From the desk of the One-Legged Sax Player, AKA the Interim Executive Officer, Andrew Fairbairn
Celebrating International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD): A Focus on Physical Disabilities
As December 3rd 2024 draws to a close on the West Coast of Australia, I wanted to put some very simple thoughts down regarding our day.
Today is all about celebrating the amazing achievements of people with disabilities and spreading awareness, and I would like to share some thoughts.
What’s IDPwD All About?
Every year on December 3rd, we celebrate IDPwD. It’s a day to recognise the rights and wellbeing of people with disabilities in every part of life. Whether it’s at work, school, or just out and about, this day reminds us to push for accessibility and inclusion.
Understanding Physical Disabilities
Physical disabilities can include things like using a wheelchair, crutches, or having conditions that affect stamina or dexterity. These disabilities might be visible or invisible, but they all come with their own set of challenges and strengths.
Breaking Down Barriers
One of the biggest challenges for people with physical disabilities is accessibility.
Think about it – how many times have you seen a building without a ramp or an elevator? Simple things like this can make a huge difference. Here are a few ways we can help:
Ramps and Elevators: Making sure buildings are accessible to everyone.
Accessible Transportation: Buses, trains, and taxis that can accommodate wheelchairs.
Inclusive Workplaces: Creating job opportunities and work environments that are accessible and supportive.
Celebrating Achievements
People with physical disabilities achieve incredible things every day. From athletes competing in the Paralympics to advocates fighting for disability rights, their contributions are invaluable. Let’s take a moment to celebrate these achievements and recognise the strength and resilience it takes to overcome barriers.
How You Can Help
Want to make a difference? Here are a few simple ways to support people with physical disabilities:
Educate Yourself: Learn about different types of disabilities and the challenges people face.
Be an Advocate: Speak up for accessibility and inclusion in your community.
Support Organisations: Donate to or volunteer with organisations that support people with disabilities.
Final Thoughts
IDPwD is a reminder that we all have a role to play in creating a more inclusive world.
By understanding and supporting people with physical disabilities, we can help break down barriers and celebrate the diversity that makes our communities stronger.
So, let’s get out there and make a difference!
Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences with us at Physical Disability Australia.
Let’s keep the conversation going and continue to support each other.
This year’s theme is “Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future”.
It’s significance lies in not only recognising the important role that people with disabilities play in creating a more inclusive and sustainable world for all, but also highlights the need and importance of persons with disabilities being actively involved in making decisions that affect their lives.
Being heard, seen and included in conversations, being involved in true co-design and simply being part of the disability community all play a role in bringing about positive change.
PDA is grateful for its Board and those it represents.
We thank and salute our members and those who play a role (big or small) in making a true difference.
For more information about this important day, go to:
A new NDIS rule is being developed (a DSS collaboration with the states and territories) under section 44(5) of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act).
The rule will assist the NDIA to understand whether a person is likely to spend in line with their plan, and if not whether a different plan management arrangement should be considered.
Recent changes to section 44 of the NDIS Act require the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) to make decisions about whether a person (including a participant, nominee, and registered plan manager) is likely to spend NDIS funds on NDIS supports in accordance with a participant’s plan (as required by section 46 of the NDIS Act).
Currently there is no legislative guidance about how the NDIA should make this decision.
To find out more about the proposed new management of funding rules:
What engagement has there been with the disability community about this new rule?
The rule has been developed following co-design work and engagement on plan management decisions led by the NDIA.
Since July 2024, the NDIA has been leading codesign and engagement sessions on how decisions are made about plan management and how supports and safeguards can be used to reduce the risk of harm to participants if there is inappropriate spending. While this rule has not specifically been co-designed it has been informed by this earlier co-design work about the broader NDIS reforms.
Governments remain committed to codesign and consultation with the disability community in the development of new rules under the NDIS Act and are working to develop an engagement plan with the disability community.
What will the new rule do?
The new rule will assist the NDIA in identifying risks, applying appropriate safeguards, and making fairer and more consistent decisions about whether a person is likely to meet the requirements of section 46.
It will introduce greater fairness in decision making across plan management types including participants, nominees, child representatives and registered plan management providers.
Implementation of the rule by the NDIA will include capability building supports for participants to support spending in accordance with their plan and reduce the risk of inadvertent or unintentional spending.
If you have any questions or feedback about how the rule should be implemented, please email NDISConsultations@dss.gov.au.
Due to preparations for our upcoming online info session on recent changes to NDIS legislation, we have moved our popular Christmas Bingo Social Hour to Tuesday 17th December at 7pm AEDT.
7pm Melbourne/Hobart/Sydney/Canberra 6:30pm Adelaide 6pm Brisbane 5:30pm Darwin 4pm Perth
This gives you more than enough time to put together your festive outfit, buy or bake your Christmas fruit mince pies and chill your favourite Christmas tipple.
This Member Only event is FREE to join, will be great fun and as usual there are some incredible prizes up for grabs.
These include Prezzee gift cards, a copy of Dinesh Palipana’s “Stronger” (either in physical book form or audio) for the most festively dressed attendee, and a major prize valued at $200 for the final (of the 4) Bingo games.
But to join us YOU MUST BE A PDA MEMBER!
If you are not yet a member (and are an Australian living with physical disability or a friend, family member or carer of someone who does, or if you work in the disability sector) you can quickly and easily sign up for FREE MEMBERSHIP by clicking on the link in our bio or by going to www.pda.org.au/membership/.
Following registration for our Christmas Bingo event (and confirmation of your PDA Membership) you will be emailed through your recorded Bingo Cards.
Confused by recent changes to the NDIS legislation and want to better understand how they affect you?
On Thursday 5th December at 6:30pm AEDT, a team from the National Disability Insurance Agency will be presenting “The New Legislation. NDIS and PDA in conversation”.
This will be an informative session for PDA members to learn about changes to NDIS legislation.
NDIS National Disability Insurance Scheme staff will join PDA to talk about the NDIS legislation changes and answer your questions in a Q&A.
This community forum will provide an overview of changes that will impact participants, including
* NDIS Supports (In and Out lists)
* Replacement supports
* Budget amounts and funding
Hear the facts from the NDIA, ask questions and clear up the confusion.
The Australian Government is currently working with states and territories on the development of a new NDIS rule relating to the management of funding.
It is important that you and the rest of the disability community are kept up to date on the progress of NDIS Reforms.
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in partnership with the state sports institutes and academies, Paralympics Australia and over 40 sports have joined forces to conduct their greatest ever talent search to identify the next generation of Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
Over the coming weeks, Paralympic Talent Search testing sessions will be running in ACT, VIC, SA and QLD in search for the next wave of future Paralympic athletes.
They are looking for individuals of all abilities aged 13+ years to register for this program via the AIS website:
Want to work at Woolworths or have previous work experience in retail as a person with disability?
If you answered yes to one or both of these questions, you’re invited to share your thoughts and ideas to help shape the future of inclusion and accessibility at Woolworths.
AFDO – Australian Federation Of Disability Organisations is working with Woolworths to develop their Disability Action Plan and keen to hear from people with a physical disability about what makes for a ‘great’ retail and employment experience. So come along and share your insights and ideas for better inclusion.
Sessions will be run online via Zoom from mid-November to mid-December 2024, with times available during and after business hours (AEDT).
Selected Participants will be paid $60 per hour for their time.
If you or someone you know would like to join, please complete the Expression of Interest form by going to:
Victorians with physical or sensory disability are invited to take part in an online questionnaire (approx. 5 mins) on level crossing experiences, including:
* Crossing behaviour and perceived safety
* Use of assistive technology
* Information needs for safe crossing decisions
This survey will also serve as a pre-screening for potential face-to-face interviews at a familiar train station.
Interview participants will have the opportunity to share detailed insights on improving crossing safety.
Data Use & Privacy
Your participation is voluntary and privacy is respected. No personally identifiable information will be collected. All participants will be asked to sign a consent form before participating.
Selection Criteria To participate, you should:
Have lived experience with physical or sensory disability
Be over 18 and make independent decisions
Use level crossings at least once a month
Register Your Interest
If you’re interested in contributing to this meaningful project, please email Jim.Valavanis@afdo.org.au with a brief background and your contact details.
Deadline for Expressions of Interest: Friday, 15 November 2024, 5 pm
Let’s work together to make crossings safer for everyone!
On Saturday 23rd November PDA will be holding its 2024 Annual General Meeting.
At this year’s AGM, the Directorships of Mark Pietsch (NSW), Talia Spooner-Stewart (ACT), Sharon Boyce (QLD) and Paul Watson (NT) are reaching the end of their current 3 year terms.
There are also vacancies for the roles of Associate Director in both Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
Full members wishing to nominate for any of these roles need to complete and return the ‘Nomination Form’ by close of business on Friday 15th November.
Nomination Forms will be emailed to our members. If you are interested in nominating yourself or another PDA member for any of these positions, please use this form or email promotion@pda.org.au for a copy.
Similarly, if you wish to appoint a proxy to vote on your behalf at the AGM, you need to complete and return the ‘Appointment of Proxy Form’ by the same date. This form has also been emailed out to PDA Members. If you do not receive this form and require a copy, please email promotion@pda.org.au.
All PDA members are encouraged to join us at our AGM via Zoom.
1pm NSW/VIC/TAS/ACT
12:30pm SA
12pm QLD
11:30am NT
10am WA
Hear what we’ve been up to in 2024, what our plans are moving forwards and be part of the Physical Disability Australia conversation.
With updates from PDA Ambassador, Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM, and the PDA Team, our Annual General Meeting will be a great chance for Members to be an active part of the PDA community.
Wherever you are in Australia, you can attend via Zoom.
All you need is a phone, laptop, tablet or computer.
Showcasing the stories of Australians with disability, this project will focus on independence, confidence, and self-advocacy.
To ensure a wide representation, they’re interested in hearing from:
* People with disability from rural and remote areas
* Women with disability
* Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) individuals with disability
* LGBTIQA+ individuals with disability
* Other individuals with disability who have an inspiring story to share and empower their peers.
If you have a story to share, you’re encouraged to submit a short expression of interest by 15th of November 2024 to jim.valavanis@afdo.org.au
Selected participants will collaborate in shaping an immersive 2D/3D mobile augmented reality experience that best reflects their story, creating an engaging and inspiring experience for viewers.
Participants will be paid for their time and contribution. This AR project is a unique way to raise awareness and highlight the achievements of the disability community.
They’re an initiative funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services and designed to help people with disabilities find meaningful employment.
Connecting employers and people with disability, these events are more than just job fairs. They provide supportive environments where people with disability can make meaningful connections and find resources to help them succeed on their employment journey.
So what can you expect at a WorkAbility Expo?
* WorkAbility Consultation Lounge: Meet potential employers who believe in inclusivity and are eager to discover your talents.
* Practical workshops: Participate in workshops to get you job-ready and provide advice on how to start your own business.
* Support services: Support services to help you get into the workforce. From training organisations to dedicated service providers, we provide you the opportunity to find the help to support you on your employment journey.
* Networking opportunities: You’ll have the chance to connect with employers who are committed to inclusive hiring practices and support services who are there to help you along the way.
* Learn from your peers: You will get to meet people with disability who have started their own business or who are already in the workforce.
* Workplace accommodations: Learn how to access workplace accommodations to ensure a safe and supportive work environment.
* Resources: Lots of resources to help you find and keep a job.
* Legal rights information: Knowledge about your rights in the workplace and how to advocate for yourself.
* Funding information: Knowledge about what funding is available to support you in the workplace.
So when and where are these Workability Expos happening?
Brisbane, Melbourne, Geelong, Hunter & Gold Coast are all ‘integrated’ events, which means they are taking place at the same venue and time as our Disability Expos.
Don’t miss this opportunity to take the next step in your employment journey.
Whether you’re looking for your first job, looking to advance in your career, or considering starting your own business, the WorkAbility Expo is the place to be.
A Virtual WorkAbility Expo will also be held on Tuesday 20th May 2025 for those unable to make it along to one of the WorkAbility Expos. Registration details for this Virtual Event will be released soon. Keep checking out www.workabilityexpo.com.au/events/ for updates.
With everyone dealing with the challenges of life, it’s sometimes difficult for us to allow time to focus on our own wellbeing and to put ourselves first.
Use today to give yourself a break, to just breathe and to give self-care and support to your mental health.
If you, or someone near you, is needing help today or any day, please speak with a healthcare professional, family member or friend or contact
General supports are one part of Foundational Supports that will aim to improve access to information and connection to the right services and supports.
Consultation events are also available. You can attend an in person or online roundtable conversation on the design of general supports. Events are facilitated by people with disability.
Registrations are open for some in person events, with more opening soon.
For more details or to register your interest in these, go to:
Speakers: The Hon. Amanda Rishworth MP, Mel Butcher, Jane Britt and Dr George Taleporos.
Foundational Supports Ideas Wall
The Foundational Supports Ideas Wall is an online, moderated forum where you can share ideas about general supports, as part of the design of Foundational Supports. Write your own thoughts, or comment on those of others.
“Please add me to the Foundational Supports mailing list”
in the subject line.
As part of DSS’ ongoing effort to improve communication, they are transitioning to a new mailbox subscription system, called Swift Digital. This will streamline how they handle enquiries and improve the look and accessibility of their newsletter. They expect the new platform to go live soon. Existing subscribers will receive further information about this, including how to opt out or unsubscribe, if you choose to.
I’m writing to give you more information about the changes to NDIS supports that started on 3 October 2024.
I understand change can cause concern for some participants, families and carers.
I want to assure you the purpose of the NDIS is staying the same. It will continue to provide NDIS participants with funding for disability related supports.
This email outlines how these changes will impact you as a participant, or as the nominee for an NDIS participant.
Easy Read and Auslan translations of this email will be available on the NDIS website in the coming days.
From 3 October, participants, plan nominees and plan managers must only spend NDIS funding on items in the list of NDIS supports.
This change makes it clear what NDIS funding can be spent on, and will help participants make informed choices about using their NDIS funding.
The definition of NDIS supports is based on current guidance.
Participants who use a plan manager or support coordinator should talk to them about what this means for current service agreements and supports. We are also working with providers to make sure they understand the lists, too.
What happens if you buy non-NDIS supports?
There will be a 12-month transition period for the NDIS support lists.
During this period if a participant makes a mistake and purchases a non-NDIS support, the NDIA will not raise a debt:
* for the first or second mistakes made;
* if the support is worth less than $1,500.
* Where a provider is delivering or claiming for supports on a participant’s behalf, for example a plan manager, the transition period is 30 days.
This transition period does not apply if a participant purchases illegal items with funding from their plan.
This transition period gives participants time to learn and change supports where needed.
If a participant accidentally spends their NDIS funding on something that is not an NDIS support, we will work with them to understand the new rules and access supports. If incorrect claims are repeated or fraudulent, we will take further action.
We know most participants do the right thing. The lists are not being introduced to make things harder for people, or to catch people out.
Our priority is participant wellbeing.
We will work with participants to make sure everyone understands the lists, and can get the NDIS supports they need.
Replacement supports process
Participants can ask for an NDIS support to be replaced with certain non-NDIS supports. These are called replacement supports.
Replacement supports must be from the pre-approved list. You can find this list of replacement supports on the same page as the NDIS supports list:
To get a replacement support approved, participants need to show that the replacement support will lead to the same or better outcomes, and be the same or better value for money, compared to the current NDIS support.
Participants must follow this process before purchasing the replacement support. It cannot be done after purchasing a non-NDIS support.
If an application for a replacement support for an item is not approved, the participant can’t apply for that same replacement support again for 12 months.
Where to go for more information
We are committed to making sure everyone has the information they need about these changes. We will continue sharing resources on our website and across our communications channels. You can find that information at the sources below:
Subscribe to the NDIS newsletter [http://click.e.ndis.gov.au/?qs=2af4d665ff9643f8eda541581f2b368d9f0f80498253e6c1d9d8f285dbd2cf463d757925d30a68accf19171259cb57ea5c813596074e35db].
NDIS changes need input from participants Recent criticism of the National Disability Insurance Scheme as an economic burden overlooks its critical role in supporting Australia’s economy and communities (‘‘NDIS cost blowout adds to inflation’’, September 27).
We agree, there are issues within the NDIS that need urgent reform, particularly around red tape, inefficiencies and accountability. These must be addressed to ensure the NDIS remains sustainable and delivers essential benefits to people with disabilities and the broader economy.
Economic benefits and multiplier affect
The NDIS channels funding directly into communities, supporting jobs in the disability, health and allied sectors, while fostering economic activity in sectors including retail, housing and hospitality. The multiplier effect of this spending is substantial.
Every dollar invested in the NDIS generates significant returns, through the jobs it creates and the economic participation it enables for people with disabilities. In regions where traditional industries such as manufacturing have declined, NDIS funding has created jobs that are local, sustainable and not subject to outsourcing.
Challenges that need reform
The scheme’s administrative complexity and layers of bureaucracy are driving up costs and making it different for participants to access the supports they need. Red tape and inefficiencies, often stemming from the overcomplicated processes within the Australian Public Service, are significantly inflating the cost of services. One example is the Salesforce Customer Relationship Management (CRM) installation, which exceeded its budget by more than $200 million.
Fraud and mismanagement are also significant concerns. The government has taken steps to crack down on fraudulent activities. However, stronger protections are needed to ensure robo-debt is not repeated – the current legislation allows public servants to issue fines and debts without appeal or oversight of the courts. Fraud prevention measures must be balanced with reduction in red tape, ensuring that honest participants and providers are not burdened by excessive administrative hurdles.
Oversight and governance
Another area of concern is the unprecedented power granted to public officials under the new NDIS laws coming into effect in October. These give officials significant discretion over participants’ budgets and supports, but provide limited avenues for external review or accountability.
Some legal scholars have raised questions about the constitutionality of these reforms, particularly around the concentration of power in a few public servants. This echoes the issues highlighted by the robo-debt royal commission, where unchecked power and a lack of accountability within the APS led to one of Australia’s worst public policy disasters.
The promise of co-design
While the government has repeatedly promised ‘‘co-design’’ with the disability community, we are still waiting to see this materialise in any meaningful way.
Time and again, we have had consultation, only to be told at the last minute of the government’s interventions, with little opportunity to provide input or shape the outcome. Co-design must mean genuine partnership in decision-making, where people with disabilities, their families and carers have a real voice in shaping the future of the NDIS.
The NDIS is a critical investment in Australia’s economy, but it urgently needs reform of the right kind, developed and in partnership with the disability community.
Yours Faithfully, for and on behalf of Physical Disability Australia,
Andrew Fairbairn (PDA’s Interim Executive Officer), and Tim Harte (PDA’s Acting President)
Changes to the NDIS are in place as of today and, in spite of efforts to make this transition simple and as seamless as possible, there’s still a lot of uncertainty and concern around where NDIS money can be used.
Supports no longer allowed will be considered by the NDIA, as long as they are cost effective and viewed as suitable replacements. Only one swap per year for each type of support is permitted.
The NDIA has allowed a transition period to enable everyone to learn the new rules and not to be penalised for accidental mistakes. Purchases costing less than $1,500 that aren’t allowed will not result in an immediate debt to the participant, with a two warnings grace allowed.
You can also find out more about supports that are and are not NDIS supports and replacement lists by going to:
Understandably these new rules may be difficult to navigate and you may be feeling overwhelmed.
If you have questions about these changes and how they affect you, please call the NDIA on 1800 800 110.
If you are in need of emotional support, please speak with a friend, family member, health professional or Lifeline (13 11 14), Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636) or headspace (1800 650 890).
The NDIA is inviting Expressions of Interest to join their new Independent Advisory Council First Nations Reference.
This is your opportunity to help shape a better future for mob with disability.
EOI Opens: 1 October 2024
EOI Closes: 5pm AEST on Tuesday 29 October 2024.
The NDIA is seeking driven and engaged First Nations people with disability to join this Reference Group. Members will play a critical role in improving outcomes for mob with disability, offering independent advice to the NDIA.
What they’re looking for:
Individuals who are passionate, connected, and committed to advocating for the First Nations disability community.
As a member of the IAC FNRG, you’ll provide advice and influence decisions that impact First Nations people with disability.
What you’ll do:
Participate in meetings (including online and in-person) to address key issues affecting First Nations people with disability.
Provide advice about issues facing First Nations people in your community
Listen to others and discuss sensitive matters
Be paid for your time.
For more information, and to be sent the information booklet, please contact Matthew Berne, First Nations Governance Branch on 0456 692 698 or email matthew.berne@ndis.gov.au
To apply: Email IAC with your completed EOI form advisorycouncil@ndis.gov.au before 5pm AEST Tuesday 29 October 2024.
Once your EOI has been reviewed, they will inform you of the outcome by early December 2024.
With the new NDIS laws coming into effect on Thursday (3rd October), there’s a lot of concern, confusion and stress around the way that this will impact participants of the scheme.
These adjustments will bring new rules for participants and how their funding can be used.
Whilst the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), has made assurances around keeping participants informed, there is still no definitive clarity or reassurances ahead of Thursday’s changes.
We can only hope that these modifications are clearly and easily understood and that the NDIS keeps those it was established for central and paramount to this new version.
PDA would appreciate hearing your thoughts and concerns around these changes. Please leave a comment below or email us at promotion@pda.org.au.
The recent criticism of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) as an economic burden overlooks its critical role in supporting Australia’s economy and communities. However, we agree that there are issues within the NDIS that need urgent reform, particularly around red tape, inefficiencies, and accountability. These challenges must be addressed to ensure that the NDIS remains sustainable and continues to deliver the essential benefits it provides to people with disabilities and the broader economy.
Economic Benefits and Multiplier Effect of the NDIS
The NDIS is a cornerstone of Australia’s economic ecosystem. It channels funding directly into local communities, supporting jobs in the disability, health and allied sectors, whilst fostering economic activity in sectors including retail, housing and hospitality. The multiplier effect of this spending is substantial. Every dollar invested in the NDIS generates significant returns, both through the jobs it creates and the economic participation it enables for people with disabilities.
In regions where traditional industries such as manufacturing have declined, NDIS funding has provided an economic lifeline, creating jobs that are local, sustainable and not subject to outsourcing. This type of investment is particularly valuable at a time when Australia faces significant challenges from global economic shifts and the decline of industrial sectors.
Challenges That Need Reform
The NDIS is not without its problems. The scheme’s administrative complexity and layers of bureaucracy are driving up costs and making it difficult for participants to access the supports they need. Red tape and inefficiencies, often stemming from the overcomplicated processes within the Australian Public Service (APS), are significantly inflating the cost of services. A simple example being the Salesforce Customer Relationship Management (CRM) installation, which exceeded its budget by over $200 million. This is reflective of broader issues within the APS, where a lack of oversight and accountability can lead to costly failures.
Furthermore, fraud and mismanagement within the scheme are also significant concerns. The government has taken steps to crack down on fraudulent activities, however stronger protections need to occur to ensure Robodebt is not repeated as the current legislation allows public servants to issue fines and debts without means of appeal or external oversight of the courts. Fraud prevention measures must be balanced with reduction in red tape, thereby ensuring that honest participants and providers are not burdened by excessive administrative hurdles.
Oversight and Governance Concerns
Another area of concern is the unprecedented power granted to public officials under the new NDIS laws set to come into effect in October. These changes give officials significant discretion over participants’ budgets and supports, but provide limited avenues for external review or accountability. Some legal scholars have raised questions about the constitutionality of these reforms, particularly around the concentration of power in the hands of a few public servants.
This echoes the issues highlighted by the Royal Commission into Robodebt, where unchecked power and a lack of accountability within the APS led to one of Australia’s worst public policy disasters. The NDIS risks following a similar path unless stronger oversight mechanisms are introduced to ensure that decisions are transparent, accountable and subject to independent review.
The Promise of Co-Design: Still Waiting
Finally, whilst the government has repeatedly promised “co-design” with the disability community, we are still waiting to see this materialise in any meaningful way. Time and again, we have experienced consultation, only to be told at the last minute of the government‘s interventions, with little opportunity to provide input or shape the outcome. Co-design must mean genuine partnership in decision-making, where people with disabilities, their families and carers have a real voice in shaping the future of the NDIS.
The NDIS is a critical investment in Australia’s economy, but it urgently needs reform of the right kind, developed and in partnership with the disability community. We must tackle the inefficiencies, fraud and lack of accountability that is undermining the scheme, always ensuring that the voices of the disability community are central to any changes moving forward.
Signed for and on behalf of Physical Disability Australia by
Andrew Fairbairn (PDA’s Interim Executive Officer) and Tim Harte (PDA President)
This initiative underscores the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia’s commitment to enhancing accessibility and support for individuals with disability who engage with the court system.
The first phase of the project involves a Lived Experience Survey to gain insight into the experiences of people with disability who have accessed the FCFCOA in the last three years.
The insights and findings from this survey, along with individual feedback sessions from court staff will be used to tailor education and training programs for court staff.
If you are a person with disability who has had experience with the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia in the last three years, please complete the survey or share with anyone you know who fits these criteria.
Did you know that physical disability accounts for *76.8% of Australia’s disability community?
There is a huge myriad of conditions that fall under the umbrella of physical disability, which is defined as affecting a person’s mobility, physical capacity, stamina or dexterity.
Physical Disability Australia has been around since 1995 and is one of a very small handful of Australian disability organisations that actually has members and board representation in every Australian state and territory.
This gives us a national footprint and allows PDA to truly have its finger on the pulse of disability in our country.
It is through this representation that our strong voice is heard and that we are included in Australia’s disability conversation.
If you haven’t yet signed up for our FREE MEMBERSHIP, we encourage you to do so by going to our signup page:
It’s quick, easy and available to Australians living with physical disability, their families, friends, carers, support workers, providers and anyone with a supportive interest in being involved in an organisation that truly understands and stands for the needs, rights and consideration of its members.
Together with the support of our incredible members and the ongoing work of our Board, we will continue to shine as an informed, influential, visible, active and connected organisation that puts disability rights at the forefront of all that we do.
If you haven’t signed up for FREE PDA MEMBERSHIP, what’s stopping you?
The Social Deck recently hosted a introductory webinar around Foundational Supports and the upcoming Consultations on behalf of the Department of Social Services (DSS).
In supporting our members and Australia’s disability community, Physical Disability Australia understands the importance of being kept up to date with news, opportunities, events and important issues.
We also value hearing the thoughts and experiences that give perspective on what’s truly happening and affecting our people.
That’s why we encourage you to stay in the loop in a number of key ways:
FREE PDA MEMBERSHIP ensures that you’re kept informed, supported, heard and given access to “MEMBERS-ONLY” opportunities. To sign up, go to www.pda.org.au/membership/
Join PDA’s Facebook group – Physical Disability Australia Discussion Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/physicaldisabilityaustralia) – where you can share your thoughts and opinions on areas that matter to Australians living with disability
As the Labor Government moves to begin mandatory registration of all NDIS providers, disability advocates and participants are concerned that this needs to be looked in to further and that co-design has to sit front and centre of this process.
With great fear that added associated regulatory burdens will lead to sole traders and small organisations being pushed out of the market, participants’ choice and control will be further flattened – particularly in services with poor supply or availability issues.
Are you concerned about the impact that enforced provider registration will have on your supports and choice?
However, is this transparency and scheduled action dates enough of a commitment and promise to Australia’s disability community and how much input, consultation and co-design will come from those dependent on the Scheme being made right and fit for purpose?
As part of this, they will be running focus groups to hear about the experiences of consumers with specialist doctors and trainees and want to hear the perspectives of people with disability living in Australia and their carers who have seen a specialist or specialist trainee in the past 5 years.
Focus groups will be held online in October or November 2024 and participants will receive a $75 gift voucher for participating.
If you’d like to be involved, you can find out more and register your interest by going to:
With changes to NDIS legislation set to hit on 3 October 2024, there has been a lot of confusion, concern and frustration around how this will impact participants.
NDIA’s CEO, Rebecca Falkingham, has penned a response to help alleviate the uncertainties and apprehension around this major revamp.
There have been promises of a commitment by the NDIA to work with the disability community to make the NDIS stronger through feedback and co-design and to ensure that changes made are done right.
So what are your thoughts and feelings on this new NDIS chapter?
What concerns do you personally have as an NDIS participant?
Where do you see a need for reform or direction?
What really needs to change in the way the scheme operates?
Today is the official day highlighting the importance in asking R U Ok?, but it’s also important for us to be aware that people need support, kindness and understanding each and every day of the year.
Don’t assume that a smile means that everything’s fine and that someone isn’t going through a tough time or struggling to feel connected and supported.
So when you feel that someone is in need of a hug, a chat, a vent or simply to be seen and acknowledged, reach out and genuinely ask “are you OK?”
Be prepared to listen to them and be present.
You may help someone and make a hugely positive mark in their life…and your’s.
Be the person who cared and made a difference, not the person who walked away.
A conversation could change a life.
If you are concerned for your safety or the safety of others, please seek immediate assistance by calling Triple Zero (000).
If you’re struggling and need help or support, please reach out to family, friends, colleagues, your GP, or any of the services below NOW.
You are worth it. You are important. You are loved.
We are Australia’s Disability Representative Organisations, and our job is to protect and support the rights of people with disabilities. We are also Australians with disabilities.
Right now, our community is going through a tough time. Some people with disabilities are taking out their anger and frustration on others in the community. We say this kind of behaviour has no place here. We know how hurtful and damaging this can be because we have experienced it ourselves.
This type of behaviour is called lateral violence. Lateral violence often happens in groups like ours that are already being left out in society. Right now, this is happening a lot in the disability community, especially on social media. Social media can be a great place to find support and information, but it can also be very toxic and unsafe. Sometimes people on social media say mean, hurtful and untrue things. This is a type of violence and abuse. We say this is very wrong.
As Australia’s Disability Representative Organisations, we want to say that this kind of violence is never okay, no matter where it happens. People with disabilities should feel safe with one another while we advocate for change. We want to stay focused on the important work we need to do to improve the lives of people with disabilities.
It’s normal and helpful to have different opinions, but it’s not okay to call each other names or be mean. In a world that’s becoming more divided and harsh, we must stand up for each other’s rights.
Let’s not let anger and frustration tear us apart. Instead, let’s come together and be stronger as we work together to make important change.
This statement has been endorsed by:
Australian Autism Alliance (AAA)
Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO)
Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA)
Media Release from Amanda Rishworth MP (Minister for Social Services) & Bill Shorten MP (Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) – August 29th 2024
“People with disability are set to benefit from 31 new accessible bathroom facilities, thanks to the Australian Government’s $3.7 million investment into the next stage of the Changing Places initiative.
Changing Places facilities go beyond standard accessible bathrooms and have been designed to provide people with complex needs and their caregivers access to suitable, safe, and specialised bathroom facilities.
The Commonwealth is partnering with the states and territories to fund 40 to 50 per cent of the cost of new facilities. The investment will deliver 13 facilities in New South Wales, 11 in Western Australia, four in the Northern Territory, two in South Australia and one in Tasmania.
Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth said this round of funding will add to over 300 Changing Places around Australia, expanding the coverage of facilities across the country for people with disability and their carers.
“These Changing Places do change lives. They mean that people with disability have the same opportunity to get out and about in their community and fully participate in activities that many of us take for granted,” Minister Rishworth said.
“One of our commitments under Australia’s Disability Strategy is for all governments to work together and ensure every public space is accessible and the record number of facilities to be delivered in this round of funding demonstrates of commitment to that goal.”
Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Bill Shorten said this funding builds on the 2022 election commitment to provide funding to see a ‘Changing Places’ facility built in every Local Government Area in Australia.
“Accessible infrastructure is an important way of ensuring people with disability can participate in local and community life,” Minister Shorten said.
“Changing Places allow people with complex needs and their carers to take part in community life without concerns.
“The $3.7 million in funding is part of the $32.2 million announced in the Albanese Government’s 2022-23 October Budget to build facilities in Local Government Areas across Australia.
“We are delivering on our promise to create a more inclusive Australia for the one in six Australians living with disability.”
Funding has now flowed through to the states and territories to commence construction works.
Facilities are at various stages of development, with all 31 Changing Places facilities expected to commence construction in the next 12 months.
I only suffered discrimination and othering three times because of my physical disability.
I am a wheels user. I have been disabled since birth. I live in Tasmania.
The first incident occurred when I was called “ cute” by a couple of young people who I was introduced to by my support worker. They probably thought I was cute because of the long held perception that PWD are childish and infantile. I am a 60-year-old woman and in no way would my peers describe me as cute. I did not speak up, I just disengaged and went on my way. Sometimes it’s simply easer to just roll away.
I went to dinner with my daughter and a friend. I drank wine. I needed a wee. I went to the only disabled loo in the restaurant…and waited and waited. I did a little trickle in my pants, my bad!
A lovely dad and his young son finally came out of the only disability access loo in the establishment and said “sorry”. I said “do not worry, I peed my pants a little.” Too passive aggressive?
The frustrating thing is that the dad and his child could have gone to ANY toilet in the establishment. Could have, but chose to use the only disability access loo. If a choice was available to me, I would have gone to any of the vacant toilets, however I couldn’t. I could only access one.
Look, the boy (around 7) probably needed a poo and understandably the dad had to be on hand to wipe. I am assuming this to be the case, but this encounter added to my feelings of being too needy.
I was not the only person in a wheelchair in the restaurant.
We then went to a theatre performance a local public college in Hobart. The performance was fantastic. We enjoyed it immensely. What I did not enjoy though was how I was not able to enter the building like that of other theatre goers. On arrival we found a disabled parking spot really easily and were quite impressed. The issue lay in the fact that once we left the carpark, we were not able to get onto the footpath to get to the theatre. There was no curb cut and we were greeted with a step. One small step, but wheelchairs can’t fly. So, we headed off down the road, dodging cars in the dark to find another entrance.
We did find one, but we were unable to access it because the gate was locked. My companion had to go inside and find a teacher to come and unlock the gate. The gate was not locked, but we didn’t know that. We entered and had a wonderful time watching the show. When it was time to go back to the car, we discovered that the gate had been locked. Again my companion had to find a teacher to let us out, whilst my other companion went to get the car so that I did not have to traverse back to the carpark with all the traffic in the dark.
I was not alone in this inaccessible challenge. Another disabled theatre goer was waiting on their elbow crutches for their car to come pick them up as well.
I am one person with a disability negotiating my community telling you about one day in my life.
