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Every year MDAA provides
advocacy to over 400 people from a NESB with disability and
their families/carers. Below are some case studies to give
some idea about the individual advocacy work we
do.
Please note that the case
studies below are composites to protect to identity of
indviduals.
Anton
Anton has worked in
a sheltered workshop for years, has an intellectual
disability and cannot read or write. Anton wants to study
but is worried that his employer will not allow him to
work part-time. He contacted MDAA and asked an advocate
to speak to his employer and help him to enrol in a
course.
The advocate explained to
Anton his rights in employment and informed him of the
different educational facilities available. The advocate
then spoke to the manager at work who agreed to change
Anton's work schedule. The next step was to arrange an
appointment with the Disability Consultant at TAFE for a
vocational assessment and to discuss what courses were
available. Anton is now working part-time and doing a
basic literacy course.
Antonia
Antonia is a 34
year old woman who has an intellectual disability.
When Antonia came to MDAA
she wanted to move out of her family home and live
independently. An Individual Advocate assisted Antonia by
explaining the options available. When Antonia decided
what she wanted, her Individual Advocate helped her apply
to the Department of Housing.
Antonia now lives in her
own apartment which she rents from the Department of
Housing. Since moving, she has started studying living
skills and workplace skills and has found herself a job
which she enjoys.
Hannen
 My
name is Hannen and I have lived in Australia for 22
years, with my family - six sisters, one brother and my
parents. I have a visual impairment and my family has
been very supportive. Learning new things can be hard
sometimes because I have to remember where everything is.
Learning how to find places can also be hard because you
have to learn all the street names and remember where
they are.
I went to North Rocks
School for the blind and made a lot of friends I still
stay in touch with. The Royal Blind Society is great:
they give you support and try to help you with cooking,
using a computer, making friends and other things you
need to achieve in life. With their help and the support
of guide dogs I have been able to learn new things and
get to the places I need to go to.
I have lots of love and
support from my family and friends. My hobbies are going
out with my family, talking on the phone with friends,
making new friends, learning new things, eating and
helping around the house.
I like living in
Australia because it is easy to make new friends. Going
to places like TAFE and doing courses you make lots of
new friends and learn new things, by typing on a computer
that has a program using speech to tell me what is on the
computer screen.
I think living in
Australia is fun, a great place to learn about different
cultural backgrounds and meet different people. I have
learnt about different disabilities and been able to talk
to people about their disabilities and my disability. I
have made friends with different disabilities. Some use
wheelchairs, some have a visual impairment like me and
some have speech impairments. Sometimes we are a bit
slower because of our disabilities but we are still
people who get out into the community and do lots of the
same things, like making friends, learning, going to the
beach, playing sport. I have a disability but I am proud
of who I am. Next time you see a person with a disability
just go up to them and say hello.
Ms Dzino
Ms Dzino is a fifty
year old refugee from the former Yugoslavia. During the
war she lost her hearing aid and communicates only by
writing in her language. She lived with her very
protective mother and a brother who control every aspect
of her life. Ms Dzino did not have access to her money
and documents, and did not know how to get a hearing aid.
She was not allowed to go out as much as she wanted as
her mother thought she may be abused by strangers.
However, her brother had thrown her out of the house a
few times when she refused to obey him so Ms Dzino had
slept in the nearest park.
When someone contacted an
MDAA advocate on Ms Dzino's behalf she was hungry, cold,
scared and disoriented. The only document she had was a
small piece of paper with her name and a wrongly written
address. Due to extremely difficult communication and the
overall complex situation, it took several lengthy
meetings with Ms Dzino to compile information to assist
her appropriately. With Ms Dzino's permission, the
advocate spoke to her family and explained what services
were available for her and what her options
were.
In the end, the family
agreed for Ms Dzino to move to separate accommodation and
offered to continue supporting her with domestic chores.
After extensive communication between the MDAA advocate,
Centrelink, Department of Housing, the bank and Hearing
Aid services, Ms Dzino got access to her own bank
account, was offered accommodation by the Department of
Housing and arrangements were made to get her a new
hearing aid.
 My
Thoughts about Forums at MDAA
I have lived in
Australia for fifteen years. There were so many meetings
such as with the Housing Commission and even with the
Deaf Society. I could not attend them although I would
like to because they did not provide me with a note
taker. I am deaf but do not know how to do sign language,
so how can I understand what the people in the meeting
say. This is the first time I joined in the forums as at
MDAA, they provided me with a note taker. For me it was
very helpful.
In the meetings we were
free to say our opinions and proposals. Some of us had
English problem, the organiser tried to hear and
encouraged them to say. In general she is available.
After the forums, I realized that freedom and human
rights are really respected in Australia and in MDAA we
have rights as Australians without discrimination. We
feel happy.
By Diem-Phuong Ton
Nu
The Nietsche family
The Nietsche family
are refugees who arrived in Sydney several years ago.
Both Mr & Mrs Nietsche are frail and have
post-traumatic stress disorders. They care for their ten
year old grandson who has physical and intellectual
disability.
The Nietsches have lived
for years in a small one bedroom apartment on the first
floor of a building without an elevator. Their grandson
was confined to bed as there was no space for a
wheelchair to move around. Due to the family's lack of
English, insufficient information on their living
conditions and inadequate documentation, the Department
of Housing refused their application for priority housing
assistance.
The MDAA advocate
assisted the Nietsches through the appeal process. The
family's application was approved but they had to wait
for an indefinite time for accommodation appropriate for
a person with a disability. The only alternative was
subsidised accommodation on the private rental market
which had to be approved by the Department. The MDAA
advocate assisted the Nietsches to lodge an application
for the special assistance subsidy and finally the family
was housed in a unit accessible for a
wheelchair.
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