Strategic
Planning 2008-2011
MDAA is developing a three year
strategic plan for 2008 – 2011. Your comments as
external stakeholders on the work of MDAA and its future
direction are crucial in this important planning process.
A brief questionnaire is attached for you to complete and
return by 6 August. 
192kb attachment
We would like to finalise the plan
in October so that it can be launched at our next AGM.
Our current Strategic Directions can be found on the MDAA
website. If you have any questions or wish to talk this
through please contact Diana Qian on (02) 9891
6400
More Cultural
Competence Training- Broken Hill coming up- register now
We will deliver a one day workshop
in Broken Hill for NGO services working with people with
disability.
When: 23 August 2007 at Miraga
Hall, 265 Oxide Street, Broken Hill
Soon we will also deliver training
in Bathurst and Dubbo.
The aim of the workshop is to
enhance the cultural competence of people who work with
people with disability, with the expected outcome of
higher quality service delivery to people from
non-English speaking backgrounds with disability and
their carers.
COST: Free & Lunch is provided
For more information and to
register please go to
http://www.mdaa.org.au/service/industry/country.html
and follow the links.
Bega Valley
Disability Advocacy
MDAA was successful in obtaining
funds from the Commonwealth Department of Families,
Community Services and Indigenous Affairs to provide
advocacy in the Bega Valley to people with disability in
that area. Through our State funded Advocacy in Action
Program we have been working with local people over the
past year or so. This included working with South East
Advocacy Services (SEAS) an independent, recently
incorporated agency. Bega Valley Disability Advocacy
Service has been funded for one year only, and will
employ a worker for 10 hours per week. If you are
interested in applying for the job see the info below,
for more info on the service contact Sharon Smith on 02
9891 6400.
Reminder: Consumer
Conference “Planning for Your
Future”
When: Tuesday 24 July 2007, 9am-4pm
at Parramatta Town Hall
Come and participate in any of
these three workshops and meet our guest speakers:
Workshop 1: Looking After
your Money Matters
Workshop 2: How to look after yourself (mental
health and physical health)
Workshop 3: Health Needs; Aids/Equipment and
Modifications; Accommodation and Support to Live
Independently
Admission is free for MDAA members,
consumers, their families and carers. Lunch will be
provided
Policy/
Industry Development Officer
This position will involve
developing and implementing policies and projects in
areas affecting people from NESB with disability and
their families, and developing resources and providing
support to enhance the cultural competence of disability
services and relevant government agencies in NSW.
Essential criteria:
- Understanding of and commitment
to people from NESB with disability and their
families.
- Demonstrated experience and
skills in policy analysis and development.
- Highly developed written
communication skills.
- Highly developed oral
communication skills including consultation,
negotiation and networking skills.
- Ability to work as part of a
team.
- Computer and records management
skills.
SACS Grade 4, and salary packaging
is available.
MDAA is an equal opportunity
employer and has an affirmative action policy for people
from NESB with disability. This means that if two
applicants are equally suitable for the job and one is
from NESB with a disability, MDAA will select the
applicant from NESB with disability.
For an information package please
contact Judith or for further enquiries contact Diana
Qian on (02) 9891 6400. Applications must address each of
the selection criteria above. Send your application to:
Confidential, Diana Qian, Assistant Director, MDAA, PO
Box 9381, Harris Park, NSW 2150. Applications close: 20
July 2007
Bega Valley
Individual Advocate
Seeking applications for a
part-time position (10 hours/week) of Advocate for people
with disability and their families in Bega Valley and
surrounding areas.
Essential Criteria:
- Advocacy skills
- understanding of and commitment
to people with disability and their families;
- understanding of disability
issues;
- knowledge of relevant
legislation and services;
- good written and oral
communication skills;
- computer skills.
Desirable Criteria: Current
driver’s license and access to vehicle
Salary: SACS Award Grade 3
(depending on skills). This position is available until
30 June 2008 (extension possible depending on funding).
MDAA is an equal opportunity employer and an affirmative
action policy applies for people with
disability.
For a package call Judith; further
enquiries to Susan on (02) 9891 6400. Send application
to: Susan Laguna, Individual Advocacy Manager, MDAA, PO
Box 9381, Harris Park 2150
Applications close: 27 July 2007
For more info check out
www.mdaa.org.au
The Minister for Disability
Services, the Hon Kristina Keneally MP, would be pleased
to receive nominations for membership of the Disability
Council for up to four years duration.
The Disability Council of NSW is
the official adviser to the NSW Government on issues
affecting people with disability and their families. The
Council is also the NSW Disability Advisory Council to
the Commonwealth Government.
