Sue Olney
On this International Day of People with Disability, Dr Raelene West points out that access to the built environment is still problematic. Dr West is a Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne in the Melbourne Disability Institute. This article was originally published in Architecture Victoria Magazine edition 2, 2024.
Read MoreAs we approach the end of 2024, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on both the progress that has been made in disability equality, but also the things that we all do to protect ourselves and sustain our collective and individual advocacy efforts. In the Spring 2024 Edition of the Canberra Disability Review , Editor Rob Donnelly invited readers to do this, by responding to the question: What do you do that helps you to keep going, and maintain some measure of hope, when progress towards a fairer and more inclusive Australia is under heavy fire?
Advocacy for Inclusion’s Head of Policy, Craig Wallace, and the Disability Leadership Institute’s CEO and Founder, Christina Ryan, shared their perspectives.
Read MoreIn the Spring 2024 Edition of the Canberra Disability Review, Editor Rob Donnelly sat down with Hannah Orban to discuss the Grattan Institute’s (@GrattanInst) recent report “Better, Safer, More Sustainable. How To Reform NDIS Housing and support”. Today’s blog piece shares key parts of their interview, highlighting key issues with the current NDIS housing system and opportunities for improvement. You can read the original interview here.
Read MoreThe much-anticipated NDIS review released in late 2023 failed to explicitly consider gender equality or recommend a gender strategy. In today’s post, UNSW PhD candidate Molly Saunders gives a history of gender and the NDIS, and discusses her doctoral research on whether the NDIS supports women with disability to live a life of their own choosing.
Read MoreIn today’s blog, Phoebe Nagorcka-Smith (@PNagorckaSmith) explores what the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability had to say about family and domestic violence.
Read MoreToday’s post by Brandon Maki was commissioned by the Antipoverty Centre. Brandon is on the Disability Support Pension (DSP) and has written about the income free area and the focus of pushing people into work.
Read MoreIn today’s post, moderator Dr Rae West @raelene_west discusses the balance between the roles of the NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Commission and Community Visitor schemes in deterring and preventing harm to people with disability utilising funded support services in accommodation settings and homes.
Read MoreIn today’s post, CR Byrne draws on her experience to explore how Australia’s welfare system creates barriers to support for people with chronic illness and disability. CR Byrne is an activist and photographer.
Read MoreIn the wake of the budget, the Antipoverty Centre asked people on Centrelink payments – the real social policy experts – for their reactions. A contributor shared how he and other carers performing unpaid labour save the government money, and another describes the devastating impact of the failure to raise the JobSeeker rate on welfare recipients.
Read MoreAeryn Brown is a JobSeeker recipient from Tasmania. They authored the below open letter to social security minister Amanda Rishworth as part of the Break the Poverty Machine week of action, which will be held to mark the International Day to Eradicate Poverty on 17 October – one week ahead of the federal budget. People on low incomes and supporters can get more information and register to participate in the #BTPM protest (either online or in person in Adelaide) here: btpm2022.eventbrite.com.au
Read MoreMarina is one of nearly 900 000 Australians who are either unemployed or underemployed and who receive either Jobseeker Payment or Youth Allowance. This open letter is to Amanda Rishworth, Minister for Social Services in preparation for an upcoming “raise the rate” protest hosted by the Anti-Poverty Centre and the Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union on International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
Read MoreToday’s blog post from Myfan Jordan (@myfan_jordan) of Grassroots Research Studio follows last week’s article describing workplace experiences for women over 40 during the pandemic: Pandemic or endemic: older women and the toxic workplace. Today, we hear the experiences of a disability educator and a healthcare worker during the pandemic. In their own words, they tell us of the psychological health and safety risks they experienced working at the frontline.
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![The Prevention model of Community Visitors [excerpts from 2020-21 Victorian Community Visitor Annual Report]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56b068bcf8baf3fe2ec88413/1683161987064-MEU20LCA3E8RRTMJM37U/OPA%2BPicture1.jpg)
