NSW disability sector news

You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone…

NSW Council on Intellectual Disability, 6 March 2017

Did you know the NSW Government has no plans to fund state based advocacy services beyond the middle of 2018?

This includes services like IDRS, Disability Advocacy NSW and NSW CID.

An article published in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday, has highlighted the risks people with intellectual disability will be faced with once advocacy services are no longer available ...

• NSW support services facing funding cut in NDIS transition, Kelsey Munro, Sydney Morning Herald, 5 March 2017

Benevolent Society to Take Over NSW Govt Disability Support Services
Lina Caneva, Probono Australia News, 2 March 2017
Australia’s oldest charity, The Benevolent Society, has been chosen to operate the NSW government’s specialist disability support services – described as Australia’s largest provider of clinical services for people with disability.

The major win for the charity will see the organisation double its workforce and operations.

The NSW Minister for Disability Services Ray Williams made the announcement of the new provider for disability clinical services (which are currently part of the NSW Department of Family and Community Services) on Thursday ...

... Clinical services comprises staff who are case managers, psychologists, behaviour support practitioners, speech pathologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists working in multidisciplinary teams ...

Clickability

Clickability is an Australian disability service directory that features ratings and reviews from the people who actually use the services.It's expansion into NSW was announced on 1 March 2017.

The website includes a blog that aims to 'to encourage discussion and debate about important disability-related issues within the community.'

The Art of Holding Space: Service Support and Success Vol 5, #12

Congratulations to Dave Hingsburger and Angie Nethercott, the editors and publishers of the online journal for direct support workers, Service, Support and Success, on completing their fifth year of publication! The journal is distributed internationally without charge. 

The final issue for 2016 focusses on the concept of 'holding space':

The Art of Holding Space
Kevin Alexander, Service Support and Success, Volume 5, Issue 12, December 2016
... As a direct support professional, I am always challenged with wanting to step in and do something for someone I support. I see them struggling with a task, and I immediately want to make it easier for them. I want to feel needed and do a good job.

However, I have learned over my career that doing tasks for others is not always the best option. Sometimes doing less is helping out more.

If we do everything for someone, then that individual never learns how to do anything for themselves. The absence of failure and struggle are great losses in a person’s life ...

• Each issue is also available in French - this one is here.
• Link to back issues of Service, Support and Success on the Vita Living Services website, here, including Vol 1 Issue 1 and Vol 1, issue 2, which are both about supporting people with disabilities through the holidays.

Service, Support and Success: November 2016 issue

Service, Support and Success is a monthly international journal for direct support professionals, published in Canada. Each issue features a single substantive article focussed on a practical aspect of direct support.

As more staff are recruited to support people with disabilities with funding from the National Disability Insurance Scheme, they will be interested in locating such good quality resources, to establish good practice, and as education and training resources.

The journal is available free via email subscription or through a website (link below). Here is the link to the latest issue:

Deeply Frank: Getting Serious About Person-Centered Thinking 

Celine Parent, Tammy VanderWier, Elizabeth Wedderspoon, Service, Support and Success, Vol 5, Issue 11, November 2016
... What about if things change? What do we do if someone we support decides that they want to take a college class? Or join the local gym? How can we help them turn the unfamiliar into the familiar? How do we help them learn the routines and the social norms of this new place so that they can feel comfortable? ...

Answers to FAQ’s about the journal

1) The journal is intended to be widely distributed; you do not need permission to forward. You do need permission to publish in a newsletter or magazine.

2) You may subscribe by sending an email to dhingsburger@vitacls.org

3) We are accepting submissions. Email article ideas to either the address above or to anethercott@handstfhn.ca

4) We welcome feedback on any of the articles that appear here.

• Link to back issues of Service, Support and Success on the Vita Living Services website, here. Each issue is now available in both English and French. 

Arts news

Nathan Basha At Byron Bay International Film Festival!

Bus Stop Films (blog), 4 November 2016

Starting in 2006, the Byron Bay International Film Festival has become the largest regional festival in the country, supporting emerging and independent talent within Australia and around the world ... We were excited to be able to support our ambassador Nathan Basha to attend the festival this year in order to represent the filmHeartbreak and Beauty which was selected to screen in competition at the festival. The film was developed over 10 months of filmmaking workshops with 12 students with an intellectual disability. Three students co-directed, Nathan being one of them and 9 students performed.

