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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NDIS full rollout timetable on track
The timetable for the full rollout of the NDIS will be released in six months time.
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Disability in Australia: Unfinished Business
Our investment in the NDIS is a landmark achievement. However Australia requires deep cultural, structural, economic, legal and attitudinal change if we are to deliver on the reform agenda outlined by the Productivity Commission for disability in this country.
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Call for a comprehensive blueprint for the NDIS rollout ahead of today’s minsters meeting
“If I could sit in the room with the disability ministers today, I have one message for them. We need to know it’s coming, we need to know when it’s coming so we can plan. We need you to see it through.”
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Action calls for a national rollout strategy
While there are some incredible stories of transformation rolling in from the trail sites, the fact is that most people are still waiting for the NDIS.
At last count almost 9,000 people had approved NDIS plans so that leaves a good 450,000 people to go.
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Every Australian Counts transforms
Today we are excited to launch the next phase in the Every Australian Counts campaign. You told us you’d like to hear more from people in the NDIS trial sites. You told us you’d like to know more about exactly how the NDIS works on a practical level. And you told us you wanted us to keep up the pressure to make sure the NDIS rolls out on time and on budget.
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Vale Stella Young
Every Australian Counts mourns the loss of Stella Young, a passionate feminist, comic, writer and disability rights campaigner who died on the weekend at the young age of 32.
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NDIS – Where are we at? September 2014
More than 8,800 people with disability are now living their lives with an approved NDIS plan out of almost 11,000 people eligible for the scheme.
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Changing Attitudes Changes Lives
I roared out of the garage of Sydney University, and the College of Law, a shiny new lawyer. My social justice engine, fuelled by its knowledge of unfair dismissals and unconscionable contracts, was ready to drive people from the back roads of disadvantage onto the freeway of life.
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Work and the invisible disabling disease
Most of us have an idea in our heads of what ‘disabled’ looks like. It’s a very clear picture, and it usually involves wheel chairs or other visible devices.
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