Appointment to the Council will be
made on the basis that the applicant can demonstrate:
- understanding of issues
relevant to people with disability and their families;
- commitment to the human rights
and social inclusion of people with disability;
- commitment to diversity and
participation by people with disability from
culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities;
- effective participation within
networks that enable the development and dissemination
of sound advice based on community contact; and
- commitment to effective
communication, consultation and feedback.
The Disability Council includes
people with psychiatric, intellectual, physical
disability, acquired brain injury, deaf, hearing
impairment, blind, vision impairment or other disability
types, as well as family members and people with
particular expertise in the area of disability. In
putting forward a nomination, you should be aware that
Council Members are appointed for their individual
experience and expertise and not as representatives of
any particular interest group or organisation.
The Disability Council highly
values cultural and linguistic diversity. We strongly
welcome applications from people with disability from
diverse backgrounds, from Aboriginal & Torres Strait
Islander communities and from regional or rural NSW. The
Council usually meets monthly. Members receive attendance
fees and out of pocket expenses for approved
participation.
If you wish to receive an
application pack or seek further information on Council
Membership, please contact Dougie Herd by any of the
following means:
Telephone: (02) 9211 2866 (voice
and TTY), 1800 044 848 (voice and TTY)
Write: The Executive Officer, Level 19, 323 Castlereagh
St., SYDNEY NSW 2000
Fax: (02) 9211 2271
email info.disabilitycouncil@dadhc.nsw.gov.au
Internet www.disabilitycouncil.nsw.gov.au
Nominations must be received no
later than Friday, 20th July 2007
Federal
announcements
On 28 June 2007, the Federal
Government announced a $1.8 Billion Disability Assistance
Package over five years targeting carers of people with
disability. The package includes:
- $721.2 million over five years
to provide Carer Allowance recipients with an annual
payment of $1,000 to help them purchase assistance for
their child with disability.
- $23.6 million over five years
for a small number of children’s disability
services including early intervention, respite, early
childhood development and learning, and vacation and
out of school hours care.
- $115.3 million over five years
for in-home support services for people with
disability who are cared for by ageing parent carers
aged 65 and over.
- $270.3 million over five years
to give 7,500 carers aged 60 years and over, and their
children aged 25 years and over access to 800 new
respite places over five years.
- $562.6 million over five years
to develop supported accommodation services for people
with disability aged 40 years and over, whose parent
carer is aged 65 years and over, receives Carer
Allowance and has been caring for a significant period
of time. Over five years, there will be around 1,750
new disability accommodation places in 175 new
facilities.
- $13.8 million over five years
to fund a transition support service for people with
disability who are cared for by ageing parent carers.
Transition support workers, based in Centrelink, will
provide information and support to eligible families
to assist them to make decisions for the future.
- $1.5 million in 2007-08 to
conduct a high level inquiry to identify and address
barriers to private sector involvement in the delivery
of disability supported accommodation and to explore
the potential for support from corporate and
philanthropic sources to develop a market for private
disability accommodation.
Many of the announcements for
Carers are welcome and many representative organisations
for families and carers have been supportive of the
announcements. The package is clearly one for carers and
it is important for the Commonwealth to acknowledge that
the rights and aspirations of people with disability are
not the focal point and that some parts of the package
may in fact contradict the various Commonwealth and State
standards and legislation protecting people with
disability.
The Commonwealth is proposing to
fund supported accommodation. The funds allocated to
provide supported accommodation places and the number of
accommodation places this money is supposed to buy,
translates into building institutions for at least 10
persons per accommodation. We are concerned that the
Commonwealth Government is proposing to invest funds into
new institutions when all the evidence available suggests
that those facilities do not deliver good outcomes for
people with disability. There is no doubt that supported
accommodation is one of the crisis points for people with
disability and their carers, (see also AIHW report below)
and MDAA has strongly supported developing more
opportunities and options for people to live in the
Community (see for example our “Everybody needs a
home” report). We strongly oppose, however, the
provision of services which limit and restrict people
with disability to congregate settings and isolated
environments. We therefore strongly urge the Commonwealth
to reconsider this proposal.
Finally, we are concerned that
there is no or little communication between the Sates and
Commonwealth and that these announcements will not only
further complicate an already complex disability service
system but may also have implications for the
Commonwealth and States/Territories disability agreement
negotiations.
The Commonwealth
Government and Indigenous People in the Northern
Territory
At the end of June a letter was
sent to the Minister Mal Brough by a long list of
agencies and individuals concerned about the Commonwealth
Government’s interventions in the Northern
Territory. The letter to Mal Brough said:
“Dear Minister Brough
The undersigned organisations
write this joint and open letter in order to convey
our views on action required to stop the abuse of
children in Indigenous communities in the Northern
Territory, and our concerns about aspects of the
Australian Government’s response to this problem
as outlined in your statement of 21 June
2007.
