A newsletter for
people interested in issues relevant to people from a
NESB with disability and their families and carers.
Produced by the Multicultural Disability Advocacy
Association of NSW (MDAA).
If you have any queries,
questions, comments or any other contributions please
contact us by email (mdaa@mdaa.org.au)
or phone (02) 9891 6400.
NEW at
MDAA
Diversity
Management Leadership Program
Applications close: 19
October 2007
Be challenged and position yourself
and your agency at the centre of some key challenges
facing all of us in the 21st century.
This program offers an opportunity
for you to develop your skills, knowledge, competence and
confidence in managing diverse working environments using
cultural competence concepts, principles and ideas. You
will enhance your cultural competence as a manager or
program coordinator and lead your agency and team towards
greater cultural competence.
There are a total of 10 program
dates over an 8 month period.
You can expect to read some of the
latest academic and non-academic work in diversity
management and cultural competence; meet people who have
implemented responses to some of the diversity management
challenges; be challenged; develop and initiate a
Diversity Management Plan for your agency.
The program targets managers in
agencies providing services to people with a disability.
You might manage a direct service or program for people
with disability, an agency that develops policies and
programs for people with disability, or a community
development agency. Critical for your participation in
this program is that you are in a position to make
changes in your agency.
For more Information: go to
www.mdaa.org.au
Cultural
Competence in Early Childhood Intervention
Services:
If you are a worker or manager in
an early intervention service we need your
help.
We are undertaking a project to:
- Map the Early Childhood
Intervention (ECI) standards and guidelines against
knowledge and skills identified from cultural
competence frameworks;
- Identify a set of core cultural
competencies relevant to ECI services;
- Undertake consultations with
Area ECICP committees;
- Undertake a statewide survey of
the needs of ECI services in their skills and
knowledge in cultural competence; and
- Write a report and make
recommendations on resources and support needed to
build cultural competence in the ECI sector across
NSW.
Help us by responding to the survey
by 9 October 2007 go to www.mdaa.org.au
and follow the links
MDAA AGM - put it
in your Diary Now:
It's that time of the year again. Annual General
meetings are being held everywhere. The NSW Minister for
Disability Services, the Hon Kristine Keneally, has
confirmed her attendance. So what's different about the
MDAA AGM? Well if you have been before you know and if
you have never been…you'd better find out.
When: 21 November 2007 10ish to later on (after some
food and song and dance??!!)
Where: MDAA office, 40 Albion St, Harris Park
RSVP Now: Call Judith on 9891 6400 or email her
judith.goddard@mdaa.org.au
SEA: New advocacy
service in Bega
South Eastern Advocacy, a new advocacy agency
servicing the Bega valley has commenced work. After some
discussion with FACSIA, MDAA is now happy to announce
that this service will be funded for 16 hours a week for
the next two years. While we are still finalising
accommodation, Danielle Neves who is the new advocate can
be contacted by email at
sea@mdaa.org.au
Cultural
Competence Training in Dubbo, Bathurst and
Newcastle
We will deliver one day workshops for NGO services
working with people with disability. The training will be
delivered in
- Dubbo on 5 November 2007
- Bathurst on 6 November 2007
- Newcastle on 6 December 2007 (Santa Claus
Day… more info soon)
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.
mdaa cultural
abilities: Working Cross- culturally
training
Date and
Time 25 October 2007,
9.00-17.00
Venue
MDAA, 40 Albion Street, Harris Park
Outline
In this one day course participants will come to
understand culture as something that is all around us. It
cannot be avoided but understanding cultural diversity
can be harnessed to provide better services and practice.
Learning
Outcomes Participants will
be able to demonstrate:
- Respect for and inclusion of
culturally diverse people in all work practices
- Effective communication with
culturally diverse persons
- Use of effective strategies to
eliminate discrimination and bias in the workplace
Target group
People who want to work more
effectively with consumers and co-workers from a
non-English speaking background (NESB).
Assessment
Participants wanting to obtain
a Statement of Attainment for "CHCC405A Work effectively
with culturally diverse clients and co-workers" must
complete all assessments. Some assessments will take
place during the training course. In addition,
participants must undertake a further assessment, to be
completed within 2 weeks of the training.
Pre-requisite
None
Costs
NGO: $110 (+ $50 for
Assessment)
Government: $220 (+$100 for Assessment)
mdaa cultural
abilities delivers cultural diversity training in
Queensland
Working
Cross Culturally: Work effectively with culturally
diverse clients and co-workers - CHCCS 405
A nationally recognised one day
training workshop for people working with people with
disability across Queensland.
This training is funded by
Disability Services Queensland and supported by Amparo
Advocacy Inc; CRU, Family Resource Unit and the Ethnic
Communities Council of Queensland.
This DSQ funded project is for
people wanting to work more effectively with people from
culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds with
disability and their families.
This training course is designed to
give you the cultural awareness you need to communicate
and cooperate effectively with people from diverse
backgrounds.