There are laws, there are policies and legislation around access and inclusion to ensure that people with disabilities are not discriminated against or disadvantaged. However, they only work when attention to detail is adhered to and people are mindful and respectful. When things are not right on the ground in community, it takes the labour of people with disabilities to speak up, again and again. Some do not not. They choose to stay silent rather than being viewed by community as ungrateful or troublemakers. We need to shatter the belief that PWD are resilient, stoic and such inspirations, but that is when they don’t speak up of course. It seems as though community is not keen on the “loud minority”. And until other PWD speak up, the work will be on the shoulders of the tided few who fight on for the rights of all.
So while advocates and allies are in Canberra or in our local parliament debating matters of disability, the application of these rules, legislation and policies are only as good as their application on the ground.
Following our plans to restructure, and as we begin the search for PDA’s first CEO, there have been a few changes in our ranks.
Andrew Fairbairn has stood down from his role as President to support the team as interim Executive Officer and, after elections were held by our Board yesterday, Tim Harte has moved to fill the position of President until November’s AGM.
We are very excited about the moves we are making and a future of tremendous growth and success.
Please join us in welcoming Andrew and Tim to their new roles within PDA.
With so much seemingly negative news hitting us in the disability space at the moment, and usual concerns around health, finances, housing, employment, education, it’s not surprising that many of us are feeling overwhelmed and finding times tough.
News around the NDIS Amendment Bill, the Disability Royal Commission has certainly added to stress levels. However, positives are shining through by way of Australia’s disability community coming together, people speaking up and unity between organisations and disabled people growing in ways never seen before.
We are showing that we will be heard, that we won’t be forgotten and that the conversation will not end behind government’s closed doors.
Know that you’re not alone and that there are people who care and are available to give support with understanding and no judgment.
Reach out.
Whether this means speaking with a friend, family member, your GP or colleague or getting in contact with a counselling service, it is important that you do this as soon as possible.
Physical Disability Australia has recently gone through a restructure and is on the search for a CEO to help lead the organisation into the future.
If you have lived experience of physical disability, are an exceptional communicator and leader, have a strong background in management and a working knowledge and understanding of government and the disability sector, this position could be just right for you.
As a work from home opportunity based anywhere in Australia, the successful applicant will be instrumental in amplifying the voices of people living with physical disability and guiding PDA into its next exciting chapter.
With the 2024 Paris Paralympics starting on Wednesday 28th August, we’re set for 12 exciting days of incredible skills, determination and camaraderie.
Whether you’re a keen sportsperson, a couch spectator or someone with a take it or leave it approach to sport, we hope you’ll join us as we celebrate our Australian Paralympic Team – quite a few of whom are PDA Members.
If you have a Paralympic event that you’d like us to feature, or if you or someone you know is representing Australia in Paris, let us know and we’ll join you in waving the Aussie flag and celebrating the efforts of our country’s Paralympian heroes.
Written by Paul Williamson – PDA’s ACT Associate Director
People with a disability can sometimes face higher levels of exploitation and discrimination at work. Having a good understanding of what your rights are, and where to find help, is an important way to protect yourself.
Everyone deserves to be paid fairly for the work they do and to work in a safe environment, free from bullying and harassment. There is a lot of help available from government regulators, unions and community legal centres – if you are unsure, it pays to check. PDA can even help put you on the right path if you get stuck.
The national framework
The national workplace relations system is established by the Fair Work Act 2009 (Fair Work Act), which covers most private sector employees and employers in Australia. The key elements of the workplace relations framework are:
* A safety net of legislated minimum terms and conditions of employment.
* A system of collective bargaining, with awards and enterprise agreements.
* Protections against unfair, or unlawful dismissal.
* Protection of workplace rights such as the right to be free from discrimination at work and the right to belong to a union.
The practical operation of the Fair Work Act is overseen by the Fair Work Commission and the Fair Work Ombudsman.
* The Fair Work Commission is the national workplace relations tribunal – its functions include setting minimum wages, approving enterprise agreements, overseeing bargaining and industrial action, and resolving workplace disputes.
* The Fair Work Ombudsman is the national workplace relations regulator – it helps employees and employers understand their workplace rights and responsibilities and enforces compliance with workplace laws.
Types of employees
Employees get different pay and entitlements depending on their type of employment.
Full-time employees and part-time employees:
* work regular hours – an average of 38 a week for full-time and less than 38 for part-time
* get paid leave, including annual leave and personal (sick and carer’s) leave, under the National Employment Standards (more information below).
* get written notice when their employment ends, or payment instead of notice.
Casual employees:
* have accepted an employer’s job offer, knowing they aren’t guaranteed ongoing work or regular hours.
* get some leave entitlements under the National Employment Standards, such as paid family and domestic violence leave.
* don’t get written notice when their employment ends, or payment instead of notice
* get a higher pay rate for being a casual employee (casual loading) or a specific pay rate for casual employees.
Independent contractors:
Have different rights and obligations to employees. They provide services to another person or business and aren’t employees of that person or business. They negotiate their own fees and working arrangements and minimum pay rates don’t apply because they aren’t considered to be employees.
You might still be an employee, even if you have an Australian Business Number (ABN) or your employer tells you that you are an independent contractor. It is important to seek advice from the Fair Work Ombudsman if you think your employer might be classifying you incorrectly.
The safety net
The safety net in the national system comprises two parts; a National Minimum Wage and a set of eleven minimum standards of employment. These standards, the National Employment Standards (NES), contain the minimum terms and conditions for employees in the national workplace relations system. Employees can’t receive less than the NES, even if they have an award or agreement.
Awards and enterprise agreements
For most employees, their pay and conditions are set by the award that covers their industry or occupation. The minimum wage refers to the amount of pay before tax is taken out (gross pay). Some employees have a different minimum wage depending on their employment type, age or work capacity. If an award covers an employee, they’ll be paid based on their classification in the award.
In many jobs, employees get penalty rates for evening, weekend, public holiday and overtime work. Employees may also receive extra payments, or allowances, for things like laundry, driving vehicles or doing special types of work.
The Fair Work Ombudsman provides an award finder tool that will help you identify the award that applies to your situation.
Some people might be covered by an enterprise agreement. An enterprise agreement is like an award but negotiated at the workplace level between an employer and those employees that work for the employer.
The Fair Work Commission provides an enterprise agreement finder tool that will help you find the agreement that applies to you.
Unfair/unlawful dismissal
The law protects employees from losing their job in a way that is unfair, and you may be able to apply for unfair dismissal; the Fair Work Commission decides on cases of unfair dismissal. You must apply to the Commission within 21-days of termination so if you think you have been unfairly dismissed, you should contact the Commission as soon as possible.
The law also protects employees from losing their job if the reason is related to a reason expressly prohibited by the Fair Work Act – unlawful dismissal. Reasons include disability, because you were away with illness or injury, or because you belong to a union. This is a complex area, so if you have any concerns, you should contact the Fair Work Commission as soon as possible.
Other workplace protections
A range of other protections are provided by law, including the right to be free from bullying and harassment at work, the right to belong to a union, and the right to be free from discrimination.
The Fair Work Ombudsman and Fair Work Commission are a valuable source of information and advice for people with disability. Don’t hesitate to contact them if you would like advice or have concerns about your situation.
One of the best ways to protect yourself is to join your union. All union members get access to advice and legal representation if things go wrong in the workplace. Think of it like a safety net – you pay small, regular membership dues, but you’re covered big time if something goes wrong.
Let us know if you have any follow up questions or would like information about another employment related topic.
Physical Disability Australia, as Australia’s peak body for people with physical disabilities, has grave concerns about the constitutional and human rights implications of the Government’s proposed National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Amendment Bill.
In response, PDA joins other Disability Peak Bodies in calling on members of the Senate to vote “NO”.
To read our organisation’s position on this issue, go to:
This Wednesday (21st Aug 2024 at 6:30pm AEST), Physical Disability Australia invites you to attend a free online information session around the new Housing Roadmap.
Presented by the HousingHub, this online event will explore the Housing Roadmap, explain how to use it, and give an insight into supports available to those looking to begin their housing journey.
As Australia’s largest disability housing platform, the Housing Hub is the trusted, go-to website for those looking to access the accessible housing market.
Over the past year, Housing Hub has worked closely with people with disability and their supporters to redesign their information resources around the disability housing market.
Their upcoming information will be run via Zoom with accessibility options available (please share your access needs when you register).
The Department of Social Services is calling on all Australians to provide feedback on the current disability strategy, via a questionnaire until September 6th at 5pm AEST.
The aim of this feedback is to create a more inclusive Australia through a a review of Australia’s Disability Strategy, ensuring that it is working as planned and to understand if improvements need to be made.
A discussion paper has been prepared by the Australian Government outlining information to inform Australians when submitting their feedback on the current disability strategy. This comes in multiple formats (including a standard, easy-read, low-formatted and Auslan video and transcript) and can be accessed by going to
It is hoped that this feedback will lead to an updated strategy geared at improving the lives of people with disability, and looking towards a more inclusive and accessible community and society for all Australians.
Australians with disability, their family, disability organisations and Australians without disability are all encouraged to provide their feedback during this review.
For more information on Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031, go to
A recent *workplace disability discrimination report from Diversity Council Australia has revealed that some people living with disabilities are choosing not to disclose their conditions for fear of being overlooked for career progression, being ostracised and/or discriminated against by colleagues and employers.
Have you experienced discrimination at work because of your disability or have you made the active decision to not share your disability information because of professional or social concerns?
Do you think that you have an obligation to disclose this aspect of your personal information regardless of its impact to your job? Or do you think that it’s no-one’s business but your own if accessibility arrangements or workplace concessions aren’t required?
Written by Bikash Chapagain – PDA Member and Guest Blogger
My name is Bikash Chapagain. 45 years ago (in 1979) I was born in Nepal, a small landlocked mountainous country between China and India. I still remember my childhood memories. Nostalgia always haunts me. It is pretty normal in one’s life, isn’t it?
As a child, my four limbs, feet and hands were a little weak, however, I was strong enough to walk and run. At the age of five, I was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. At the age of thirteen, I could not walk at all. There was no hydrotherapy treatment in Nepal but with the support of a life jacket, I was able to walk and float in the normal swimming pool (non heated).
Whilst studying my Bachelor’s degree at the age of twenty in Nepal, I read the essay “The Declaration of Independence” by Thomas Jefferson. I used to contemplate and was very much touched by the lines: “all men/women are born equal. Life, liberty and pursuit of happiness are the three inevitable human rights endowed by nature.”
Sitting in my manual wheelchair, I always used to be astonished by these words and what these basic, fundamental and universal human rights meant for my life!
Twelve and half years ago, I received the Australian Government’s Endeavour Vocational Education and Training Award to pursue a Diploma of Community Services Work at Southbank, Brisbane. It was during this time that I discovered a wheelchair accessible, heated swimming pool. In July 2014, I was involved in a terrible motor vehicle accident in front of PA Hospital in Brisbane that put me in hospital recovery for nearly 4 months. For encouragement and motivation in life, I used to attend professional development training and resilience in Brisbane. This helped me to cope with my physical condition, excruciating back pain and challenged mental state.
In 2015, I got 4 appointments via Medicare for hydrotherapy. The hydrotherapist, Michael, inspired me and assisted me to walk without a life jacket and independently (but under supervision). I gained so much more confidence to walk in the heated pool with its comfortable temperature of around 32 degrees celsius. Brisbane Lions Club also gifted me a 7 day pass, whilst PA Hospital’s hydrotherapy and Mater Hospital’s physio also provided me with sessions of hydrotherapy.
Despite my physical disability, I am grateful for the wheelchair accessible infrastructures offered in the heated pool – such as the waterproof wheelchair, ramp and disability friendly bathroom. These gave me the opportunity and ability to access the pool with the assistance of my physio or, on some days, just my wife. I was also able to be independent in the bathroom to shower and to transfer and get dressed.
In 2018, I became an NDIS participant and started getting support workers. In my time with them, it’s always my preference to attend a heated pool, to walk there and to learn how to swim and enjoy playing beachball in the pool. From June 2018 until today, it is with the support of NDIS that I can go to a heated pool almost everyday.
I can now swim independently. Swimming has helped me to better understand my back pain, body pain and how to deal with my stress, anxiety and depression. Swimming is supporting me to cope with and beat my physical and mental conditions.
My two children and my wife are also good swimmers. My own personal experience has been instrumental in living my life to the full, and I recommend hydrotherapy as a great blessing and boon for everyone, from all walks of life – even small kids, elderly people, pregnant women and people with limitations of neuro motor skills like muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injuries too. I have even noticed that many people with visual impairments, hearing impairments and intellectual disabilities also enjoy swimming. I am so appreciative to have been introduced to swimming and to have it play such a big role in my everyday life and a life that I always advocate and stand for. Swimming has broadened my horizon and widened my perception of life.
I will be grateful for my swimming until I take my last breath. Swimming is my faith, my belief in life. When I stand and walk in water, I call it life. When I swim independently, I call it liberty. And when I relax in water and my skills and amazing buoyancy allow me to float independently, I call it pursuit of happiness.
Together, these attributes bring me achievement, meaningful purpose and help me to live an extraordinary life.
Our Social Hours are one of our fave times and are sure to bring a bucketload of smiles, infectious laughter and some hilarious chats to everyone who joins in the fun.
6pm VIC/ACT/TAS/NSW/QLD 5:30pm SA/NT 4pm WA
Held on the first Monday of the month, our Social Hours are a great chance to have fun, have a laugh, make friends and have an hour that leaves you with a big smile.
We’d love you to join us, but you will need to register.
“The Government’s DRC response isn’t just about all 222 recommendations not being accepted.
It’s the words missing around the government’s understanding and agreement that the disabled community deserves to feel equal and as safe as non disabled people.
The disabled community’s combined voices of lived experience were not embedded in the government’s response.
The government has seemingly based its decisions on economics, leaving us stuck in a funding war between federal and state whilst still leaving disabled people at risk of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation – the very things that the Disability Royal Commission was meant to address and provide protection from.
We are not vulnerable because of our disability. We are held in this place by a public and social landscape that continues to undermine our voices and our human rights and a government that won’t do what needs to be done.
Australia’s disability community has bared our souls and revisited places of horror and experience to provide government with a detailed and true understanding of what needs to be addressed and put right.
Whilst there’s understanding that consultation does not unequivocally equal consensus, the Disability Royal Commission has sadly reiterated that the voices of disabled people have yet again been undervalued.
It is truly disappointing and disheartening to see that the process may have been for nothing, and once again at the expense of Australians living with disability.”
Krystal Matthews (PDA SA Associate Director) for an on behalf of Physical Disability Australia – PDA
An article from the *Disability Support Guide, has revealed that 1 in 3 Australians living with disability are priced out of the housing market.
Average weekly rental cost is sitting at around $500 dollars a week, and 32% of disabled Australians are reportedly earning less than $383 per week.
With Homelessness Week coming up next week (5-11 August), Homelessness Australia is working to raise awareness of our country’s shocking homelessness rates, whilst highlighting ways in which these numbers can be significantly reduced.
Join the call to government to improve the number of social and affordable housing options in Australia by signing a petition calling on government to establish funding for a minimum 25,000 social and affordable homes each year.
Following today’s disappointing government response to the four and a half year Disability Royal Commission, PDA joins fellow national disability representative organisations to voice our concerns that just 13 of the 222 recommendations were fully accepted and that, following nine long months, many recommendations are still to be resolved across the different levels of government.
This joint statement calls on governments across the board to act urgently on all 222 recommendations and for prioritising the establishment of a Disability Reform Implementation Council, led by people with disability.
Written by Sarah Styles – PDA QLD Associate Director
Often it can take time to find answers, let alone the right support. Finding the right medical professional who works with you and understands enough, and being able to access appropriate support, can take years. Or maybe answers and support are available in good time. Either way we all have questions. When the disability or long term answers are newly acquired, life will never be the same again. The more answers we get the more questions we have – and there is always something that accompanies those questions – fear and uncertainty. So we ask, can we use that fear to our advantage?
What is fear? 1: An unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger 2: anxious concern 3: reason for alarm.
Fear can interrupt processes in our brains that allow us to regulate emotions, read nonverbal cues and other information presented to us, reflect before acting and act ethically. This impacts our thinking and decision making in negative ways, leaving us susceptible to intense emotions and impulsive reactions (Louise Delagran, MA, Med).
Fear in this state becomes our enemy. The high level of cortisol causes long term damage to our physical health and when left unchecked we become controlled by our emotions and instincts – which never works in our favour – within ourselves, family or when working with the medical profession. But fear can be my friend, and we work together for my good.
I have learned to sit with fear and pain. Don’t fight them. Fighting makes it worse. Just sit with them and breathe. This creates a still place. Yes, you may be enveloped by fear, but this is good because now it’s not attacking you. In this state you can ask how your fear and pain can guide you. There is a strength in being able to exist alongside them. We may be afraid of the unknown, but we become empowered by listing the unknowns and seeking information about them to be more prepared. One benefit to this is having a better idea of what questions to ask doctors etc. This is your life, so become comfortable with seeing yourself as the boss. But accepting that we may not have complete control over every aspect of each stage is also important. We can still live a full life in whatever way that manifests for us individually.
So take slow breaths, seek information, find the little things each day to delight in, celebrate all the little wins and take breaks from advocating. And challenge your idea of what living a full life means. This looks different for each of us.
The company breached the Fair Work Act by terminating, or threatening to terminate, the employment of three workers in order to employ them as independent contractors – a less beneficial employment arrangement for the workers when they were essentially doing the same work.
Nearly $200,000 in penalties for sham contracting involving workers with disability – #FairWorkOmbudsman
There is a significant power imbalance between employers and workers; if you are concerned that you may not be receiving your correct entitlements you can contact FWO for free and confidential advice.
FWO ensures compliance with Australia’s workplace relations system and prioritises people with disability given their heightened risk of exploitation.
PDA may also be able to help. Let us know if you need guidance through the process of checking your employment arrangements.
Over the past weekend Physical Disability Australia’s Board met in Brisbane to guide the organisation’s work into the future.
As the first face-to-face meeting since 2019, it provided a valuable opportunity for the team to discuss and consolidate strategic plans, goals, responsibilities and objectives moving forwards.
With so many plans in the pipeline, PDA continues to look forward to making a real difference for our Members and Australia’s wider disability community through driving positive change.
We’re excited to have you join us on this exciting journey.
If you’re not already a PDA Member, sign up for free by going to www.pda.org.au/membership/.
Shaun Bickley is an autistic person in Brisbane who is working hard to change this discriminatory injustice by organising an open letter against subminimum wage along with other disabled people across Australia.
Physical Disability Australia has proudly joined over 34 national organisations, 166 state/local organisations & businesses and over 2100 people who’ve signed on in support of ending this archaic practice.
We encourage you to join the charge for fair change by signing your support at:
NSW and WA are still holding out on signing up for the Housing Standards/National Construction Code agreed by the rest of Australia’s states and territories.
This refusal to sign up to a set of design standards that ensures that basic accessibility needs for all people are met on new housing developments, is beyond understanding.
Modelling based on these standards has shown that these amended requirements will add a mere 1% to the cost of a new build.
But in failing to adopt this new code, these rogue states are ensuring that fewer houses are available for people with disability and older people.
In turn, this potentially leads to thousands of Australians unable to live in homes built to accommodate their needs, thereby forcing more people into specialist disability housing and aged care, and putting greater pressure on the NDIS and state governments.
Building Better Homes Campaign is working to pressure the NSW Government to do the right thing, to join Australia’s forward thinking Governments and end discriminatory housing.
To get behind this important push, sign the open letter to NSW State political leaders by going to:
PDA is now recognised as an independent Disability Representative Organisation (DRO) with equal standing to the big movers, having contributed to Disability Advocacy Network Australia’s joint submission on the NDIS Bill.
Our organisation has worked hard to earn its place at the table and to stand equally with the major forces on Australia’s disability landscape.
We do this for, and with the help of our Members, and are incredibly grateful for our community and what we together bring to the conversation in our efforts to defend, uphold and support the right to live equal, inclusive and (extra)ordinary lives.
Not yet a PDA Member, but want to sign up for free?
On Wed 21st Aug 2024 at 6:30pm AEST, Physical Disability Australia invites you to attend a free online information session around the new Housing Roadmap that will be launched later this month.
Presented by the HousingHub, this online event will explore the Housing Roadmap, explain how to use it, and give an insight into supports available to those looking to begin their housing journey.
As Australia’s largest disability housing platform, Housing Hub is the trusted, go-to website for those looking to access the accessible housing market.
Over the past year, Housing Hub has worked closely with people with disability and their supporters to redesign their information resources around the disability housing market.
Their upcoming information will be run via Zoom with accessibility options available (please share your access needs when you register).
If you’re local to Brisbane, head along to South Pines Indoor Sports Complex in Brendale to hear her sing and to watch Queensland battle New South Wales in what’s sure to be an exciting game.
You can also watch it livestreamed on the NRL Official app.
The game kicks off at 3pm with Sarah singing at 2:45pm.
Last year the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care established MyMedicare – a voluntary patient registration model which aims to formalise and strengthen the relationship between patients, their general practice, general practitioner (GP) and primary care teams.
This initiative works to deliver greater continuity of healthcare, with evidence showing that seeing the same GP and healthcare team regularly leads to better health outcomes.
When a patient registers in MyMedicare, the Australian Government will provide additional funding to assist the general practice provide targeted care based on patient needs – such as longer funded telehealth consultations.
MyMedicare is open for voluntary registration to Australians with a valid Medicare card or a Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Veteran card.
Working to deliver a better experience for participants, is best achieved by listening to people with lived experience of disability and their personal experience in dealing with the NDIS.
The Participant First initiative will bring together people who sign up to help improve the NDIS through engagement activities such as:
* focus groups/interviews
* co-design workshops on specific issues, processes, product surveys, discussion papers and submissions
* taking part in research projects.
By joining Participant First, you can help the NDIS make sure the voices of people with disability are central to NDIS reforms.
Participant First will work to prioritise co-design, consultation and engagement activities on the following topics:
* participant pathway experience
* assessments and budgeting
* navigator functions
* participant services
* psychosocial disability
* home and living
* integrity and fraud prevention
* workforce capability and culture
* participant safety
* supporting children and young people in the NDIS.
To be involved, register your interest by going to:
PDA will be submitting a report to the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme. This will be included in the annual report that the committee is required to submit to Parliament to outline its activities over the year.
This report covers the implementation, performance, governance, administration and expenditure of the NDIS, and includes submissions around these key areas from NDIS participants, the broader disability community, family members, informal carers and service providers.
As part of PDA’s response, we’d like to know what NDIS issues our members and other NDIS participants think needs to change in the way the NDIS works.
If you want to share your views your experiences with the NDIS, please take part in our survey by going to:
All the collected information will only be used to provide statistics on NDIS concern areas and anonymous comments about those concern areas.
Information about you will not be shared with any other 3rd party under any circumstances except as required by law, and all data will be deleted once our work has been completed.
On Tuesday (25th June) PDA’s President, Andrew Fairbairn, spoke with WA’s RTRFM 91.2 on “Disability In Action”.
In this conversation with Simon Chong, Andrew shared his story, his advocacy work, the value of universal design, and his passion for access and inclusion.
Why not make a tax deductible donation to Physical Disability Australia?
These donations will assist in furthering the work of PDA and allow us to support and advocate further for the interests and views of people with physical disability in Australia – and to be heard by decision makers at all levels.
With so much happening around disability at the moment, keeping up to date and informed can be time consuming and overwhelming.
Did you know that PDA offers a one stop spot for disability media?
Don’t wait for a weekly news round-up of too late, out of date stories, articles and conversations, head across to PDA’s Facebook Discussion Group and join for free.
For Australian and international disability related news, interesting stories and the opportunity to share your thoughts, ask for advice and be part of the discussion, this online community is for you.
We all have stories, advice and thoughts around disability that are worth sharing.
So why not get paid for putting your pen to paper?
To expand blog participation and content, we are calling out to our Members to submit articles that are of interest to our readers, worthwhile and based around living with a disability.
Contributors will receive $100 in payment, based on the following criteria: * submissions must come from PDA members * blog topics must be cleared with PDA before writing commences * blogs are expected to have a word count between 600 to 1,200 (unless agreed by PDA) * blogs must be previously unpublished * blogs published become the property of PDA and may not be published outside of PDA’s website by the contributor or other parties outside of PDA * payment will not be made unless content has been approved by PDA and the final blog contribution has been viewed, edited by PDA as needed (in agreement with the writer) and accepted as being suitable and on brand with PDA.
If you are interested in being involved and having your writing published online, please email promotion@pda.org.au.
We look forward to your story appearing on our blog page.
Did you know that physical disability affects *76.8% of Australia’s disability community?
Also, with the likelihood of disability increasing as we age, approximately half of Australians aged 65 and over will experience some form of physical disability during their later years.
There are many health conditions that can fall under the umbrella of being a physical disability – including those affecting a person’s mobility, physical capacity, stamina, or dexterity.
Thankfully Physical Disability Australia exists to represent and stand up for the rights of all Australians living with physical disability and provide a supportive and welcoming community for everyone with a positive interest in bringing about positive change in our country’s disability landscape.
So whether you have a physical disability, care for someone who does, if you work in the disability sector or just want to see that access, inclusion and fairness for PWD is part of the conversation, sign up for FREE PDA MEMBERSHIP.
I applied for a job. A small job offering 7 hours a week. That’s all. I did not get an interview and I am not sure why.
Could it be that I am now 59 years old?
Could it be that I have too many degrees and graduate diplomas?
Or could it be the elephant in the room – that I have a disability?
I was upfront in my application that I have a congenital disability (from birth), but my application was solid and outlined my extensive work experience.
A friend told me that she never discloses her disability when applying for a job. So was this my mistake? Should I have hidden my disability like it was something to be ashamed of?
For seven hours work a week they received 50 applicants! Is this an indication of the jobs market now? Has our boom of low unemployment disappeared?
Whatever the economic reasoning, the thing is that high unemployment for people with disability has not disappeared or changed in 30 years.
“People aged 15–64 with disability are more likely to be unemployed than those without disability. They are also more likely to be unemployed for longer.” [as reported by the Australian Institute for Health and Wellbeing in 2024]
On average, it also takes a university graduate with a disability 3 years longer than their contemporaries to gain employment. The percentage of people with disabilities who have superannuation is also minuscule.
So what does this mean for people with disabilities – who are amongst the poorest of minority groups in Australia today and suffer social discrimination? It results in a lack of financial stability, with a flow on effect to the social indicators of disadvantage; poverty, housing stress, food stress and mental health stress. Alongside these consequences, the sense of worth of a person with disabilities is undermined every time they apply for a job and are rejected. When the rejection letter pile reaches the (glass abled) ceiling, that’s when they stop trying.
Even though a person with disability may be highly educated or highly skilled, these social indicators do not move if the person is unemployed. On average, PWD die 10 -15 years earlier than those without disability. This is assisted because we simply cannot rise above the unconscious, or dare I say conscious, bias that people with disabilities are less and thus unworthy.
The benefits of having meaningful employment for PWD has been explored and persued by successive governments for over 30 years and yet, as mentioned earlier, unemployment rates for PWD have not changed.
“Our Government has committed an additional $227.6 million, bringing the total funding to $5.4 billion over the next five years to help more people with disability prepare for and find suitable employment including through a new specialised disability employment program commencing on 1 July 2025.” [Reported by the Department of Social Services in 2024]
This is fantastic news. Finally Government acknowledges the problem and is throwing billions of dollars towards getting PWD into jobs and accessing an under-utilised employment pool. Unfortunately though, this step forward is overshadowed by Government’s very own under-employment of PWD. Did I mention the job I applied for was a state government position?
I am not saying that Government should not spend billions of dollars on a huge social issue that is broader than just job agencies and training courses. What I am saying is that Government should step us and put in place dedicated programs for PWD to gain employment in the public sector. If you are going to talk the talk on disability employment, then walk the walk.
When speaking of Government as a whole, we need to understand that Government is made up of a conglomerate of agencies, both at federal and state levels, and the culture of these individual agencies needs to be accountable for any bias against PWD and work towards correcting these prejudices or oversights.
I am not suggesting anything new here. PWD have long advocated to have more Government jobs dedicated and provided to PWD. If a position is disability related, surely it makes sense to have a person with the most lived experience in that job? I.e. a person with a disability.
However, it is not just Government that has an issue with employing people with disability. Our own disability organisations have horrendous track records of employing PWD within their own organisations. Of all the peak bodies organisation for disability, almost none have a CEO who is disabled themselves. The policy officers who write policy for these organisations, and present them to Government, also predominantly do not have a disability themselves.
Sadly, my disappointment at not being deemed worthy of an interview for a seven hours a week job becomes a drop in the ocean of the disappointment felt by PWD everyday, enduring rejections and building on feelings of unworthiness and trashed self esteem.
In a conversation with a disabled friend, I was told “I’ve just given up. I can’t stand the hurt from rejection anymore and will just live my life as best I can on the pension.”
Australian Federation of Disabilities (AFDO) reported that 53.4% of Australians with disability are employed, compared to 83.2% of non-disabled Australians – keeping in mind that employment can mean as little as 1 hour/week and that the 88% of people on Disability Support Payments are not counted (AFDO, 2024). It’s not rocket science to see that the vast majority of PWD do not have jobs and that the scale of unemployment for PWD is huge and that corrective action is long overdue.
Most PWD want to work, be contributing members of their communities and get paid for it. Volunteering or sitting unpaid on a board is one thing, but actually getting paid for the work you do brings a whole level of life satisfaction and self value.
Australia has a long way to go in truly becoming a welcoming country that embraces and values all its people, and this includes the culture of disability where our great community is portrayed as being less – deserving pity and paternalism. How will we ever reach equality if we are never given opportunities? I grieve that I was not good enough for seven hours a week and this grief is amplified by the millions of fellow PWD who are discarded in the “not-employable” pile each and every day.
Support workers are NOT you friends. However, treating them as such is a trap that many people with disabilities find themselves in.
Often people with disabilities spend more time with their support workers than they do with family and friends. Support workers are there on the days that you just need to talk. They see us at our worst. They see everything. They are privileged to the most personal information about us. They are there when we make phone calls. They are in our homes all the time.
So how do we draw the line in the sand? How do we separate the worker from the friendship?
Is it our responsibility as participants to make sure we are ‘absolutely professional’ in our undertakings with support workers or is it the responsibility of the support workers themselves? Or does responsibility to set the standard lie with the companies for whom they work?
When is the line crossed?
You have a support worker’s phone number so you can message them. They go to Coles, and you have forgotten to ask them to get something. Sounds very reasonable to be able to contact them in this case.
What about Facebook or other social media platforms? You go to a show, a play or the movies together, so should you have the ability to tag the support worker? Probably not. They are paid to accompany you on an outing. They are NOT your friends.
The real danger here is, as described by support companies as ‘grooming’, that some of us participants are more vulnerable than others and the risk of grooming is real. I once heard about a participant being taken to a support worker’s house to buy a gaming console. That really set off alarm bells for me.
But then again, if a support worker had something for sale that I wanted to buy, isn’t it reasonable that I can buy it? After all it’s on the open market. It gets messy when we look at a participant’s capacity. Are they able to make resonable decisions or are they able to be coerced?
But does a one size fit all approach work when it comes to rules and professionalism guidelines? Should we always err on the side of the most stringent rules around the separation of work and friendships? This is where the potential for power imbalance needs to be really taken into consideration. Who in the relationship has the most power?
We can not label all people with disabilities as incapable of maintaining a healthy boundary with support workers, but loneliness and isolation can make the most astute of us vulnerable.
It’s food for thought! These people are the most important people in our lives, so of course we are going to bond with some of them more than others. If they were all standoffish and resolutely ‘professional’, would our lives then be that little bit less.
This also speaks to the isolation of people with disabilities, how we are excluded from friendships and why we rely on friendships with our support workers. Our needs for access make it more difficult to build relationships with those that do not have disabilities. Our differences can make others feel unsure of us, sometimes even fearful of us, making them uncertain or uncomfortable about how to simply be with us. Our society has made us different, we can be viewed with mistrust and from this our isolation and loneliness is compounded.
I have had some of the most wonderful, supportive support workers come and go in my life. Some I have developed a strong bond with. They are more like family than support workers. It is my hope that they have valued the trust and faith I have put into their care and friendship.
Life is forever moving forward and changing, and it is inevitable that some of those relationships had to end. Distance and other opportunities has seen my most loved support workers leave my life. And there in lays the issue “most loved”! I am able to separate our relationship as transient, however when we are together they are the most importantly people in my life. Sharing my highs and lows.
My capacity to separate them as workers means I have not been emotionally harmed by the loss. It is sad, but we all move forward to the next big thing. It also speaks to the quality of the support worker and their understanding that even though they are well loved, we all move on, and it has always been with happiness for the future that our relationships have ended.
I would like to thank the amazing support workers that have come and gone in my life and made it worth living. Yes, your friendships have been immeasurable to get me the hard times. Thank you Wendy, Michelle, Trenton and a host of supporting cast support workers that have made my life better. I won’t name my current support staff who also mean so much to me (the company they may work for might get antsy).
Not all support workers are created equally though, and some are just meant to be more than support workers and for a time they are best friends.
The National Own It Cervical Screening Campaign is being developed by ACON in partnership with the Australian Government’s Department of Health and Aged Care, the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), the Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative an initiative of the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA), and Cultural Perspectives.
It aims to communicate the importance of cervical screening and the availability and the efficacy of the self-collect test, whilst working to encourage women and people with a cervix aged 25-74 years, (particularly those from First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds), to have a cervical screen.
Raising awareness about the importance of the screening and the availability of the self-collection option, the national Own It campaign is planned to launch September 2024 and will run through 2025.
Filming will take place in a Sydney metro location in late June, and they’re specifically looking to fill the role of a person living with a physical disability.
It’s half a day of work and pays $800 + expenses.
If you’re interested, you must register by 17th June 2024.
I am a joiner. I want to belong and contribute to my community.
As a person with disabilities this is really important to my health and wellbeing. It is well documented in psychology that those who are engaged and participate in a wide circle of social activities do better at health indicators, their mental health is better, their overall health is better.
So how do we encourage people with disabilities to participate?
We provide safe and accessible physical sites that allow everyone to be engaged.
The simplest of infrastructure can be a barrier to participation. How many venues have we all been to that do not have a disability accessible bathroom? Or are an accessibility fail because of that one step that stops a person with mobility restrictions from entering. It’s getting better, but there is still work to be done.
