Opposition response to calls for Royal Commission

In response to continued lobbying from the disability community:

Federal Labor calls for royal commission into institutional abuse of people with a disability

Alexandra Beech, ABC News, 26 May 2017
Federal Labor is calling for a royal commission into the abuse of people with a disability. 

It comes after a Senate inquiry recommended establishing a royal commission into the disability sector in November 2015. 

The co-chief executive of People With Disability Australia, Matthew Bowden, has welcomed Labor's announcement, saying violence against people with a disability was at "epidemic levels" ...

Labor pledges royal commission on abuse of people with disabilities

Amy Remeikis, Sydney Morning Herald, 26 May 2017

... Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Labor would lobby the Turnbull government to establish a commission on violence and neglect in the disability services sector, and make it a priority if elected.

A joint Senate committee, set up in 2015 in response to growing concerns and media coverage of failures and abuse within the system, recommended a royal commission be established to help bring about change ...

Call for Royal Commission into abuse of people with disability

Inclusion Australia, 26 May 2017 (Endorsed by NSW Council for Intellectual Disability)

“As a woman with an intellectual disability, I can say that abuse from people who were supposed to be caring for me has had a very bad long term impact on my life”, says Heather Forsyth.

Ms Forsyth is Inclusion Australia’s Our Voice Chairperson and knows first-hand the devastating impact abuse and violence against people with disability has on lives.

Inclusion Australia and its member organisations are supporting the call for a Royal Commission into the abuse of people with disability. And pressure is mounting for the Government to step up and do the same, with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Shadow Minister for Families and Social Services Jenny Macklin, today also calling for a Royal Commission into the abuse of people with disability.

Call for volunteer film students: Bus Stop Films

Call for volunteer film students, posted by Bus Stop Films recently:

Bus Stop Films is looking for film students to help support our inclusive film studies workshops. 

We need people who are passionate about film, seeking to make a difference in the industry and who are willing to impart their knowledge to others 

If this sounds like you, then get in touch with us at: hello@busstopfilms.com.au

• www.busstopfilms.com.au
• Bus Stop Films on Facebook  
• Bus Stop Films on Instagram

Regional workshops for families, on inclusive education

One of the Kids

4 April 2017 - Bathurst

5 April 2017 - Lithgow

6 April 2017 - Katoomba

7 April 2017 - Emu Plains

Family Advocacy

Come along to learn about inclusive education, hear stories of success from the regular classroom, and think about how inclusion can work for your child!

Inclusive Research Network is looking for new members

The Centre for Disability Studies at Sydney University is calling for new members of the Inclusive Research Network:

Inclusive Research is about people with intellectual disabilities doing research, not having research done on them. 

Our motto is “Nothing about us without us.”

Are you a person with an intellectual disability who has ideas or thoughts about what’s important? 

We are the CDS Inclusive Research Network! 

We are looking for new members, and we meet once a month at CDS, Camperdown.

• See more details here.

The Australian Federation of Disability Organisations joins calls for Royal Commission into abuse of people with disability

Following last night's harrowing episode of Four Corners, with its expose of abuse of people in care, Down Syndrome Australia once again reiterates its strong support for a Royal Commission into the abuse of people with disabilities.

• The 4 Corners episode Fighting the System is available on ABC iView until 26 April 2017

• Royal Commission Now petition

AFDO media release 28 March 2017:

The Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) today joined calls from across the disability sector for a Royal Commission into the violence, abuse and neglect experienced by Australians with disability.

Last night’s Four Corners investigative report exposed harrowing tales of the abuse and assault of people with disability living in specialist disability accommodation. The episode highlighted not only individual cases of violence and assault but also the woefully inadequate system responses when incidents came to light.

The Chief Executive Officer of AFDO, Mr Ross Joyce, said that while last night’s stories were heartbreaking, they were sadly not shocking for anyone familiar with the disability system.

Inclusion Australia: People with intellectual disability need quality mental health services not to be ignored

Posted by Inclusion Australia, 15 November 2016:

The Commonwealth Government has just release the National Mental Health Plan for comment, and people with intellectual disability are not even mentioned in the 77 page draft. This omission defies belief in view of the terrible mental health disparities experienced by people with intellectual disability and the highlighting of the need for action on these in recent years. 

We urge you to speak up for people for people with intellectual disability! 

See www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/mental-fifth-national-mental-health-plan for how you can have your say – by going to a consultations meeting, filling in a feedback survey or making a submission.

Read the full Inclusion Australia post for more information on why people with intellectual disability must be included, and priority arguments.

DSA national journal, Voice - July 2016

Down Syndrome Australia publishes the national journal Voice three times per year, in April, August and December.

Subscription to the national journal is a membership privilege only, and is included in the membership fees of Down Syndrome New South Wales, Down Syndrome Victoria, Down Syndrome Western Australia, Down Syndrome South Australia, Down Syndrome Tasmania and Down Syndrome Association Northern Territory.

The latest issue was released in July 2016, focussing on 'Inclusion - what does it really look like, in schools, the workplace and the general community?'