The safety and well-being of
Indigenous children is paramount. We welcome your
commitment to tackling violence and abuse in certain
Indigenous communities. We are deeply concerned at the
severity and widespread nature of the problems of
child sexual abuse and community breakdown in
Indigenous communities in the NT, catalogued in the
Little Children are Sacred Report.
We wish to work collaboratively
with Governments and the communities affected to
ensure that children are protected. We would like to
see greater investment in the services that support
Indigenous families and communities, the active
involvement of these communities in finding solutions
to these problems and greater Federal Government
engagement in delivering basic health, housing and
education services to remote communities.
There is general agreement among
the communities affected, Governments and service
providers and in the wider Australian community that
urgent action is required to address the abuse and
neglect of children and to assist those affected by
it.
We note that the services which
most Australians take for granted are often not
delivered to remote Indigenous communities, including
adequately resourced schools, health services, child
protection and family support services, as well as
police who are trained to deal with domestic violence
in the communities affected. We endorse the call in
the Little Children are Sacred Report for the
Australian and Territory Governments to work together
urgently to fill these gaps in services.
There is also a need for a
longer term plan to address the underlying causes of
the problem, including community breakdown,
joblessness, overcrowding and low levels of
education.
Successfully tackling these
problems requires sustainable solutions, which must be
worked out with the communities, not prescribed from
Canberra.
We are committed to working with
the Government to ensure that in developing and
introducing the proposed measures, support is provided
to Indigenous communities’ efforts to resolve
these problems. The proposals go well beyond an
‘emergency response’, and will have profound
effects on people’s incomes, land ownership, and
their ability to decide the kind of medical treatment
they receive. Some of the measures will weaken
communities and families by taking from them the
ability to make basic decisions about their lives,
thus removing responsibility instead of empowering
them.
In their present form the
proposals miss the mark and are unlikely to be
effective in their present form. There is an
over-reliance on top-down and punitive measures, and
insufficient indication that additional resources will
be mobilised where they are urgently needed; to
improve housing, child protection and domestic
violence supports, schools, health services, alcohol
and drug rehab programs. These issues have been raised
by many Indigenous leaders over many years.
We offer our support to
Indigenous communities and the Government in:
- developing programs that
will strengthen families and communities to empower
them to confront the problems they face;
- consulting adequately with
the communities and NT Government, and community
service, health and education providers;
- developing a long term plan
to address and resolve the causes of child abuse
including joblessness, poor housing, education and
commit the necessary resources to this.
Yours sincerely”
The letter was signed by
Patrick Dodson; Mick Dodson;
Lowitja O’Donoghue; Jumbunna Learning Centre; ANTAR;
Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation; Darwin
Aboriginal and Islander Women's Shelter; Amoonguna Health
Service; Miwatj Health Aboriginal Corporation; Malabam
Health Board; Central Australian Aboriginal Alcohol
Program Unit (CAAAPU); Darwin Community Legal Service
Inc; Dawn House Inc; Foster Care NT; Central Australian
Stolen Generations & Families Aboriginal Corporation;
Tangentyere Council; Central Land Council; Central
Australian Aboriginal Media Association; Institute for
Aboriginal Development; Alice Springs Urban Housing;
Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service; Arrernte
Council; Footprints Forward; Lhere Artepe; Ingkerreke
Outstations Resource Services; Central Australian
Aboriginal Congress; National Indigenous Television Ltd;
Institute for Aboriginal Development Alice Springs;
Katherine West Aboriginal Health Board; Local Community
Services Association; Mental Association of Central
Australia; North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency;
Northern Territory Shelter; Northern Territory Council of
Social Service; Pintupi Homelands Health Service; ACOSS;
ACT Council of Social Service; Anglicare Australia;
Australian Institute of Welfare and Community Workers;
Baptist Union of NSW; Canberra Rape Crisis Centre;
CentreCare Western Australia; Congregational Federation
of Australia and Aotearoa; Doctors Reform Society; Family
Services Australia; Ian Thorpe’s Fountain for Youth;
Jobs Australia; Justice Action; National Association of
Community Legal Centres; National Council of Churches in
Australia; National Council of Single Mothers and their
Children; National Shelter; National Welfare Rights
Network; New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council; Oxfam
Australia; SANE Australia; SNAIC; Victorian Council of
Social Service; Uniting Care Australia; Uniting Church in
Australia; Uniting Care Queensland; Western Australian
Council of Social Service; Women With Disabilities
Australia; YWCA of Canberra; Malabam Health Board; The
National Indigenous Youth Movement of Australia;
Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO);
Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi Aboriginal Association;
Sharijn King.