My personal pet hate is when NDIS providers offer services to people with disabilities, yet their understanding of disability diversity is limited. They simply do not think of the simple things like a bathroom for us to use. But what if it’s more sinister than that and they only want to provide services to a certain cohort of participants? That’s dark and scary to think that not only are PWD now commodified for their NDIS packages, but providers can pick and choose the easiest to service for maximum profit.
My second real concern is that the mainstream still have a lot to learn too. Now I will expose my shame and embarrassment. Recently I was fundraising for a big charity and attended the nationwide charity event in my city. I was excited and keen. I had fundraised really well and was proud of my efforts to contribute to this well deserving organisation.
The event started and I was impressed with how accessible it was. I was assured a parking spot and the terrain of the event at the start was perfect. I felt involved and proud to be contributing alongside everyone else in the community.
Then things went bad. We veered off the path at the very end and found ourselves on to a dirt track heading up a hill. It was goat country. My off road scooter was just not prepared for such an adventure and, after being grounded on a large rock, some wiring was dislodged and I found myself stuck.
Two members of the public and some volunteers of the organisation had to push me up a very steep hill and then carefully hold on to me as we negotiated the steep descent.
I felt humiliated and embarrassed that I was no longer an equal member of the event, but someone who required assistance to complete the course. It was hard work for the volunteers and the community members to get me to the finish line and I felt terrible, and truly mortified that this had happened. We left the event and I slunk off early holding my wounded self close to heal.
Always solutions based and putting my discomfort aside, I reached out to the organisation and together we developed a plan to make the event accessible next year. Organisations don’t know if we (as people with disability) don’t tell them what we need. My experience will make it better for people in the future.
So I guess my point here is that the hard work to make our world more accessible is still up to people with disability. Access is only as good as the person designing it for an organisation. If that person has limited experience with inclusion policies, or indeed if the organisation does not have an access and inclusion policy, it throws all the hard work and at times embarrassment back on to people with disabilities.
As a community we are all still learning, but I often wish that we were already there with access issues being a thing of the past and assurance that we can all contribute and be engaged in a safe and welcoming world.
Written by Robert Wise – PDA VIC Associate Director
Welcome to part two in a series of blogs focusing on some of the assisted technology and other items that I received NDIS funding for – enabling me to become a bit more independent and to continue to do the things that I like to do and, most importantly, helping me to achieve my goals.
I have been a NDIS recipient since 2018 and one of the first things granted in my first plan was a lightweight manual wheelchair. A wheelchair was one of the critical items I needed as a lower limb amputee. Many lower limb amputees are considered part time wheelchair users.
I need to use a wheelchair mainly whilst outside in the community, as a prosthetic is not an option for me and walking on crutches can be tiring at times. I also need a wheelchair to shower. I use it to transfer in and out of the shower as using crutches in wet areas is very dangerous. I also use a wheelchair to carry lightweight items as this is easier than trying to carry items whilst on crutches as both hands are needed to use them.
I do have a wheelchair that was issued through my state’s assisted tech program, but the one I was issued with was a very basic model with some minor customisation for my needs. One of the reasons I applied for a new wheelchair was that my current one had no tiedown loops to carry the chair with me in it in a wheelchair taxi or on a long-distance wheelchair accessible coach service. I found this out the hard way. Having booked a seat on a particular service, and having mentioned at the time that I needed wheelchair accessible space, I was told “no problems there”. However, when I arrived to board the coach which was “wheelchair accessible”, the coach driver took one look at my chair and said “this has no tie down loops so I cannot secure your chair and it has to go in the luggage area”. So I had no choice but to get out of the chair and use my crutches to struggle up the narrow steps into a seat.
After a great report, a couple of quotes and in very little time, I took delivery of a new HELIO wheelchair complete with many accessories including crutch carrier and an under seat luggage net to carry a small amount of shopping without effecting the centre of gravity. Most importantly it had tie down loops. The wheelchair is very lightweight and easy to fold flat for transporting in a normal car boot. It is easy to self-propel and glides smoothly on many surfaces.
Over the next year I customised this wheelchair some more with a power assist device known as a “Smoov One” that attaches to the rear of the wheelchair to assist with getting up hills or help when fatigue sets in. This device just moves the wheelchair. Steering and braking is still needed by the user, but that’s a minor issue. Another add-on was a set of off-road tires for getting across grass gravel etc if needed. I used to enjoy hiking to get to some nice locations and these wheels help me somewhat to see some of those sites again – but not all. I have an off-road Hand Cycle for more rugged areas (Check out my previous blog and video for that).
I have included a short video on some of the features of the wheelchair and I will include a video on the Smoov One power assist in another upcoming blog.
BRISBANE NDIS COMMUNITY CATCH UP: Friday May 24th at 11:45am AEST Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre Corner Merivale and Glenelg Streets Brisbane
Minister Shorten will be answering questions in the room.
Join in-person to ask your questions or watch the event online.
Do you have a clinically complete or incomplete chronic traumatic spinal cord injury and live in or around the Gold Coast?
Menzies Health Institute Queensland is currently looking for individuals to take part in their world renowned thought-controlled cycling study.
As a non-invasive rehabilitation system for people with spinal cord injury (SCI), BioSpine combines the effect of multiple technologies and drug therapy. Current evidence suggests that electrical stimulation of muscle and spinal cord, thought-control, virtual reality, cycling, and anti-anxiety drugs could partially restore movement and sensation in people with SCI.
This clinical study assesses the long-term effects of BioSpine’s new type of rehabilitation, following a 6-month intervention, on motor and sensory function of people with SCI.
To take part, participants:
* will have a clinically complete or incomplete chronic traumatic spinal cord injury
* be over the age of 18
* must have incurred their injury at least two years prior to initiation of the study
* undertake a screening procedure to determine suitability to participate in the study (cost of these tests will be covered).
The screening procedure includes:
* standard blood testing to evaluate your renal and liver function
* bone density scan
* physiotherapy assessment to evaluate the overall health of your joints as well as your level of SCI as per the American Spinal Injury association (ASIA) assessment
Participants will be required to attend the BioSpine laboratory at Griffith University Gold Coast Campus for at least 150 minutes per week (2-4 sessions per week) over a 6-month period. Training involves thought-controlled electrical stimulation of the legs for cycling.
The study will commence mid-2024.
For more information and to register your interest go to:
Know that you’re not alone and that there are people who care and are available to give support with understanding and no judgment.
Reach out.
Whether this means speaking with a friend, family member, your GP or colleague or getting in contact with a counselling service, it is important that you do this as soon as possible.
There is concern amongst many NDIS participants, that the scheme has been reduced to a system in which its bureaucracy is supported by a seemingly apathetic tick and flick exercise.
Unnecessary red tape, repetitive paperwork, costly reports, pigeonholing based on generalist views of disability types and an inability to consider participants’ personal cases, reveals an NDIS doomed to failure in attaining its goal to serve one of our country’s most vulnerable groups.
Whilst the NDIS Review is working towards refining (and hopefully improving) many important elements, should it actually be delving internally into its own systems?
What are your experiences, thoughts and hopes around the NDIS?
With Treasurer Jim Chalmers due to deliver the 2024-2025 Federal Budget next Tuesday (14th May), there is legitimate concern around the allocations set to impact the lives of people with disability.
Disability organisations made pre-submission recommendations geared towards protecting and benefiting Australians living with disability. However, will this input influence Mr Chalmer’s Budget and work for or against one of our country’s most vulnerable groups?
Whilst there’s a lot happening in our country around disability and so many people are going through personal challenges and feeling concerned about issues like the NDIS reforms, lack of disability housing and making ends meet, we only have to look at the way that countries including the UK, America, India and New Zealand are facing disability funding and support crises to see that Australia is trying.
What are your thoughts?
Are we on track?
Are our leaders meeting the needs of Australia’s disability community?
PDA’s President/WA Director, Andrew Fairbairn, and PDA Member, Clare Gibellini, were recently involved as accessibility consultants for WA’s P&N Bank.
In efforts to improve banking accessibility, particularly for people living with disabilities and neurodiverse customers, features include sensory-sensitive spaces (where lighting and sound can be adjusted to create a calming environment), iPads loaded with children’s games, accessible service desks and wall-mounted TV screens positioned for visibility from a wheelchair are available.
These roles provide a great opportunity to become part of a hardworking, fun team that works for the benefit of all Australians living with physical disability.
So what’s involved?
We are looking for someone (preferably with lived experience of physical disability) who can:
* Recommend PDA membership to people with physical disability in your state
* Spread the word by sharing PDA posts on your social media pages and encouraging other members to do the same
* Work with your State/Territory Board Members to identify local issues for PDA to act on
* Attend PDA Board of Directors’ meetings by Zoom video-conference once every 2 months.
If this sounds like something you’d like to be part of or you’d like to hear more, please email manager@pda.org.au.
Submissions are now open from individuals and organisations to be involved in the development of the Australian Design Guidelines for Access and Inclusion in Residential Development.
The Australian Human Rights Commission, in partnership with Churchill Research Fellow, Kim Samuel, and the Winston Churchill Trust, is preparing a research report on best-practice approaches to the delivery of inclusive and accessible housing.
The resulting Guidelines will be “the first of its kind developed for the Australian policy and regulatory contexts, integrating, and building on existing minimum accessibility standards within the National Construction Code, Liveable Housing Design Guidelines and NDIS Specialist Disability Accommodation requirements, applying universal design principles.”
To best address the necessary components and elements to ensure housing is accessible for the needs of PWD, involvement from individuals and organisations from the following areas of expertise are required:
* Housing design and development
* Urban planning and design
* Architecture
* Universal design
* Housing policy and regulation
* Disability
Submissions close 11:59pm Tuesday 14 May 2024.
Submissions will not be made public and can be made in any of the following formats:
“Stakeholder briefing and feedback sessions have been organised throughout the consultation period. You can find out more and register for the relevant session via the following links:
In 2022, and as a result of a poorly constructed council footpath, I fell from my mobility scooter and landed on the road. Fortunately this accident occurred outside a repatriation hospital, so I was quickly attended to by nursing staff from the hospital. An ambulance was promptly called and I was taken to the local public hospital, where I was diagnosed with a broken finger and bruised ribs.
Imagine how, as an able bodied person, you would cope with this sudden pain on your left side from bruised ribs and and sporting a splint on your hand. It’s painful, but you are still able to walk around, go to the toilet and for the most part go about your normal day to day living – in pain, but still able to move.
Now imagine the same scenario where you do not have the use of your legs. To move you need to use your arms to push, pull and lift your body around, BUT your ribs are so painful that doing so is excruciating. This also impacts on the injury’s rate of healing through constant movement and having to disturb those injured ribs and finger.
You beg the hospital for help. A rude nurse actually scoffs that you are in hospital for a broken finger. Your frustration at her lack of compassion and understanding is such that you whip the sheet from the bed back and proceed to lift up your legs with your unaffected arm, flopping them around to prove you are in fact “disabled” and in need of help.
You are discharged with no plan and no assistance on how to mobilise.
Two years later, you have another accident in a hostile built environment, due to a step that is not visibly defined with required signage or tactile markers. As a result, you now have a fractured clavicle (collarbone). After seeking medical treatment, you are given a sling – basically taking away your arm so you are no longer mobile – AND sent home again.
The sling is quickly discarded in the carpark because, with it on, you can not get back into the car to go home, get out at home, or basically move at all whilst wearing it.
This was my experience.
One of my friends who has no leg function, had a similar situation following surgery for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, where she was sent home “to recover”. There is no way a person with a disability who is reliant on the usage of their upper body can simply stop using one arm and continue to function. Yet she was sent home to ‘cope’. Her pain was unimaginable and the success of the operation compromised as a result.
Three situations where the medical system has let people with disabilities down. Stories such as these are not uncommon. There are many more with people discharged from hospital with no duty of after care!
Many studies, reports and information are provided to patients about discharge planning from a multitude of sources – including NDIS discharge planning, hospital planning and even academic publications like the CSIRO (2024) https://www.publish.csiro.au/IB/pdf/IB23088 which comprehensively highlight the real issues. A major one being the conflict between the needs of people with disabilities and the hospitals’ discharge of patients with disability without real planning or consideration of the needs of the person upon returning home.
How and why does this occur in a fully functioning health system?
Lack of knowledge at the ward level and the clinician level. There is a lack of knowledge about the level of complexity an injury or surgery has on the functionality of a person with disabilities. A desire to ‘move patients on’ and free up beds at the detriment of patient care. The lack of advocacy within the health system to assist people to have a voice around their care. The lack of experience at every level of staffing in the health system – including allied health working with and understanding the complexity of physical mobilisation of people who are wheelchair users. Clinicians are seemingly simply under so much pressure that they are unable to follow the logical threads of loss of limb function due to accident or surgery and how this may impact the person’s mobility. There seems to exist a real lack of understanding or expertise, and perhaps an unconscious incompetence or lack of capacity to train up to do better.
How do we address this? More training. We need to seriously have more training for clinicians. This needs to be co-designed with people who have experienced the system failures and the malfunctions within. People with disability need to be involved in developing an education program for clinicians to avert failures in post-hospital discharge of people with disabilities when they are sent home in pain with no after care. Such consideration would reduce longer healing times and permanent and ongoing injuries commonly experienced due to such lack of care and clinical resources at accidents and injury onset.
We have to stop giving wheelchair users slings and sending them home.
Be involved in the design and implementation of the new model to ensure greater regulation of NDIS providers and workers by making a submission to the NDIS Provider and Worker Registration Taskforce.
Your involvement and contribution will help them to better understand NDIS participants’ thoughts around the NDIS Review’s proposed registration and enrolment model – including this revision’s ability to uphold the rights of people with disability.
Submissions close 11:59pm 28 April 2024.
For more information or to make a submission, go to:
Written by Melanie Hawkes – PDA’s WA Associate Director
I had no intention of ever visiting Europe as I hated the cobblestones in the UK. But I wasn’t going to refuse a free trip and was delightfully surprised to discover how accessible Vienna actually is.
Flights
I travelled with my support worker Amy, and our airfares were booked and paid for by the Zero Project Conference (ZPC) as part of my prize (read my previous blog about how I won it).
I had the choice of Emirates or Qatar, but one of the organisers recommended flying Emirates. So we did: 11 hours from Perth to Dubai and 6.5 hours to Vienna, with a 3.5 hour transit.
Three days prior to leaving, the ZPC still hadn’t confirmed the hire equipment I needed (a hoist with sling and a shower chair). I was getting worried, so contacted Emirates through their chat feature on their website. They agreed to take mine – both my hoist and shower chair can fold for transport – for free! So we travelled with my hoist, shower chair, power wheelchair and three suitcases between the two of us!
Checking in took ages (especially in Perth as the hoist battery hadn’t been cleared to fly), but everything arrived in one piece. I would definitely recommend Emirates. They were fabulous. Just don’t leave things to the last minute like I did, and always arrive at the airport three hours before your flight.
Accommodation
Our hotel was booked through the Zero Project Conference. I wanted to stay longer than the 4 nights they were paying for, so I agreed to pay an extra 16 nights, so a total of 20 in Vienna.
We stayed in a hotel called Roomz, near an amusement park called Prater. It met all my access needs: * an elevator (actually they have three!), * two single beds in one room, * clearance under the bed for my hoist, * a handheld shower hose and fully accessible bathroom, and * near public transport.
[IMAGE: The hotel room][IMAGE: The bathroom in our hotel]
For €149 (around $263) per night including a full buffet breakfast, it wasn’t cheap, but was great. And it exceeded my expectations as it has a restaurant on site, had wooden floors (much better than carpet when using a hoist), had free wifi, was down the road from an Aldi (known as Hofer in Austria), and had a cute cafe across the road that served wholesome food and drinks, as well as a burrito place nearby. I would definitely stay here again. Most staff were great and spoke English too. But it would have been great if they’d had a laundry nearby though.
Getting Around
Footpaths
Cycling is common in Vienna so I found the footpaths were pretty good. At large intersections I’d veer towards the cycleway as there was less bumps and kerbs. There were small kerbs at corners that were ok for my wheels, but might have been tricky for a manual chair user. There was lots of tactile paving as well.
[IMAGE: A crosswalk showing a small step for the footpath and flat for the cycle path]
Crosswalks
There are many crosswalks, but don’t expect cars to stop for you! Sometimes you just have to walk across and the cars have to stop.
The station was only a short walk away and had a lift to each platform. We could choose the U1 or U2 from that station (yes the subways are multi-level!).
It was like a maze trying to find the lift at the destination station though. Even if we’d been there before, we often got lost. There are signs but with so many levels, it wasn’t easy. They’re like small cities underground, with bakeries, shops and cafes.
It seemed the different lines had different carriages with varied wheelchair access. We used the U1 most of the time, which had carriages with access about every second train. The carriages with access had a red stripe along the side, were noted on the display with a line beside the wait time, and had a small ramp that came out automatically as the doors open. But only on the first or last door.
[IMAGE: The next train in 2 minutes is not accessible, but the one in 6 minutes will be.][VIDEO: The train door ramp]
Once inside there were 4 seats that flipped up to create plenty of space. But not all passengers were great at getting out of the priority area. It’s recommended (and there are signs in English) to face rearwards and apply brakes. You want to do this! The trains went very fast and if there’s a fair distance between stations, you wobbled like mad if facing sideways. I likened the movement to getting naughty in the bedroom! They also braked quickly so try and keep your balance.
There were audio announcements for the next stop, but were rarely in English. It’s best to know how many stops you’re travelling and count them as you go. But then there’s the problem of knowing which side of the train to exit. There was an arrow on the display, but there were usually people in the way. Learn German for left (links) and right (rechts). Then listen carefully! It didn’t matter which side button on the door to press as it activated both sides.
Trains – OBB
There were a variety of different carriages on other lines operated by OBB. And not all were accessible. Some were low floor and level with the platform. Another type had a large gap so a station worker had to put a ramp out. We didn’t know where he arrived from, but glad he did.
[IMAGE: The ramp on the OBB train]
Another type of carriage had a hoist at the door to lift my chair and hoist on board. Inside there were seats that flipped up to create plenty of space (even for my hoist). Most of these carriages had large accessible toilets too. And such a smooth ride!
[IMAGE: The hoist on the regional OBB train]
Many of these were regional trains for which you had to have a timed ticket. Unfortunately they didn’t accept the Companion Card.
[IMAGE: Amy with my hoist on the train]
Another day we got on the train in a pram door, but at the station we needed to get off at, there were two steps down! We couldn’t find anyone to help us, so had no option but to stay on and get off at the next stop. Luckily it was level.
If we’d noticed there was no wheelchair symbol on the door, we probably wouldn’t have got on it. Or if we had got in the wheelchair door, there may have been a ramp and a way to call for assistance.
The driver did call over the PA, but it was in German and we couldn’t understand him! We had to get off at the next stop and were able to catch a tram back.
Trams
[IMAGE: Me on a tram]
There were some tram carriages that are accessible. These had a ramp that the driver manually put out with a special tool, so you had to get on at the first door. The display screens on the platform showed a wheelchair symbol if an accessible tram was due next. I also think I heard a chime as it approached. Excellent for vision impaired passengers.
Once on board, there’s only the one spot to sit, directly opposite the door. I had just enough space to turn around and exit forwards. But wasn’t easy with the number of people on board. There was also a button to press to alert the driver that you need assistance to get off at the next stop.
Buses
I didn’t ride on any buses, but I saw plenty. All looked to be low floor, with a manual ramp at the rear door, not the front.
Tickets
A one way ticket was €2,40 (within Vienna city on any mode), but you can get a 3- day or 7-day ticket for €17,10. It’s best to get the app as it doesn’t matter what day you buy it. If from a ticket machine or service centre, they’re only valid to the following Monday at 9am only. A waste of money if you bought it on a Thursday, for example.
We actually never saw anyone checking tickets, and there were no gates to pass through. But apparently you can be fined if caught without a ticket. Unfortunately they didn’t accept the Companion Card either.
Toilets
Accessible toilets were few and far between. Some places had fabulous ones; others had none. The worst “accessible” toilet I used was in an old cafe. It was so small that the door didn’t fully shut. The best one we went to was in the Sacher Cafe.
[IMAGE: The accessible toilet at Sacher Cafe 1][IMAGE: The accessible toilet at Sacher Cafe 2 – with a baby change table built in]
It was decorated beautifully and had all the features required without feeling clinical.
One toilet at an exhibition about Mozart had a mirror that you could adjust the angle! Was so cool. All bathrooms had a red string to pull in case of emergency (I think). And some buttons to flush had a sensor, so you didn’t have to press hard.
A few places had locked toilets that could only be opened with a EuroKey. Much like our Changing Places facilities that you need an MLAK for. One such place was a regional train station. Lucky the cleaner had a key and was able to be called to open it for us. I think if I was to go to Vienna again, I would organise to get a key in advance or on arrival.
[IMAGE: The accessible toilet at the Mozart Exhibition, with the white winder to adjust the angle of the mirror][IMAGE: The accessible toilet on an OBB train]
Places of Interest and Restaurants
Some places had access and others had none. It was hit and miss. There was a museum we wanted to go to on Vienna’s history, called Time Travel Vienna. We found our way there, and they had a ramp at the door. Only to be told the exhibition was on multiple levels and the lift doesn’t go to all of them.
They suggested we go across the road to Sisi’s Amazing Journey, where there is another exhibition that is accessible. Only to find a step at the door, and no ramp… Very disappointing. We should have called ahead or checked their websites before going.
I was surprised at how many beautiful old buildings actually had access. We went to the Shönbrum Palace, Upper Belvedere (Lower Belvedere isn’t accessible unless you’re brave enough to try the “ramp” in the garden), The Kursalon (music hall) and the Art History Museum. Only at the latter did I have to use an alternative entrance, as the main entrance wasn’t accessible. All had elevators, although at some you needed staff assistance to use them. For buildings built in the 1800s, they were worth seeing.
[IMAGE: The “ramp” at Belvedere]
Some places we went to let Amy in for free, or gave us a discounted ticket (only €4 each at Belvedere)! So it’s definitely worth asking. It happened more often at government-run establishments than private places. I kept a spreadsheet of all Amy’s expenses to claim from NDIS when we got back, including her train tickets, meals, entrance fees and the wrapping of my equipment at the airport.
Famous restaurants and cafes were hit and miss for access too. Although it always paid to ask. Amy would go in and ask if they had a ramp, and we were surprised more than a few times when they said yes!
One memorable restaurant was Palm House. It was a cold, wet day and the queue was out the door. But they got people to move, put the ramps down and I came straight in to a table for two! No waiting in line at all.
In summary
There wasn’t a lot of time between finding out I had won my trip and me going. We didn’t have time to plan much. It was nice getting up each day with no plans and just going wherever we liked. But if I went again, I would definitely plan better. I recommend planning any trip, doing research on the places you want to go, and making the most of the time you have there. And Vienna is definitely a city worth visiting for more than several days.
With so much news hitting us daily, keeping up to date with information and stories can seem overwhelming.
Physical Disability Australia helps by bringing the news to you as it happens and in one location.
If you haven’t already checked out our PDA Discussion Group Facebook page, we encourage you to visit, join our community and be kept informed on issues affecting Australia’s disability community.
On Wednesday 3rd April 2024, PDA’s Executive Officer, Simon Burchill, joined Radio 2ser Breakfast to discuss the Federal Government’s recently announced Public Transport Accessibility Standards.
Hear him talk about these changes, whether they’ll have a positive impact, why the government is so late to meet the standards, and what we can do about it.
Written by Talia Spooner-Stewart – PDA Vice President/ACT Director
In June 2001 I was a young and healthy 21-year-old living in Houston Texas when Tropical Storm Allison caught the city by surprise, causing deadly flooding and billions of dollars of damage to the city.
I wasn’t diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) until 2018 and my symptoms back in 2001 were very minimal, so when this natural disaster hit, I was in the fortunate position to be physically able to get myself to safety, to help others around me and to save some of my personal items before so many of my belongings were swept away.
The house I lived in thankfully had insurance so, after some time, it was rebuilt, whilst I waited for what I had saved to dry out – thankfuI that I and those I was with were able to get to safety and move forward. Sadly I lost many prized and cherished possessions with it taking many years to replace some things, but I will forever be grateful that I escaped mostly unharmed.
Fast forward 23 years, I now live in Canberra. Although I do not predict any tropical storms like that experienced back in Houston, we do have bushfire scares here. However, the biggest difference is that my personal situation has changed a lot since this major chapter in my life.
I am now fully reliant on using a wheelchair. Requiring mobility transfer assistance, my mobility and access has changed and I depend on others for assistance tremendously.
I work full time (50% in the office, 50% at home) and live in my own home with my husband and our dog. I have some aid through the NDIS for help around the house and with some supports, but it is mostly my husband and myself at home – with me working days and my husband working nights. So, it is just me and the dog overnight.
The reason I am providing this additional information is that it just dawned on me lately… what if something like Tropical Storm Allison were to happen here in Canberra today?
OH goodness, I would be royally S.O.L. (shit outta luck).
This frightened me more than I would have expected and I realised that I needed to do something! I could not wait for something bad to happen and for it to be too late. I had to take some action!
It is a fact that people with disability manage every day in environments that are often inaccessible. We regularly develop our own strategies using our strengths to manage and adapt to changing situations that often require planning and preparedness.
It got me thinking about emergency planning, and led me to reach out and attend a Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) Workshop. There are many out there and I cannot recommend them highly enough.
One of the first things this course had me look at was my living situation and my social connections. I have lived in my home here in Canberra for over 15 years, yet I do not know the people who live in my street. How bad is that? We wave but we do not know each other. What if my husband is working at night, the fire alarm in my house goes off, and I don’t know anyone in my street to call for help whilst the fire truck is on its way? Similarly at work, what if something were to happen to me there? My colleagues all know my husband’s name but, if something was to happen, would they know how to get a hold of him?
Emergency situations can be challenging at the best of times but no matter what, being prepared and having the right people and those you know or trust alongside you through it all can make a challenging situation just a little bit easier. So how could I ensure that this was available to me should an emergency happen?
For me the answer was simply business cards. On the front I have all my details (name, address, phone number & email address) and on the back I have my emergency contact details – including my husband’s and my parents’ phone numbers. These simple cards have now become my conversation starters.
My plan is to now go and introduce myself to the people on my street, to leave these business cards at work, with some support workers and friends. Sharing my situation, making people aware and feeling more confident that, should something happen, there will now be people around me in the know and able to help if needed.
Sharing information opens the door to enabling others to help should the need ever arise. People are always more willing to help if they know 😊.
This will hopefully provide me with more comfort that, should there be an emergency, I now know I will not be alone and that the connections I have made will bring much more. We can always use more connections. But if someone I know sees that I need help, they can reach out too!
Introduce yourself to your neighbours. I know I will be!
I spoke with a friend who recently returned from an overseas holiday and, whilst he had a fantastic time away, many of his stories were peppered with the frustrations of travelling as a person living with disability.
From packing, to organising travel and accommodation, finding accessible tours and things to do, how organised do you need to be to enjoy the holiday?
Do you have any tips on how to make the most of your travel experiences?
Do you organise everything yourself or do you have a go-to travel agent who does all the groundwork for you?
What was your best holiday experience and what was your worst?
Did you know that Physical Disability Australia is a national peak Disability Peoples Organisation (DPO) that is run by people with physical disability for people with physical disability?
PDA was established in 1995 and is one of a tiny handful of Australian disability organisations that actually has a footprint in every one of our country’s States and Territories – both in terms of representation and membership.
Our organisation’s goal is to enable every Australian living with a physical disability to realise their full potential and we strive to achieve this by advocating to government, creating equal opportunities, promoting diversity and inclusion, building community and supporting and representing Australia’s physical disability community and our members.
FREE Membership is available to all Australian residents living with physical disability, their families, friends, service providers and anyone with a positive interest in supporting our country’s disability community.
It’s quick and easy to sign up. Just go to our membership page.
www.pda.org.au/membership/
We hope that you consider joining Physical Disability Australia and helping us to bring about positive change that will give ALL people with disability an opportunity to live an ordinary (if not extraordinary) life.
If you missed seeing PDA’s Ambassador, Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM, on The Project on Monday night, make sure that you check it out here:
“Doctor Dinesh Palipana was paralysed in an accident but always dreamed of walking again one day. Now, he’s using virtual reality to make it happen, and it could be the key to helping other paraplegics walk again.”
If you missed PDA’s (or just want to watch it again) “When do you stop being nice?” presentation, you can now find it on our YouTube channel by going to:
In this powerful presentation, the ways that we are impacted by the actions or views of others (whether well meaning or otherwise) are explored and we’re introduced to some valuable tools to use when being nice is not an option.
Along with our PDA presenters, qualified counsellor Dorte Dyrbye will provide support, tips and resources to assist you in overcoming situations and people who need to understand that kindness isn’t just about the feel good factor for the giver.
We encourage you to check it out.
Don’t forget to subscribe to PDA’s YouTube channel whilst you’re there, so that you don’t miss other exciting PDA videos.
Physical Disability Australia believes that knowledge is power and that everyone has a story to tell.
Our posts highlight news and happenings that directly impact Australia‘s disability community and our blogs, presentations and webinars ensure that we are informed and that ideas and experiences are shared.
Feedspot recently released its 35 Best Australian Disability Blogs and Websites and the PDA Team is absolutely wrapped that we were once again named in the Top 10 (https://blog.feedspot.com/australian_disability_blogs/). A big thank you to Feedspot for this recognition.
With our incredible blog contributors having their articles published on our website (https://www.pda.org.au/blog/) and covering an incredibly diverse range of topics, honest and frank conversations and subjects to educate, inform and spark discussions, we are incredibly proud and grateful for their role in this recognition.
Thank you to all of our bloggers for your efforts.
A big thank you too to all of you who have enjoyed reading our blogs, social posts and attending (or viewing) our webinars. PDA is here for you and we’re so happy to have you beside us in our journey to empower, represent, include and support our members and wider community.
If you have a blog that you would like us to feature on our blog page, please reach out to us at promotion@pda.org.au.
Whilst Tom Cruise may have inadvertently shot himself in the foot when he told 60 Minutes’ Peter Overton to “put his manners back in”, these words from a 2005 interview have stuck with me and maybe shaped me a little.
When someone is inappropriate, oversteps the mark or is blatantly rude or controlling, why do so many of us not confront them or let them know that they should put their manners back in?
How can we bring about change, chisel at ableist attitudes, improve behaviours, and educate people on the errors of the ways in which they interact with those of us living with disabilities, if we do not stand up for ourselves and say “enough is enough”?
Next Thursday (7th March) we’ll be running a free presentation around “when do you stop being nice?” and in it we’ll unpack some of the issues that peeve our presenters off and learn some of the tools that give us the power and confidence to stand up for ourselves and teach others to behave and respect who we are.
So if you’re over the stares, fed up with people assuming that their take on being kind matches our wants and needs, or want to give your fake smile a break, join us on March 7th.
6:30pm NSW/VIC/TAS/ACT 6:00pm SA 5:30pm QLD 5:00pm NT 4:30pm WA
Share your experiences and pet hates (if you want).
Learn some skills and tools from our qualified counsellor that could help you to overcome situations and people who need to understand that kindness isn’t just about the feel good factor for the giver.
Over answering inappropriate and unwanted questions?
Fed up with dealing with idiots who think they know more about you and what you need than you do?
Had enough of dealing with rude people with a smile on your face?
On Thursday March 7th we’re going to be hosting our “when do you stop being nice?” presentation.
Hear from others about their experiences, their pet hates and how they navigate a world with people who just need to butt out. Learn how to deal with people who just need to put their manners back in and when it is okay to just say it as it is.
6:30pm NSW/VIC/TAS/ACT 6:00pm SA 5:30pm QLD 5:00pm NT 4:30pm WA
Learn some skills and tools that could help you to deal with the stupidity or misunderstanding of others when being nice is just not an option.
During the presentation, qualified counsellor Dorte Dyrbye will provide support, tips and resources to assist you in overcoming situations and people and putting yourself first.
With Australia being struck by Mother Nature from all sides in terms of severe weather conditions, flooding and fires, do you know what to do in the case of an emergency?
University of Sydney, in conjunction with Queenslanders with Disability Network, has prepared a Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) Toolkit – an all-hazards approach to enabling emergency preparedness.
Co-designed and tested with people with disability, P-CEP provides a template that allows people to self-assess their preparedness, capabilities and support needs. Through this, personal emergency arrangements can be developed and guidelines put in place to allow for emergency support need management plans and support network action plans to be clearly defined and instigated in the lead up to, during and after a disaster.
No matter where you live, having a plan in place could be a lifesaver and ensure that you are kept safe, comfortable and as unaffected as possible during times of upheaval and challenges.
For more information and to take the first step towards being prepared, go to:
On Sunday 4th February the second Physical Disability Awareness Day was successfully held.
We had a wonderful turnout of people at the online DisabiliTEA and had a lot of fun and laughs.
In-person events were also held at a number of Australian sites, giving people the opportunity to catch-up with friends (both old and new), to raise awareness of physical disability and to celebrate our community.
Next year we will be celebrating the third Physical Disability Awareness Day (Sunday 2nd February 2025) and we hope that you will join us to recognise and help grow this important event.
The online DisabiliTEA will continue and we hope to increase the number of live catch-up venues for people to meet face to face.
If you would like to host an event local to you, please let us know by emailing promotion@pda.org.au.
We are also looking for people interested in being part of the organising committee. If this sounds like something that you’d like to be involved in, please let us know by also emailing promotion@pda.org.au.
Together let’s make Physical Disability Awareness Day a recognised and celebrated day for everyone!
South Australian residents living with a physical disability are invited to attend an online forum to provide feedback to better understand the issues surrounding disability housing in South Australia.
Round Table Conversations, led by Krystal Matthews, will be facilitating a group forum around disability housing on behalf of the SA Government’s Housing Authority on Wednesday 28th February at 6pm SA Time.
All feedback will be anonymous, and participants will be paid $50 (in the form of a Prezzee gift card) to attend this 1 hour session.
Feedback will involve answering questions about the participant’s housing journey, including personal experiences, housing aspirations, barriers experienced, and ideas around assistance in maintaining or seeking secure and safe housing in the future.
You do not need to be in public or community housing to participate. You may still live with your parents, in a private rental, Specialist Disability Accommodation, or own your own home.
On Sunday 4th February Physical Disability Awareness Day brought together the disability community for the second time.
