Newsletter Start MDAA Newsletter June 2011 In this issue -Be heard at the Person Centred Approaches Consultation Summit Young Writers Competition What happens when you come to MDAA for Individual Advocacy? Page 1 Meet MDAA’s Acting CEO Kuranda Seyit We asked Kuranda Seyit MDAA‘s A/CEO to tell us about himself. Here is Kuranda‘s story. I come from a diverse professional background, having worked as a police officer, teacher and documentary writer/director. However, for the past decade I have been working in the multicultural community sector. My main areas of focus have been asylum seekers advocacy and support, youth and settlement services. I have also acted as a consultant for community development, strategic planning and capacity building and worked in senior managerial positions with Auburn Diversity Services and FAIR Australia. I have served on several boards and currently I am on the board of the Sydney Peace Foundation and the FECCA New and Emerging Communities Advisory Board. I am dedicated to social justice and human rights. In 2005 I founded the Australian Foundation for the Children of Aceh and in 2010 Global Compassion Australia which assists with emergency relief and aid work abroad. I am involved with developing youth leadership amongst marginalised communities in Western Sydney and in raising awareness about human rights and responsibilities with emerging communities. While I am in this position at MDAA I want to ensure that while the organisation is growing that we review our capacity to adjust and ensure that policies and procedures are in place to adapt to the changes. MDAA gratefully acknowledges funding provided by the Australian Government through the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, as well as funding from Ageing, Disability and Home Care, Department of Human Services NSW. My priorities are improving Management Committee and staff policies, strategic direction and restructure, building stakeholder relations and review expenditure and overall work place efficacy. I am looking forward to working with the wonderful staff and committee at MDAA and hope to grow and be enriched personally by my experiences at MDAA. Picture of MDAA Office in Harris Park Acnowledgement: MDAA gratefully acknowledges funding provided by the Australian Government through the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, as well as funding from Ageing, Disability and Home Care, Department of Human Services NSW. Page 2 IDEAS are looking for people to assist them IDEAS is looking for bilingual people to check their Chinese translations. IDEAS provides information to people with disability and their families about services and products which can help them live a stronger and happier life. IDEAS also gives general information about matters related to disability which might assist people with disability and their families to make informed choices about their daily living. IDEAS would like people from a Chinese background to know about their services. They have recently had one of their flyers translated to both traditional and simplified Chinese. Julie Dardel from IDEAS said We are looking for bilingual people to attend a meeting. This meeting will be about checking whether or not the flyer is efficient before we print and distribute it. If you are comfortable speaking English as well as reading traditional and/or simplified Chinese, we would love you to help us. We will give you a $50 voucher to thank you for your time and input." During the meeting, we will ask you to read the flyer (about 200 words) in traditional and/ or simplified Chinese and to answer some questions.. Talking with you will help IDEAS making sure that the flyer is appropriate and will reach people from a Chinese background. They are interested in feedback about the quality of the translation and the appropriateness of the message. Please contact Julie Dardel at IDEAS on 1800 029 904 if you would like more information or if you want to attend the meeting. Young Writers Competition The Transcultural Mental Health Centre is calling for undiscovered creative writers aged between 12-24 years to enter the 2011 Young Writer‘s Competition, TranSCRIBE. Let your creative talents run wild and write about a range of opportunities and challenges facing young people in a multicultural society. Entries can be any form of writing including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, journal entries or letters. The theme for this year‘s Competition is =Half Way Home‘. Entrants are encouraged to write about one of two topics: Topic 1: Write about a young person living with and/or recovering from mental health issues either personally, in their family or with their friends, or Topic 2: Write about a young person from a culturally and/or linguistically diverse community and their journey to or within Australia and how this has shaped their view of the world they live in. Entries must be emailed or uploaded to the TranSCRIBE website (www.dhi.gov.au/tmhc/ transcribe) by 1 August 2011. Prizes are available for outstanding entries and winning entries are published in a booklet. For more information go to www.dhi.gov.au/tmhc/transcribe. or contact the TranSCRIBE 2011 Coordinator -Samara Barchet on 9840 3800 or tmhc@swahs.health.nsw.gov.au. TranSCRIBE is an initiative of the Transcultural Mental Health Centre and is conducted in partnership with the