After coming back to Sydney Nathan filled us in on his experience at the festival!

Front Up: new arts and cultural program
Ability Options has announced the launch of Front Up - a new disability-lead arts and cultural program and Hub based in Seven Hills, Western Sydney:

We have pledged a 10 year commitment to the program in memory of our late founder Greg McIntyre OAM. Programs will commence in 2017. 

Keep up to date with all Front Up news and stories by liking the Front Up Facebook page. 

Spread the word!

$30,000 NSW Fellowship to support artists with disabilityA new $30,000 fellowship that will boost the professional development of an artist with disability has been launched as part of the NSW Government’s commitment to support artists’ careers.

The Artist with Disability Fellowship, developed in collaboration with Accessible Arts, is open to professional mid-career or established artists working in any art form, including music, theatre, visual arts, or writing, who identify as having a disability ...

Disability Employment Services Reform

People with disabilities, including intellectual disabilities was to work - here's an opportunity to have some input into one aspect of how employment support can be informed:

Australia Social Services Minister Christian Porter announced the latest stage of the current review of the Disability Employment Services (DES) system this week.

The Australian Government wants to assist more people with disability into jobs so they can enjoy the social and economic benefits that work brings. 

The Disability Employment Services (DES) program plays an important role in supporting people with disability to gain employment in the open labour market. Current contracts with non-government organisations for the provision of DES cease in 2018. This presents an opportunity to consider possible changes to improve the program’s performance and achieve better employment outcomes for people with disability. 

The Australian Government commissioned the Disability Employment Taskforce in 2015 to review the disability employment framework and seek feedback from the disability sector to inform possible changes to DES to come into effect in 2018. 

Building on the work of the Taskforce, the discussion paper New Disability Employment Services from 2018outlines specific options for what a new model of DES could look like.

To find out more about this important issue and how you can have your say visit this page on the Dept Social services website.

Service, Support and Success: October 2016 issue

Service, Support and Success is a monthly international journal for direct support professionals, published in Canada. Each issue features a single substantive article focussed on a practical aspect of direct support.

As more people manage their own support via the National Disability Insurance Scheme, they will be interested in locating such good quality resources themselves, to establish good practice,  and as education and training resources for the professionals they employ.

It is available free via email subscription or through a website (link below). Here is the link to the latest issue:

In Case of Emergency, Please Read: Ideas and Strategies for Supporting People with Intellectual  Disabilities Receiving Emergency Care 
 Yona Lunsky and Jacques Lee, Service, Support and Success, Vol 5, issue 10, October 2016
Adults with developmental disabilities visit the hospital emergency department (ED) as often as some of us go to the dentist. In fact, they go twice as often as adults without developmental disabilities (DD). We all know the “drill” when it comes to the dentist, but just how much do you know about what to expect out of an emergency department visit? This article offers some practical tips about how to make emergency visits as good as they can be, and also outlines some steps we can all take to reduce the likelihood of having to go to the hospital in the first place. Because, let’s be honest; like the dentist, none of us want to go the hospital more than we have to...

Answers to FAQ’s about the journal

1) The journal is intended to be widely distributed; you do not need permission to forward. You do need permission to publish in a newsletter or magazine.

2) You may subscribe by sending an email to dhingsburger@vitacls.org

3) We are accepting submissions. Email article ideas to either the address above or to anethercott@handstfhn.ca

4) We welcome feedback on any of the articles that appear here.

• Link to back issues of Service, Support and Success on the Vita Living Services website, here. Each issue is now available in both English and French. 

National survey of carers' respite needs

Carers NSW is conducting a survey to understand carers' respite needs and experiences to inform the advocacy work of all Carer Associations.

Please take 10 or 15 minutes to complete this anonymous survey by 23rd September.