AIHW report into
unmet demand
The Australian Institute of Health
and Welfare was commissioned to undertake a study on the
levels of unmet demand for specialist disability services
funded under the Commonwealth State/Territory Disability
Agreement. A The report of the AIHW study was published
recently. It sets out the findings and gives estimates of
current levels of unmet demand for accommodation and
respite services, community access services, and
disability employment services. The report also projects
future demand and the key factors likely to influence
levels of demand in coming years.
For
accommodation and respite services
The estimate of 23,800 people with
unmet demand for accommodation and respite services in
2005 is 11,300 more than the 2001 estimate of 12,500.
Factors that may have contributed
to the apparent increase in unmet demand since the
previous study include:
- an increase in the size of the
population with a severe or profound core activity
limitation;
- increased levels of need for
assistance, due to ageing of the CSTDA service-user
population and ageing of their carers;
- reduced access to some
mainstream housing options of particular relevance to
people with disabilities, particularly public housing
and boarding houses;
- the ongoing trend towards
community-based living arrangements for people with
disabilities - the continued shift to community-based
living (both people moving out of cared accommodation
and people not entering cared accommodation who
previously would have) may be expected to increase
estimated unmet demand due to an increase in demand
for community-based accommodation support and respite,
and inclusion of a level of unmet demand previously
‘hidden’ due to the fact that survey-based
estimates of unmet demand assume that people living in
cared accommodation have no unmet demand.
For community
access services
The estimate of 3,700 people with
unmet demand for community access services in 2005 is a
decrease of around 4,500 compared with the 2001 estimate
of 8,200 people. This estimate focuses on unmet demand
for regular services that meet people’s ongoing need
for meaningful day activities, rather than more irregular
recreation/holiday activities.
This apparent reduction in unmet
demand is despite an increase between 1998 and 2003 of
25,300 people aged 15–64 years with severe or
profound core activity limitations who were not in the
labour force. The decrease in unmet demand may be partly
explained by increased supply of community access
services.
For disability
employment services
The 2005 estimate suggests a low
level of unmet demand for disability employment services,
and a substantial decrease from the
estimate of 5,400 people with unmet demand in 2001. This
decrease may be partly due to the decrease between 1998
and 2003 in numbers of people with a severe or profound
core activity limitation who were in the labour force
(Table 5.6). A possible increase in the supply of day
activity services over the period, as suggested by the
survey data, may also have contributed. No data are
available to show changes in the supply of disability
employment services over the period, so it is not
possible to say whether this may also have been a factor.
This unmet demand estimate may be
regarded as conservative because:
- people who report being
unemployed but who attend a day activity are excluded;
and
- some proportion of the 134,300
people with severe or profound core activity
limitations who were employed may have unmet demand
for assistance from a disability employment service to
help them maintain their employment.
For more information on the report
go to www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10450
MDAA is yet to study the report in
detail but as we’ve said before, people from NESB do
not just have unmet need and unmet demand, many people
from NESB with disability have actually unexpressed
demand and need due to their lack of knowledge about and
access to information about the disability services
sector. This is particularly the case for accommodation
and community access services.
Multicultural
Australia: some bits from the 2006 census
At the time of the 2006 census the
population was 19,855,288. Females outnumbered males and
for every 100 females there were 97 males. The median age
was 37 years (up from 34 years). The number of people
aged over 65 years was 13.3% (up from 12.1%). The number
of children aged between 0-14 years was 19.8% (down from
21.6%).
The number of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islanders is up from 352,970 (2%) to 455,026
(2.3%) of the Australian population. The proportion of
Australians born overseas remained unchanged at 22% of
the overall population. The most common countries of
origin are England (19%), New Zealand (9%) and China
(5%). The most common languages spoken at home are
English (78%), Italian (1.6%) and Greek (1.3%).
However, the new focus, especially
in Sydney, is on people from Arabic-speaking and Chinese
backgrounds. In Sydney, the most common language spoken
at home, after English, is now Arabic (3.9%) followed by
Cantonese (3%) and Mandarin (2.3%).
The most common religion is
Christianity (64%, down from 71%). The number of
non-Christian population rose from 3.5% to 5.6%. The
fastest growing religions are Hinduism and
Buddhism.
Australian households are made up
by families (67%, down from 71%), group households (3.7%,
down from 4.1%) and single occupancy (23%, up from 22%).
The median weekly household income accounts for
$1000-$1199, up from $600-699 ($778-906 in 2006 dollar
terms).
_______________________________________
Barbel Winter
Executive Director
Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association of NSW
PO BOX 9381
Harris Park, NSW 2150
Australia
ph: + 61 (0)2 9891 6400
www.mdaa.org.au