NSW Centre for the Advancement of Adolescent Health, Schizophrenia Fellowship NSW and the BlackDog Institute. Share with Us is your newsletter and we want to include stories from members. If you would like to share your story with other MDAA members please contact Luis on 9891 6400. You can write your own story or talk to Luis who will write the story for you. Page 3 What happens if you come to MDAA for Individual Advocacy? In this article we want to explain what happens if you or a friend or family member comes to MDAA with an enquiry or for advocacy. At MDAA we believe that everyone has the right to access our advocacy services on a fair and equitable basis. This means no-one gets special or extra service from MDAA. MDAA has policies and procedures that staff follow. The policies and procedures explain how an advocate is to do their work from when you first call MDAA with an enquiry until your file is closed. The policies and procedures also say that any information you give us is kept confidential and secure at all times. What happens when I contact MDAA? When you phone MDAA to ask about advocacy you will talk to an advocate. There are five advocates at our office at Harris Park and they all have a day when they answer enquiries. MDAA also has advocates in Bega, Griffith, Newcastle, Rockdale, Ultimo and Wollongong. If you come to the office and the enquiries advocate is able to see you they will. If they are not available we will take your name and phone number and the enquiries advocate will call you as soon as possible. When you talk to the enquiries advocate they will ask you questions about what help you need. The enquiries advocate will also ask you for your name, address and phone number so we can contact you. We will not contact you for any other reason unless you have given us permission. Is there a waiting period? Many people contact MDAA for advocacy so there may be a waiting period before an advocate can work with you. People are allocated an advocate depending on how long they have waited and how urgently they need an advocate‘s help. Can I choose my advocate? When you are allocated an advocate we make sure it is someone who knows about the area you need help with. A person cannot normally choose their advocate. What is an Action Plan? When you are allocated an advocate they will contact you What happens if you come to MDAA for Individual Advocacy? and make an appointment to meet you. At the meeting they will ask you questions and listen to your answers. The advocate will ask you questions so they can make a plan with you about how to help you get what you need. This is called an Action Plan. In the Action Plan the advocate will write down what they will do and what you agree to do. They will ask you to sign the Action Plan when you agree with what they have written. The Action Plan can be changed if you change your mind and no longer agree with it. It can also be changed if you or the advocate needs to do something that is not written down in the Plan. Should I make an appointment if I want to see my advocate? An advocate works with many people at the same time so they cannot always see you or call you straight away. If you need to see your advocate it is best to call them before you come to the office to make sure they are there and can see you. If you come to the office without making an appointment your advocate may not be able to see you because they are with another person or they are not in the office. What can I do if I am unhappy with my advocacy? If at any time you are unhappy with the advocacy you are receiving you can talk to your advocate or call Individual Advocacy Team Leader Joan Gennery on 1800 629 072. Page 4 NSW Government Person Centred Approaches Summit NSW Government Person Centred Approaches Summit The NSW Government is asking for advice from people with a disability. They want to hear about your needs and aspirations for personalised service delivery. They are also interested in hearing how the system supports you. The consultation process will start with a two-day summit in Sydney on 7 and 8 July 2011. This will be followed by over 100 local consultation sessions across NSW. Should I attend the summit? Yes if… . you have a disability . someone in your family has a disability . you care for someone with a disability The Summit is free to attend and the venue is fully accessible. Details NSW Government Person Centred Approaches Consultation Summit When? Thursday 7 and Friday 8 July 2011 Where? Acer Arena, Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush If you would like to attend go to: http://www.pcasummit.net The Government will also work with peak bodies including the Disability Council, NCOSS (NSW Council of Social Services), National Disability Service NSW and consumer organisations. Welcome to the new Community Voices On 2 June 2011 our new group of Community Voices finished their training. The group are people with disability, their friends and family members and they come from non English speaking backgrounds. After a few sessions on communication and presentation tips the participants prepared their personal stories. They are now ready to share them. Keep track of this new group as they will be doing an exclusive presentation in August 2011 for MDAA members. Congratulations to all the new CV members—Aurel, Betty, Brian, Davendra, Garry, Katielee, Riad and Uma. Photo—Our