• Link to survey

Post-school expos

Inquiry into access to transport for seniors and disadvantaged people in rural and regional NSW

NSW Legislative Assembly (media release)

7 June 2016

Image: pixabay.com

Getting around is hard enough for older and disadvantaged people in closely settled areas, but what about the plight of those in rural and remote areas? That question is at the heart of a parliamentary inquiry into transport access for seniors and disadvantaged people, being conducted by the NSW Parliament’s Committee on Community Services.

“Most Australians have access to public transport or have enough money to provide their own,” Committee Chair and Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall said. “For most of us, society supports our mobility. “But in some cases, particularly for those who live in remote areas and are on pensions or who are otherwise disadvantaged, transport options are either very limited or absent. That in turn limits access to medical and social support services. 

"This inquiry is looking into how that issue might be overcome in an equitable way. “We’ll be looking at a range of options, including adjustments to existing transport services or financial support measures." 

The Terms of Reference adopted by the Committee will give particular regard to the situation of seniors, Aboriginal persons, persons with disability, and social housing tenants. The Inquiry emerged from a request by Deputy Premier Troy Grant who asked that the Committee examine these issues and report back to Parliament.

 “We welcome any ideas or observations on this issue through submissions to the inquiry,” Mr Marshall said. “The inability to get suitable transport is a chronic problem for many individuals, so it's important that we provide a useful channel that helps the community to be part of the solution.”

The Committee will report to Parliament before 30 November. It is receiving submissions until 21 July 2016. 

For further information, including the full terms of reference, please refer to the Committee’s webpage.

Have your say on a new integrated carer support service

From the Department of Social Services:

The Australian Government is developing an Integrated Plan for Carer Support Services to better support and sustain the work of unpaid carers.

The first stage of the Plan included design and implementation of Carer Gateway. Established in December 2015, Carer Gateway is a national website and contact centre that provides carers with practical information and support and helps them connect with local support services.

An important second stage of the Plan involves developing a new integrated carer support service system through a co-design process.

The purpose of the new service system is to deliver supports that reduce carer strain, increase carer well-being and support them to continue in their caring role.

A draft Service Concept was developed through research, co-design workshops with carers, and input from subject matter experts and the Carer Gateway Advisory Group.

The draft Service Concept sets out the types of services that could be delivered under a future service delivery model.

We want to hear your views on the draft Service Concept.

Governments and disability in the news this week ...

New disability commissioner on the way

Nine News via AAP 28 April 2016
The federal government has gazumped a Labor policy by moving to appoint a new disability discrimination commissioner.

Federal cabinet has agreed to appoint a full-time commissioner to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, reversing a 2014 decision to abolish the role, which was absorbed into the age discrimination commissioner's job ...

Disability Program Review Calls for Public Input

ProBono Australia News, 27 April 2016
The federal government is asking Not for Profits to provide input into the review of the National Disability Advocacy Program (NDAP) to ensure the organisation meets the needs of people with disabilities.

The NDAP funds agencies that provide advocacy services to people with disabilities.

The government said the review is part of an ongoing process of improvement ahead of the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Assistant Minister for Disability Services Jane Prentice said that the NDAP has been largely unchanged since it was introduced in the 1980s ...

ADHC Transfer Update
NSW Council for Intellectual Disability via Facebook, 28 April 2016

Minister for Disability Services, John Ajaka has announced today details of the expression of interest process for the transfer of ADHC services to the NGO sector in the 14 page document, Specialist Disability Services PreEOI Release

Director of Advocacy at CID Aine Healy has said that ... 

"CID is pleased to see some more details on the transfer process, this has been a very stressful time for people with disability and their families." 

However, with our initial review of the process some questions remain –

• We appreciate that people will have some choice, albeit limited, in choosing their future providers – but what happens if people with disability and where required their families or carers do not like any of the providers short listed in their area?

• What happens if the market does not provide? This is a particular concern for people with complex needs and there needs to be assurance that their needs will be met.

• Properties will be leased to service providers, but who will retain ownership of these? How will the conflict of interest be managed of a service provider being both an accommodation provider and a support provider?

• Will people with disability or their representatives be involved in the first phase of the EOI selection process?

• Who will provide independent oversight of the transfer process? Where will people with disability and their families receive independent information from during this process?

CID will continue to review the EOI documents and process and provide a more detailed report shortly.

