The Scene

Issue 6, 2 April 2007

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Feature

CP Australia Conference
The 2007 National Conference of Cerebral Palsy (CP) Australia will be held on Thursday 24 May and Friday 25 May 2007 at Jupiter’s Casino Gold Coast, Queensland.

The conference is a biennial event that brings together clients, staff and management of disability organisations from across Australia to share information, consider national and international research trends, as well as to network, and exchange ideas and experiences.

The theme for 2007 is ‘Thinking Outside the Chair’, Innovation, Creativity and Collaboration – the future of Disability Services’. The conference will focus on innovative and creative solutions from both the service provider and client perspective. The conference will run concurrent sessions with a particular focus on innovation as it relates to research, service delivery and empowering people with a disability to meaningfully participate in the community.

For more information go to www.cp2007.iamevents.com.au

Please note: The Australasian Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine will be holding a satellite event on Wednesday 23 May. Find out more on the conference website above.

Teenagers

Mosman Saturday Youth Group - Sydney North
Mosman Youth Centre holds a monthly social and recreational group for young people aged 12-21 years with a disability. Outings and activities are selected by the group which meets on the 3rd Saturday of each month from 10am - 3pm. Fees are charged to cover costs of activities as necessary each week. The Mosman Youth Centre is located at 30 The Crescent, Mosman (opposite Alan Border Oval). Phone Sarah for the 2007 Program of more info on 02 9978 4144, fax 02 9978 4137 or email her at s.edwardes@mosman.nsw.gov.au.

Mosman Drama Group
This interactive drama and improvisation course encourages young people with a disability to express themselves with music and sounds, mime and improvisation. Each session helps participants with interpersonal and communication skills while developing an appreciation for story telling. The group meets every Thursday, 4.30pm – 5.30pm at the Mosman Seniors' Centre, Mosman Square, Mosman. There is a ramp at entry and an accessible lift inside. For information, phone Dragana on 02 9978 4128.

For more information on both the above groups visit www.mosman.nsw.gov.au/community/disabilities.html.

Young Adults

PDCN Consultations
As part of Youth Week, the Physical Disability Council of NSW (PDCN) is consulting with young adults (18-30 years old) with a disability, to hear what they really want and need in order to live the lives they want to lead.

Surveys will be available from www.pdcnsw.org.au from 14 April (the start of Youth Week) to complete online or send back.

You can also speak to the people from PDCN in person at Glebe and also in Bathurst on 30 April, Armidale on 2 May and Wagga Wagga on 4 May 2007.

Holidays

Take a Break.com.au
Want to go on a holiday but don’t know any accessible accommodation? Take a Break.com.au allows you to search a database of known destinations by different criteria, and one of those is accessibility. Accommodation from all over Australia can be found and full details are listed, including contact details, price, location and types of accommodation available.

www.takeabreak.com.au/accessible/accomodation.htm

Parents

Family Assistance Fund
The NSW Department of Disability Ageing and Home Care (DADHC) has a Family Assistance Fund provides small amounts of one-off funding (up to $2,000 in 2006) for families to purchase services and equipment to help them care for their child with a disability at home and increase family wellbeing.

Funding can be used to make practical changes at home, provide support for individual family members that are otherwise unavailable and to purchase non-recurrent assistive equipment. The funding helps families to address specific needs and stresses before they become a crisis and to make a difference in the care of the child or young person with a disability.

More information at
www.cnet.ngo.net.au/news/disabilities/dadhc-family-assistance-fund-information-for-families.html

Day Programs

Vacancies in Centacare’s Northern Sydney Day Service
Centacare’s Northern Sydney Day Service at Waitara still has vacancies for adults with a disability who do not currently attend a day service, are not employed full time, and live at home with their elderly carer in the Ryde, Hunters Hill, Hornsby or Ku-ring-gai local government areas. Service users receive support to participate in community activities, develop relationships in the community and utilise community services and facilities through community access, in-house activities and individualised programs. The service operates Monday to Friday 9am - 3pm. Successful applicants will receive 2-3 days of service each week. Transport is not provided by the service. There is no closing date.