By the end of the training you will
be able to:
- Demonstrate respect for
culturally diverse people in all your work practices
- Demonstrate effective
communication with people from culturally diverse
backgrounds
- Use effective strategies to
eliminate discrimination and bias in the workplace
- Recognise cultural diversity as
a fact of life
- Identify and recognise how your
own culture impacts on your practices, beliefs and
experiences
The dates and
locations for training are:
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Mt Isa - Mon 8 Oct 2007
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Gold Coast - Thurs 10 July
2008
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Cairns - Tues 9 Oct
2007
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Logan - Fri 11 July 2008
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Mackay - Thurs 11 Oct 2007
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Gympie - Mon 6 Oct 2008
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Rockhampton - Mon 15 Oct
2007
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Maroochydore - Tues 7 Oct
2008
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Gladstone - Tues 16 Oct
2007
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Carboolture - Thurs 9 Oct
2008
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Bundaberg - Thurs 18 Oct
2007
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Brisbane - Fri 10 Oct 2008
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Longreach - Mon 18 Feb
2008
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Cairns - Mon 13 Oct 2008
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Townsville - Wed 20 Feb
2008
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Innisfail - Tues 14 Oct
2008
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Ingham - Fri 22 Feb 2008
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Mareeba - Wed 15 Oct 2008
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Toowoomba - Mon 25 Feb
2008
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Gold Coast - Fri 17 Oct
2008
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Logan - Tues 26 Feb 2008
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Townsville - Mon 11 May
2009
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Gold Coast - Wed 27 Feb
2008
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Mackay - Wed 13 May 2009
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Brisbane - Thurs 28 Feb
2008
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Brisbane - Thurs 14 May
2009
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Roma - Mon 7 July 2008
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Toowoomba - Fri 15 May
2009
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Ipswich - Wed 9 July 2008
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Commonwealth News
Commonwealth Election:
I have a disability and I VOTE
Make sure the voices of people with
disability are heard in the 2007 federal
election!
Campaign Enable is a national
initiative to get the major parties to commit
to:
- Providing financial help to
people with a disability looking for work or trying to
keep a job
- Developing a National
Disability Employment Strategy and
- Introducing an Access to
Premises Standard
The first of our series of election
forums is being held in the Prime Minister's Seat of
Bennelong
Date: Wednesday 10 October,
please call for the time!
Where: Ryde Eastwood Leagues Club, 117 Ryedale Rd,
West Ryde
Cost: Free, but RSVPs essential
RSVP: Brenda Lacey 03 9662 3324 or email
brenda.lacey@afdo.org.au
Please indicate any support needs you may
have.
Disability
Supported Accommodation options
MDAA has previously stated serious
concerns about the Commonwealth Government moving towards
investing funds into setting up new institutions when all
the evidence available suggests that those facilities do
not deliver good outcomes for people with disability.
In July we wrote to Mal Brough, the
Federal Minister for Families, Community Services and
Indigenous Affairs expressing our concerns about the
announcements made on July. In September we received a
letter from David Fraser, an advisor to the Minister,
which states:
"I have noted you
concerns and can assure you that the Australian
Government has not yet determined what model(s) of
accommodation will be provided under the DSAP and how
accommodation places will be funded or allocated."
This response is reassuring,
however, at a recent consultation a senior FACSIA
bureaucrats did not question the appropriateness of aged
care facilities as an option for people with disability.
Therefore, we continue to be concerned that models may be
developed which contravene the Disability Services Act
and the rights of people with disability.
News from across
the World: International News
15 more
countries sign pact during General Assembly - United
Nations, 2 October
India and Gabon have ratified the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
bringing the number of ratifications to seven - 13 short
of the number that will bring the Convention into effect.
In addition, 15 countries signed
the Convention - the first of the 21st Century and the
first that directly addresses the needs of persons with
disabilities - during a five-day treaty event at the
United Nations that concluded today, bringing the total
of signatures to 117. They are Bulgaria, Cambodia, the
Comoros, Estonia, Japan, Malawi, Madagascar, Maldives,
Mauritius, Montenegro, the Philippines, Romania,
Slovakia, Swaziland and Trinidad and Tobago.
"The 2006 Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities has attracted the most
interest" at the treaty event, UN spokesperson Michele
Montas said today. "I am very pleased that there has been
so much interest in the Convention and its Optional
Protocol," said UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal
Affairs Nicolas Michel. "During the treaty event several
countries have come forward to sign the treaty, and I am
especially pleased that two States - Gabon and India -
deposited their instruments of ratification. I very much
look forward to the rapid entry into force of both the
Convention and its Optional Protocol."
Seven countries - Cambodia, Gabon,
Madagascar, Mauritius, Montenegro, Slovakia and Swaziland
- signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention,
bringing the number of signatories to 66. The Protocol,
which has been ratified by three countries, will come
into force when the Convention does, and after 10
ratifications or accessions.
India's External Affairs Minister
Pranab Mukherjee and Gabon's Foreign Minister Jean Ping
ratified the treaty on behalf of their country on 1
October. "India is committed to the elimination of
barriers that persons with disabilities face", the
Permanent Mission of India to the UN said in a press
release, adding that the country's Constitution
implicitly mandates an inclusive society for all.
Thirty-nine States undertook 68
treaty actions at the treaty event, held from 25
September to 2 October. Of that number, nine states
participated at the level of head of state or government
and 22 participated at the level of minister for foreign
affairs. There were a total of 38 signatures, and 30
ratifications, acceptances, accessions or like actions.
The treaty event, held every year
since 2000, seeks to encourage UN Member States to
participate in international treaties. It coincides with
the general debate in the General Assembly, which brings
to the United Nations heads of state and government and
ministers from around the world.
Encouraging Member States to sign,
ratify or accede to those treaties deposited with him,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on governments
"to take adequate measures to implement the relevant
treaty obligations." For updated information on
signatures and ratifications of the Convention, see
www.un.org
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