CID would ike to hear from you - what are your thoughts? Are you happy with this process? Do you have any concerns?

• Contact details for NSW Council for Intellectual Disability

Life After School Program: Nepean/Blue Mountains

Northcott is launching a new program to help young people with disabilities in the Nepean Blue Mountains area, starting in May:

The Life After School program will help young people with disabilities aged 15 – 18 navigate the complex world of work, relationships and out of home living as they transition out of the school system.

The program will deliver a series of workshops to teach young people important life skills such as how to land their first job, manage a budget, learn to cook, deal with their sexuality and interpersonal relationships as well as tackle mental health issues such as anxiety ...

• Further information from Northcott here

Call to support South Australian specialist health service

NSW Council for Intellectual Disability's Senior Advocate, Jim Simpson, has asked that we distribute this information, in support of a service in South Australia, that could have implications nationwide:

South Australian Government proposes to close vital Intellectual Disability health service! 

The closure of the only intellectual disability health service in South Australia would be a disaster for South Australians with intellectual disability and a terrible precedent for the rest of Australia. 

Please sign this petition.

New disability program to address service gaps for country kids

Royal Far West media release, 10th November 2015

Royal Far West has today launched a new intensive, early intervention therapy service for children with disabilities from rural and regional NSW, designed specifically to address major service gaps for country kids. 

 The ‘Windmill Program’ offers a range of services to support children with mild to moderate disabilities. Services are offered on site at the Royal Far West health and wellbeing campus at Manly and are available to country children aged between 2-7 years of age who can access the Department of Social Services BetterStart or Helping Children with Autism Packages (HCWA). Subsequent support and follow up is available to children and their families in their local community via dedicated RFW telecare programs.

The Windmill Program has been developed in response to major gaps in the provision of early intervention services outside of city areas, which can often create barriers for children and their families in accessing the support they need, particularly in the area of specialist allied health services.

Current research shows that rural children with a disability are around 23% less likely to register with BetterStart and Helping Children with Autism (HCWA) and are accessing up to 60% less funding than urban-based families due to a lack of access to services. It also demonstrates a serious shortage of allied health professionals in country Australia, particularly in the field of clinical psychology ... read the full text of the media release here.

• Prime 7 News report on Windmill Program 

About Royal Far West

Royal Far West is a non-government organisation that has been providing health services to children living in rural and remote New South Wales since 1924 ... Every year, thousands of country children who have non-acute developmental, behavioural, learning, emotional and mental health disorders, and limited access to local services, benefit from our integrated clinical and educational model of care.

Funding extension for services transitioning to NDIS

$13.3M of a total $47.1M funding extension has been allocated to NSW services:

Funding extensions for disability and carer programmes
Media release, Senator The Hon Mitch Fifield, Assistant Minister for Social Services, 13th March 2015

The Abbott Government today delivered certainty to thousands of people with disability, carers, families and their advocates by extending funding for a range of programmes transitioning to the National DisabilityInsurance Scheme (NDIS). 

The Assistant Minister for Social Services, Senator Mitch Fifield, said the Government’s priority was to ensure continuity of services to families and carers as the transition to the NDIS begins. 

“Families, carers and children will continue receiving quality care and services as there will be no interruption as programmes migrate to the NDIS,” Minister Fifield said ... read on here, for the full text of the media release, giving details of the programs funded, and the breakdown by States and Territories.

Belonging Matters 2014: Melbourne, September

• Click here for the detailed flyer

Executive Functioning: Volume 1, Issue 1, June 2014

From the Canadian experts who edit the brilliant, free online newsletter for support workers, Service, Support and Success, comes Executive Functioning, a new free online publication providing resources for 'senior leadership in organisations providing human services'.  

The very first issue has been published this week, on Evidence-Based Decision Making.

In the words of Dave Hingsburger:

... it aims to present information in a fun, easy to read style, about issues of importance to senior leaders. This publication will come out every 3 to 4 months and will be available for free by subscription. If you are interested in receiving the inaugural issue you can do one of two things. 