For information or an application package, phone Samantha Livingston, Coordinator of Disability Day Services, Centacare Broken Bay, on 02 9488 2550 or email slivingston@brokenbay.catholic.org.au

Human Rights

UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
On 30 March 2007, the Australian Government has signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Convention adds to existing human rights laws by confirming, once and for all, that people with disability are entitled to the full range of human rights. It also provides clearer goals for governments throughout the world to work towards ensuring human rights in practice for people with disability.

Signing the Convention allows governments to show commitment to the purposes of the Convention. The next step is to ratify, or formally become party to, the Convention. Nations that ratify the Convention commit themselves to taking measures to implement in practice the rights, which are recognised by the Convention, including through reviewing laws and government programs.

Read more about the UN Convention at www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/

Transport

Transport Questionnaire
Spinal Cord Injuries Australia (SCIA) wants to hear from people with a disability and their experiences with transport ahead of a review of the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport.

The Standards are designed to set out the minimum accessibility requirements for public transport providers and operators to meet. It covers a whole range of issues including ramps and boarding devices, handrails, doorways, signs and symbols.

SCIA has devised a questionnaire to hear from people who would like to provide feedback on their experiences with public transport. The questionnaire covers air travel, buses, trains and wheelchair accessible taxis. Your feedback will help represent people's views during the review of the Standards.

To complete the questionnaire go to www.scia.org.au/news/transport_questionnaire

Advocacy

Disability Advocacy Services in NSW
A new factsheet produced by Disability Advocacy NSW provides details on 22 disability advocacy services in NSW and the ACT. The information sheet includes contact information, geographic coverage and how to refer a person with a disability to one of these services. The information sheet is designed to be of use to people with a disability and carers as well as people who wish to refer an individual or group for advocacy assistance.

Find the factsheet at
http://home.people.net.au/~dashinc/publications/da/NSW-ACT_disability_advocacy_services_2007.pdf

Health

Ganfyd.org
Ganfyd is a free medical knowledge base that anyone can read and any registered medical practitioner may edit. Ganfyd is a collaborative medical reference by medical professionals and invited non-medical experts. The site is based around the wiki format, enabling true sharing of knowledge. Ganfyd is the first of its type.

To view Ganfyd go to www.ganfyd.org/index.php

Conferences .. Workshops .. Forums

Housing and Support for People with Disability
31 May 2007

Shelter NSW will be hosting the 2007 Housing and Support for People with a Disability conference - bringing together the diverse groups involved in providing housing and support for people with disability to look at innovative approaches and recent research, as well as encouraging a greater range of organisations to consider providing housing which works for people with disability.

There will be a range of speakers including people with a disability who will reflect on what worked for them, plus housing researchers, experienced service providers and representatives of the Real Estate Industry and the Housing Industry Association.

It is being held on Thursday 31 May, 9am to 5pm at the Avillion Hotel, corner Pitt and Liverpool Streets, Sydney. Cost is $200 per person for government agencies and private business, $135 for sole traders, $70 to $110 for community organisations (depending on size) and $70 for individuals. These early bird rates apply until Thursday 3 May 2007.

For more information visit www.shelternsw.org.au/docs/fly07sem-about.html

National Disability Conference Funding Program
The Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) allocates funds each year to support national and international disability conferences held in Australia between 1 July 2007 and 30 June 2008. The program can fund up to 10% of a conference's budget, up to a maximum of $10,000 for national conferences and $20,000 for international conferences.

The program aims to support the inclusion of people with a disability at the conference, either to assist with registration, travel and accommodation or provide appropriate access, such as hearing loops or interpreters for the hearing impaired. Funding applications close on 2pm on Friday 27 April, with successful applicants to be notified by July.

For further information and an application form, see www.facsia.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/disabilities/access-conference_funding.htm

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Opinions expressed in items of The Scene are the individual opinions of the respective authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of The Spastic Centre or the editors. Products and companies featured in The Scene are not necessarily endorsed by The Spastic Centre. The Scene is intended to be informative only and should not be relied on as medical or other technical advice on any matter. The Spastic Centre and editor take no responsibility for the information published in this newsletter or any person's actions in reliance on that information.