Providing an opportunity to highlight, celebrate and recognise physical disability, face-to-face events were held in Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Ipswich (QLD) with an online DisabiliTEA once again proving popular and bringing together Australians from all over.
It was truly a great opportunity, a lot of fun and wonderful to see the growth in interest and support for this very important day.
Thank you so much to those who helped to organise and run these events, those who attended the events, those who supported and promoted the events and those who helped to grow and strengthen Physical Disability Awareness Day.
We look forward to running the third Physical Disability Awareness Day on Sunday 2nd February 2025 and invite everyone to get on board with helping to plan and steer the day into the future.
To register your interest in being involved in the organising committee, please email promotion@pda.org.au.
Following last year’s first ever Physical Disability Awareness Day, the interest, excitement and community that has grown from our inaugural online DisabiliTEA has been phenomenal – with individuals and organisations both in Australia and internationally getting on board to grow this important event.
For the first time this event will be run globally and, mindful of the many timezones that are potentially involved, this event will involve a number of virtual and face to face catch-ups.
We’d love to have you join us!
The online Australian DisabiliTEA will be run via Zoom, uniting all corners of Australia with the disability and wider communities meeting to share stories and to have a cuppa together.
Run at the following times, this event is scheduled to allow for maximum involvement across the nation.
2pm NSW/VIC/ACT/TAS 1:30pm SA 1pm QLD 12:30pm NT 11am WA
To be involved in this fun event you must register by going to:
Once you have registered, you will be emailed further details.
So grab your best china or most loved mug, a cookie or slice of cake, brew up your beverage of choice and join us at our virtual DisabiliTEA.
A number of face to face events have also been scheduled, including Stroll & Rolls around local parks, morning and afternoon teas and a book launch. Everyone is welcome.
Those who register and attend an Australian Physical Disability Awareness Day event (including the online DisabiliTEA) go in to a draw to win a $50 gift voucher (one voucher per location).
If you are attending one of our Roll & Stroll events, and as the weather may be hot, we recommend that you bring water, a hat, sunscreen and snacks if required.
To go in to the draw to win a $50 gift card (one per each Australian planned event), please indicate which event you will be attending by registering at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7FJ36MV. If you register and are then present on the day, you could win a prize.
Melbourne Bicentennial Park, Scotch Parade, Chelsea VIC 3196 From 12pm. Meeting at the BBQ area near the Children’s Playground and Toilets. Look for the PDA Banner. The event will include a Stroll & Roll around the park. If you prefer, you can hang out for a chat, a bite to eat (BYO) or just explore the park facilities (including accessible Frisbee golf). At 2pm the Physical Disability Awareness Day’s online DisabiliTEA will take place and allow a link up with other Australian States/Territories at their events where we can share stories and laughs at this virtual afternoon tea. Park is wheelchair friendly with facilities including:
Accessible footpaths
Accessible parking
Accessible play
Accessible toilets
Changing places facilities
Liberty Swing for people with mobility difficulties. (MLAK Key will be available on the day.)
Hobart Montrose Foreshore Community Park 825 Brooker Hwy, Montrose TAS 7010 Look for the PDA Banner. From 1pm and concluding at 3pm Stroll & Roll event along the foreshore. However, if walking or rolling isn’t your thing, come along with a picnic, make new friends, enjoy the company of others who share your journey.
Ipswich, QLD Ellie Jane Support Services 4a/126 Brisbane St, Ipswich QLD 4305 From 1pm and concluding at 3pm DisabiliTea – followed by fun activities, prizes and a book launch.
Perth King’s Park and Botanical Gardens Fraser Ave, Perth WA 6005 Stroll & Roll event – loop around lake Look for the PDA Banner. 10:30am start time at Vietnam War Memorial (on May Drive). Ending at Zamia Café. Wheelchair access available in most buildings, restaurants, cafes, BBQ areas and parts of Kings Park’s bushland. Picnic tables located within BBQ and parkland precincts are accessible for visitors in wheelchairs and often include a concrete extension for wheelchair seating. Accessible height drinking fountains Accessible bathrooms Accessible parking Register at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7FJ36MV https://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/visiting-disability
Where possible, we want Physical Disability Awareness Day to be inclusive of everyone wishing to be involved and to celebrate the physical disability community.
So, wherever you are, why not join us to celebrate the second Physical Disability Awareness Day?
As a woman of a certain age, I have noticed a change in the way I am perceived.
I have always been disabled. Had mobility aids since birth and always thought the primary factor for the discrimination I encountered was related to my disability. Well, welcome to the new age of being older.
I am now seen as an elderly lady on a mobility scooter. Not a disabled woman on a mobility scooter.
So, like a slap of reality, I am now encountering age discrimination.
I have white hair – trendy cutting edge white hair, but still white hair. This labels me as old.
Where in the past I put down being sidelined because of disability, now I can add being aged as well. I am simply too old to be relevant.
They say age is a state of mind. Well hell, my mind is sharp and active and connected to happenings of the world.
I go to hip festivals and dance with the young ones. I’m a cool person aye, BUT I am still old(er).
Not old enough for a senior’s card but, when I am, I will wield it like a badge of honour. Unlike many of my peers I will be blessed to have reached old age.
You might be reading this and think, go you, living the life. However, there is a more sinister side to the intersection of age and disability. There is a hidden cost to growing older. According to NDIS National Quality and Safeguard Commission research (2023), people with disabilities are 5 times more likely to die of preventable illness than the general population and die predominantly much younger than the general population. 49% of all people with disability who die early have physical disabilities.
The intersectionality I now have to navigate in my life is age and disability. Well, I’m not going down without a fight. There is plenty of fight in the old dog and I’m ready for it and it seems my life depends on it.
I need to be proactive in my own healthcare and I can. I need to be vocal at my GP and my specialist about my needs and expectation of their care for me.
Discrimination in the healthcare system is real for people with disabilities. A study by Roger’s et al (2015) reported that 1 in 17 people with disabilities that present for medical treatment feel discriminated against. Anecdotally this is much higher.
We are often ignored, not believed or misdiagnosed. I have a bloody loud voice (my croaky voice) and I will use it to make sure that everyone receives the care they need and deserve in this, our lucky country. I’ll be doing this education one clinician at a time. Hard work, but guess what? You can do it too. Think of all those other people with disabilities unable to articulate their needs. Our work will help them. Let’s smash that discrimination.
I’m not a granny on a scooter. I am a warrior on my electric steed, waging war on ageism and ableism. Adding another bow to my quiver of “what needs to be torn down” in our society.
Image: selfie of a woman (Tammy the blog’s writer) wearing glasses, with a trendy white hairstyle, wearing a pink t-shirt with “volunteer” printed and a pink/orange neck scarf. By her side is a younger woman wearing the same t-shirt, sunglasses and a baseball cap. She is Michelle, Tammy’s support worker. They are working at Hay Day’s recent music festival in Hobart. Other people are interacting behind them.
I have a burning desire to be included and to experience as much as I can before I pop the perch.
I am disabled. I use wheels to get around but, in this day and age of anti-discrimination and inclusion, this should not stop me from doing everything my heart, energy and pocket desires.
And so, it was with this motivation behind me that I applied to be a volunteer at the Hay Days Festival in Hobart. This festival brings together some of the most cutting-edge artists locally, nationally and internationally. I wanted to go! I am a big fan of Genesis Owusu after seeing him perform at Party in the Paddock 2023.
Yeah, an old chick like me loves Party in the Paddock, with my most memorable moment seeing Lilly Allen and singing along with her song “F##k You” with about 4,000 other people a few years back. I may be disabled, but I’m not dead and I love to get amongst it. Maybe a result of being an older mum with a younger adult child or just being hip. Who knows?
Financially the cost of a ticket to the two-day festival was not going to break the bank, but it did mean that I was going to have to cut some of my other activities to attend. I could have paid, but there might have been other things I would have to miss out on to compensate.
And so, with this in mind when my daughter said she was applying for paid work in the bar at Hay Days I thought, well why not see if I can volunteer. I have skills. Heck, I have a degree and a couple of grad diplomas. I’m smart. I could be useful and then get a bonus ticket for free. Well not free, but free for doing work. I work for the ticket, a 6-hour shift in fact.
And so I applied. I made it clear on my application that I was a wheelchair user and disabled. I made it clear that any jobs offered to me must be suitable for me to do in my chair. I made full disclosure, let the dice roll on my application and hit send.
A few weeks later I received a reply. I was in! They wanted me. I say this in a surprised way because, let’s be honest, discrimination is real. It still happens to people with disabilities and, to be brutally honest, people are often scared to give people with disabilities a go.
Even though I worked in education for 33 years, they didn’t know me. They didn’t know what I could do and there is still so much unconscious bias and fear in our world directed towards people with disabilities.
So, I rocked up on the first day. I scoped out my workplace for the next day and then settled in for a day and evening of absolute sheer bliss. I even bought a baked potato from a food vendor with some sign language skills. (Oh, that’s another thing: when things are really loud, I can’t make my voice project for people to hear me, so I sign. NOT a barrier, but certainly something to be accommodated).
I checked out the loos. Look, to be honest, that was an issue. 4,000 people could use any of the toilets at the festival, but I could only use one. The accessible toilet was so accessible that it seemed to be used by the 4,000 abled bodied people too. Not a great thing in terms of cleanliness – especially for a person with a disability who has to touch everything in the loo to get on the pot so to speak. The ‘ableds’ (abled bodied people) can just squat over the seat, make a splash, leave a cup or two in the loo for extra obstacles, leave some toilet paper strewn around, touch very little and leave.
Unfortunately, not so easy for folks with chairs and wonky legs and dodgy bits, who have to touch all the grot left behind by those unnecessarily, and unfairly, using the facilities meant for those of us with true accessibility needs. To be honest, I only went to the loos once a day, holding on for as long as possible, minimising the need by drinking less so I didn’t have to go more than once. On day two I went and the nice ambo folks next to it had to fish a cup out of the actual toilet and help me negotiate it. Thanks legends. You folks go above and beyond as vollies (volunteers).
On thing not so great about attending many events is that, as a person in a chair, we sit about navel height to everyone else. So imagine trying to see an act at a concert if all you can see is the person in front’s bum. Hemmed in by a sea of bums is not my idea of a good time, but hey each to their own.
But there is NO bum viewing for me or other persons in wheelchairs at Party in the Paddock or Hey Days. We get a viewing platform that has us positioned above the sea of bums and provides us with a clear view of the stage. It also mitigates the risk of some drunk dude or dudette landing on our laps, or accidentally crashing into us whilst vigorously dancing to the bands. This is so great. That’s accomodation and I for one really appreciate this.
I bopped and bopped to Genesis and The Jungle Giants and PNUA, squawking along to, “Stay Blessed”, “Rakata” and “Cold Heart”. It was bliss. Best night EVA! (Well, one of them).
The next day I rocked up (rolled up) to my shift at 11.30am. Signed in and collected my vollie t-shirt, so pumped that I got a uniform. So I forgot to mention that when you get me as a vollie, it’s a two for one deal. I come with my very own support entourage. My support worker Michelle. So Michelle and I rolled over (well she walked) to our workstation. Our duties for the next 6 hours were to check tickets using a scanning thing (much like my old Job checking in books as a librarian) and then I would strap a wrist band on to the owner of the ticket. In the next 6 hours I touched so many hairy, skinny, and largish wrists that I could do a thesis on the human genome variation and how it affects wrist diversity. (Maybe in my next life, I’m really not that invested right now).
Before starting the shift, we were briefed on what to do what to expect and then sent forth to work. I loved it. Bopping between customers, bopping with customers and strapping on wrist bands. Even though I could not really have huge conversations with people when the music started. I could sign/gesture enough to make myself known.
The only real thing that hurt my fragile ego was when I said, “I bet I’m your first disabled volunteer” it was a “yes” reply. But why I wondered. The next was being told that when I was being considered as a volunteer, event management presented me to my team leader as an offering which she accepted with a “yeah I’ll take her” like I was a risk. Man, I have mad skills and you all should be looking at the person and not the disability.
Apart from that small infraction of ableism, the whole experience was just awesome and I would do it again. (Just please fix the toilet situation).
What I’m also advocating for is that, hey, if you have a disability and think you can do something with expertise and skill, go for it. If you are skilled and able then it’s not a charitable offering to allow you to work. It’s equality.
My time as a volunteer at Hay Days was the best, most excellent experience and your’s could be too.
Image: a selfie of a woman with grey hair, wearing sunglasses, a pink shirt and orange/pink scarf and a huge smile backstage on the lawn at a music festival. Two men are standing in the background.
Written by Krystal Matthews – PDA’s SA Associate Director
On International Day of People with Disabilities (#IDPwD), I was pumped to watch the Disability Leadership Oration on ABC by Natalie Wade. The conversation was not what I expected, but it was just what I needed to hear. After seeing the Oration, I started thinking about what it was really like growing up with a disability.
Natalie Wade is a human rights lawyer and a total boss in everything she does. Natalie happens to be from the same place as me – South Australia. I first saw her at my previous workplace. Of course, it was in the elevator of a tall government building and I wondered, as a fellow wheelchair user, if she ever felt like she was “faking it until she made it”?
During the ABC address, Natalie talked about her experiences growing up in the 90s and advocating for her rights. Listening to her speech felt like holding up a mirror to some of my childhood memories. Growing up as a disabled child in the 90s meant being used as a test model for society to determine if disabled people could genuinely belong in the mainstream world, rather than being institutionalised and segregated from society.
Although I am currently in my peak leadership prime, I must convince myself that’ll I am good enough before wheeling into a board meeting.
I have noticed that the younger disabled community nowadays proudly refers to themselves as ‘disabled people’. This made me wonder about the shift from ‘person with a disability’ to ‘disabled person’. I started questioning if my perspective on disability is still stuck in the 90s (like my music taste). Although growing up in the 90s had its cool moments like girl power, Tamagotchis, and snap pants, it was a difficult time for disabled kids.
I’ve grown up and worked in the housing sector for over 15 years in government and the NDIS landscape. However, it can still be challenging to be the only disabled person at the table of executives. Sometimes it feels like society talks about the disabled community as if we are some unknown alien species.
When Natalie addressed the Nation, I agreed with her sentiments and teared up while listening. Natalie’s reflections on her life shed light on my own experiences of growing up as a disabled child in the early 90s.
In 1992, I left the South Australian Crippled Children’s Association and started attending a mainstream school. My parents had to fight hard to get me into the same school as my siblings. Teachers would openly talk to my parents about how I should go to another school, that I wouldn’t fit in, that I wouldn’t keep up. Everything was said in front of six-year-old me sitting in my pink wheelchair. My parents didn’t listen to them. So I was the first and only disabled child using a wheelchair at the local school. I often felt excluded and unsupported. It’s not a solid foundation to prepare the leaders of the future.
Whenever I asked for help with schoolwork, my teachers would advise me to focus on my life skills. The school believed that I could not have a career or live independently. No one asked me what my future aspirations were.
Natalie’s speech resonated with me, highlighting the immense challenges disabled people face. Her words exposed the historical trauma that many of us experience, constantly feeling inadequate and unworthy due to society’s perception. This unique form of imposter syndrome is all too familiar to my community. Growing up, I was implanted with the belief that my disability was a flaw that needed to be hidden to assimilate into the norm. For decades, I carried this perspective with me unquestioned and ingrained by people around me.
So, I overcame barriers and made my aspirations like it was my duty to exist in a world not created for me. This is one reason why society views disabled people as resilient. It is not by our own making; we have no choice. Sometimes it feels like the idea of being successful and disabled at the same time cannot occur simultaneously.
When I became a mother to my daughter in 2019, I made a personal commitment to ensure that her life would surpass mine in terms of opportunities and experiences. However, at that time, I viewed my disability as a deficit. But my disability is not my weakness. My own ableist beliefs were unchecked.
The disabled community has evolved, and we are no longer content with simply asking for inclusion. We demand more than just the bare minimum of support and services. We deserve equal access to education, employment, housing, and all aspects of life, just like anyone else. This might seem like common sense in 2023, but Natalie presented a radical concept to the nation a few weeks ago.
So, after hearing Natalie’s address, I will take on leadership roles. It is time for me to move past the outdated narrative of the 90s that shaped my childhood identity and tackle the outdated thinking disabled people are still faced with today.
Written by Melanie Hawkes – PDA’s WA Associate Director
My parents raised me to be as independent as possible. With three younger brothers to care for, Mum and Dad didn’t have a lot of time to help me do basic things like feed me. I had to find ways to manage, and this has made me a creative thinker.
So when I got stuck in a lift at university, unable to reach the button, we found a solution: a stick. My first prototypes were wooden from Bunnings and I quickly realised that these simple tools allowed me to do way more than press lift buttons. At home I could turn lights on and off! And type if I couldn’t reach the keyboard! And move things closer or push them away. Dad was able to make a holder and attach it to my wheelchair so I could take my stick everywhere.
In the early 2000s I was invited to be a guest speaker during disability awareness training for all staff at Main Roads WA. I introduced my stick and got participants to guess what I could do with it. At the end of the session, a man at the back of the room put his hand up and asked why I didn’t have fibreglass sticks. I told him I’d not heard of them. He took my address and dropped three or four off to my home the following week. They are the flag poles from the children’s crossings flags. Main Roads work with WA Police to supply the flags to the lollipop men and women. They often had some returned due to slight damage or dents and were happy to pass them on to me, for free!
At first I found them heavy and awkward to use, plus they were narrower. But very strong – no more breaking wooden ones! I bought stoppers to fit to one end, and plastic tubing for the other, which help to protect my teeth when using it in my mouth. In 2015, when I got my third assistance dog Upton, we added an elastic band. This was because he found it difficult to pick the stick up off the floor. He quickly learnt to pick it up from the band. It also stops things sliding all the way to my nose when lifting them up!
So what can my stick do? A lot of things. For example:
* scratch an itch I can’t reach
* fix my hair
* move things closer or push them away (handy way to get things in and out of the fridge or freezer)
* pat my dog
* put the lead on and off my dog
* open and close doors, including the fridge, oven, microwave and washing machine
* get my mail from my letterbox
* press buttons, like in a lift, on a desk phone, and light switches
* I use another short stick to feed Upton his tablet with peanut butter
I even sleep with a stick as it helps me move my sheet and blankets up and down! The only thing I use more every day is my wheelchair. Without my stick, I’d probably need 24 hour care. I enjoy time alone at home so I’m grateful that I have a low-cost, simple solution.
And this simple solution with a profound impact on my independence has recently won me awards! When I saw PDA promoting the Simply Open Awards earlier this year, I made a 5 minute video on what my stick can do for me. I submitted it in September and found out in the last two weeks that I won not one but two prizes! The Wild Card Award from all entries in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, England and Ireland, with a cash prize of £750 (AU$1,371.31). This was announced in a livestream on Friday 1 December on social media, hosted by Open Inclusion.
The second one was announced on World Human Rights Day, 10 December. Two entries from each country were considered for the global awards. I’m surprised and proud to announce that my stick hack video was in the top two in the world! My prize is flights and accommodation to Vienna, Austria in February to attend the Zero ProjectConference!
Thank you to the judges, sponsors and the organisations who run these amazing awards. We hear a lot about expensive assistive technology, but sometimes it’s the simple, everyday things we use that can help the most. I appreciate this opportunity to showcase my stick to the world, and encourage you to enter next year.
Never in a million years did I expect to win. My little video about my stick, so important that I can’t live without it, impressed the judges so much. I still can’t believe it. It’s going to be freezing in Vienna (and I hate the cold), but I’m looking forward to representing PDA, Australia and people with disabilities who want to live great lives. I hope I’ll do you all proud!
Earlier this year PDA promoted Open Inclusion’s exciting Simply Open Awards – an exciting competition where people with disabilities can share and showcase simple solutions and hacks they have created to overcome access or exclusion barriers.
In the lead up to this year’s International Day of People with Disability on December 3rd, the award announcement was live streamed on Friday night.
We are very excited and thrilled to announce that PDA’s very own Melanie Hawkes (PDA’s WA Associate Director) was revealed as the recipient of the Judges’ Wildcard for her stick hack, taking home £750 and the prestigious honour of being Australia’s first ever Simply Open Awards winner.
Big congrats to Melanie for her efforts. Congratulations too to the other Award winners.
You can watch the awards by going to:
Melanie features at around the 37:10 mark.
Additionally, PDA was recognised as the most successful charitable organisation in promoting the Simply Open Awards to their community, resulting in the most referred applicants sharing their hacks in the competition (watch from 35:02). We are humbled and grateful to the Simply Open Awards for being mentioned in this way and incredibly appreciative of our members, our supporters, our social media followers and Australia’s disability community who were inspired to enter this outstanding award and who mentioned PDA in their applications. Not only did this provide us with valuable recognition and a warm fuzzy feeling of community, but it also netted us a generous prize of £1,000 which will assist us in our organisation’s efforts. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
A big thank you to Josh Wintersgill, Christine Hemphill (Open Inclusion Founder) and everyone involved for bringing the Simply Open Awards to life, for fostering inclusion and for building a disability community united and supported on a global level.
We look forward to highlighting the Awards in 2024 and beyond.
“New appointment to NDIS Independent Advisory Council.
The Government has today announced the appointment and reappointment of members of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Independent Advisory Council (IAC).
Minister for the NDIS Bill Shorten said he was pleased to welcome disability advocate Mr Gavin Burner to the IAC. Mr Burner’s appointment is significant as it strengthens the IAC’s representation of people with intellectual disability.
“Mr Burner is a passionate advocate and inclusion adviser from South Australia, who previously served as a member of the IAC’s Intellectual Disability Reference Group,” Minister Shorten said.
“I would also like to congratulate current IAC members, Dr Leighton Jay, Dr Sharon Boyce, Mr Mark Tonga, Ms Patricia Malowney OAM and Ms Samantha Paior on their successful reappointments.” “
Written by PDA’s Treasurer/VIC Director, Tim Harte
Australia commemorated International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) on Saturday, December 3rd. IDPwD, established by the United Nations in 1992 and observed in Australia since 1996, serves several key objectives: fostering a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by People with Disabilities (PwD), rallying support for upholding the rights, dignity, and overall welfare of PwD, and advocating for the full integration and inclusion of PwD in all facets of society. 2018 Australian Bureau of Statistics data found that 17.7% of the Australian population, 4.4 million Australians, were PwD.
IDPwD events in Australia were organised by various government bodies, workplaces, schools, and universities nationwide. These events all shared a common theme: educating the public by giving PwD a platform to share their personal stories. Through these narratives, these events aim to break down preconceived notions of difference and instead emphasise the commonalities and shared experiences that connect us all. This approach humanises PwD in the eyes of those without disabilities, fostering greater understanding and empathy for the daily challenges faced by people with disabilities. In essence, these events help the non-disabled population “step into the shoes” of PwD, gaining a deeper comprehension of their lives and experiences.
What is disability? In Australian society, we acknowledge that disabilities can be both visible and invisible forms, encompassing physical, intellectual, psychiatric, sensory, and neurological disabilities. In this context, the concept of disability oversimplifies a complex reality, based on how an individual’s physical or mental condition deviates from what is considered ‘the norm’. This perspective is often referred to as the Medical Model of Disability and is relevant when seeking treatment or therapy from healthcare professionals. However, it falls short in recognising that true barriers to the full and equal participation of PwD in society stem from environmental and attitudinal factors within our community and society.
The Social Model of Disability (SMD), originating in the UK in the 1970s, marked a groundbreaking paradigm shift in disability theory. At the core of the SMD lies the distinction between an individual’s inherent conditions or attributes and the broader societal context. According to the SMD, “impairment” pertains to the medical or biological deviations from what is considered the norm. For example, a person who uses a wheelchair may have a physical impairment resulting from a spinal injury. On the other hand, “disability” is defined as the interplay between an individual’s impairments and the obstacles presented by the physical environment and the prevailing attitudes in the social environment. Disability emerges when, for instance, a person using a wheelchair faces architectural barriers in the physical environment. The SMD played a pivotal role in helping PwD recognise that many challenges they encounter are not rooted in their disabilities but are the consequences of disabling elements within society.
The Biopsychosocial Model of Disability (BMD), which emerged in the late 1970s, was designed to offer a comprehensive understanding of how medical conditions and the disabling effects on individuals are not solely a result of biological factors, but rather a complex interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors. Amid various disability models, the BMD stands out as a relatively straightforward and all-encompassing framework. It takes into account the experiences of PwD, the societal obstacles they confront (both environmental and attitudinal), and the psychological impact of individuals’ internal relationship with disability, along with the challenges of overcoming social barriers. In essence, the “Bio” component of the BMD deals with the physiological aspects, such as the effects of impairment, like pain; the “Psycho” aspect addresses psychological aspects, including internalised oppression; and the “Social” aspect encompasses factors within the social environment, including elements like architectural barriers, such as stairs.
Internalised oppression represents a psychological and emotional dimension of disablism, arising from the way PwD perceive themselves. Given that society often ingrains a negative perception of disability, PwD may internalise these negative views, leading them to self-oppress when they perceive their disabilities as a negative aspect of who they are. This phenomenon is more likely to affect those who acquire disabilities later in life because they are confronted with pre-existing negative portrayals, preconceived notions, and stereotypes about disability that they held prior to acquiring disability.
When contemplating the inclusion of PwD, it’s crucial to assess our current progress toward creating a more equitable world. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) was ratified in 2008, marking a significant milestone as disability considerations were notably absent from previous international human rights agreements. In comparison, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was established in 1979, and more than four decades later, gender equity remains an ongoing challenge. Now, 14 years since the UNCRPD’s implementation, numerous advancements are still pending, waiting to be put into practice to enhance the lives, circumstances, and the overall inclusion of PwD, while also enriching the knowledge base within disability studies.
Most community members will have limited control or influence over the physical environment in their workplaces or places of study. We are not all architects or builders who can fix inaccessible steps. However, it’s important not to be disheartened by this limitation. As mentioned earlier, it’s the social dynamics that People with Disabilities (PwD) encounter, such as prevailing attitudes and misconceptions, that shape the extent of their exclusion or inclusion in society. Becoming more disability-aware and fostering understanding doesn’t require a comprehensive knowledge of every medical condition or disability type. Instead, it’s about cultivating an awareness of the physical and social environment, which enables you to identify and acknowledge the barriers that exist.
My top tips that individuals can implement for enhancing the inclusion of PwD: 1) Acknowledge that PwD are first and foremost individuals with emotions, aspirations, and life experiences. They are not objects of pity or charity, but rather individuals navigating real-life challenges and triumphs on a daily basis. 2) Recognise that PwD are the foremost authorities on their own lives. If you have questions, approach them with respect and inquire politely. Every person’s experience of disability is unique, and it’s essential not to make assumptions or speak on behalf of others. 3) Appreciate the value of the lived experiences of PwD. The diverse perspectives, values, and life experiences they bring to the table are constructive contributions to teams and the decision-making process.
IDPwD serves as a poignant reminder that the entire society reaps the rewards of embracing diversity. Consider the research and development (R&D) investments made in assistive technology, particularly predictive typing software for People with Disabilities, back in the early 1990s. These initial efforts paved the way for predictive text features on the brick phones of the 1990s through the 2010s. Subsequently, this technology evolved into voice-typing and voice-activated digital platforms, such as Siri and Alexa, which have now become ubiquitous. Today’s R&D efforts, centered around addressing challenges faced by People with Disabilities, will similarly contribute to the development of future consumer products, accessible to the wider public in around three decades. This underscores that progress in making the world more inclusive doesn’t solely benefit PwD; it’s a boon for society at large.
Tim Harte GAICD is the Victorian State Director for Physical Disability Australia, Chair of the Surf Coast Shire Council disability advisory committee, and a Chemistry Honours student at Deakin Universities Institute for Frontier Materials.
Photo Caption: Surf Coast Shire Council (SCSC) staff with members of the Councils’ All Abilities Advisory Committee (AAAC). Left-Right: Thomas Byrnes (AAAC Member), Tim Harte (AAAC Chair), Larry the therapy dog, Damian O’Brien (SCSC Youth Development Officer), Jennine Templar (SCSC staff), Sherridan Bourne (former SCSC Aged, Youth and Access coordinator), Cr Mike Bodsworth, Richard Porter (AAAC Member) & Abby Ellery (SCSC Aged, Youth and Access coordinator).
I am feeling my age. I am 59 years and for 59 years I have been disabled.
I have seen attitudes change when it comes to people with disability. Mostly for the better, but there is no opportunity to rest. The teaching and learning must continue. Each new generation that comes along must be handed down the history and learnings from the previous. It is hard to move forward and very easy to slip backwards. Rights are earned and must be continually justified and that’s hard.
Our work as people with disability is never done. We can never stop advocating and reaching for equality.
We can never forget that only 30 years ago people with disabilities were locked in institutions. Were locked away from society and treated with either fear by the general public or infantilised by those who cared for them. Their rights stripped from them. Many fighting to be released back into the community that they so rightly belong in. Some still fighting now to be released from nursing homes where younger people languish under horrendous guardianship laws.
The language around our community 30 years ago was insulting, humiliating and used to put us down. I cannot to this day say that those word have been removed from our vocabulary, but I can say that there is growing awareness that they are not appropriate and must not be used to weaponise and hurt us. One wonders at the motivation of those who use the words in these ways. Is it based on a lack of education or empathy?
The unemployment (or underemployment) rate of people with disabilities has not improved in 30 years. We are still undervalued as workers. There is still a lot of celebrating of employers who, as part of their PR building exercises, employ people with disabilities in a bid to appear more evolved and equitable. It’s a shame because business and Government agencies are missing out on our expertise in terms of our qualifications and skill sets and also our understanding in our field of disability. We know disability from our own perspectives and this should be valued and our knowledge and experiences utilised.
Why is it that so many agencies, businesses and our own Government departments have made an industry out of disability and yet we are not at the forefront of these endeavours? We are not in middle management. We are in management, and we certainly don’t run the organisations in many cases. This amplifies the hollowness of the words in our battle cries for equality, “nothing about us without us”.
In February 2020, $32.7 million was awarded to 28 grants across Australia to provide three years of funding for activities that will provide people with disability pathways to meaningful employment and yet statistically we are still not moving forwards.
With funding for ILC (information, linkages and capacity building) grants in the millions of dollars awarded to not-for-profit organisations, it is not disabled people who are running these organisations they are just the justification for the work. Once again, I see the theme that we need to be helped, handfed and paternalised rather than lead. One organisation has a lead program, but the real tangible outcomes from this are minimal. No real improvement of the live of disabled people just a lot of busy work.
Yes, we are often on the boards of these organisation in a nicely curated ratio. We are employed as “lived experience” consultants for co-design projects, yet we don’t drive the engine – we are merely the trailer attached to the bus that drives the industry.
This day though does come with some pride when I see the achievements of our community, our real community, people with disabilities just out there doing their thing. It gives me such hope when I go out and see disabled people like me out there too. Technology has meant we are OUT now, in our wheelchairs and on our scooters. Using our mobile devices to communicate, using our support workers to do the heavy lifting so that we can be seen and so that we can challenge inclusion.
The NDIS has been revolutionary in the lives of disabled people and for this we must be proud of our nation and a government which has seen the value in equity.
In my role as PDA’s Tasmanian Director, I am part of a national wide disability organisation that exists with just three paid part-time staff members and a board of actual disabled people. Our work output is phenomenal in comparison to other much larger organisations. We run webinars that are presented by volunteer board member and feature topics that are real to our community. We have a monthly online social gathering to actually build community and respond to people and issues that affect us and also provides some fun and a chance to socialise together. This is what a small, dedicated community in an organisation can do. Perhaps there needs to be a look at what ‘work’ the others do. I seriously have issue about reporting to the Department of Social Services and these needs tightening up. I know my small organisation does the work and goes over and above.
This year our day of celebration, reflection and recognition fell on a Sunday which meant that it was fairly quiet across the nation. My own local group is meeting for a picnic and yarn this week at a local park. The day we are meeting falls on Human Rights Day which is quite poignant, because we must never forget that disability rights and human rights are the binding principals that have seen us achieve so much this far.
With the International Day of People with Disability for 2023 having fallen over the weekend and providing an opportunity to celebrate and recognise the incredible achievements and efforts of the disability community locally, nationally and throughout the world, it is with great pleasure that we raise a glass to the incredible efforts of PDA’s Tim Harte.
Deservedly recognised at the Geelong Awards for Disability, Tim’s swag of contributions and involvement are significant and we are incredibly proud of his commitment and energy as a voice and an active participant in shaping the disability landscape.
* PDA Treasurer/VIC Director
* Pacific Region Representative for the UN Affiliated Global Network of Young Persons with Disabilities
* Policy & Research Advisor and Executive Committee Member for the Commonwealth Children and Youth Disability Network (CCYDN)
* Board Member of the Geelong Landcare Network
* member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Inclusion and Diversity Committee (RIDC)
* Chair of the Surf Coast Shire Council disability advisory committee
* member of All Abilities Advisory Committee
* graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
tertiary qualifications in performing arts and science and a background in disability, social & environmental justice activism
* currently studying a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in chemistry at Deakin University’s Institute for Frontier Materials.
To everyone else who is helping to make a difference, whether recognised with an award or not, congratulations on your efforts. We celebrate you and thank you for all that you do.
If you would like us to feature someone who deserves to be recognised and celebrated for their work in the disability space, please email us at promotion@pda.org.au and we’ll be more than happy to share their stories.
Every year we like to reach out to Members and ask them to update their membership details.
As a thank you we run a competition for everyone who takes part, where a name is randomly drawn and a winner chosen.
The prize up for grabs this year was a $50 Prezzee gift card and the winner is…
drum roll please
…NM from Pennant Hills in NSW.
NM, we have emailed you in regards to your prize. Congratulations!
To everyone who took part in our annual membership update or who signed up for membership during the competition window, big thanks. We truly appreciate your help.
Written by Tim Harte – PDA’s Treasurer/VIC Director
Australia commemorates International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) on Saturday, December 3rd. IDPwD, established by the United Nations in 1992 and observed in Australia since 1996, serves several key objectives: fostering a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by People with Disabilities (PwD), rallying support for upholding the rights, dignity, and overall welfare of PwD, and advocating for the full integration and inclusion of PwD in all facets of society. 2018 Australian Bureau of Statistics data found that 17.7% of the Australian population, 4.4 million Australians, were PwD.