Recent writing on advocacy and inclusion

Advocacy, Inclusion And Diversity: An Evening With Jamie Brewer

Bus Stop Films, 3 June 2016
Excitement buzzed on the night of May 25th, as Bus Stop Films along with AFTRS and Screen NSW prepared for a night of rich discussion surrounding inclusion and diversity both in front of the camera and behind it ...

As someone with learning disabilities, I believe we need a say in the services we useGary Bourlet, The Guardian, 15 June 2016
This week sees the launch of Learning Disability England, a new organisation that aims to strengthen the voice of people with learning disabilities in politics, policy-making and service provision. People with learning disabilities and their families will be directly involved in how the new organisation is run and what it decides to do ...

Greens Commit Funding For Royal Commission Into Disability Abuse
Luke Cooper, Huffington Post, 23 June 2016
The Greens will push for $400m to fund a Royal Commission into the abuse and neglect of people with a disability in institutional and residential settings such as group homes, after an inquiry was told of widespread abuse ...

Disabled people are frustrated at being denied the chance to work Katherine Quarmby, The Guardian, 23 June 2016
Why are so few disabled people employed, compared with non-disabled people? How should governments and employers close the so-called disability employment gap? These are thorny issues ...

Value revealed in disability talent as research shows morale and standards boostAnne Mather, Sunday Tasmanian, 26 June 2016
They are a talent pool offering diversity, loyalty and a boost to productivity. A growing body of research is showing that people with a disability are ideal workers who raise the morale and standards of an entire workplace ...

Deaths in disability care ‘must be tackled’
Sean Parnell, The Australian, 28 June 2016
Pressure is mounting for a ­national surveillance system that might reveal and ultimately reduce the number of avoidable deaths in disability care ...

Confronting the Whitewashing Of Disability: Interview with #DisabilityTooWhite Creator Vilissa Thompson
Sarah Blahovec, Huffington Post, 28 June 2016
A new hashtag campaign has been making waves in the disability community and facilitating dialogue about how we see disability. #DisabilityTooWhite, a hashtag started by disability activist and blogger Vilissa Thompson, has been starting discussions in the disability community regarding the media visibility and representation of disabled people of color ...

21 DES services for people with intellectual disability show the way forward

When you get the right employment support, good things happen
Inclusion Australia, 16 June 2016
People with significant intellectual disability can work in the open labour market when they get the right support.

The DES Outcome Rates by Disability Type report ( links here) shows that some DES providers are achieving high rates of open employment outcomes for people with intellectual disability.

Twenty-one (21) providers are achieving 26-week employment outcome rates greater than fifty percent (>50%) for people with intellectual disability, with the highest performing provider achieving eighty-four percent (84%).

The highest performing provider had the following distinguishing features:

• Structured job search to customise a job specifically for a person with intellectual disability and building a compelling business case to the employer. 
• Undertaking job analysis to establish the employer’s needs for job performance. 

• Systematic job training by qualified staff at the work site to achieve the required job performance. 

• Ongoing support with the employer and employee to maintain the quality of the job. 

DES providers that adopt evidence based employment support for people with intellectual disability are demonstrating high rates of employment outcomes from 5 to 8 out of 10 persons with intellectual disability getting jobs that last at least six months.

The Commonwealth should be congratulated for; focusing on rewarding providers who achieve good results, introducing consequences for providers who achieve poor results, and, publishing provider results by disability type, and creating an informed market. The Executive Director of Inclusion Australia (formerly the National Council on Intellectual Disability), Mr Mark Pattison said,

“High performing DES providers deserve our recognition for their excellence in assisting people with intellectual disability get and keep jobs in the open labour market. It is encouraging to see a growing number of providers achieving 26-week employment outcome rates beyond 50%.”

These results indicate that future reform of Disability Employment Services must ensure that good practice remains viable and expanded to reach a greater number of people with intellectual disability across all regions who need the right support to get a job in the open labour market.

We Can Work with the Right Support: petition and campaign

This Inclusion Australia campaign has the support of Down Syndrome Australia and the NSW Council on Intellectual Disability:

We Can Work with the Right Support is an Inclusion Australia  petition and campaign. Please spread the word about the petition to as many people as possible. Share this email with friends, and post on Twitter and Facebook.

I Can Work
Meet Gerard from Melbourne, and Janine from Tasmania. You can read Gerard's and Janine's stories of working in open employment at "I Can Work".

Did you know?
UK researchers in the 1950s tested beliefs about the capacity of people with significant intellectual disability to work. By 1958, researchers found that while the initial ability on work tasks tends to be low, this initial ability has little relationship with the work capacity achieved with training. This is still true today -- 57 years later! Unfortunately, the current disability employment system imposes job capacity testing on youth with intellectual disability. This often 'brands' them as having little or no work capacity and prevents this group from an opportunity to get the right support to work in the open labour market.

Inclusion Australia is proposing that a new disability employment support system should presume work capacity and provide evidence based transition-to-work and open employment support. Belief + Evidence Based Support = The best opportunity to achieve employment outcomes.

Videos
The campaign web site has a collection of Australian and international videos demonstrating the capacity of people with intellectual disability to work in open employment with the right support. Watch the videos.

More Information
The campaign website contains information about open employment and people with intellectual disability including documents, news, videos, FAQs, and facts and figures.

Inclusion Australia

wecanwork.nationbuilder.com