enough for many of us but the fact that it will be rolled out across Australia in the next few years means now is a good time to start thinking about how to prepare.
Every Australian Counts has talked to lots of people in the trial sites and asked them what they think people with disability need to do to get ready for the NDIS.
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Ready for work but is work ready for me?
Fresh from participating in the Special Olympics Torch Run through Melbourne, Pippa Swanwick is gleeful about being interviewed on the Channel 7 news about her role in the Special Olympics Opening Ceremony.
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Up, up and away with fairer service
Thanks to some great work by the Public Interest Advocacy Group and the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW, people with a disability flying with a carer can now access discount online fares with Virgin Australia.
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Disability support and the NDIS: why doing nothing isn’t an option
Recently there have been some murmurings in the media, questioning the cost of the NDIS and where Australia will find the money to pay for it. Yet what is often missed in the budget debate is the cost to Australia of NOT introducing the NDIS.
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How will the NDIS talk to a quarter of the disability population?
The Every Australian Counts Campaign is the largest disability related campaign I’ve seen in Australia and the promise is no less than a revolution.
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Life’s never been better really
Siobhan is 14 years old. She loves music, boccia and Facebook and her life has been transformed by the NDIS.
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10,000 in – 450,000 to go
In a significant milestone for the NDIS, the National Disability Insurance Agency’s CEO, David Bowen, has confirmed that more than 10,000 people with disability now have an approved NDIS plan.
That’s a sizeable number of people in trial sites across the country that are now more in control of their own care and supports and are well on the way to living a life of their choosing.
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7 issues we can’t afford to let slip
2015 is going to be a big year for the roll out of the NDIS. There are a number of important decisions that the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and the governments will need to make before the full roll out commences. The State of the Sector report that was released by NDS lists their seven top issues that need to be addressed this year. Here are the issues that National Disability Services (NDS) wants action on.
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Ally blossoms under the NDIS
It’s the simple things. Simple, everyday things like going out to the mall and ordering a hot chocolate and paying for it with her own EFTPOS card. Simple things like using a mobile phone and texting. Simple things like dressing the way she wants to dress.
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Leigh – a voice for the voiceless
Leigh has Down Syndrome and works as a peer mentor. His work gives a voice to people with disabilities, especially people with Down Syndrome.
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Being of service or being a service?
My motivation to create a more inclusive Australia is highly personal. I have been transformed by love and by my brother’s experiences in a disabling world.
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Hit the road … or the skies … or the island!
Floating at dawn in a hot air balloon, front row seats at a zoo safari tour, an elevated viewing tower at the Phillip Island penguin parade; three top outdoor attractions when visiting Melbourne. But wait, there’s more – they’re all accessible.
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Waising Miss Chloe
Nestled in the outer Eastern suburbs of Melbourne is a light and leafy abode, the home of Sue and Chloe Dymond. They welcome me quite literally with open arms, and having followed their life journey in Sue’s book ‘Waising Miss Chloe’, I was only too comfortable with this.
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Why the NDIS makes economic sense
The NDIS is not just about improving the lives of people with disability; it is also clearly a win for the Australian economy.
Here’s how.
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The NDIS: See It Through
Two years ago, the law that would eventually establish the National Disability Insurance Scheme was introduced into the parliament.
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Molly and Jane: Play, bike riding and swimming – it’s all in the plan
A few months ago Jane Paardekooper hadn’t even heard of the NDIS.
Now she marvels at the change in her young daughter Molly as she runs from activity to activity under the watchful eyes of skilled therapists.
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