IDPwD events in Australia were organised by various government bodies, workplaces, schools, and universities nationwide. These events all shared a common theme: educating the public by giving PwD a platform to share their personal stories. Through these narratives, these events aim to break down preconceived notions of difference and instead emphasise the commonalities and shared experiences that connect us all. This approach humanises PwD in the eyes of those without disabilities, fostering greater understanding and empathy for the daily challenges faced by people with disabilities. In essence, these events help the non-disabled population “step into the shoes” of PwD, gaining a deeper comprehension of their lives and experiences.
What is disability? In Australian society, we acknowledge that disabilities can be both visible and invisible forms, encompassing physical, intellectual, psychiatric, sensory, and neurological disabilities. In this context, the concept of disability oversimplifies a complex reality, based on how an individual’s physical or mental condition deviates from what is considered ‘the norm’. This perspective is often referred to as the Medical Model of Disability and is relevant when seeking treatment or therapy from healthcare professionals. However, it falls short in recognising that true barriers to the full and equal participation of PwD in society stem from environmental and attitudinal factors within our community and society.
The Social Model of Disability (SMD), originating in the UK in the 1970s, marked a groundbreaking paradigm shift in disability theory. At the core of the SMD lies the distinction between an individual’s inherent conditions or attributes and the broader societal context. According to the SMD, “impairment” pertains to the medical or biological deviations from what is considered the norm. For example, a person who uses a wheelchair may have a physical impairment resulting from a spinal injury. On the other hand, “disability” is defined as the interplay between an individual’s impairments and the obstacles presented by the physical environment and the prevailing attitudes in the social environment. Disability emerges when, for instance, a person using a wheelchair faces architectural barriers in the physical environment. The SMD played a pivotal role in helping PwD recognise that many challenges they encounter are not rooted in their disabilities but are the consequences of disabling elements within society.
The Biopsychosocial Model of Disability (BMD), which emerged in the late 1970s, was designed to offer a comprehensive understanding of how medical conditions and the disabling effects on individuals are not solely a result of biological factors, but rather a complex interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors. Amid various disability models, the BMD stands out as a relatively straightforward and all-encompassing framework. It takes into account the experiences of PwD, the societal obstacles they confront (both environmental and attitudinal), and the psychological impact of individuals’ internal relationship with disability, along with the challenges of overcoming social barriers. In essence, the “Bio” component of the BMD deals with the physiological aspects, such as the effects of impairment, like pain; the “Psycho” aspect addresses psychological aspects, including internalised oppression; and the “Social” aspect encompasses factors within the social environment, including elements like architectural barriers, such as stairs.
Internalised oppression represents a psychological and emotional dimension of disablism, arising from the way PwD perceive themselves. Given that society often ingrains a negative perception of disability, PwD may internalise these negative views, leading them to self-oppress when they perceive their disabilities as a negative aspect of who they are. This phenomenon is more likely to affect those who acquire disabilities later in life because they are confronted with pre-existing negative portrayals, preconceived notions, and stereotypes about disability that they held prior to acquiring disability.
When contemplating the inclusion of PwD, it’s crucial to assess our current progress toward creating a more equitable world. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) was ratified in 2008, marking a significant milestone as disability considerations were notably absent from previous international human rights agreements. In comparison, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was established in 1979, and more than four decades later, gender equity remains an ongoing challenge. Now, 14 years since the UNCRPD’s implementation, numerous advancements are still pending, waiting to be put into practice to enhance the lives, circumstances, and the overall inclusion of PwD, while also enriching the knowledge base within disability studies.
Most community members will have limited control or influence over the physical environment in their workplaces or places of study. We are not all architects or builders who can fix inaccessible steps. However, it’s important not to be disheartened by this limitation. As mentioned earlier, it’s the social dynamics that People with Disabilities (PwD) encounter, such as prevailing attitudes and misconceptions, that shape the extent of their exclusion or inclusion in society. Becoming more disability-aware and fostering understanding doesn’t require a comprehensive knowledge of every medical condition or disability type. Instead, it’s about cultivating an awareness of the physical and social environment, which enables you to identify and acknowledge the barriers that exist.
My top tips that individuals can implement for enhancing the inclusion of PwD: 1) Acknowledge that PwD are first and foremost individuals with emotions, aspirations, and life experiences. They are not objects of pity or charity, but rather individuals navigating real-life challenges and triumphs on a daily basis. 2) Recognise that PwD are the foremost authorities on their own lives. If you have questions, approach them with respect and inquire politely. Every person’s experience of disability is unique, and it’s essential not to make assumptions or speak on behalf of others. 3) Appreciate the value of the lived experiences of PwD. The diverse perspectives, values, and life experiences they bring to the table are constructive contributions to teams and the decision-making process.
IDPwD serves as a poignant reminder that the entire society reaps the rewards of embracing diversity. Consider the research and development (R&D) investments made in assistive technology, particularly predictive typing software for People with Disabilities, back in the early 1990s. These initial efforts paved the way for predictive text features on the brick phones of the 1990s through the 2010s. Subsequently, this technology evolved into voice-typing and voice-activated digital platforms, such as Siri and Alexa, which have now become ubiquitous. Today’s R&D efforts, centered around addressing challenges faced by People with Disabilities, will similarly contribute to the development of future consumer products, accessible to the wider public in around three decades. This underscores that progress in making the world more inclusive doesn’t solely benefit PwD; it’s a boon for society at large.
Author:
Tim Harte GAICD is the Victorian State Director for Physical Disability Australia, Chair of the Surf Coast Shire Council disability advisory committee, and a Chemistry Honours student at Deakin Universities Institute for Frontier Materials.
Photo Caption: Surf Coast Shire Council (SCSC) staff with members of the Councils’ All Abilities Advisory Committee (AAAC). Left-Right: Thomas Byrnes (AAAC Member), Tim Harte (AAAC Chair), Larry the therapy dog, Damian O’Brien (SCSC Youth Development Officer), Jennine Templar (SCSC staff), Sherridan Bourne (former SCSC Aged, Youth and Access coordinator), Cr Mike Bodsworth, Richard Porter (AAAC Member) & Abby Ellery (SCSC Aged, Youth and Access coordinator).
Following Saturday’s PDA AGM, elections for the Board positions of TAS Director and VIC Director took place.
It is with great pleasure that we announce that Tim Harte (VIC Director) was re-elected to the position and also voted by the Executive to continue in his ancillary role of PDA Treasurer.
We also welcome Tammy Milne to the role of TAS Director and look forward to seeing both successful candidates’ continued commitments and successes in these roles over the next three years.
On Saturday 18th November, PDA held its 2023 Annual General Meeting, which was well attended and brought together our Board, Members and Ambassador, Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM.
Attendees heard from the PDA Team about the organisation’s efforts in 2023, plans moving into 2024 and beyond and together were part of the Physical Disability Australia conversation.
Dinesh also shared his thoughts around issues affecting the disability community and his hopes for positive reform.
Thank you to all our Members who attended, are an active part of the PDA community and who play an active role in PDA maintaining its place as an active and understanding supporter of Australians living with physical disability.
If you’re not yet a PDA MEMBER and have an interest in making a positive contribution to Australia’s disability landscape, think about signing up for FREE MEMBERSHIP by going to
3pm Sydney/Melbourne/Hobart/Canberra 2:30pm Adelaide 2pm Brisbane 1:30pm Darwin 12pm Perth
Hear what we’ve been up to in 2023, what our plans are moving forwards and to be part of the Physical Disability Australia conversation.
With updates from PDA Ambassador, Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM, and the PDA Team, our Annual General Meeting will be a great chance for Members to be an active part of the PDA community.
Wherever you are in Australia, you can attend via Zoom.
All you need is a phone, laptop, tablet or computer.
Dinesh Palipana has been awarded a General Sir John Monash Scholarships to undertake postgraduate study with an overseas university in 2024.
“Sir John Monash, one of Australia’s greatest civic and military leaders, believed education is not given for individual benefit, but for the higher duties of citizens who seek to advance society.
Dr Palipana will join the University of Edinburgh and Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh, which are among the oldest leading institutions globally providing medical education, to complete a Masters in Internal Medicine.”
Following ongoing and recent airline and airport incidents involving people living with disability, PDA last month circulated a Position Statement outlining the urgent need for airline and airport staff to undergo disability and inclusion training and listen to passengers with disability and their carers.
Following on from the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability reporting on the requirement for a complete overhaul of the procedures for supporting people with disability travelling by air, it is imperative that accessibility and airport and airline practices are revised to provide inclusive air travel experiences for all air travellers.
Written by Paul Williamson- PDA ACT Associate Director
With all the discussion and focus on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), it can be easy to overlook the fact that only a relatively small proportion of people living with disability are participants in the scheme.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that approximately 4.4 million people in Australia report living with a disability. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) reports that 610,504 people are participants in the NDIS as at the end of June 2023. This represents only 13% of people living with disability in Australia.
So what supports are available for people with disability who are not scheme participants?
The answer will come as no surprise to many people with disability – relatively few. The Federal Minister for the NDIS, the Hon Bill Shorten MP, has even conceded this point, echoing the widespread view in the disability community that the NDIS is becoming ‘the only lifeboat in the ocean’.
It’s a big ocean
There are limited measures provided by the Commonwealth Government intended to address gaps in services for people not eligible to join the NDIS. The delivery of services for people with disability was largely the remit of state and territory governments prior to the introduction of the NDIS in 2013. It was envisaged that state and territory governments would continue to deliver services to people not eligible to join the NDIS after its introduction, however this is not what has happened in many cases.
States and territories still provide some funding, though many programs that were previously funded have transitioned into the NDIS, and what is left provides only limited support.
In the ACT for example, the main publicly funded support for people not on the NDIS include the following:
* Community Assistance & Temporary Supports (CATS) program which provides short-term support for people with a health issue, illness or injury. There is no age restriction, and eligibility criteria include (as well as living in the ACT):
* Be ready to leave hospital but unable to access the supports to help you return home safely through an existing program (such as the NDIS or Commonwealth aged care program).
* Have a health condition that is temporary or terminal, and not likely to get assistance through another program such as the NDIS or Commonwealth aged care program.
The program commenced on 1 October 2023, drawing several closing programs together, and has a modest annual budget of around $8 million dollars. I say modest as the program applies to all people, not just people with disability, and a large proportion of recipients are likely to be the elderly.
* Integrated Service Response program which provides short-term co-ordination support for people with high or complex support needs, and funding to purchase emergency supports and services from non-government providers. Many recipients of support under the scheme are already NDIS participants. The program has an annual budget of approximately $1.1 million dollars.
The ACT Government concedes that it is a ‘program of last resort’.
* The Disability Gateway provides links to information about services for people with disability in each state and territory. Many of these services however appear mostly to be available to people with NDIS funding or operate on a full fee for service model.
There is also some funding for advocacy services and things like concessions on utilities and transport vouchers.
Implications
For the majority of people living with disability, this means that they must fund their own supports – that, or rely on friends, family or volunteer services for assistance when required. Not an ideal situation for some of the most vulnerable people in the community who often struggle to find secure, stable employment.
It really shouldn’t be that surprising that we have seen a stampede of people seeking to join the NDIS – some even seeking access prospectively, just in case their condition deteriorates. It also explains the angst on the part of participants and the disability community any time the issue of scheme sustainability or eligibility is raised.
The NDIS was designed to operate on a 50:50 cost sharing arrangements between the Federal and state/territory governments, however due to the current capped nature of state and territory government contributions – the Federal Government is currently meeting around 70 per cent of the NDIS budget. By 2026-27, that figure is expected to reach 75 per cent.
At the end of June 2023, the value of plan budgets in the ACT was $702 million. Based on the original cost sharing arrangement, the ACT Government’s share of this would be $351 million. In 2022-23, the ACT is expected to contribute $189.9 million.
The progressive cost shifting to the Federal Government makes the spend on the part of the ACT Government (outside of its existing NDIS contribution) seem modest indeed.
Way forward
The National Disability Insurance Agency forecasts that the number of NDIS participants will reach $1 million within the next decade, and value of the program reach close to $100 billion annually.
There is a range of proposals being considered by the NDIS Independent Review to ensure funding for the NDIS is secured well into the future. Increasing the proportional increase in contributions by state and territory governments should be one of them.
Queenslanders with Disability Network is inviting those in the states/territories listed above to become Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) Peer Leaders.
P-CEP Peer Leaders are people with disability helping to raise awareness with other people with disability about P-CEP.
The P-CEP is a framework and toolkit for people with disability to prepare for their safety and wellbeing in emergencies.
Co-designed by people with disability to prepare for their safety and wellbeing in emergencies, it draws on the research that informed person-centred and strengths-based approaches to making an emergency plan tailored to individual support needs in emergencies.
The program introduces you to the P-CEP Workbook and helps you to take steps to get ready for emergencies. Peer Leaders want to learn together about what people can do for themselves and what they may need support for in emergency situations.
Workshops will be run between October 2023 – February 2024. Join the workshop series in October. It is important to come to all 4 workshops in the series. Each workshop will go for 1 – 1.5 hours.
People who join the P-CEP Learning Community will receive payment to contribute to their time and expenses in taking part in learning.
Join us to hear what we’ve been up to in 2023, what our plans are moving forwards and to be part of the Physical Disability Australia conversation.
With updates from PDA Ambassador, Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM, and the PDA Team, our Annual General Meeting will be a great chance for Members to be an active part of the PDA community.
We hope that you join us and look forward to welcoming you.
Wherever you are in Australia, you can attend via Zoom.
All you need is a phone, laptop, tablet or computer.
Written by PDA’s QLD Associate Director, Sarah Styles
We are all familiar with the journey of learning to thrive through disability. This path normally involves years of searching for answers with many setbacks in finding the best management plan and supports. Then, dealing with organisations like NDIA brings challenges that can push us past our limits. It is after years of this I found my mental health at a low.
Since my exercise physiologist is working well with me, I decided to enter a powerlifting competition. It would give me a healthy goal that involves other people in the form of other competitors and those that work with us. Turned out to be the best decision.
Benefit 1 – Starting bench press improved my body in an unexpected way!
As someone with hEDS my connective tissue is too stretchy and cannot support my body and organs the way they are designed to. As a result, my muscles need to be extra strong to support my joints instead. It’s also hard to stretch because I hyper-extend and get no benefits, even though my body is screaming out for it. My body desires to move and get strong but more often than not I get injured doing simple things.
Lying down on the bench press provides a decent stretch without injury throughout my whole body. Winning already!
Benefit 2 – Mental Health
My mental health improved immediately as expected. Physically feeling better and stronger coupled with a goal to work towards really did the trick.
Benefit 3 – Meeting people who are happy to work with me – no matter what that means!
Powerlifting Australia informed me that the next competition was fast approaching, and they were happy to make adjustments to make it happen last minute. Not only that, but there is no segregation. Adjustments are made so everyone can compete together regardless of their physical ability. Which I really appreciated. This alone was uplifting and empowering.
Competition day.
The first thing I noticed was the family vibe. Feeling that, I knew everything would be fine. Despite arriving an hour late to prevent health issues – I struggled – but they flew into action. I was informed of anything I didn’t know, such as doing weigh in, choosing what weight I’d lift for my 3 attempts, then warming up.
It takes a lot of people to make a competition run. Everyone knew their job and functioned so well as a team you’d not know if there was a problem they had to solve. I ended up pressing my personal best – which was exciting – and leaving with a gold medal!
As a spectator you can’t help but cheer everyone on. I even witnessed a world record being made. I am definitely looking forward to the next competition and I’m thrilled to be counted with everyone else.
Written by Tammy Milne – PDA TAS Associate Director
I am a white disabled woman living in Australia. My cohort is still the most marginalised and discriminated against minority group – people with disabilities suffer discrimination in Australia more than all the other minority groups put together. 44% of all complaints received by the Human Rights Commission are in regards to discrimination because of disability (AIWH, 2023).
I am a university student and as such come across a wide range of overseas students.
My taxi driver from Lebanon on Friday night said that they had been a nurse in their home country, and that things are very different here for people with disabilities and so I am very lucky. Our country is getting a little better.
My support worker from India is a trained physiotherapist – but only in India. I asked her what it is like for people with disabilities in her home country. She answered “Good if you come from a rich family who can pay for everything, but it is not like it is here.” When I asked how things would be if you are not from a rich family. She sort of frowned and answered “it’s not good. There are a lot of beggars in India who have disabilities. They beg for food – that is if they survive.” I asked “Do they die?” Her sad answer was “Yes”.
My Iranian friend at university has a cousin who uses a wheelchair. Her family is able to take care of her and her mother and family are very protective of her. She mentioned that access is very difficult in her country and the shops and streets make it very hard for her family to push her wheelchair. It is also a country where it is mandatory for women to wear a hijab. Very proudly my friend said her cousin asserts her dissidence by claiming she cannot wear it because of her disability. It seems that, at least to this point, she has been given some leniency.
My first holiday overseas was to Indonesia. I was 24 years old. Getting off the tour bus in a remote, small town square, I was rocked to my core. My naivety in my perceptions of what the lives of people with disabilities was like was rocked. I had assumed that everyone (wherever they were in the world), had a life like mine. I was so wrong. The bus was met by a small group of disabled people whose bone contractures (unlike mine) had not been surgically altered. They moved around on makeshift wooden skateboard type trolleys, sitting just a few centimetres off the ground. Prior to this, I had no idea what real poverty and deprivation looked like.
And so it is that I check my privilege. It is difficult to compare apples and oranges, a rich first world country and the countries outside of our “lucky country”. I complain about the NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) not being perfect and not meeting all my needs and the needs of others in Australia, but then I remember what I have been told and what I have seen.
In 2013 the Labor Government legislated a trial rollout of the NDIS to give people with disabilities choice and control over their lives – much like those whose disabilities saw them eligible for MAIB insurance. People with disabilities not covered under MAIB due to their being born with their disabilities, were then afforded a level playing field with the NDIS.
The scheme has now grown to be Australian wide. There is obviously still work to be done to make the scheme sustainable and efficient, to stamp out corruption from nefarious, unscrupulous entities and to give people with disabilities dignity. However, we are well on the way to this being achieved. We must also be ever vigilant in ensuring that the conditions offered to people with disabilities in Australia are the best that our country can provide.
I acknowledge my privilege to live in Australia and be a participant of the NDIS, but I will never forget that many living in other countries do not have such fortunate lives. It is but by a quirk of nature that I was born here, and they were born there! The divide between us is unfair!
Written by Robert Wise – PDA VIC Associate Director
This is the first of my series of blogs on assisted technology that has been funded by the NDIS to enable me to enjoy my freedom, to get out and about and, most importantly, to achieve my goals.
For those who don’t know me, I am an above knee amputee with a type of amputation known as Hip disarticulation where part of the hip is also removed. I live in Melbourne, Victoria and am PDA’s Victorian Associate Director. I always been passionate about exploring the outdoors and nature and used to do a lot of hiking before my amputation.
Today I am going to tell you about my Adaptive Trike known as a Jee-Trike supplied by Living Concepts Australia and funded by the NDIS. It is built from imported parts and assembled at Melrose Wheelchairs in Oakleigh, Victoria. It has been fully customised to suit me and my needs. You can view their range of equipment at https://melrosewheelchairs.com.au/. With my Jee-Trike I can now get back to my bush exploring, but from a different point of view.
Image: My Jee-Trike
The Jee-Trike is known as an off-road, hand-powered cycle with an upright seating position and rear-wheel drive – which is a bonus as many other hand cycles are front-wheel drive which can be difficult to use with some forms of physical disabilities. It can be used by many people with different types of physical disabilities including those with quadriplegia. The Jee-Trike can be custom built to suit the user and can include options such as power assist to enable easier pedalling and brakes that can be operated by the elbow. Whilst the Jee-Trike is not suited to all physical disabilities, it can be adapted in several configurations.
There are many Hand Cycles available on the market. I chose the Jee-Trike as it was personally best suited and easy to modifiy for my needs. I have included a short video where I walk you through my custom-built option (please click on the link at the bottom of this blog to view). Special thanks to my support worker from Sonder Care Group for helping me film this video. Sonder Care Group is a support agency providing support workers to accompany you 1:1 (or other support ratios) and who make outdoor pursuits such as adventure camps, 4-wheel driving, mountain biking, snow and water activities and much more possible. With their help, choosing to attend events such as music festivals, cultural events and anything else that you might be interested in is in your control. Sonder Care Group will do their best to match you with the right support worker and the activities you like to do. Check them out at https://sondercaregroup.com.au/. It was with their help that I was able to visit and ride a section of the Great Southern Rail Trail in Gippsland Victoria – something I’d always wanted to do. We rode the section from Loch to Korumburra. I have included a slideshow of this ride at the end of this blog’s video. Most of the video was taken whilst on our most recent ride.
My support worker and I did the ride together and she had the right transport to carry the bikes.
Without the NDIS and assistance from my support worker, achieving these goals would not have been easy to achieve. I like to encourage people to get out there and explore your passions. With the right equipment, support and determination, your goals can be achieved. None of this would have been possible without the assisted technology and pushing myself. This may not be suited to everybody as each person’s needs are different. In a future blog, I will show you some of the other items that have made a huge difference to my life – including my everyday wheelchair. Watch this space.
I encourage you to subscribe to PDA’s YouTube channel whilst you’re checking out my video so that you don’t miss Part 2 of my blog and the many other exciting PDA videos in the pipeline.
Written by Tammy Milne – PDA TAS Associate Director
The social model of disability
I have lived with what others call a disability all my life. I have Arthrogrophosis Multiplex congentia which is not very well known, with many doctors even needing to google it to understand what it is.
I use a wheelchair now, but for many years I walked around using a walking stick and long calipers (leg braces). However, the effort involved took its toll over time and I had to resign myself to the fact that I was now indeed a wheelchair user.
Things have changed dramatically for me. Whereas before I was able to open doors and even drag myself up a couple of steps, now I can’t because as we know wheelchairs can’t fly. Other things changed too. Where once I could go to a regular toilet (of which there are thousands, millions in the community), now I had to seek out accessible disability bathrooms (which are not as common). Even doing one of my favourite activities became a problem, op shopping! Do you know how many op shops are inaccessible? And don’t get me started about shops in general out there. Geesh! There is still a long way to go in the talks and provision of accessibility.
But even with challenges such as these, there are times where I can forget I have a disability. I am simply me and when things are going great, I forget. This is when the social model of disability is working perfectly. So what is the social model of disability you ask?
“The social model of disability seeks to redefine disability to refer to the restrictions caused by society when it does not give equitable social and structural support according to disabled peoples’ structural needs.“ (Pam Thompson et al 2012)
So basically, this explains why I forget I’m disabled at times. If I can smoothly traverse my day with no manmade obstacles to stop me, then I am not disabled. If I can get to a toilet, if I can go to the shops I want, if I can just go about my business like everyone else, then am I disabled?
It’s only when access is denied by obstruction that I become frustrated and rail at the unfairness of it, not just for me but for everyone like me.
Yesterday I got a takeaway coffee and googled the nearest fenced dog park. My doggies, my support worker and I were going for an adventure and some much needed outside time on this barmy (for Tasmania), sunny 17 degree day.
We arrived at a beautiful tree lined park with thick green grass and doggos everywhere bouncing around after balls and socialising with each other as their people socialised with the other humans. We parked the car between the trees to get close enough so that I didn’t have to traverse much of the rough gravely dirt to get to the gate, but then we saw the gate. There was a small step. Even though it was small, as I said before wheelchairs don’t fly. I could not enter. I was frustrated! I sat in the car and watched through the window as my doggos enjoyed the park. I could not join them. These are the times I feel disabled! These are the times when society has built infrastructure that excludes me.
Not being a shy flower, I instantly rang the council to point out this discrimination. The response I got was “gee that park’s been there for years, no one has said anything before this.”
I responded with well something needs to be done now.
The reason why no one has complained about the access issues in the past could be attributed to a number of reasons; the emotional labour it takes a person with disability to constantly ask for solutions to barriers takes its toll and there is only so much we as individuals can speak up about. Another reason, people with disabilities simply don’t know their rights – under anti discrimination legislation, access is not to be denied to PWD. It is your right to enter just like everyone else. The last reason could be a council issue. For all the access and inclusion committees put in place by councils these days, the work simply isn’t filtering down to the ground, like the actual bricks and mortar of the council area. Policy is one thing, but action is another.
The takeaway from this story is that we need to be striving to make sure access is not denied. The social model of disability is a reality, disability is a construct. That is, our environment makes us more disabled than others simply by the way things are built around us. I want to continue to live my life day to day forgetting I have a disability. For this to happen at the moment, a lot of people like me need to speak up about the issues and constraints in their communities, such as access to my local dog park. We should not be denied.
The PDA Team loves to share information, disability stories and personal experiences on our website’s blog page and to ignite discussions and encourage the sharing of ideas and opinions on our socials.
Seeing these interactions and reading comments from everyone also helps us to gauge what’s important and where we need to focus our attention as an organisation representing Australia’s disability community.
Being recognised for doing this is an added bonus and has us walking, wheeling and hopping around with the biggest smiles on our faces.
As the NDIS National Disability Insurance Scheme celebrates 10 years, a review by an independent commission is looking at ways to ensure that it works well for all participants.
Through the help of its participants, the Scheme’s problems and successes will be pulled together and potential solutions identified.
The Australian Federation Of Disability Organisations (AFDO) is made up of member organisations, including Physical Disability Australia, who together work to uphold and address issues impacting the lives of people with disability in Australia.
As part of the NDIS Review, AFDO is making a submission to the the independent commission on behalf of people with disability. To do this we need your feedback and ideas around improving the NDIS to ensure that the voices of its participants are at the heart of any reform.
If you’re an NDIS participant and would like to have an anonymous say in making this happen, we invite you to take part in a survey where you can share your experiences around accessing the Scheme and how you feel about your plan.
If you missed seeing the ABC TV’s piece on the 10th birthday of the NDIS, we encourage you to check it out.
It’s an interesting look at the life of the NDIS, with some wonderful insights from those involved in its management and those accessing the system – including PDA’s SA Associate Director, Krystal Matthews, who comes in at approximately 26:56 minutes.
“Nas Campanella looks at the successes and failures of the NDIS. We hear from those with lived experience of the scheme, plus Chair of the National Disabilities Insurance Agency Kurt Fearnley and NDIS Minister Bill Shorten.”
On Thursday 01 June I attended the Assistive Technology Suppliers Australia (ATSA) Independent Living Expo at the Perth Showgrounds.
I went to check out what is new and upcoming in the AT world. To be very honest, I have been to many of these in the past and so was not really expecting anything to take my breath away. Well, I was very wrong.
There were well over 100 suppliers. Everything from all types of wheelchairs and wheeled mobility devices to bedding, beds and lift chairs for the lounge to modified accessible vehicles, to the latest in devices for vision impaired people.
I want to highlight 3 products that really blew my mind.
#1. A remote-controlled wheelchair. I was wandering through the exhibits and this empty attendant wheelchair came towards me. It was surreal to see this, so I followed it to the stall to have a chat with the operator. She explained that it was designed for a user who needed to move the chair independently once they had transferred from the chair to a bed for example. It can be easily operated by a support worker or by the person with a disability.
#2. In the physical disability world, we know that on the whole wheelchairs haven’t really changed much in the past years. I came across Rove, an engineering company based in Melbourne, who are doing some game changing work in the build, and weight, of custom wheelchairs. They are building them with 3D printed Titanium, so they are super lightweight and extremely strong. As they are custom made, the final chair is completely custom fitted to the user and as they say, “millimetre perfect”. I was passed a very big frame and it weighed no more than my prosthetic leg. Incredible.
#3. Mobility scooters are great, except when you forget to charge the battery. Well, there is now a solution. A solar powered scooter. This scooter has 2 onboard batteries which are on constant trickle charge as the scooter is being used out and about. It has 3 solar panels on it which are flexible. It can also be plugged into mains power.
I would encourage all members to go to the ATSA Expo in your area. It not only is a great opportunity to see, touch, hold and explore new AT, but also to network, meet new people and catch up with old friends.
It was great to spend some time with my WA Associate Director, Melanie, and get some photos together.
Please check out the link below to see a short video of the remote-controlled wheelchair:
Written by PDA WA Associate Director Melanie Hawkes
There’s nothing worse than being cold! I find it really difficult to warm up. I take at least 20 minutes to get dry and dressed after a shower and can’t wear thick jackets or extra layers as it affects my arm movements. I still need to be capable of driving my wheelchair and feeding myself on cold days. My hands and feet are like ice blocks most days. It makes me miserable, and I can’t sleep if I’m too cold. Nobody likes grumpy Mel, so here are my top tips for surviving winter:
#1 Heated throw rug – I got one last year from a friend, and I love it! I have it plugged into a smart Wi-Fi plug and use my voice to turn it on and off through my Google assistant. So handy when I go to bed freezing, or wake up shivering during the night. The smart plug app has built in timers, so I can set it to switch itself off. It usually only takes 15 minutes, so I warm up quickly. I wish I could hide under it all day!
#2 Bake – find any excuse to put the oven on! My favourite thing is to roast pumpkin. I take my time turning each piece over, enjoying the warmth on my face and hands. And always leave the oven open when you turn it off. It’s a great way to warm the house. Just be careful not to burn yourself.
#3 A warm bath – I love my bath! I have it as hot as I can tolerate. I got TADWA to make me a comfortable bath seat, and I have a wooden table for my magazine and a drink. And bath bombs are the best. The longest bath I’ve had was three hours, and yes, I had to add a kettle of boiling water after two hours as I started to get cold.
#4 Find the sun – my house was designed to maximise the winter sun. I go from window to window as the sun moves throughout the day.
#5 Hand warmers – I have an electric hand warmer that warms up to approximately 50°C, but I really like the Hot Hands hand warmers too. It is a lot lighter, they always come in sets of two, but unfortunately they aren’t reusable. Most chemists sell these, and they’re the only way my hands don’t freeze at the footy.
#6 Hairdryer – I always have cold hands while using my computer. So I put my hairdryer on my desk! I have it plugged into a wifi plug so I can turn it on and off with my phone. And it blows hot air right onto my hands! Great for when my support workers have freezing cold hands and they have to undress me. The only downside is it’s loud, so can’t use it during zoom meetings.
#7 Heated socks – yes they exist. I bought mine from Amazon. Mine have a pocket for the rechargeable battery to sit in while wearing. It has a remote control too! On the lowest setting the batteries last all day, and my feet are no longer purple ice blocks.
#8 Mulled wine – when all the above fails, mulled wine it is for me. I found Zenzen Gluhmein, a German Christmas wine, at Dan Murphys. A small amount in a mug in the microwave for a minute and I get toasty warm.
Written by PDA TAS Associate Director, Tammy Milne
***TRIGGER WARNING – LOSS AND GRIEF***
***SPOILER ALERT – “Guardians of the Galaxy 3”***
Today I went to a movie and I cried almost all the way through. This wasn’t some mushy romcom or chick flick. This was an action sci-fi film. It was “Guardians of The Galaxy 3”.
Why did I cry so much? I am a woman with a disability and the character Rocket brought out in me some deep-seated emotions around disability that just could not be held in. They burst forward and I was a blubbering mess for most of the film.
Rocket, like me, received many painful operations throughout his young life. These enhancements for both of us came at the cost of pain – real bone grating, breaking, aching pain. Seeing Rocket suffer triggered that empathy dam that burst its banks, allowing tears to roll forth in torrents. I know your pain Rocket!
The friends Rocket made in his cage caused all kinds of grief for me as well. This little creature was loved by his group of also tortured friends, with their shared pain and suffering creating a bond where together they endured and made the best of their sorry lives. When they were killed, that was it! I totally lost it. Rocket’s feelings of abandonment, pain and anger were so real and I felt that they were happening to me. Another creature misplaced in the universe.
As I write this, it’s 12 days ahead of the anniversary of Phil’s Death (my husband and partner of 33 years) and maybe this was the trigger that I needed to grieve again. It seems that loss is never finally over. When Rocket almost died, was reunited in the great hereafter and was told “we missed you, you can stay, but not yet as your time has not come”, again my tears rolled liked rushing snotty rivers down my face, with big ugly sobs to go with it.
Is death just the beginning? Will we be reunited with the ones we love? I hope so! And you know what? In the hereafter the movie characters still had their callipers and wheels, because they are part of what we/they are. We don’t have to change and be cured to accepted in the great beyond! We are what we are! LOVED!
I was not alone in my grief at this movie. My daughter beside me was just as stricken. We held hands and sobbed our way through the movie. Others probably thought we were an odd pair – the young woman and the older woman on a scooter crying uncontrollably at what is essential a children’s movie. We shared our grief together, separately, individual, but together in our journey of grief.
When the Guardian rescued the inhabitants of the factory of misery, and all the higher order creatures, the sobbing began again in earnest because creatures like Rocket were not included. Rocket would not leave them and the baby rockets were scooped up and hauled on his back to be carried through the fire and destruction and saved. Rocket risked his life to save them because in his eyes they were worth saving. They were his family. They were like him and worth life.
They had value. Wow, did that bring up deep seeded feelings of unworthiness that have personally followed me through life because of my disability. But I too am worthy and I applauded Rocket for his bravery in saving them. Who decides who is of value? Who decides who is worthy? Who decides who lives or dies? We judge a society on how it treats its most vulnerable.
I see myself in Rocket. and what I saw made me cry uncontrollably and think I would never leave this grief behind. It is now 5 hours later and I just had to write about this, to share how for me life imitates art. For me grief is still with me and like Rocket I will fight on. I will put my tears away, bolster my courage and, just like Rocket, live because I am worthy!
Mark Pietsch is PDA’s NSW Director and yesterday he was interviewed on ABC Illawarra radio’s Breakfast Show hosted by Melinda James about the NDIS National Disability Insurance Scheme.
His segment is at 1:58:48.
Check it out. Mark has some great points and suggestions.
Written by Melanie Hawkes – PDA WA Associate Director
As a woman with a physical disability since the age of two, I never thought I was worthy of a man’s desires, or capable of fun times in the bedroom. With high needs in daily personal care tasks like toileting, dressing and showering, sexual matters never crossed my mind. What kind of man would choose me over an able-bodied person? They would be crazy to take on someone with additional needs.
Then in December I got Covid-19. I actually thought it would kill me, as I only have about 20% lung capacity. This is because I have a severe scoliosis and reduced muscle strength to cough. A simple chest infection can mean a hospital stay.
Two days before testing positive, I found out I was eligible for antiviral medication. So I was able to get them which meant that my symptoms were mild and only lasted three days. But it was during my isolation that I had a surprising conversation with one my support workers that changed my life. She told me about disability sex workers. I’d never heard of them, and didn’t even know it was legal here in WA.