new community Voices have finished their training Contact MDAA: Harris Park Phone: (02) 9891 6400 or 1800 629 072 Newcastle (02) 4927 0111 Wollongong (02) 4226 9971 Griffith (02) 6962 5399 MDAA also auspices these services: SESA Rockdale (02) 9597 9970 SEA Bega (02) 6492 0200 CIWDA Ultimo (02) 9281 8699 Website: www.mdaa.org.au MDAA E-mail: mdaa@mdaa.org.au PAGE 5 SESA Sex and Disability Forum starts an interesting discussion SESA Sex and Disability Forum starts an interesting discussion South East Sydney Advocacy (SESA) and Rockdale City Council organised a forum called "Sex and Disability‘. The forum was held on 23 June 2011. Advocates Freya Higgins and Freda Botica wanted to start a discussion on a topic that is seldom talked about. Freda said "People with disability are sexual beings with the same desires as the general population and have the right to experience intimacy and form relationships. It is this premise that drove us to offer the Forum.." Speakers included our Chairperson Rachael Lazarov. Rachel relished sharing her personal stories. She give us an insight into how, in her experience, men seem to believe that people with disability are "easy pickups". She entertained the group with her tales of rebuking such men. Hannen Abdallah also gave personal accounts of strangers approaching her and gave valuable tips on staying safe when in public. Aurelia Gallardo described her research project, "Women with disabilities' private rights". She proposed a theory that challenged social views, moral values, historical gender inequities and religious beliefs. Two workers from Touching Base also spoke. Touching Base is a charitable rights based organisation. They provide sex workers who have specialised training in working with people with disability. They aim to break down barriers to sexual expression and access to the sex industry by people with disability and assist with connecting these two groups. This was such an interesting topic and sex worker / presenter Saul Isbister and advocate/ speaker /consumer David Cunningham were so engaging that the Forum went longer than planned. The topic generated much discussion and interest. When asked why should SESA run a forum on this topic SESA Advocate Freya Higgins said "We wanted the Forum to be a platform for discussion. We wanted it to be confronting, we wanted people to sit up and listen and we wanted to give people with disability a safe place to talk about this issue". Some of the questions raised included what about adults in group homes? What about people who are confined to homes and wheelchairs? How do young adults with disability express their desires and needs as their able bodied peers do? . Freya said "Although we haven‘t been able to answer all these questions we achieved our goal of starting the discussion." SESA would also like to thank Rockdale City Council for their progressive take on this issue and their support. Once again Rockdale Councillor Lisa De Leau (MC) and Carol Arrowsmith gave their time and energy for SESA. We would like to especially thank them. (bY Freya and Freda-SESA advocates) PAGE 6 Notices Being a Healthy Woman NSW Health have written a book to help women with intellectual disability learn more about their health. The book is called Being a Healthy Woman. The book covers topics affecting women throughout their lives including Healthy Eating, Feeling Sad, Puberty, Deciding to have a baby and Getting Older. The Book is available in Arabic, Chinese, Dinka, Korean, Vietnamese and English. You can download the book at http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/pubs/2010/being_healthy_woman.html The Association of Genetic Support of Australasia (AGSA) Sibs Workshop Do you have a brother or sister with a disability? Are you aged 8 – 18 years ? If you answered yes AGSA is holding Sibs Workshop in Wagga Wagga on 24 July Contact Laurie Taylor at AGSA on 02-9211 1462 for more information Someone to Turn To Connecting and Supporting Parents & Carers (Autism Spectrum Australia). A Free Service available for all … Mothers, Fathers, Grandparents … of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This program is provided by Autism Spectrum Australia. It links volunteers with parents who want to talk to other parents who have faced some of the same or similar issues with their children. Pauline Hunter-Knight from Autism Spectrum Australia says "We are particularly aware that autism in some cultures can be a hidden disability and are interested in hearing from parents who either want to be put in touch with a volunteer from the same culture or from parents who feel they may be able to offer support in their first language". Autism Spectrum Australia currently has volunteers who can offer support in a number of languages including Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean, Arabic, Indonesian, Greek, Spanish and Hindi.. Autism Spectrum Australia offers ongoing training and support for all volunteers and also keeps in touch with the parents who are receiving support The Someone to Turn To…program also offers Pampering days and parent evenings in different locations in the community. For more information contact Pauline Hunter-Knight in Sydney-(02) 8977 8335 phunterknight@autismspectrum.org.au or Kaye Davies in the South Coast -(02) 4285 2393 kdavies@autismspectrum.org.au or go to www.autismspectrum.org.au End of newsletter