1) email and request the first issue - then you can decide to subscribe or not
2) simply subscribe now

Subscriptions, or single copies, can be requested from dhingsburger@vitacls.org

Medication, TEAMS!: two new issues of Service, Support and Success

Two new issues of this excellent Canadian publication are now freely available online:

Service, Support and Success is a monthly newsletter designed for direct support workers supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It is published by Vita Community Services (Toronto, Canada), under the editorship of Dave Hingsburger and Angie Nethercott. 

Volume 3, Issue 5, May 2014: Medication, Education and Advocacy

How many medications do you take each day? How did you decide to take them, and how do you know they work? How bad are the side effects, and what do you do to tolerate them?

One last question: What would happen if you were unable to ask yourself any of these questions or if no one helped you figure out the answers? ...

Volume 3, Issue 6, June 2014: TEAM! Simple Strategies to Success

... Our team has been asked several times questions like: “What’s your secret?” and, “How did you become such a strong team?” Agencies that want to open similar treatment residences ask, “How do you keep staff?” Again, there is no secret, but here is what we have identified that makes us truly a TEAM ...

Service Support and Success is well worth the (free) subscription or a bookmark if you work with or are interested in supporting people with intellectual disability.

• Link to back issues of Service, Support and Success on the Vita Living Services website, here.

Turnips and the NDIS ...

The Laughing Turnip
This short, original video was a hit with the audience when it was used as part of a service providers' conference presentation by Jackie Softly and Samantha Connor, this week in Sydney. 'The message, to service providers, is that rebranding and re jigging your agencies isn't enough if you're serving the same old services. People need choice and good information so they can make informed choices regarding their services under the NDIS.'

We can put you in touch with Jackie and Sam if you want to know more about their work (or to contact the actors for a project!).


With the advent of the NDIS and a new direction in self directed services, some service providers are choosing to do new things in a way that their customers want. But what happens when you 'rebrand' and keep the status quo?

More news and commentary on the Federal Budget 2014 - 2015: specific effects on people with disability and carers

Disability in Budget 2014

El Gibbs, Ramp Up, 15th May 2014
... a summary of the impact of the 2014 Federal Budget on people with disability ...

We're damned by discrimination, not the DSP

Stella Young, Ramp Up, 14th May 2014

Making the Disability Support Pension harder to get isn't going to "entice" people with disabilities into the workforce. We're already enticed. Some of us are desperate to work ...

Carers face a tougher future under Budget changes

Carers Australia, 13th May 2014 

A second statement from Carers Australia, particularly focuses on the budget's impact on carer payment recipients and young carers.

Budget: disability groups furious that ABC Ramp Up website to go
Amanda Meade, The Guardian (online), 14th May 2014

... On top of the 1% cut to ABC funding, the first budget of the treasurer, Joe Hockey, discontinued funding for the popular disability website hosted by the ABC ...

One commissioner role cut from Human Rights Commission

Nance Haxton, ABC News, 14th May 2014
One of the less publicised aspects of the federal budget is the axing of one of the commissioner roles from the Human Rights Commission. The Disability Discrimination Commissioner has been axed, leaving six commissioners in other roles and the president. Current disability discrimination commissioner Graeme Innes, whose term ends in July, says the scrapping of the role will have dire consequences for the disability community in Australia, as it relies on the advocacy provided by a specific commissioner.

Commission to continue representing people with disability

Australian Human Rights Commission, 14th May 2014
... Pending a future appointment to be made by the Attorney-General, Professor Triggs will assume responsibility for continuing to meet the statutory obligations required under the Disability Discrimination Act ...

Parents of disabled children hit out at budget cuts
RN Breakfast (ABC Radio, 16th May 2014 (audio file 7m 18s)
... In 2013 the Coalition described current funding arrangements for these students as unfair and inequitable, and committed itself to increasing the amount of money they receive from 2015. But the Federal Budget contains no additional money for these students, and their parents say they feel betrayed ...

From the National Council on Intellectual Disability via Down Syndrome Australia, 14th May 2014:

NCID attended the 2014 - 2015 Budget lockup at Treasury. Below is an outline of what the Budget means for people with intellectual disability and their families.

The big issue for people with intellectual disability will be changes in the requirements to obtain and maintain receipt of the Disability Support Pension (DSP). There will be 'work-focused activity' requirements with 'sanctions for non- compliance'.