In January 2023, at the age of 43, I had my first session with a male escort called Chayse. It was the first time I had been naked in front of a man, outside a hospital. A nerve-wracking experience, but Chayse made me feel comfortable and relaxed as he gave me an erotic massage at his place.
I felt out of my depths in terms of sexual knowledge, and didn’t even know that women masturbate (I thought it was something only men did). But what I didn’t know about sex, Chayse didn’t know about disability. We had a lot we could teach each other.
Unfortunately I didn’t get a ‘happy ending’ during the massage, but it wasn’t through lack of effort by Chayse. I booked him again for a second session, two weeks after the first. This time he came to my house.
I was more relaxed than the first session and I had paid for a mix of massage and escort. I had emailed him my list of fantasies: things I wanted to experience with a man. Top of my list was kissing, as I had never been kissed before and had no idea how to. Chayse was a good teacher and he didn’t disappoint. The three hours together flew by. I’ve seen him five more times since.
What I love most about Chayse is the way he makes me feel. He sees me as a woman first, with the same wants, needs and desires as any other woman. My disability becomes irrelevant. Sure we need to do some things differently, but it isn’t a barrier to accessing physical touch or intimacy or pleasure.
Melanie with escort Chayse
It is also a very safe way to explore sexual matters. By paying for the service, I have felt in control. If Chayse did something I didn’t like or made me feel uncomfortable, I trusted him to stop. I am immobile when in bed. It’s not like I can get up and walk away; a vulnerable situation to get myself into. But by paying a professional (a ‘sexpert’ as he calls himself), I maintain control. It is in Chayse’s best interest to do the right thing and satisfy his customers, or I won’t book him again. It’s no different to seeing an OT for equipment advice or a physio for aches and pains.
Chayse is very body positive and I have learnt from him that every body is beautiful, even mine. It was just after our second session that I got more comfortable telling people about him. I actually wanted to tell the whole world what an amazing service it is, how it has given me a new sense of worth, increased my confidence and made me feel amazing. But I was scared of people’s reactions.
The more people I told, the more positive reactions I received. They were really happy for me, and could see it made me happy. So I emailed the Deputy Editor at Take 5 magazine with my story idea about using escorts.
She loved the idea straight away. But I had to decide whether I wanted to reveal my identity, change my name or show my face in photos.
It wasn’t an easy decision, but again I had the support of family, friends, and of course Chayse. The key message I wanted to convey through the story is sexual health is a basic human right, according to the World Health Organisation. Just because I have a physical disability doesn’t mean I don’t deserve intimacy and pleasure. I’m not ashamed of wanting it for myself, only that I didn’t start many years ago.
Melanie with a pet snake
I’m speaking out and sharing my story now in the hope that others with disabilities realise they too can have it. The hours I’ve spent with Chayse have been some of my happiest. We’ve slow danced, had baths together, slept together, been swinging, I even rode in his V8 ute! I’ve bought lingerie and toys for the first time in my life. It has opened up a whole new world for me that I never thought I belonged to. These are opportunities I’d never thought possible, and I want other people to have their own fantasies realised.
I self-funded the first four sessions, and claimed the last three on NDIS. Check with your LAC to see if you can too. I self manage my funds, but believe the NDIS should see escorts as an essential service and fund it adequately. Relationships are tricky enough for able-bodied people. For some people with disabilities, escorts are the only way we can have a safe, positive sexual experience. Why deny someone that because of cost? It’s an activity those without disabilities take for granted.
I must thank those who have spoken out before me, who gave me the confidence to do the same. Amy Calladine wrote about her experience on MamaMia, Hannah Diviney spoke about acting on The Latecomers on the ListenAble podcast, and TV shows like The Swiping Game and Better Date Than Never have made talking about sex more mainstream and acceptable.
So what’s in store for me in the future? I have been blown away by the response of my Take 5 story since it was shared on news.com.au. I’ve had messages from journalists from as far away as Norway and the UK asking to interview me. And I’ve loved all the comments on Facebook and messages from strangers thanking me for my story. It’s obviously an important topic that not many are happy to discuss. I wasn’t prepared for my personal story to be popular worldwide, and I haven’t decided if I want it to be world news!
For now, Chayse has given me the skills, knowledge and confidence to put myself out there. He is helping me to navigate the field of online dating as a pathway to meeting a potential partner.
But if I have no luck, I’ll be asking the NDIS for a bigger budget next year.
Krystal Matthews is PDA’s SA Associate Director and an incredible disability advocate with strong professional experience and personal interest in disability accommodation and homelessness resolution.
On Monday 24th April at 6pm AEST, Krystal will be part of our next webinar “My Home, My Life”, which will be around housing options for people with disability, home modifications, building an accessible home and what home and support options are possible with the NDIS.
You can hear Krystal talk about the upcoming webinar by going to:
This webinar is a must attend for anyone wanting to learn more about housing options and how to get a foot in the door of accommodation that is accessible, suitable and a place to call home.
Our four presenters will provide you with a solid understanding around the different types of disability housing, eligibility for NDIS funding, accessing support, current and upcoming legislation and accessibility modifications.
Run via Zoom, this FREE WEBINAR is available to everyone. You don’t have to be a PDA Member, but you can also SIGN UP FOR FREE PDA MEMBERSHIP by going to www.pda.org.au/membership/ .
To register for this “don’t miss” opportunity go to:
Physical Disability Australia (PDA) exists through the dedication, hard work, loyalty and commitment of its staff, board and members to support our country’s disability community.
Our most valuable contributors are often the ones who work in the background. Trish Johnson is one of these incredible individuals who has been Finance Officer here at PDA for 12 incredible years, helping behind the scenes to ensure that things run smoothly and successfully.
Trish, we are so grateful for your involvement and efforts and so proud to have you on board as a colleague and friend.
With many water sports adapted to be more inclusive and more and more opportunities becoming available to try these fun activities, maybe one of these options will whet (or “wet” 🤣) your interest.
Fishing
For any regular anglers or people eager to give fishing a try, a number of not-for-profit organisations throughout Australia offer recreational opportunities for people with disability to pick up a fishing line and join fishing trips on shorelines, jetties and boats in rivers, oceans and estuaries. Supported by trained volunteers and using modified equipment, interested people can experience the joy of fishing: Fishability is based in WA – https://fishability.org.au FishAbility by Fishcare Victoria – https://www.vrfish.com.au/get-involved/fishability/ Fishability QLD – https://fishability.com.au Fishing for the Disabled in SA – https://ioofsa.org.au/community.htm Fishing For Therapy – Sydney, NSW – https://www.ansansw.com.au
Sailing
Disability inclusive sailing clubs operate throughout Australia with many making sailing accessible to everyone. Sailability is run by volunteers in every Australian state, working jointly with local sailing clubs to offer opportunities to sailors of all abilities. (https://discoversailing.org.au/sailability/)
Surfing
The Disabled Surfers Association of Australia runs all-inclusive surfing programs to people with disabilities throughout Australia. Run by volunteers, this organisation brings the joy of surfing to anyone wanting to ride the waves. (https://www.disabledsurfers.org)
Canoeing and kayaking
Canoeing and kayaking are a great water sport that can be adapted and enjoyed by people of all abilities. It’s also a wonderful way to experience the water – whether for fun or competitive sport. The recent addition of para-canoe to the Paralympics has encouraged a surge in popularity for those who want to take a lazy paddle to the next level. Whatever your interest level, there are clubs throughout Australia running accessible programs. (https://www.sports.org.au/canoe-kayak)
Scuba Diving
Disabled Divers International is a not-for-profit organisation providing disabled scuba diving internationally through dive schools. Running a number of programs DDI strives to make diving more accessible for people with disabilities. (https://www.ddivers.org)
Water Skiing
A number of disability-inclusive water skiing options are available in Australia, offering fun opportunities to PWD with a range of physical and visual impairments to give adaptive water skiing a go. Disabled Water Ski Australia can get you started. (https://disabledwaterski.com.au)
Water (Aqua) Aerobics
These fun classes can be adapted to a wide range of disabilities, with the water working to reduce the impact of mobility limitations. Many pools and aquatic centres throughout Australia offer programs for people with disabilities to enjoy this fun fitness option.
Swimming
Swimming is a great way to maintain fitness, build muscle strength and target core stability. Water buoyancy also helps with movement and it is easily adaptable. Many local pools and aquatic centres provide programs, warmer pools and equipment options for people with disabilities.
Kite-Surfing
For the Adrenalin junkies amongst you, kite-surfing has seen great advances in becoming an accessible sport for people with disabilities. Modified seating equipment, tandem harnesses and wheelchair land-based trainer kites help to bring this sport to many Australians living with disability. Not yet readily available, you may have to do some research locally. (https://www.ikointl.com/blog/kitesurfing-people-disabilities)
For those of you simply wanting to enjoy the beach, Accessible Beaches provides an incredibly useful and welcome way to locate your nearest accessible beaches. Covering information such as mobimats (beach matting), beach wheelchairs, disabled parking, accessible changing rooms/toilets, ramps, pathways and direct beach access. (https://accessiblebeaches.com)
Whatever your jam is on or in the water, there are some fun sport and recreation options and some great opportunities to get your feet wet and try them out.
We’re excited to be running our next webinar around housing options for people with disability, home modifications, building an accessible home and what home and support options are possible with the NDIS.
Monday 24th April at 6pm AEST
This webinar is a must attend for anyone wanting to learn more about housing options and how to get a foot in the door of accommodation that is accessible, suitable and a place to call home.
Our four presenters will provide you with a solid understanding around the different types of disability housing, eligibility for NDIS funding, accessing support, current and upcoming legislation and accessibility modifications.
Run via Zoom, this FREE WEBINAR is available to everyone. You don’t have to be a PDA Member, but you can also SIGN UP FOR FREE PDA MEMBERSHIP by going to www.pda.org.au/membership/ .
To register for this “don’t miss” opportunity go to:
Written by Tammy Milne – PDA’s TAS Associate Director
Today I caught a bus. So what’s so unusual about that you ask, when millions of people all around the world do it everyday!
What makes it unusual is that I was able to catch a bus because the infrastructure, the bus and the bus stop were accessible to me and my wheelchair.
I was able to catch a bus, go out for dinner and on to see a movie. That is freedom, that is choice and that is control! I am the master of my environment in this small way in this instance, when all the stars align or more pointedly when government, bus companies and councils work together to make sure that transport is accessible to everyone.
This occasion was anomalous, not the ordinary and certainly not something to be taken for granted. There are thousands or at least hundreds of variables that stand in the way of this being an ordinary, everyday occurrence for all people with disabilities.
The Bus Stops. Their placement geographically is a variable that cannot be ignored. If the bus stop is on a steep gradient on a street then the bus ramp is inoperable and/or dangerous to use. This stops people with disabilities using the bus.
But I have seen wondrous engineering skills implemented to ‘fix’ this situation. Bus stops with elevated and flattened boarding points on the street. So really the only impediment to all Bus Stops being accessible is funding and skilled engineering.
The Bus. As yet we still do not have 100% accessible transport in this country. In some areas it’s close, but even 1% or 5% of inaccessible buses can mean someone is left on the side of a road because they can’t get on. They are unable to access their community and their lives are not the same as those who can easily hop on that bus.
The Other Passengers. Those seats with the little wheelchair sign are dedicated for PWD, not crabby teenagers, or lazy people who like the first seat they can find. The other day I was on a bus and a young man was busily playing on his phone as I tried to manoeuvre into the wheelchair section of the bus. He occupied one section, sprawled on his seat. He either didn’t notice the amount of times I had to reverse and go forward, reverse and go forward and still be unable to get into the space or he didn’t really understand that he was impeding my access. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he had a disability. However, when his stop came and he bounced off the bus I was crabby.
So, young man on the 501 to North Hobart, check your privilege and also (unlike toilet seats where you put them down after using as a courtesy) return the bloody bus seat to an upright position. Have you ever tried to lift those seats up from your wheelchair? Often all six of them? It’s hard and can’t be done without assistance. So people please make sure those seats are put back up again. In Melbourne I have noticed that the seat automatically returns to the upright position once the person leaves their seat. Food for thought Transport Tasmania?
The wheelchair. It has become a ‘thing’ where well meaning professionals prescribe wheelchairs that are great at home, at the theatre in many other situations – but they are large, heavy and are not suited to travelling on a bus. So whilst they may well be extremely comfortable to sit in at the theatre, the act of getting to the theatre may be another story. If it’s too big for a bus, or if I don’t have transport of my own (such as a custom car or van), then is it really fit for purpose? Is my life really better off with it?
So it seems a missing piece in the consideration of our transport needs lies in whether our wheelchairs are actually fit for purpose and able to be used and transported. This is an issue for professionals, manufacturers and PWD themselves to advocate for more innovation in this space. We want wheelchairs that are fit for purpose and that easily allow us to access our communities. Make them lighter, more comfortable, more durable and suitable to use on public transport. There should be NO compromises. You should not have to give up catching a bus because your new $20,000 wheelchair is not fit for purpose and possibly requires you to access an additional $75,000 because you need a purpose-built van to carry it and this van requires an additional person to drive it – further diminishing your independence and adding to your cost of living.
As you see the price of freedom has many and varying costs, but none are insurmountable with greater thought, planning and engineering solutions. I want to continue to travel with my trusty, Green Card for all zone cost of $1.92. I want to save the environment by not using a car. I want to stop congestion by not taking up road space. I want to free up parking in the CBD and I don’t want to have to pay for it either.
Written by Sarah Styles – PDA’s QLD Associate Director
How many times do we encounter people who view those different to them through a narrow view? Assumptions are made and perceptions born coloured by their interpretation of their own life’s experiences. Simply put, they see others subjectively.
It is most useful to learn how to view others objectively. That is, we are not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts. It can be confronting and quite difficult to accept and to believe truths coming from very different realities to our own, but it is possible.
One situation the disabled community talk about a lot is around able bodied people asking inappropriate questions. The most common questions resemble “What happened to you?” The common response to this question is that it’s no ones business. Often this is because the answer involves private medical information. Information no one else is asked to divulge – especially to quell a stranger’s curiosity. Another reason this question is frowned upon is because living with a disability is all encompassing. Everyday activities like eating are not straight forward. Much planning is required. Since so much time is already given to these tasks, it’s the last thing we want to think about while we are working or enjoying the moment. The third important reason is that we may not be in an emotional place to talk about it. Our limits can be quite narrow some days. We may require every bit of mental focus for our task or simply trying to sit up can drain our energy quickly. And the fourth reason is due to trauma. We have often been ignored, ghosted, not believed or even abused for years. This takes a toll. Many of us have medical PTSD. Many have families who don’t believe them which adds to the impact. They don’t want to be reminded of that trauma nor relive it.
I think it’s important to discuss these trauma responses. Too often they are misinterpreted as anger or rudeness and understandably so. It is possible to tell the difference between a rude or entitled person and a trauma response for those who have been exposed to both. To those who, like me, have lived experience with trauma either as an individual and/or a supportive loved one, we know these responses make interacting with others harder for us and them. It is important we learn to recognise our personal trauma responses, then find tools to assist ourselves when confronted. This does take time.
I urge you to please be kind to yourself by validating your experience and being gentle and understanding of yourself.
The two rules I live by are:
#1: never explain yourself. Adequate Facts can be shared without going that far.
#2: Never take anything personally. Validate and own everything relating to yourself and recognise what does not belong to you. Let that go with the other person as that is their’s alone. I have noticed a difference in my life putting this into practice. For example, during COVID times I got on the lift at a train station. It was a small lift and my powerchair filled it. A woman entered it with me just as the doors were closing. Not only was she not wearing a mask and I was at risk, but she coldly asked an inappropriate question. I was physically doing poorly and didn’t appreciate the situation in the slightest. I felt she was brash and rude, but decided it best I did not make assumptions about her. While neither of us were warm and friendly, we also were not rude. She listened as I educated her of my reality and she did not sneer back like many do. Sneering happens when we take things personally – hence my second rule. I recognise that there are a number of causes for a gruff manner and I learned that judging her would have caused myself stress which I would have projected onto her creating an inflamed interaction. She had clearly experienced life’s harshness in some way herself. While I do use these questions to educate people, when I’m not well enough to do so, I either give a quick to the point answer or I tell them I am not up for a conversation today.
May we all learn what it means to be kind to ourselves and others especially with those who are different.
A special day to celebrate women’s achievement, to lift all women up, end discrimination, to raise awareness of gender disparity and to forge a world where equality for all women exists.
The theme for this year’s IWD is #EmbraceEquity.
To women everywhere, Happy International Women’s Day.
In the context of disability services, we hear the words “choice and control”. It is much like the other catch phrase, “reasonable and necessary”. Often heard, but with little to no understanding as to what it is.
I have broken this blog into 3 parts, all addressing the issue of choice and control.
1. What is it?
2. When is it?
3. How is it?
Number 1.
In the disability sector, choice and control is the way of thinking about how you arrange your supports and get the services you require.
It means having control over the course of your life and how you make decisions.
Examples:
1. Consumer choice. What sort of prosthetic foot you may choose
2. Complex choice. Adding to the mix things such as ot, physio, exercise physiology
3. Personal life choices. What you eat and what you wear.
Number 2.
I would posit that choice and control is a part of everything you do.
From what you had for breakfast, to your employment, to where you live and who you want to hang out with.
Using the 3 C’s below, you can successfully exercise your choice and control.
Clarify:
Clearly identify the decision to be made, or the problem to be solved. Be very specific in this. The more information you have, the better the identification you can come up with.
Consider:
Think about the possible choices and the consequences of each of those choices.
Again, be very specific. As Einstein stated “every action has an equal and opposite reaction”.
Choose:
Choose the best choice. This choice then becomes your decision.
A decision is defined as a conclusion reached after considering all choices.
Will you always make the best decision? Probably not, but using the 3 c’s you have a way to develop your skills in choice and control.
When all is said and done, your decision is based on your choice, giving you control over the outcome.
Number 3.
There are a few things you need to consider when exercising your choice and control.
Remember the 3 c’s, but even more importantly, develop your own self advocacy skills.
Self-advocacy is the ability to “speak up” for yourself.
Having these skills will assist you to speak up when you are meeting with your prosthetist, your support coordinator, your service provider and even your doctor!
By educating yourself, you will maintain control of conversations and situations that will arise. You will find that even though there may be a lot of choice, by understanding what information is being shared with you, you will be able to maintain composure, not become overwhelmed and still maintain control.
Let’s have a look at 3 steps that will assist you in your advocacy journey:
1. Problem analysis:
#1. What is the problem or issue?
#2. Do you need a new prosthesis?
#3. Do you need to update your plan?
2. Information gathering:
#1. What additional information do you need? Things like policy and procedures, rules, or reports.
#2. Where can you get this information? Limbs 4 life website, peer support, internet search.
#3. Find out who the decision maker is. Is it the doctor, prosthetist, Ndis planner/lac?
#4. Are there others who can help, such as an advocacy service, family, or another allied health practitioner?
3. Solution analysis:
#1. What are the possible outcomes, the specific and realistic solutions to the issue?
#2. Identify possible barriers that might get in the way of these solutions. An example of this may be inadequate funding for a particular prosthetic device.
#3. Ask what the other party will do to help find solutions to the issue.
There is an abundance of training available to learn these skills and I encourage you to have a look around and find what is suitable for you.
Finally, this is what good choice and control looks like.
It looks like better service and disability outcomes.
It looks like dignity of care.
It puts you in the driver’s seat.
It gives you flexibility to direct services.
Greater choice and control will achieve improved outcomes.
With the right information, the right education, exercising choice and control leads to empowerment, self-determination, and control over all aspects of your life.
Physical Disability Australia believes that knowledge is power and that everyone has a story to tell.
Our posts highlight news and happenings that directly impact Australia‘s disability community and our blogs and webinars ensure that we are informed and that ideas and experiences are shared.
Feedspot recently released its 35 Best Australian Disability Blogs and Websites and the PDA Team is absolutely wrapped that we were named in the Top 10 (https://blog.feedspot.com/australian_disability_blogs/).
With our incredible blog contributors having their articles published on our website (https://www.pda.org.au/blog/) and covering an incredibly diverse range of topics, honest and frank conversations and subjects to educate, inform and spark discussions, we are incredibly proud and grateful for their role in this recognition.
Thank you to all of our bloggers for your efforts.
A big thank you too to all of you who have enjoyed reading our blogs, social posts and viewing our webinars. PDA is here for you and we’re so happy to have you beside us in our journey to empower, represent, include and support our members and wider community.
If you have a blog that you would like us to feature on our blog page, please reach out to us at promotion@pda.org.au.
Stress, anxiety, health problems, huge decisions, money worries, relationship issues and just day to day life can leave any of us feeling overwhelmed.
But it’s important to know that support is available and there are always people who care and want to help.
Family, friends, colleagues, your GP or other health professionals are a good place to reach out to.
However, if you’re not comfortable speaking with them or you’re not finding the support you need there, there are some wonderfully helpful and compassionate organisations that are only a phone call or a click away.
Just talk.
And make sure that you take care of yourself and others.
With much of Australia gripped by hot temperatures at the moment and with summer looking as though it’s not leaving without a high, keeping cool, hydrated, safe and healthy is incredibly important – especially so for those of us vulnerable to such extreme weather.
The Disability Support Guide has a very helpful article on keeping your cool:
For those of you who are in at-risk bushfire zones, please have your emergency plans in place and keep in contact with your loved ones, neighbours, your local authorities and on top of updates in your region.
You can keep up to date with emergency warnings and advice in your state/territory by going to:
Whilst you’re sitting in the shade, in air conditioning or in front of a fan with an icy cold drink, why not check in on those around you or people you know who may find the hot weather a challenge and see if they need help.
As someone who has lived experience with a physical disability, I know the day to day struggle of trying to deal with barriers to being heard and working towards goals. I know that many of you may be facing similar challenges, so I want to offer a few words of encouragement and support, as well as some tips for navigating the journey towards empowerment.
Navigating life through my 20’s and now 30’s with a physical disability was tough, there’s no denying it. I remember feeling like I was often on the defence and facing a lot of physical and emotional barriers.
Often things were overlooked by my able-bodied peers. Some of the things others can do, for me are impossible, or took a ridiculous amount of effort. To compensate, I kept working harder, kept trying to prove myself and often tried to hide my disabilities, the pain and feeling like a fish trying to climb a tree.
But as I got older, I realised that having a disability didn’t have to hold me back. In fact, it opened a world of opportunities for me to advocate for myself and to help others in similar situations. Embracing myself, including my disability, has helped me develop strategies, plans and aspirations that stretch me in directions that I never saw myself heading. As a young person I never once thought I’d be an advocate, a Specialist Support Coordinator or the owner of an organisation full of amazing people, assisting even more amazing people. If you speak up, and you dare to dream, your voice and goals can be heard.
One of the biggest steps I took towards empowerment was accessing the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The NDIS provides support to individuals with disabilities, which can help you access the equipment, therapy and other supports that you need to live your best life. For me, the NDIS was a game-changer and I know it can be for you too!
Of course, even with the support of the NDIS, life with a disability can still be challenging. I still encounter barriers every day, like inaccessible buildings, public transportation and a lack of employment opportunities. But instead of letting these obstacles hold me back, I’ve learned to find creative solutions and to advocate for myself.
With the right people in my corner, the right funding and a different mindset, my life has changed dramatically!
Here are a few tips that have helped me along the way:
Embrace your unique abilities and strengths. Every person with a disability has unique skills and talents, so focus on what you’re good at and don’t let your disability define you.
Be an advocate for yourself. Don’t be afraid to speak up and ask for what you need. You deserve to live your best life and there are people and organisations out there who want to help you do that.
Connect with others. Surrounding yourself with supportive friends, family, and peers can make all the difference. Joining a local disability community or online group (like the PDA Social Hour) can also be a great way to connect with others who understand what you’re going through.
Keep pushing for change. There’s still a lot of work to be done to make our communities more inclusive and accessible, so don’t be afraid to use your voice to help make that change happen.
I hope that these tips help you on your journey towards empowerment.
Remember, you are not alone and there is a whole community of people out there who are here to support you.
With hard work, determination, and a little bit of creativity, you can achieve your dreams and live your best life.
On Sunday we held the inaugural Physical Disability Awareness Day DisabiliTEA event, with people from all over Australia joining us to to bring to life a day that was established after seeing a gap in the awareness calendar for highlighting physical disabilities.
Providing a great opportunity to raise awareness of, and shed light on, the significant number of Australians living with a physical disability, this event was a great success with those attending enjoying a day to listen, learn, help raise awareness and be part of a day of support, friendships and acknowledgment.
PDA Member Laura (pictured) was the lucky winner of a signed copy of our Ambassador, Dinesh Palipana’s “Stronger” book.
With a specifically allocated Physical Disability Awareness Day having not existed either in Australia or internationally, a hardworking Committee (comprising of Sharon, Robert, Melanie, Tammy and Krystal) brought to life an event celebrating the achievements and contributions made by Australia’s physical disability community.
Little did we know that this first year would spike interest globally. Since Sunday we have had a number of organisations and individuals overseas reach out to us to express a real interest in assisting us to turn it into an international awareness day from next year.
With so many wonderful ideas and feedback from those who did attend Sunday’s event, we also look forward to growing and strengthening this opportunity of celebration and recognition moving forwards.
Later in the year we will be getting things moving for next year’s 5th February Physical Disability Awareness Day and will put a shoutout for anyone interested in getting on board to help us in our move to the international stage in just the second year of its fruition.
Together let’s make some noise, be seen, be recognised, be considered and be celebrated.
Hireup speaks to some of Australia’s top disability advocates about Dylan Alcott’s time as Australian of the Year as he prepares to hand over the mantle.
These included PDA’s President, Andrew Fairbairn, who says that one of Alcott’s biggest achievements in the role was to change perceptions about disability, and not just for non-disabled people.
The Australia Day 2023 Honours List recognises 1047 Australians.
Of these, PDA wishes to thank and congratulate the following for their commendable contributions to Australia’s disability community:
COMPANION (AC) IN THE GENERAL DIVISION OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA
The Honourable Margaret REYNOLDS, TAS – For eminent service to the people and Parliament of Australia, to social justice, gender equality and Indigenous rights, to local government, and to the community. Including Tasmanian State Manager, National Disability Services, 2004-2012.
OFFICER (AO) IN THE GENERAL DIVISION OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA
Ms Glenys BEAUCHAMP PSM, ACT – For distinguished service to public administration, particularly innovative health reform, industry and science policy, and program delivery. Including Deputy Chief Executive, Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services 1999-2002.
Associate Professor Rhonda Muriel FARAGHER, QLD – For distinguished service to people with Down Syndrome through research programs and education initiatives.
Emeritus Professor Bruce John TONGE, VIC – For distinguished service to psychiatric medicine and research, to tertiary education, to youth, and to the community. Including Joint Winner National Research Prize, Australian Society for the Study of Intellectual Disability 1991.
MEMBER (AM) IN THE GENERAL DIVISION OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA
Mrs Anne Ferguson FLINT, NSW – For significant service to education, and to those with disability. Including Flintwood Disability Services Co-Founder 1999.
Professor Lorraine GRAHAM, VIC – For significant service to education, particularly in the field of inclusive learning. Including Member Melbourne Disability Institute Advisory Board since 2019.
Ms Geraldine Marcia HARWOOD, TAS – For significant service to youth, and to the disability sector. Including Chief Executive Officer Optia Incorporated 1993-2012, Former Chair National Disability Services, Board Member Brain Injury Association of Tasmania since 2020, Former Member Strategy Committee of Jane Franklin Hall at University Tasmania.
Ms Jean KITTSON, NSW – For significant service to the arts as a performer, writer and comedian. Including Ambassador, Northcott Disability Services.
The late Mr John Bruce MOXON, Formerly of NSW – For significant service to community health, and to people with physical disability. Including Physical Disability Australia Inaugural President 1996-1998 and Founding Member 1996, Parramatta City Council Access Advisory Committee Chair 1992-2012 and Member current, Physical Disability Council of New South Wales President 1997-2002 and Vice President 1994-1997 and Founding Member 1994, Spinal Cord Injuries Australia President 1984-1990 and Board Member 1984-1992 and Life Member since 2016, People with Disability Australia President (Dundas Telopea International Year of Disabled People Committee) 1981 and Information Officer 1983 and Member since 1980, Macquarie Association of Disabled Students President 1982-1983 and Founding Member 1980 and Member, Program of Appliances for Disabled People Advisory Committee Health NSW 1999-2002, Past Coordinator Wheeling Free program 2SER-FM Radio and Senior Policy Officer Disability and Recruitment NSW Public Service 1984-1990.
The Venerable Canon Professor Peter SANDEMAN, SA – For significant service to the Anglican Church of Australia, and to the community of South Australia. Including Director Primary Health Care/Director Disability Services, SA Health Commission 1990-1994.
Professor Katharine Shirley STEINBECK, NSW – For significant service to adolescent medicine through a range of roles. Including Executive Committee Member (Research and Clinical Expertise), Transition Care in Adolescents with Chronic Illness and Disability Network, Agency for Clinical Innovation 2010-2019.
MEDAL (OAM) OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA IN THE GENERAL DIVISION
Mrs Ingrid ALDERTON, SA – For service to special education. Including Contributor, SA Disability Discrimination Act Public Inquiry 2004 and Member since 1992, Department of Education South Australia Presenter of The Parent Forum Disability Policy and Programs Directorate 2018 and Manager Special Education Resource Unit and Disability Policy Programs 2014.
Mr Glenn Lloyd BALL, NSW – For service to the community through a range of roles. Including Disability Nurse and Community Nurse 1980s.
Mr Kevin James CLIFTON, NSW – For service to the community of Tamworth. Including Volunteer Sunnyfield Disability Services since 2004.
Mrs Aileen Esme DAVIS, NSW – For service to people with disability. Including Riding For the Disabled Association NSW Branch Vice-President 1982-1984 and Treasurer 1980-1982 and Committee Member 1979-1992 and Founding Member 1972 and Life Member since 1992, involved with horse drawn Carriage Driving for the Disabled, Wollondilly Riding For the Disabled Group Member and Rider since 1994.
Ms Sally Frances DUNCAN, VIC – For service to basketball, and to people with disability.
Ms Elizabeth EXINTARIS, VIC – For service to the community, particularly through music. Including Music Composer and Presenter, Disability Standards for Education, Languages Other Than English (LOTE) Program video.
Dr Lisa FAHEY, NSW – For service to medicine as a psychologist. Including Senior Practitioner NSW Department of Aging Disability and Home Care 1997-2000.
Professor Chyrisse HEINE, VIC – For service to speech pathology. Including Senior Adviser Cambodia Speech Therapy Program Capacity Building for Disability Cooperation Phnom Penh 2013-2017.
Mr Warren HOPLEY, NSW – For service to education, particularly to the disadvantaged. Including Acting Principal St Lucy’s School for Intellectual Disability 2016.
Miss Rebecca JOHNSON, QLD – For service to the Indigenous and LGBTQI+ communities. Including Queensland LGBTQI+ Roundtable Department of Communities, Disability Services and Seniors, QLD Government.
Mrs Belinda Rose KNIERIM, NSW – For service to the arts, and to human rights. Including Book ‘Unfinished Business’ stories from First Nations persons with disability, Outing Disability, Sydney Mardi Gras, and venues nationally since 2014, Speaker United Nations Commission on the Rights of Persons with Disability Geneva, 2016.
Mr Barry LEECH, QLD – For service to people with a disability. Including Repatriation Artificial Limb and Appliance Centre (RALAC) Manager ACT Free Limb Scheme 1984-2001 and Director/Prosthetist Canberra 1981-1984 and Manager/Prosthetist/Orthotist Sub Centre Canberra 1977-1981 and Representative Sydney 1976-1977 and Assistant Manager Darwin 1973-1975 and ProsthetistSydney 1970-1971, Prosthetic Consultant Paralympic Teams Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 and Support Volunteer 1991.
Ms Julie Helene LOBLINZK, NSW – For service to people with disability. Including Self Advocacy Sydney Board Member since 2021 and Coordinator 1997-2020 and Various positions since 1989, University of NSW Adjunct Lecturer School of Education since 2019 and Guest Lecturer since 2015, National Disability Insurance Scheme(NDIS) Champion, Disability Loop current and Co-writer of blog, Disability and Me – Stories about ability.
Mrs Keryl Margaret MOIR, NT – For service to local government, and to the community of Darwin. Including Former Member, Disability Access Committee with City of Darwin.
Mrs Justine PERKINS, NSW – For service to the community through charitable organisations. Including Inclusive and Accessible Communities, National Disability Awards, 2014.
Mr David PESCUD, NSW – For service to people with disability. Including Creator inclusive sailing programs for people with disability enabling young people and children the opportunity to sail the east coast of Australia.
Dr Jane Elizabeth SULLIVAN, VIC – For service to the community through a range of organisations. Including Melbourne East Disability Advocacy Volunteer Citizen Advocate 38 years and Committee of Management Member several years in mid 1980s to early 1990s and Life Member 2015.
Mr David Douglas WRIGHT, VIC – For service to the community of Bendigo. Including Board Member, Amicus Disability Service 2012-2016.
PUBLIC SERVICE MEDAL (PSM)
Mrs Jodi Ann CASSAR, NSW – For outstanding public service and leadership working across government to deliver advice, information and support for people with disability, workers and carers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Sarah Aileen JOHNSON, NSW – For outstanding public service to Australians with disability through leadership and commitment to the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Mr Dale Edward WEBSTER, TAS – For outstanding public service during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Catherine Ann O’NEILL, ACT – For outstanding public service to health services as the Chief Operating Officer of Canberra Health Services.
Dr Sally Louise SINGLETON, ACT – For outstanding public service to public health.
John Bruce Moxon has been posthumously recognised in the Australia Day Honours List, receiving the award of Member (AM) in the General Division of The Order Of Australia.
He was Physical Disability Australia’s inaugural President and not only helped to shape our organisation, but also Australia’s progressive disability landscape.
John was recognised for his significant service to community health and to people with physical disability. This included (but was not limited to) his involvement with PDA as inaugural President 1996-1998 and Founding Member 1996, Parramatta City Council Access Advisory Committee Chair 1992-2012 and Member current, Physical Disability Council of New South Wales President 1997-2002 and Vice President 1994-1997 and Founding Member 1994, Spinal Cord Injuries Australia President 1984-1990 and Board Member 1984-1992 and Life Member since 2016, People with Disability Australia President (Dundas Telopea International Year of Disabled People Committee) 1981 and Information Officer 1983 and Member since 1980, Macquarie Association of Disabled Students President 1982-1983 and Founding Member 1980 and Member, Program of Appliances for Disabled People Advisory Committee Health NSW 1999-2002, Past Coordinator Wheeling Free program 2SER-FM Radio and Senior Policy Officer Disability and Recruitment NSW Public Service 1984-1990.
PDA WA Associate Director, Melanie Hawkes, shares her story.
PDA WA Associate Director Melanie Hawkes was recently involved in “The Lives We Lead Project” – led by WA’s Individualised Services Inc. and funded by WA’s Department of Communities and Department of Social Services.
Capturing and sharing video and photo stories of people with disability living in their own homes, this social media project works to provide the wider community with a better understanding of the contributions made by PWD and their day to day lives.
Written by Robert Wise – PDA VIC Associate Director
I would like to touch on this subject as many of us have a disability that can be seen – whether we are in a wheelchair, wear a prosthetic, walk with crutches or some other walking aid, have noticeable hearing loss, an obvious vision impairment or another form of physical disability.
Some of us have may have more than one physical disability. Some of us may have a condition yet to be diagnosed. Some of us may be impacted by loneliness, frustration or even depression brought on by disability. Some of us may have transitioned from able bodied to living with a physical disability later in life or we could have a disability from birth that slowly progresses as we get older.
Many of us have to learn many skills all over again or learn new skills and this can lead to other problems as I listed above. I do not want to single out any disability here, just to touch on other issues.
Not so long ago there was not much assistance available that enabled us to cope with our changing lives as we began our disability journeys.
If you haven’t yet watched these webinars, I encourage you to click on the above links and visit PDAs YouTube channel.
Despite disability related problems varying from person to person, our complete needs are often not considered when we require services such as helping us with our shopping, personal care or even help around the home.
Getting out is important and we can have support workers for this as a one-on-one, but some of us only get limited hours for this. What about meeting people and doing activities in a group environment? There are many sporting groups for people with physical disabilities and these are great if you like playing sport or want to try out a new one. But what about those of us who do not like playing sport or those of us who are getting older? Some of us like touring, sightseeing, visiting tourist attractions, going on holidays – all of which can be done one-on-one with a support worker if funding permits. This is fine for some of us. Many of us do not need one-on-one support 24/7. We just need support when things get tough and that’s where a group-based activity can help. These groups have support workers who are there if needed and you can meet people and do what you like to do at the same time – which can help if you are lonely and isolated. Many group-based outings are not made available to people with a physical disability, only those with a mental or intellectual disability. This is a great pity. Whilst people with a physical disability can be independent, some are not.
Group-based outings would be great for them to get out. To be with people, to access the community, to widen their worlds by visiting attractions and to enjoy the company of others. Physical disabilities can vary greatly, but we all have the same needs, wants and rights to enjoy life – in spite of difficulties.
I live on my own and am quite independent, only needing support workers for some daily tasks and assistance when in the community. I too need a break from the mundanity of life that so often accompanies disability. To get out and enjoy myself touring, not having to worry about getting my meals, arranging transport or finding accessible places of interest and accommodations. A group-based activity organisation does this for you. Many people with physical disability do not have funding in their plans for STA or group-based holidays or activities. I think greater emphasis should be placed on the importance of these and the benefits that come with such opportunities. They should be included in our NDIS plan reviews as part of our mental health wellbeing which I feel is part of the what the NDIS is about.
Speaking up for others or oneself is the elementary definition of advocacy. Crucially ‘speaking up’ is a variable course of action in the pursuit of achieving a specific outcome. Different forms of advocacy are characterised through the process of ‘speaking up’ and the scope of the advocacy’s aims.
Individual/case-based advocacy aims to achieve a specific outcome for an individual. An NDIS appeal that advocated for provision of physiotherapy as an early intervention support in my NDIS plan is an example of individual/case-based advocacy.
Systemic advocacy aims to achieve outcomes for the benefit of a population of people through modification of policy, procedure, legislation, or practice. A civil class action against a government body for non-compliance of bus stops with relevant disability discrimination is an example of systemic advocacy.
Within the scope of individual/case-based advocacy is:
• citizen advocacy, involving individuals receiving support from volunteers;
• self-advocacy, where individuals advocate for themselves;
• professional advocacy, where professionals advocate on behalf of an individual;
• and carer/peer advocacy, where carers or peers advocate on behalf of an individual.
The literature base on advocacy in Australia states that professional advocacy is the primary advocacy type operating within the scope of systemic advocacy, however, systemic advocacy, in recent decades, is increasingly utilising knowledge from individual cases to contribute to the collective systemic advocacy case for policy, legislation, or practice change. Collective systemic self-advocacy coordinated by Disabled People’s Organisations, like Physical Disability Australia, conducts perpetual systemic advocacy work, utilising the individual experiences of People with Disabilities to understand flaws in system in order to work with Government in advising and advocating for solutions to reduce barriers and improve the experiences of People with Disabilities as they navigate society.1-4
Why is advocacy important?
Human rights are attained and realised through advocacy.5 Considerable historical background validates that advocacy, in various forms, has been successfully used to rectify discrimination and inequity experienced by vulnerable and marginalised groups. Examples of direct action, collective action and movement building by people with disabilities date back over a century, in 1920 the National League of the Blind in the United Kingdom successfully conducted mass protests about working conditions and poverty experienced by the disability community. In recent years, in Australia, the #LetHerSpeak advocacy campaign, founded by Grace Tame and Nina Funnell, successfully employed various key areas of campaigning to achieve legislative reform, amending the Criminal Code Amendment (Sexual Abuse Terminology) Act 2020 (Tas) s 5 to uphold freedom of expression rights for child sexual abuse survivors.6-9
Physical Disability Australia works to ensure the rights of all People with Disabilities are realised. As a Disabled People’s Organisations, Physical Disability Australia, mission is centred by the lived-experience of our members. Systemic advocacy is the process of us (PDA) speaking up and elevating the voices of People with Disabilities to ensure decision makers know what barriers our community encounters and what solutions are available to resolve and overcome these barriers.
1. Dalrymple, J., & Boylan, J. (2013). Effective advocacy in social work. Sage. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781473957718
2. Dunning, A. (1995). Citizen advocacy with older people: a code of good practice. Centre for Policy on Ageing.
3. Forbat, L., & Atkinson, D. (2005). Advocacy in practice: The troubled position of advocates in adult services. British Journal of Social Work, 35(3), 321-335. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bch184
4. Rossetti, Z., Burke, M. M., Rios, K., Tovar, J. A., Schraml-Block, K., Rivera, J. I., Cruz, J. & Lee, J. D. (2021). From individual to systemic advocacy: Parents as change agents. Exceptionality, 29(3), 232-247. https://doi.org/10.1080/09362835.2020.1850456
5. Brolan, C. E., Boyle, F. M., Dean, J. H., Taylor Gomez, M., Ware, R. S., & Lennox, N. G. (2012). Health advocacy: a vital step in attaining human rights for adults with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 56(11), 1087-1097. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2788.2012.01637.x
6. Assembly, U. G. (1966). International covenant on civil and political rights. United Nations, Treaty Series, 999, 171. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/ccpr.pdf
7. Dallaston, E., & Mathews, B. (2022). Reforming Australian criminal laws against persistent child sexual abuse. Sydney L. Rev., 44, 77. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.500121913977664
8. French, S. (2017). Visual impairment and work: Experiences of visually impaired people. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315569536
9. Nash, A. (2001). People. dot. community: A resource for effective community activism. Villamanta Legal Service.
It is with great pleasure that we announce that Andrew Fairbairn (WA Director) and Nick Schumi (SA Director) were re-elected to their positions and we look forward to seeing their continued commitments and successes in these roles over the next three years.
On Saturday PDA held its AGM – bringing together our Board, Members and Ambassador, Dinesh Palipana OAM.
It was wonderful to have so many join us to hear about the work, successes and momentum of 2022 and the plans for 2023 and beyond.
Thank you to all those who attended and all our Members who continue to play a role in PDA maintaining its place as an active, understanding and relevant supporter of Australians living with physical disability.
If you’re not yet a PDA MEMBER and have an interest in making a positive contribution to Australia’s disability landscape, think about signing up for FREE MEMBERSHIP by going to
Earlier this week PDA’s President, Andrew Fairbairn, spoke to Channel 9 Perth about the State Government’s delayed decision to commit to implementing the accessibility standards in the National Construction Code.
The WA State government is being called upon to implement accessibility standards in all social and private housing construction.
Join us to hear what we’ve been up to in 2022, what our plans are moving forwards and be part of the Physical Disability Australia conversation.
With updates from PDA Ambassador, Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM, and the PDA Team, our Annual General Meeting will be a great chance for Members to be an active part of the PDA community.
2:00pm Sydney/Melbourne/Hobart/Canberra
1:30pm Adelaide
1:00pm Brisbane
12:30pm Darwin
11:00am Perth
We hope that you join us and look forward to welcoming you.
Wherever you are in Australia, you can attend via Zoom.
All you need is a phone, laptop, tablet or computer.
There are some really interesting, informative and entertaining videos to watch – including our two most recent webinars around “Disability and Relationships”.
In “Relationships Part 1: Family, Friends and Support Workers” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijm7gzLKHww) our 3 panelists will share their stories around relationships and the challenges that they have faced and (in some cases) continue to deal with.
From family dynamics with parents, brothers, sisters, maintaining boundaries with support workers, knowing who your true friends are, and an interesting look at relationships from the perspectives of both a mother and son, this is a very insightful presentation.
In “Relationships Part 2: Intimate Relationships” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUOhg7irPZ0) the presenters will honestly and frankly share their personal stories, discussing the ways disability has shaped and influenced their relationships. They will also give insight into challenges encountered in their love lives and the importance of both partners’ needs being central to the conversation.
From waning libido, to loss in confidence, to finding practicable ways to be intimate and finding (and keeping) your perfect soul mate, this webinar will cover topics that are all too often swept under the carpet.
What happens if disability gets in the way of a sexual or emotional relationship? What if sex is a challenge or just not of interest to one partner? What if fear or lack of confidence sabotages a relationship or the search for someone to love and to be loved by?
A great exploration of intimacy around disability that shouldn’t be missed.
Do yourself a favour and check these (and all of PDA’s other videos)out.
Whilst you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe to the PDA YouTube channel so that you’re kept up to date with all future webinar additions.
Tyson Grubb (CEO, Instrument Choice) has written an interesting piece on autonomous cars.
PDA’s NSW Associate Director, Peter Simpson, believes that this technological advancement will leave wheelchair users out in the cold in the same way that wheelchair accessible taxis has done.
Thank you to Tyson Grubb for allowing us to share this article.
I’m a bit of a thinker, often I get side tracked considering how the future is shaped by the decisions and technologies that are coming about today.
In 2016 I was fortunate to get access to see Googles autonomous vehicle test track in California, watching these cars go about their business with no drivers on board made it clear to me that the future of human drivers was limited. When we consider the exponential growth in computing power (check out Moore’s law), the reliability and likelihood of this technology becoming mainstream grows exponentially.
Autonomous cars will likely be commonplace at the start of next decade. This will change the way we travel, the way we own cars and is predicted to bring traffic accidents close to zero. You might have heard about some of the effects of self-driving cars, like the loss of jobs of truck drivers or the reduction in accidents once most cars are autonomous. There are other knock on effects of technology you may not have thought of, there may be other factors that could affect these outcomes, but these are my predictions based on what could happen (without considering other unknowns such as world economic changes or government regulations etc).
1. Regional house prices will grow faster than in the city Many people dream of a tree change, but their work commute stops them from making the leap. Now with work from home increasing (because of the pandemic), regional prices have pushed up, this trend will continue when you can do other things instead of driving (while your car whisks you to work), you can sleep, work, have breakfast, have a meeting or catch up on more Netflix, you won’t think twice about a longer commute. And with regional property supply being restricted while demand increases, the price of country living will go up.
2. Will you own a car? Probably not. You see, once the cost of the driver is eliminated then the cost of a ‘taxi’ or ‘Uber’ type service will shrink significantly, and for most people it will be much cheaper to use a short-term car hire service than to own a car (forget dealing with the maintenance costs and issues that comes with car ownership). You may miss your own car at first, but when you can press a button on an app and a car arrives to your location within minutes and can take you anywhere for a small fee, why would you bother having your own car. The question then will be, what will you use your garage for, a games room, home office or the ultimate man-cave or she-shed?
3. Car parks will die So, cars will pick you up from wherever you are and drop you off where you want to go. But what does the car do in-between? It picks someone else up, it keeps working, it keeps transporting people and so does not need to park anywhere. Of course, it will need to refuel or recharge its batteries (as they will be electric or possibly hydrogen powered), but this will be a much shorter period than if you were to park your car for meetings, shopping, entertainment etc. And the carparks for charging will probably exist in cheaper real-estate on the outskirts of cities (pushing up the prices of the land on the edges of cities a little too).
4. The car insurance industry will collapse With only companies owning the cars (this is Uber’s plan by the way), and no accidents, what will the car insurance industry be able to charge for? Not much, car insurance will be a thing of the past for the general consumer and the companies that own the cars will pay a much smaller amount as accidents reduce to next to nothing.
5. Bus routes will become more nuanced Buses will be smaller and the number of routes will increase, buses can take you closer to where you want to go. Think of them more as a larger car pooling service where you are sharing with a group of people based on where you all want to go at that point in time.
6. Package delivery costs will shrink With the drivers not needed for long haul cross road transport, safety rules not requiring breaks then the cost of trucking goods will decrease. For cross town transport, the autonomous truck will rock up at your house or work, and a drone will do the last 20m of delivery, dropping the parcel safely at your door.
7. Police will need to raise revenue from somewhere other than traffic violations Autonomous cars will be programmed not to break the law and so won’t. In 2017 Australian speeding fines totalled $1.1 billion, without considering all other traffic violations and that this number would likely to have increased in the last 5 years. This is a lot of cash the government will not be receiving, but then perhaps less police will be needed as they won’t be spending their days monitoring traffic. Will there be less police, or will police be moved to where they are needed?
I am sure there are more knock-on effects, and over the next 8-10 years a lot will change too.
How do you think autonomous cars will change the world? Is it good, bad, or just is what it is? Would love to hear your thoughts.
Join us to hear what we’ve been up to in 2022, what our plans are moving forwards and to be part of the Physical Disability Australia conversation.
With updates from PDA Ambassador, Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM, and the PDA Team, our Annual General Meeting will be a great chance for Members to be an active part of the PDA community.
We hope that you join us and look forward to welcoming you.
Wherever you are in Australia, you can attend via Zoom.
All you need is a phone, laptop, tablet or computer.
Written by Tammy Milne – PDA TAS Associate Director
The most terrifying experience of my life was the day that my voice was taken away.
For most of my life I have lived with paralysed vocal cords. If I was a horse I would have been shot! In horses it’s called roaring and means they struggle to breathe and make a noise like they are roaring for breath and that’s exactly my experience. Most people breathe through a nice big fat airway like a hose pipe, with me it’s like I breathe through a piece of spaghetti, dragging each breath in slowly and using all my energy to do so. It feels horrible and sounds horrible and basically it is horrible, but I have learned to live with it.
Then came Covid-19. I contracted it in April. My spaghetti pipe was congested, but somehow I coped ok. Then the next month came, along with virus number two and then virus number three. I presented at the ER every day for four days, unable to breathe and really struggling. The ER doctors finally wrote a referral to my GP to ENT services in Hobart. After some issues with miscommunication, the referral was sent through. Two weeks later I was in Hobart’s Specialist Clinics.
My lovely ENT doctors Raj and Nicco were like excited children when they looked down my throat with the scope. Like I knew I was bad and had been getting worse with age and since covid, but I had no idea that it was that critical. I was breathing through an airway space of about 2mm and my vocal cords were static – neither opening or closing as normal vocal cords should.
I was categorised as CAT 1A which is basically top of the list of elective surgery and was told I would be operated on within a month after some other tests were completed.
So on the 5th October I presented at Wellington Clinic for my pre-admission. I spent the next day and a half trying to have as much fun as I could, which also included getting a guardianship order to give my daughter power of decision making if things didn’t go well. Not the state guardianship orders, but my own private lawyer drew them up. Something that I suggest everyone should do before something huge like this.
At 6.45am on Friday 7th October, I presented for admission and at about 11.30am I was sitting in recovery drugged to the eyeballs – breathing like a marathon runner but not able to speak. My voice was gone. The operation of which I had consented to save my life involved cutting a section of my vocal cord to make the opening to my airway bigger. For this to happen and for recovery I was given a tracheotomy. I now breathe through a pipe in my neck. This will be temporary as my vocal cords heal.
So what happened next?
I have a second language. I use Auslan (Australian sign language) – the language of the Deaf. So as soon as I woke up from surgery I defaulted to sign. Many people who have a second language do this when they are unable to communicate in their first language. The thing is not one of the hospital staff could sign AT ALL.
The more I couldn’t communicate, the more frustrated I became. I am an advocate. I self advocate and I advocate for others. Communication is part of my being – as it is for everyone. Can you imagine what it is like to wake up with your voice is gone? It’s like your autonomy is gone. Things happen to you rather than you having a say and being able to ask questions. The fear is real. Your control is gone and you are helpless.
I was given a communication whiteboard early on but, as my frustration levels increased and my fear escalated (especially after the drugs wore off), my handwriting became increasingly hard to read. It’s funny as when I did a prac on a prep class they actually told me my handwriting was terrible. Out of the mouths of babes!
I continually asked each new nurse, doctor, physio, speech therapist, dietican if they could sign? They could not. By day two my daughter was coming into ICU , interpreting regularly. She grew up with Deaf kids in her class throughout her schooling and of course I have signed with her throughout her life. On one occasion she sat and interpreted for 4 hours straight. Relaying my fears and anxiety to the nursing staff.
It wasn’t until day 8 post surgery that a professional interpreter was booked to come. I was to have my tracheotomy changed and she was able to voice all my concerns that I signed to her about what was going to happen. I could have cried with gratitude. I could sign, “ouch that hurts” as the procedure went on! She was there to be my voice and I could communicate freely again.
Coincidentally that night a young Doctor, Dr Dave, came to change my cannula and he too could sign. However, he was from Ireland so his signing was like the difference between German and English. But he understood and had seen how vital sign language was for his sister at home in Ireland using sign language. We had a good chat with writing things down and mime.
After working as an interpreter for the Deaf for the first 16 years of my Education Department career, and being involved in the Deaf community, like most people I still only had an empathic view of what it’s like to not be understood. Of having your means of communication not understood by the wider community, of the discrimination, the miscommunication, the lack of control and the loss of autonomy. Like them, things happened to me rather than my being involved in decision making with a clear understanding of what was going on. I couldn’t ask my questions freely. I was silenced.
This experience has taught me so much! Sign language needs to be a part of our health system. There needs to be charts of key word signs in each room with words like toilet, food, drink, pain, yes and NO! There needs to be more access to interpreters in ED. Imagine coming into ED and not being able to communicate your needs? There needs to be sign language classes built into nursing courses at University.
The benefit of this is that student nurses will see what it’s like to be from a background where English is not your first language. It’s not just the Deaf who use sign language. Many people with intellectual disabilities also use key word sign, just like Dr Dave’s sister in Ireland. Lastly, we need to introduce sign language to practising nurses on the wards. We could run some classes. Heck I’m up for it! If just one nurse on a shift had at least the basics of sign, imagine what that would have done for me and for my comfort during my hospital stay. So I plead with government to listen to my story and move forward with a plan to make communication more inclusive for Deaf and intellectually disabled people in hospitals and for people like me. My experience was only for 8 days, but those 8 days were the most terrifying and frustrating time of my life. My voice will come back, but the lingering memories of being isolated and alone will not leave me.
Image of a smiling lady in a hospital bed, wearing glasses with a smiling man, wearing doctor’s scrubs bending down next to her. He is Dr Dave.
This report included the rising rates of mental health disorders during the Covid-19 pandemic, the associated economic and social costs and the spate of natural disasters that have exacerbated the situation.
“People with a disability are four times more likely than people without a disability to experience high levels of psychological distress and are up to four times more likely to die during a natural disaster.”
In March this year a coalition of 40 leading disability rights (including Physical Disability Australia), advocacy and peak body organisations wrote an open letter to politicians across the country prior to the election, in which they demanded improved disaster and emergency responses for people with disability.
With flood devastation currently impacting much of Australia, our Government must action the development and implementation of a comprehensive and disability inclusive disaster preparedness plan to reduce the human impact of disasters.
Featuring the Hon. Bill Shorten MP (Minister for the NDIS) and Co-Chairs, Professor Bruce Bonyhady AM and Ms Lisa Paul AO PSM, THIS WEBINAR IS OPEN TO EVERYONE and will be a great opportunity to hear more about the Review and how you can get involved.
AUSLAN interpretation and live captioning is available for attendees requiring these services.
Simply join the webinar online at the starting time by going to:
Coming up on the 2nd and 3rd of November, Australia’s Disability Strategy National Forum will take place and you’re invited to join this important event via livestream.
Providing an opportunity to participate in panel discussions with industry experts and community representatives with disability, you’ll be given a chance to have your say on Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-31. This is a Strategy that will shape our country’s disability policy in crucial areas such as employment, housing, education, health and wellbeing.
Key speakers will include:
Dylan Alcott AO (Australian of the Year)
Amanda Rishworth MP (Minister for Social Services)
Auslan Interpreter and live closed captioning will be available for the live stream. More information on using the platform will be sent closer to the event.
If you have other accessibility requirements or questions, please let us know by sending an email to disabilityreform@dss.gov.au.
One of our most requested webinar topics has been around relationships and the impact that disability can have on connections with family, friends, partners and even relationships with ourselves.
In the first part of this two part series on Monday 10th October at 7pm AEDT, we will look at and explore the stresses, struggles and interactions that can affect the dynamics of our relationships with family, friends, carers and support workers, sharing personal stories and what did and didn’t work in resolving these issues and concerns.
In the second of this two part relationship series on Tuesday 11th October at 7pm AEDT, intimate relationships will be covered, along with the importance of self love and learning to treat yourself with kindness and respect in order to ensure personal growth, wellbeing and not settling for second best.
To register for Part 1 (Family, Friends, Carers, Support Workers) go to:
It is with sadness that I write to inform you of the passing of one of PDA’s long-standing members, Janine Neu.
I served with Janine on the Committee of Management of People with Disabilities WA from 2017 to 2019. I fondly remember very robust discussions regarding finances and how to best utilise them. This usually involved me wanting to spend, and her telling me that I couldn’t.
Janine was a very quiet person, reflective, until she had something to say, and then you knew you were being spoken to!
On behalf of the Board, Staff and Members of PDA, we would like to offer our most sincere condolences to Janine’s partner, Bernard and all her family, friends and colleagues.
Written by Andrew Fairbairn – PDA President/WA Director
A close friend, ally and PDA member, Clare, attended the 15th Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (COSP) at the United Nations Headquarters, New York, from 14 to 16 June 2022. At the conclusion of this she was sent an invitation to attend the APMCDRR in Brisbane.
She was very excited about COSP and tried to explain to me what it was about. I didn’t really understand, so she said that we must go to Brisbane together and then I would get it.
Taking her on her word, we booked flights and accommodation and headed off.
Well, what I saw, and what I experienced was mind blowing.
On Day One we were invited to attend a networking session and meet people with disabilities from all over the world. We were asked to attend a meeting to discuss the Mid Term of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), https://www.undrr.org/publication/sendai-framework-disaster-risk-reduction-2015-2030 which is a great read on its own. I was able to talk on behalf of PDA and the work we do in Australia and how it fits into the framework. Thanks to Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN) and People with Disabilities Australia (PWDA) for hosting a fabulous lunch.
Day 2-4 saw meetings and discussion on topics such as:
* Experiences and Challenges of Emergency Management Volunteers to Enabling resilient, sustainable, and inclusive infrastructure transitions in Small Island Developing States
* Gender considerations in DRR
* Climate Change
* Building resilient Communities by investing in DRR Literacy for proactive Actions focusing on “Leave No One Behind”
I got to meet some very motivated people from all over Asia Pacific including Setareki Macanawai, the CEO of the Pacific Disability Forum from Fiji, John from the Tongan Disability Advocacy Network and Kepueli Ngaluafe, a very recent amputee from Tonga who works in the Ministry of Finance.
The days were full, but for me, the real work was done at night. I had the opportunity to share PDA with some academics from the University of Newcastle, the University of Melbourne, and the University of the Gold Coast. All of them are keen to connect and, hopefully, do some paid collaboration with us around DRR for our PWD here at home. I got to meet some fabulous people working in DPOs in Australia, some folk from AFDO (Australian Federation of Disability Organisations), some folk from WWDA (Women With Disabilities Australia) and some amazing people from QDN.
I would try to explain what this it was like to be at this conference. I have been to way too many conferences, but this was so worthwhile and I can see great things coming out of it for PDA, for PWD and for the whole of Australia.
When it rolls around again, who is coming with me?
Written by Melanie Hawkes – PDA WA Associate Director
I received my first power wheelchair when I was three years old (almost 40 years ago).While it is a struggle some days (when my support worker can’t come to get me out of bed, for example), it helps to have a positive attitude. There’s no point complaining about what I can’t do. My parents raised me with a can-do attitude, and I am grateful for what I have.
I don’t need pity. It’s not a “shame” or “a disaster” (an actual comment from someone recently) that a childhood illness paralysed me from the neck down. I am fortunate it happened before I turned two, so I don’t know what I’m missing. My wheelchair doesn’t confine me. In fact, I quite like having a physical disability. I have a great life.
There’s actually many advantages of having a wheelchair. So many, that I compiled a list:
* I always have a seat. Crowded bus or train? No problem. The only time I wish I didn’t take my wheelchair everywhere is the cinema. The leather recliners look so comfortable. (On a side note, why should I buy a ticket when I take my own chair?)
* I never get sore feet. I can walk my dog, wheel to the shop and sit in a queue without getting sore feet at all. And no, my bum doesn’t get sore from sitting down all day. I have a very comfortable cushion.
* Got lots to carry? I’m your girl. I can carry shopping bags on the back of my chair and drinks on my wheelchair tray. As long as I’m not too wide for standard doorways, and I don’t hit a bump and spill my drink. That is why you don’t drink and drive, right?
* Parking is amazing. As long as you have your ACROD parking permit, you can choose any big blue park. They’re conveniently located right by the door of the shops, library and cinema, so you never have to “walk” far.
* I get a Companion card. Every time I book a ticket to a show, sporting event or ferry ride I get a free ticket! This is so that I don’t have to pay for my support person to attend. I wish airlines would honour it too.
* Some of us are lucky enough to get assistance dogs. They are trained (and licensed) to go everywhere, including on public transport, in shopping centres, restaurants and the cinema too. They can do a range of tasks to assist, like picking up dropped items, opening and closing doors, taking my shoes and socks off, and pressing lift buttons. It’s great being able to go everywhere with your best friend. My dog Upton isn’t licensed now, but he still helps me at home.
In the first image, Melanie is sitting in her wheelchair and Upton (her retired assistance dog and best friend) is in front of her listening to her speaking. In the second image a smiling Melanie is sitting in her wheelchair at the Van Gogh exhibition surrounded by many strings of yellow lights and blue and yellow swirling skies (from Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” cast on the ceiling and floor. on her tray sits a purple and pink water bottle, her mobile phone and ID.
* I never have to pick up dog pooh, or clean the house, or iron clothes, or wash the dishes. My support workers get paid to do that!
* I never have to sit on a cold toilet seat. I have a nice padded commode that I can move out of the cold bathroom, or sit under the heat lamp to do my business.
* I can’t faint or fall over and hurt myself. Or trip over a cat or slip on wet floors. Especially handy when I’ve had a few drinks. I can still swerve and hit something, but not as painful as falling on the floor (I imagine it to be).
* I can’t be taken in the back of a police wagon. Well they could try, but I wouldn’t be much good without my wheelchair. I was on holidays once and noticed the town’s police station had steps up to the front door. You beauty, I thought to myself. I could get away with all sorts while I’m here. I can’t get in the station if I’m arrested!
* My pants won’t fall down. I can wear clothes that are too loose, have a stain or tear at the back, or if they’re too tight, have the zip undone! I’m sitting on them, so you wouldn’t notice. I have two skirts that have small tears at the front. Now I wear them back-to-front! My mum scorched the back of my year 12 ball dress, on the day of the ball. No problem, I still wore it, nobody knew except us.
* My shoes don’t get worn out. They last many years, unless Upton chews them when he pulls them off. If I’m sick of wearing some I pass my old shoes on – they’re like brand new!
* I can’t burn my feet on hot pavement or sand, or step on broken glass. That’s gotta hurt! I get someone to check the temperature of the floor before walking Upton on hot days.
* I always have a driver. I have a van that my support workers drive me around in. No matter where I want to go or how much I drink, I always have someone to drive me places. Or I get public transport or a maxi taxi. But either way, I have a driver take me places. I like not having the responsibility of driving, but I do have a back-seat driver’s licence!
A smiling Melanie is sitting in her wheelchair, wearing a light grey rollneck jumper. She is holding a State of Nervousness Back-Seat Driver’s Licence in her hand. There is a car in the background.
There is plenty to love about having a physical disability. I’m grateful for all my support workers who help me with the things that I can’t do, and for the NDIS that pays for them.
Congratulations to Kurt Fearnley on his appointment as new NDIA Chair, and also to Graeme Innes, Marie Diamond and Dennis Napthine in their roles as Directors and Rebecca Falkingham as Chief Executive.
With the number of people with a disability serving on the board now sitting at five and with Kurt being the first person with a disability to chair the board of the agency, there is great hope that Australia’s disability community will finally be seen and heard and that the NDIS will finally reflect and uphold the intended principles that accompanied the Scheme’s formation 10 years ago.
Healthy, honest, dependable and loving relationships are important for everyone – but perhaps especially so for people living with disability.
In our upcoming 2 part webinar around relationships (Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th October at 7pm AEDT), we will both be looking at the impact that disability can have on relationships and sharing stories and advice based on personal lessons learnt from journeys taken alongside others through life.
In part one of our relationship webinar, our panelists will share their thoughts and experiences around relationships with family, friends, carers and support workers (both positive and negative) – giving insights into past and present relationship issues and how they personally worked to address and overcome these problems and concerns.
From the dynamics surrounding carer expectations and duties to transitioning to independence as an adult, parent/child relationships, sibling struggles, changes to friendship circles and interactions, and the invisible line between support worker and friend, this first webinar will cover issues that are familiar to so many.
In part two of our relationship webinar series, our panelists will share their experiences, thoughts and advice on intimate relationships and work to normalise this topic and knock down the stigma and untrue stereotypes that surround disability and intimacy.
This webinar will look at the intrinsic desire, need and want for loving, caring, physical and emotional relationship with others – regardless of individual circumstances.
The negative cultural and societal stereotypes and prejudices that can surround people living with disability in forming and maintaining an intimate relationship will also be explored.
And our panelists will also breakdown the false assumption that disability renders a person incapable of being sexual, passionate and involved in an intimate, romantic and fulfilling relationship, and that intimate relationships between abled bodies and those living with a disability are solely founded on dependency or fetish-based relationships.
To register for Part 1 on Monday 10th October at 7pm AEDT (Family, Friends, Carers, Support Workers) go to:
AS PART 2 LOOKS INTO INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS AND WILL CONTAIN ADULT CONTENT AND DISCUSSION, ALL ATTENDEES MUST BE 18 YEARS OR OLDER. AS SUCH, IN REGISTERING TO ATTEND THIS WEBINAR, ALL REGISTRANTS ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEY ARE 18 YEARS OR OLDER.
We hope that you will join us for this interesting webinar series.
Judy Antonio was the Patron of the Business DisABILITY Awards before she sadly passed away in 2016 with this illustrious Award recognising a business, group or individual that epitomises the values of social inclusion espoused and lived by Mrs Antonio.
Following the sad passing of John Moxon, tributes have been flowing strongly for a man who was admired, not just for his character and presence, but also for his incredible contribution to Australia’s disability community.
Jeremy Muir knew John both professionally and as a friend and has written a fitting accolade of gratitude, respect and admiration to a giant among men.
He has kindly allowed us to share his memories and heartfelt celebration of John and his legacy that he has left us all.
“If you looked up the word ‘conviction’ in the dictionary you would most likely find ‘John Moxon’. John was one of those people who knew how to fight the good fight and he did so with intelligence, research, conviction and good old fashion gusto. His energy was endless and contagious.
John was long time member/President of the Physical Disability Council of NSW (PDCNSW) and then was a founding member and former President of the PDC Australia, now PDA.
John fought for the rights, not just of people with physical disabilities but disability rights in general. John worked tirelessly for over 30 years advocating for the rights of people with disabilities at a national and a local level. He won well deserved awards and was applauded by those at the highest level. He was truly an amazing human being.
John was a friend, a much better friend to me than I was to him. He taught me so much about living, about how to live successfully with a physical disability. John helped me believe I belonged and that I had every right to belong. He helped me understand that it was okay to ask for help and to give it. He truly embodied the word empowerment and he never waived from its depth and meaning.
John was great fun. Some of my fondest memories are of having dinner at a suitable accessible restaurant after a day-long meeting with him, his wonderful wife Margaret, the dry and smart Kevin Byrne (RIP), the formidable Maurice Corcoran and the always encouraging and clever Sue Egan where we would often talk and laugh for hours. I especially loved listening to John’s stories of his racing car driver days and when he was on student radio at university. He felt to me like such a rebel leader, which I found fascinating. He had such confidence, always, always.
John always appeared to love what he did, and I used to think how can I bottle that self belief. John loved Margaret, he loved his children and his grand children with that same conviction. John didn’t do things by half.
When you are accessing an accessible building, riding on accessible transport, attending an accessible concert or event, know that it is because John fought for it, John audited it, John campaigned for it, John contributed to the policy and legislation for it.
The world is now a better place because of John Moxon and I’m a better person for knowing him.”
My disability is a very visual one that without correct clothing can not be hidden. For many years I was embarrassed, in fact so self conscious it would stop me from living a life like so many others.
Being an emputee can put restrictions on many of the things you do in life, but my internal battle with self image in my late teens through to early adulthood haunted me. When I came to terms with the fact that I was gay it was amplified. I was able to camouflage my sexuality, but my disability was always forefront.
I did not know any other amputees when I was growing up. All the amputees I met were at clinic and they were much older. Even in medical and clinic situations, my stump was a close guarded appendage that I was extremely uncomfortable to display – let alone to have it touched. When I lost my leg I was 10, school was rough – we all know that kids in their innocence can be cruel with things that they do not understand. I myself did not really understand. When everyone else was running and jumping, I was on crutches and just about to start the journey of rehabilitation. Moving into high school I was struggling with identifying my sexuality. This, topped with the day to day comments and taunts about my disability, caused me to pull back, caused me to question my place on this planet.
Coming to terms and understanding about my sexuality even at that point in time was an easy transition. It was there but, unless I chose to disclose it, no-one would ever know. I was old enough and (thanks to early internet gained information) able to form a circle of friends who helped me understand who I really was. But I felt so disadvantaged as I was now gay with a disability in a harsh world. Who would want to enter into a relationship with me?
Technology in limbs was moving fast and advancements meant I could walk (Gate) more naturally and I could, with long pants, feel like I was blending in. However, I was always self conscious of the fact that I was so different.
I was now of an age where real relationships could form, both on the emotional and physical sides, but I was so guarded. Quick interludes could happen, but I was unable to commit to anything more. To do so would mean that I would have to face my fears. The fear of judgment. The fear of questions. The fear of showing the most intimate part of me.
In my life I have had 3 real relationships. I sabotaged the first 2 with my insecurities. Reminiscing on them, I feel guilty that someone was prepared to commit but I was just so insecure with regards to my disability that I destroyed any chance. The third was so stubborn that he saw through my subterfuge and used understanding and compassion against me. He was able to understand my struggles with my disabilities and was there for me – without ever asking questions or showing judgment. He was in fact my unspoken support in life. Not just my partner, friend, confidant and lover – he was my disability support person who I unwittingly relied on for so much.
In our relationship I never let him see me fully “disabled”. It was there, but I never let him see my stump. Never let him see me without my limb on – no matter the pain and suffering I had to sustain. I couldn’t. I was always in bed first so he would not see me crippled. One night he came in and sat on the edge of the bed with a cup of tea for me, as he did many nights to chat. This time was different. He said that he’d noticed that I was struggling, limping and in noticeable pain. I tried to disregard it as nothing, but he pushed asking me what was going on. I felt cornered and vulnerable. He said that he wanted to know. He needed to know. He could feel I was suffering and he loved me and it hurt him that I could not talk to him. Reluctantly I explained that I had a pressure sore that was inflamed and causing extreme discomfort, but that it would soon be gone. He asked so many questions that I had never wanted to answer. I did though. Then he asked to see my stump – something I had never let him see. Something I never wanted to share with anyone. It was my dirty little secret that I never wanted to see light of day.
I gingerly slid it out from under the covers, revealing its pale pasty inflamed self. He looked at it with so much compassion, then he looked me in the eyes and asked if he could touch it. I was welling with tears from the fear. The fear that he would be repulsed. The fear that he would see just how weak I was. The fear that he would see me as a crippled freak.
He put both his hands on my stump, one either side of my knee. He was so gentle. He whispered how he wished he could take away the pain. Then he lowered his head and kissed my knee and from that moment I just felt safe, I felt free, like the weight of the world had just escaped me. In that moment I knew that he truly loved me for all of me. He had so many questions. We had been together for almost 8 years and not once had he asked. He just knew without asking how I felt about my disability.
From that very moment all my self doubt about my disability just washed away. I lost the feeling that I was a freak who needed to hide that part of me from the world. It was a strange feeling that took me some time to come to terms with. All these years of feeling this way had become a part of me, one that I know I used to push people away before they got too close. It took the love and compassion of someone understanding me for me.
Something that should have been available to me when I was younger.
You see when I first lost my leg, like most amputees, I grieved for it. In losing a huge part of yourself, you feel disconnected, you become different from and to everyone. I had no real supports in this to help me understand that I am still me, with just a little less of the physical me. My family did their best, but it felt more like pity and remorse for what they felt they had done to me. We live in a world that is just finding its understanding, I mean real understanding where things outside of the “normal” are normal.
Being part of an organisation like PDA to me is normal. It offers supports and information to those who need it when they need it. In a world surrounded by so many you can feel so isolated. I wish that groups like PDA, made up of people just like me, were there when I obtained my disability. I lost so much of my life living with insecurity, self doubt and what I now know as resentment. It just took one person to change my life for the better. Disability has been around since the dinosaurs, but still the information and supports are not getting to where they need to be. I used the internet (with its limited capability back then) to help understand my sexuality, but the information I required to help me understand my disability and issues surrounding it were just not there. The other thing I have taken away from this, is that the people who love us most and are close to us are our unspoken heroes. They take up a role we never expected or wanted them to have.
With WA, NSW and SA opting out of changes to the National Construction Code, disability and housing advocates are asking government to adopt the new construction measures and mandate the proposed code.
PDA’s President, Andrew Fairbairn is a staunch advocate for these necessary reforms to Accessibility Living Standards, having recently endured a 3 year upheaval in having his home retrofitted to allow him to live a comfortable, safe and reasonable life in his own home.
Earlier this week he spoke with ABC Perth’s Nadia Mitsopoulos, Presenter of “Mornings with Nadia Mitsopoulos”, about this important issue.
“Queensland Disability Advisory Council members announced.
Queenslanders with disability will continue to have a strong voice with the appointment of fourteen members to the Queensland Disability Advisory Council (QDAC) for a three-year term to June 2025…
Dr Sharon Boyce, Chair, QDAC was excited to chair the Advisory Council for next three years.
“It’s important we continue the great work already achieved by the previous advisory council, to represent the diverse interests of Queensland’s disability community and the disability sector,” she said.
“The Advisory Council will provide specialist advice to government on a wide range of disability initiatives and issues, including new national and state disability strategies and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.” “
Written by PDA’s TAS Associate Director, Tammy Milne
PDA’s talented Tammy Milne has written an informative article for “Tasmanian Times” around her recent mobility scooter accident , which involved a hospital visit or two and additional accessibility issues stemming from ”becoming more disabled”.
As usual, Tammy words not only invite us along on her journey navigating disability issues, but also draw attention to important topics and the need for action.
In this article, she challenges Australia’s apathy and existing roadblocks in providing adequate, accessible and necessary housing for our ageing population and disability community.
It’s a great read, so grab yourself a cuppa and head across to:
Chances are that if you have a disability, you know that it is going to be a central topic in your life. Though most avoid direct questions or expect an answer that focuses on the downsides. Hidden in all the discussion of barriers, are stories of overcoming.
Kids are the most blunt. They make me a laugh, asking their parents “why is that man using a ….(walking stick, wheelchair or walker)? He’s not old?” Usually followed by a parent shushing or quickly whisking them out of earshot. I’ve learned to welcome the questions and seek out opportunities to highlight that people living with a disability are people. We are neighbours, friends, family members, co-workers and even employers.
I live with a musculoskeletal movement disorder and in addition found out that I have been living with Autism for the past 30 years. Apparently, I was one of the last people to realise I live with Autism. Colleagues in the disability sector just assumed I already knew. Though in hindsight I suppose spending your spare time reading the NDIS ACT or legislation isn’t exactly neurotypical. Though for me, it’s normal; my normal.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is an insurance scheme that is available to support Australians with significant disabilities both current and in the future. It’s a pledge to help address the barriers in the lives of people that seek to have an ordinary life and to do things that most take for granted.
For me the NDIS enabled me to capitalise on my ability to fall through the cracks and find gaps in services by helping others to avoid the same issues. The NDIS funds me for 10 hours of support on the job a week helping me to overcome disability related barriers. Now as a result, I am the founder of Ability Links. I employ 12 people (most of whom have a disability or a family member with a disability) and support many people with disabilities as a registered NDIS provider.
Across 2020-2021 the NDIS invested $23.7 Billion into the lives of people living with a disability, employing 270,000 people and returning an expected $52.4 Billion to the Australian GDP in ancillary benefits (Per Capita, 2021). This is in addition to providing dignity to people with significant disabilities, and the opportunity for greater self-determination. That is an astounding 2.25% multiplier effect resulting from indirect benefits associated with NDIS funded supports. The injection of funding into the care and health sector helps to provide stability for Australia’s most vulnerable people and employment security for a number of industries that have innovated to meet our needs, then providing the opportunity for Australia to enter the world market with inventions and businesses based in the sector.
As a person originally hailing from a small country town in rural NSW, I know all too well how hard it can be to access health services away from capital cities. The NDIS has thrown a lifeline to people wishing for the lifestyle living in the bush brings, but also provides much needed resilience to embattled regional practices. With years of fire, flood, drought and a Medicare price freeze that has likely seen all three. It is a wonder that Allied Health still practices in rural areas – especially with strains to cost of living and fuel. The NDIS again provides stability, and the consistent support provided by allied health to the disability community means that they have a better chance of retaining staff. If they keep their doors open, someone is there the next time the local footy player has a sprain, or a workplace rehab visit may not mean a two-hour drive to the next regional centre. If rural practices close it isn’t just a handful of jobs lost, but also the goodwill, sponsorship and the money outside the local economy that is lost. This hurts everyone.
I was born with several malformations of the spine and a dodgy nerve that causes spasms. I’ve come to rely on Allied Health to keep me moving. For years this meant hours of travel to get support to manage my disability. At 17 I remember being told that by 25 I’d likely rely on a wheelchair. With few role models to tell me that a wheelchair or other assistive technologies are not to be feared, I felt like I had been punched in the guts. I was afraid of being different and of missing out. Today, coming to know the disability community and the intelligence, resilience, and potential within I’ve come to embrace my differences.
In the past I worked desperately to live in denial about my limits and disability, eventually resorting to training 3 hours a day and getting involved in youth work and fitness to keep up my routine. However, life happens. I ended up being crushed by a forklift attachment that fell on me and tore through the heel of my left foot. Unable to train and unable to care for myself, I was in dire straits. I ended up living in a motorhome for years, with little support or assistance from family.
No running water, no septic and unable to really do a great deal on my feet. Eventually I was able to make the bus into a home, build a water filtration system and other modern conveniences all whilst seated. Eventually moving from regional NSW and youth work to study Psychology and Social Sciences at the University of Wollongong, where a scholarship from the Movement Disorder Foundation provided a much-needed boost to my opportunity.
The 2022 Movement disorder foundation Scholars Lunch
Today I use a walker, a wheelchair, a mobility scooter or one of my many walking sticks to get around. These things bring me freedom and allow me to make the most of my ability safely. I especially like my sticks. A walking stick doesn’t have to be cold and clinical; I have many different types, shapes and handles. They are an extension of me. One question I’ve been asked is which leg is my bad leg? The answer is both. Whilst one was crushed, the other falls from under me due to a nerve that is impacted by my spine. Having the right assistive technology helps me to get on with my day safely. It may highlight me as different, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes they act as a trigger for compassion. Whether you ask for it or not….
After moving to Wollongong and starting my first year at University, I unfortunately had my right leg drop out on some stairs, leaving my ankle on my left leg shattered when I fell twisting my foot completely backwards. I still regret not getting a picture.
My ankle after two surgeries leading two 12 months unable to weight bear.
As a student of the social sciences, the word social capital is used a lot as a predictor of resilience. That is, the more people we have in our lives (friends, families, communities, acquaintances), the more likely someone is able to bounce back from a setback. Moving six hours from home, I didn’t know a lot of people. Outside of the NDIS there are not a lot of options for support. The NSW health system and community supports were limited. A house with stairs while using a wheelchair is not ideal, so I was mostly housebound. To go out, I had to get out of the wheelchair, then bum shuffle my way down the stairs with the wheelchair in tow, then get myself back in the chair. It wasn’t a great situation.
The Makerspace at the University of Wollongong was a welcome reprieve for me. The “space” was truly one of the most inclusive communities I have experienced. I regularly visited in a mobility scooter to be welcomed by friendly faces and people welcoming working together to make their lives better. It was there I built the Kangaroo Crutch that helped me to get out of the chair by transferring my weight from my ankle to my knee. The concept of the Makerspace is something I love and my experience is what led to Ability Links creating a new Makerspace for the disability community of Wollongong.
The Kangaroo crutch allowed me to walk without putting weight on my busted ankle.
I remember one situation, just after getting out of hospital. I was on campus in my chair. Being a new chair user, I had to use the strength of my triceps and go backwards up hills. One day I ended up getting a wheel stuck in the garden bed out the front of the bus terminal at UOW and quite literally catapulted myself into a bed of woodchips. I was mobbed by onlookers and people wanting to help. I felt extremely embarrassed, but it helped me to understand that people are willing to help and that it’s ok to ask. That said I distinctly remember an experience where an international student saw me struggling and took hold of the back of my chair and pushed me to the library. It was considerate of her, but I didn’t ask for the help, and she didn’t quite understand that I wasn’t heading to the library, but instead the Unibar. That experience highlighted to me that quite often people make assumptions as to the needs of people with disabilities. Here’s a tip: Ask before helping. The gesture may be welcomed, but just pushing me away essentially felt like I was being kidnapped.
Finding a semi accessible home for myself with good housemates was lifechanging. It meant being able to access the community. Eventually it led to a job helping others with a disability as a Support Coordinator, where I have found my experience, skills and past challenges have real meaning. Gaining support from the NDIS really opened opportunities for me that were just out of reach. For me it means greater safety and security. While the NDIS isn’t a direct payment to me, its investment in my life has meant not having to be in vulnerable living situations. It has meant being able to have access to the community, education and to take control over my future. It has given me equity and the opportunity to be at the same starting point as my peers.
The medical model of disability focuses on changing the individual. The social model of disability focuses on changing communities and the lives of people with disabilities. Most of us can’t and don’t want to be “fixed”. We want to be accepted and included. We have impairments that need to be addressed to be meaningfully included. With the NDIS and the connections I have built whilst supported to get out and about, I am better prepared to use my abilities to their full potential. With support I have been empowered to take my life into my own hands.
I see how much the community of People with Disability has to offer, though we must help people move past shallow judgements and break stereotypes entrenched by the medical model. We; people living with disabilities are more than our barriers. Inclusion starts with intentional conversations. True equity comes from understanding and being heard. That means sharing our stories, speaking up and showing what we can achieve when our needs are met. I dream of a day where people are judged on merits, and people living with disabilities are represented in all areas of society, have a place at the table and have a meaningful say over how we live.
Unions, employer groups and civil society will be given a voice at the Summit. PDA contends that given the under-representation of people with disability in these groups, people with disability deserve dedicated representation. This is particularly important when this under-representation extends to the Federal bureaucracy and Members of Parliament.
“We call on our friends in the Union movement, employer organisations and civil society to support our call – we all deserve the opportunity to enjoy the dignity of work on equal terms”.
People of working age with disability are twice as likely to be unemployed as people without disability and, at a time of record low unemployment and severe skills shortages, now is the time to act.
There is a history of well-intentioned undertakings made at times of reform such as this. However, history has also shown that these undertakings rarely translate to better opportunities for people with disability. The lack of lived experience among decision-makers plays a large part in this.
Feel-good statements about the importance of diversity and inclusion and commitments to ‘do better’ might boost corporate reputations and provide good narratives for the media. However, they are meaningless to people with disability when nothing changes and no one is held accountable.
“People with disability have the skills, what we need is the opportunity and support to secure a job”.
Background:
Approximately 2.1 million working-age people are living with disability in Australia – only 53% are in the labour force, compared to 84% of people without disability. Some not in the labour force cannot participate due to their disability, but around 30% (or nearly 300,000 people) do have some desire to work.
The entrenched disadvantage, negative attitudes, stereotypes, and perverse social security rules that actively disincentivise looking for work suggests that the actual number available is likely to be much higher than 300,000.
A report by PwC estimates that almost $50 billion in GDP could be added to the economy by 2050 if Australia moved into the top eight OECD countries in employing PWD. The latest available data (2011) has Australia sitting at number 21 out of 29.
Signed for and on behalf of Physical Disability Australia by
ANDREW FAIRBAIRN SIMON BURCHILL
PDA PRESIDENT PDA GENERAL MANAGER
PDA invites other Australian disability organisations, people living with disability and those with a supportive interest in the disability sector to join in this call to ensure that people with disability are given a voice at the upcoming Jobs and Skills Summit (the Summit) in September.
For more information or to show your organisation’s support in this campaign, please contact Simon Burchill (PDA’s General Manager) via manager@pda.org.au, Natasha Nobay (Communication and Engagement Manager) or Andrew Fairbairn (PDA President) on 0466 526 605.
Sharon Boyce is PDA’s Vice President and QLD Director.
Accomplished in many areas (including but not limited to advocacy work, academia, journalism, community education and public speaking), Sharon’s creative side is another important part of who she is.
A passion for art and looking outside the norms, she loves to create beautiful art and bring her imagination to life.
In her new PDA vlog, she talks about her art and the way in which it has evolved more as her disability has created more limits on her life.
Written by Sarah Styles – PDA’s QLD Associate Director
This year I was fortunate to win the Sector Innovation Award at the Developing Australian Communities awards gala. My business has just celebrated its second birthday and I am pleased with what we have accomplished in this short time given an overnight success is ten years. While we have much to do in becoming set up then established, we are currently writing a short film, 2 musicals and a series of picture books which will also be toured on stage in Auslan. All this while my body is a full time job. This required the right team of people which I didn’t get until age 43.
Over the years people have been amazed when I share my dreams and aspirations. They assumed i had already achieved a successful music career despite my struggles, which couldn’t be further from the truth. While being seen as enjoying the lifestyle I desired yet did not have is no compensation, it did present me with something I had not considered. How others saw me. Their assumed success was a win and that helped fuel me to do what I could in preparation for the day it was possible. No matter how much my disability affected my body and therefore mental health tempting me to give up, I had to hope for a future opportunity. I was not picky. I would accept what came my way. From age 16 I volunteered in the community to learn whatever I could. I said “yes” to any opportunity. Due to this, I had experiences that I had never dreamed of. They were one off so did not affect my health adversely and they were exciting.
My disability had not been diagnosed during that time. Neither had my medical condition, ASD, hearing loss or PTSD. This would not happen until I was 38. This lack of information Hindered any success attempted. It takes years after diagnosis to work out the best management regime for each condition. This then becomes the principal focus. The lack of support also was a hindrance meaning extra years were required to get on my feet.
Fast forward to 2020 when the world was united by lockdown and the online access the disabled community asked for prior, yet deemed too hard and expensive was now suddenly available to all. The world opened for the first time in my life. It was thrilling to enter the arena as a participant. Often I wasn’t able to be a spectator! Would life begin at 41? This was the time where support started to become available. It was 2 years before the right team came togther. During the 25 years it took to arrive at my future, I had been taking advantage of all free webinars or local workshops run by my council in preparation. I knew with my necessary lifestyle only a small portion of that information was appropriate to me, but I trusted it would be enough and it was. I leapt into action sure of myself and grateful for the required support. I had sought support my whole life of course and when it didn’t come year after year, I focussed on my wellbeing. It got to the point I didn’t believe it would come. The only option left was to find peace in my reality and make a new life. One possible with little to no help.
The saying “If you work hard enough you will succeed” is shared a lot yet how much merit does it hold? Yes this character trait is desirable and necessary, yet no one can achieve goals on their own. Regardless of whether we are poor, disabled, part of any marginalised group, or well off with health, we all need the correct support to succeed alongside grit. That support tends to be sporadic for those in marginalised groups if available it at all. Once I was at peace with this, my mentality began to improve. I felt at peace.
So what did it take to be successful?
1 seeking opportunities and saying yes to whatever is available.
2 accepting my reality to receive internal peace and happiness even if nothing changed.
3 finding grit as nothing is achieved without it.
4 trusting the right support would come at the right time and trusting the process to get there.
“When academic, author and disability advocate Sharon Boyce contracted COVID-19 in April, she and her doctor were scared about what might happen.
“I do have lots of issues with breathing, lots of issues with my health and [an] auto immune [condition], and I’m on high level cortisone and have diabetes,” she said.
The Toowoomba resident was being monitored in a virtual hospital ward and had antiviral medication delivered to her door by paramedics.
“It was very scary about the what if [of having COVID-19], but once I got the antivirals and started them, I didn’t have major problems,” she said.
“I did have issues with breathing and coughing, especially, which was very difficult for me with my neck, but the antivirals seemed to stop and calm that down and maybe not get as bad as what it may have done.”
Dr Boyce said more awareness was needed about the potential benefits of the medications.
“I think there really needs to be a lot more information out there about what antivirals are, what they do, how good they can be and what they can do for people to break down those barriers of fear.” “
PDA can earn $2,500 per webinar for 20 or more survey responses from each webinar. If all 5 webinars get 20+ survey responses that equates to $12,500 which will go a long way to help PDA continue its work standing up for all Australian living with physical disability.
You can help PDA and go in our Hoyts’ draw by simply watching a recording of one (or more) of our informative and though-provoking webinars and then completing a survey.
When you have watched one, complete the short survey linked in the description notes under each webinar’s description.
Feel free to complete a survey for each webinar that you watch.
We also encourage you to subscribe to our YouTube channel whilst you’re there.
Entries for our Hoyt’s gift cards close at 5pm on Friday 5th August 2022, with winners chosen by random generator and announced and notified on Monday 8th August.
This competition is only open to Australian residents.
“The National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act) is the legislation which establishes the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).
It also sets out, amongst other things, the objectives, and principles as to how the NDIS will operate, how an individual can access the NDIS and become a participant, how the participants plan will be developed and processes for internal and external review.
The NDIS Act also sets out the governance arrangements for the NDIA including its CEO, Board, Independent Advisory Council (IAC) and Actuaries.
The NDIS has been operating Australia wide for the past 9 years supporting people with disabilities to live ordinary lives, supporting people to access services and supports, supporting people to gain meaningful employment and generally increasing quality of life.
The NDIS is, essentially, a scheme for people with disabilities, but we have yet to see people with disabilities gain Senior Management positions within the NDIA. We have seen people with disabilities positioned on the NDIS Board and the IAC, but not into those senior roles.
PDA believes that the NDIS should have people with disabilities in those roles, to not only increase the representation, but to bring real life experience and understanding of being a person with a disability into the Agency that is supporting us.
We encourage the Government to do their due diligence in recruiting a new CEO for the Agency and make a positive step to rebuilding the trust of people with disabilities by actively seeking out a person with a disability for the role of CEO.
PDA invites other Australian disability organisations, NDIS participants, disability supporters and providers to join in this call for improved NDIA CEO and Board representation, participation, inclusion and input from people with disability.
For more information or to show your organisation’s support in this campaign, please contact Simon Burchill (PDA’s General Manager) via manager@pda.org.au.”
There are an estimated 4.4 million Australians living with disability, and approximately 93.1% (or 4.1 million) of these were acquired sometime after birth.
Whether acquiring lifelong disability as the result of an injury, developing health or genetic condition, due to illness or medical complication, this move to a new way of life can be challenging and uncertain.
Finding information, support and ways to best live a new way of life can seem overwhelming.
From understanding your rights and entitlements, accessing resources and tools, and self acceptance, this webinar will give you an insight into the disability journey of three people who acquired disability later in life and continue to ensure that they live their best lives.
On Tuesday 9th August at 6:30pm AEST, PDA will be running a webinar to provide you with information, advice and personal stories around successfully transitioning to this new chapter of life.
Written by Tammy Milne (PDA TAS Associate Director) and published by ABC News.
When Tammy Milne contracted COVID-19, she said she was “shaken to the core”.
Ms Milne has arthrogrophosis multiplex congenita, which affects her legs. She also has issues with breathing and swallowing.
She uses a wheelchair and has a support worker for several hours a day and overnight.
She is one of many Tasmanians for whom life will not return to “normal” when the state’s public health emergency declaration ends on Thursday night.
Three months ago, Ms Milne was in Hobart visiting her daughter when she contracted COVID-19.
She was staying in a hotel, and, once she tested positive, was unable to receive room service.
Her support worker was unable to help her, and with her daughter also COVID positive, Ms Milne said she was “trapped in a room by myself without any support”.
“It was very traumatic … I was isolated and pretty much in despair,” she said.
Ms Milne organised through the disability COVID hotline to be transported back home to Devonport in the state’s north-west where a support worker stayed with her through her seven days of isolation.
Three months on, Ms Milne said she has also contracted two other viruses, one of which required hospital treatment.
“I think if I got COVID again, I’d be really lucky to survive, and it’s a reality that it will come back again,” she said.
Following its election win, the Australian Labor Party has reiterated its commitment “to ensuring that no Australian with a disability is left behind”.
The Hon. Bill Shorten MP’s assigned portfolio as Minister for the NDIS National Disability Insurance Scheme has been widely applauded and appears to be a significant move in the right direction for an Australia working to look after its disabled population.
This overhaul includes review of the NDIA (National Disability Insurance Agency), steps being taken to get the NDIS working properly and ensuring that disability is “no longer an afterthought”. Reassuringly too, steps are seemingly being put in place for policy to be evidence based and those actually reliant on the NDIS being given a place at the co-design table.
However, whilst the NDIA has certainly been a hive of promising activity since our new government took office, there is still a glaringly incongruous demographic in the way that the scheme is being run and managed.
With 1 in 6 Australians living with disability and with rates of disability being shown to be on a rising trajectory, it is crucial that the NDIS addresses the need for representation and inclusion of scheme participants and those with lived disability experience on its Board, Executive and in the role of NDIA CEO.
In the same way that senior roles within indigenous organisations are reserved for applicants of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent, policy must be put in place to ensure that “the NDIS puts people with disability at the centre of the Scheme and includes families, carers, service providers and workers” (wording taken from the ALP’s own website).
But this should just be the beginning of necessary reform in our country.
In an SBS News article, it was highlighted that, of the total 227 parliamentarians today, only one person (or less than half a percent) presents a visible disability – in the form of WA Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John.
Whilst our new parliament embraces the diversity and beauty of our country, this representation of disability is certainly not something to be celebrated.
It was a really popular presentation. However, we had a lot of emails and calls from many of you were not able to watch it live, and many who did, asking for it to go up on on PDA’s YouTube channel.
Great news!
Now you can watch this incredibly informative and helpful webinar online and learn about the support and opportunities available to assist PWD step onto and advance up the employment ladder.
So, whether you’re looking to enter mainstream employment, thinking of starting up your own small business or just wanting to have a better understanding of employer obligations in employee recruitment and reasonable workplace adjustments- this webinar is a must view.
PDA’s incredibly knowledgeable panel has many years of lived experience between them and present a valuable tool for anyone with an interest or need to better understand Australia’s employment sector and the issues particularly relevant to people with disability.
Paul Williamson – Researcher Mark Pietsch – CEO of Ability Links and Disability Advocate Tammy Milne – Journalist and Disability Advocate Sarah Styles – Owner of Wheelie Good Productions Sharon Boyce – Disability Advocate, University Lecturer, Author and Education Consultant
Feedback from this survey will enable PDA to present future webinars of interest and importance to our Members and Australia’s disability community.
If you would like to become a part of the PDA community and be kept up to date with future events, news and opportunities please sign up for FREE PDA MEMBERSHIP by going to:
Our next FREE “EmployABLE” Webinar will be run on Wednesday June 1st and we’d love to have you join us.
In this informative webinar, our Panelists will speak about support and opportunities available to assist PWD in stepping on to and advancing up the employment ladder.
Whether you’re looking to enter mainstream employment, thinking of starting up your own business or just wanting to have a better understanding of employer obligations in employee recruitment and reasonable workplace adjustment – this Webinar is a must.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
If you have any questions around employment that you would like the Panel to answer, please email promotion@pda.org.au or ask a question via the online chat during the webinar.
We look forward to your joining us for this interesting and useful presentation.
If you’re not able to join us on the night, post-Webinar this presentation will be published to the PDA YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMyTzhTbs2oLH-WZR18zX2Q).
Whilst you’re visiting our channel, please subscribe so that you’re kept informed of other presentations.
Once you have watched this (or any other of our webinars), we encourage you to take part in out short survey by going to:
Did you vote at an AEC Polling place either as an early voter or on Election Day?
If so, we would really appreciate your help to ensure that Australia’s democratic process is truly accessible to all Australians living with disability.
We’d love to hear just how accessible your chosen location was and whether reasonable adjustments were in place to support your needs in placing your vote.
This will provide us with a better understanding of issues that are and aren’t being adequately addressed to make future voting in person possible, stress free and a choice for those who require additional consideration and support.
We will then provide AEC with our findings to work towards improved polling place accessibility moving forwards so that Australia embraces the importance of everyone’s vote.
To take part in this important process, please provide your feedback in our short survey by going to:
In spite of disability employment being a topic of discussion and (supposed) action, this statistical ostracism does little to make people with disability feel as though they are included in the conversation.
an unemployment rate of people with disability of 10.3% and more than double the period’s comparative rate for people without disability which stood at 4.6%, and
that just 28.3% of people with disability of working age were in full-time employment – compared to 54.8% of people without disability in the same age group.
If statistical collection and analysis excludes 20% of Australia’s population (in that of our disabled citizens), how is it truly a measure of our country’s employment numbers and how does it not perpetuate feelings of exclusion and discrimination for our country’s largest minority group.
If the Australian Government is committed to ensuring “inclusive workplace cultures where people with disability thrive in their careers” (https://www.dss.gov.au/disability-and-carers/disability-employment-strategy) through initiatives such as the Disability Employment Advisory Committee (DEAC) and Employment My Ability, surely there needs to be greater attention on the bigger and comprehensive picture so that all stakeholders can be better equipped and truly committed to bringing actual positive change!?
In PDA’s push to ensure that Australia’s democratic process is accessible to all Australians living with disability, we would appreciate your feedback on your experience on voting at an AEC polling place as an early voter or on Election Day.
This will provide us with a better understanding of issues that are and aren’t being adequately addressed to make voting in person possible, stress free and a choice for those who require additional consideration and support.
We will then provide AEC with our findings to work towards improved polling place accessibility moving forwards so that Australia embraces the importance of everyone’s vote.
To take part in this important process, please provide your feedback in our short survey ONCE YOU HAVE VOTED AT A PHYSICAL POLLING PLACE LOCATION.
Written by Robert Wise – PDA VIC Associate Director
Firstly, I’d like to point out that there is certainly room for improvement to the NDIS. Everybody’s circumstances are different, always evolving and so plans cannot be simply formulaic. As a result there’s a lot of negative talk around the NDIS. However, I believe that we need to defend the NDIS. My blog post talks about the way in which I personally benefit from the NDIS.
In 2003 I became an amputee with one of my legs removed with an amputation known as a Hip disarticulation. As a result my life changed. I lost my job and I was unable to carry out household tasks such as vacuuming, mopping, cleaning, changing, washing bedding etc – the tasks that pre-amputation were carried out easily and without thinking.
As I am single and live alone, with family scattered all over the country, the only help I could access was a 1.5 hour visit from my local council home help crew to help with these tasks. There was no help for social activities, shopping and other tasks that I needed. Without the help of my parents for other tasks and getting me to some of my medical appointments life was difficult. I purchased a mobility scooter with my own money to help me get around in the community, to visit my local Men’s Shed and go shopping etc.
In 2018, with the help of my GP, I received my first NDIS plan. It was a very basic plan with 12 months funding for domestic help in the home once a week, once a fortnight visits to do lawn mowing and some gardening and 1.5 hours a week for a support worker for social activities. Some funding was also provided for occupational therapy and physio. Also included was funding for a new Manual Wheelchair and a ramp into my backyard, which enabled me to go outside in my wheelchair independently to enjoy a coffee etc in my backyard (which can be hard to carry using crutches).
The initial 12 month plan also allowed me to purchase a new lightweight, foldable manual wheelchair complete with tiedown points. This was a great help as my previous wheelchair did not have these, creating problems with one country Victoria coach refusing to carry me without these fitted on my wheelchair. On such occasions, I had to struggle out of my chair, up the bus steps and into a seat.
My next plan included a very good report from my OT, which included funding for my ramp into my backyard. This incredible home modification was completed in between one of the many COVID Melbourne lockdowns. Additional funding was also granted for a support worker to help me with some of my social activities, shopping etc – also providing me with welcome company between my planned Men’s shed outings and other activities.
I also received funding for increased occupational therapist hours that included preparation for a quote for a power assist device for my wheelchair. This was approved after a plan review and now I am a proud owner of a smooth one-power assist attachment for my manual wheelchair. This makes it much easier for me to use the chair when navigating steep hills or when fatigue sets in.
The NDIS has also opened up my options socially and I now have help to play in a Tenpin Bowling league once a week. I am also now able to enjoy trips to the park and beach (boardwalks only) with the help of a support worker, my new manual wheelchair and power assist.
I also have some funding for One-on-one gym sessions to help maintain my fitness levels, with an occasional day in a group activity where I can enjoy fun activities like fishing and visiting zoos and other places of interest. Please watch out for up-and-coming videos of my Assisted Technology and home modifications.
I would like to close by saying, that without the NDIS I would not be living the full and happy life that I am today.
For more information around the aec’s commitment to ensure that Australians with disability or mobility restrictions are able to enrol and make their vote count, go to:
Written by Tim Harte – PDA VIC Director to Get Young People on Board – not Bored
As a Disabled Peoples Organisation (DPO), Physical Disability Australia (PDA) lives the ethos of ‘nothing about us, without us’ – people with disabilities informing advocacy and leading the change to enable every Australian living with a physical disability to realise their full potential.
Within PDA, I see the value of lived-experience with every decision we make and the real-world outcomes achieved through our advocacy. With charities, government bodies and corporations(entities) that deliver services for and interact with, marginalised and underrepresented communities, it is both an ethical obligation and a practical necessity for the work of these entities to be informed and shaped by members of these communities, and for meaningful participation of community members to occur within decision-making structures.
Commonly, meaningful participation within decision-making structures of entities involves reference groups, comprised of members of a marginalised community, specifically focused on aspects of the entity’s interactions with a specific target group. Reference groups are great for informing operational aspects (of entities) e.g. advising on service delivery. However, input from reference groups is not sufficient. It is critical for effective, appropriate and inclusive decision-making that people with disabilities are within high-level, decisi
![“One of Alcott’s biggest achievements in the role [of 2022 Australian Of The Year] was to change perceptions about disability, and not just for non-disabled people.”](https://www.pda.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/8C7E98C8-4B3C-482C-8BEE-53779A2B3814.jpeg)
