Another day at the office

Sean O'Neill

Imagine, if you can, working in a job that you truly enjoy. I do.

I am the Business Development Manager at The Disability Trust, a large disability services organisation providing services from Southern Sydney to Bega on the NSW Southern Coast.

My role involves a mind boggling variety of tasks and is never dull. This week I attended the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) rally in Sydney, organised by the Every Australian Counts team.

Around 10,000 people attended rallies around Australia, including the Sydney rally, to let the nation know we need to make the NDIS happen soon - because we wanted it yesterday!

I started the day at 7.30am in Kiama, where a cold breeze blew just a little too brisk. I met up with Gareth Ward, the NSW State Member for Kiama, who was there to see off the bus to the Sydney rally. A quick photo for the local paper later, we were on the bus and on our way.

During the first leg of our journey, we picked up a group of of people and made our official first stop at Kembla Grange Racecourse for a local Illawarra rally.

Around 100 people, including a few more local politicians and a horde of media, were there to show their support for the NDIS. Our next stop was Sydney.

The rally was incredible. Everyone was shouting and getting right into the spirit of the event. I saw one man who was so excited he couldn’t sit in his seat. I spoke to him later and he has a son with down syndrome. He sees the NDIS as something that can really give his 12 year old son, and his son’s friends, the opportunity for a life he couldn’t previously imagine.

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There were a number of rousing speakers including Ricky Stuart, who has a daughter with a disability, and PM Julia Gillard, who announced the NIDS will commence next year. Julia Gillard stayed and mixed with the crowd for a while after the event.

In something that can happen only in Australia, I was able to take photos of a few of the guys from the Wollongong Self Advocacy group with the Prime Minister. It was the highlight of their year, with one of them already ordering copies of the photo to give to friends.

From cold Kiama to 'photo shoots' with the Prime Minister, to being present when the NDIS was actually announced, and to hearing the excited stories on the ride home,

It was just another day at the office. 

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Meet Mel....our newest blogger

Mel Schlaeger

Hi, my name is Mel. I have cerebral palsy, otherwise known as CP. My parents have always said that I should never let my disability be the reason for not living life to the full. So, I like to travel, spend time with friends, volunteer and engage in paid disability awareness work, just to name a few things.

Melanie_schlaeger
When I was little, my parents strived to create a 'normal' life for me regardless of my disability. The legacy of their efforts has been that I have expectations of myself to be someone who contributes meaningfully to the society that I live in.

I currently do disability awareness presentations for organisations. I also mentor a person with mental health challenges and have welfare based qualifications, which I will have the opportunity to further at uni in the near future.

My love of travel has also seen me be able to enjoy the ballet of Sleeping Beauty at Covent Garden in London in October 2011. A real highlight for me.

My support needs are significant, meaning that I need the assistance of a family member or support worker to complete most tasks of daily living.

'Pity parties' sometimes happen to me, just like they do to anyone, but mostly I focus on my passion which is creating a world of more opportunity for choice, dignity and the 'good life' for people who have a disability.

When I started using a self-managed funding support option in November 2009, I got a true sense of what freedom actually can mean for someone who has a disability.

Having direct contact with workers, as I do, allows more flexibility for me which  enables more fluidity in my community participation, and makes me feel that I’m not defined by my disability.

My hope is that through reading my blog entries, you will gain more insight into what it is like to live with a disability. You might also be motivated to consider getting a job in the disability sector or to just simply understand disability from a first-hand perspective.

carecareers plays an integral part in supporting people with a disability to access support workers and other professionals in the sector, who see the people they are providing assistance to as valuable contributing members of the community.     

I hope that you will find my blog posts informative, perception-challenging and enjoyable.

I’ll be at the Sydney rally today too for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). It’s an important step to make the NDIS a reality. I hope to see you there.

 

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NDIS timetable brought forward

carecareers

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) could be implemented sooner than expected, after a decision from the first meeting of the COAG* Select Council on Disability Reform, chaired by Federal Ministers Wayne Swan and Jenny Macklin.
 
This means that the 'launch sites' (which are yet to be identified) originally planned for mid-2014, are now scheduled to start in mid-2013.

Certain reforms will be needed for the NDIS to work:

We welcome the new timetable for the NDIS, given the urgent need for disability services. But a concerted and coordinated effort will be required on many fronts to meet the timetable.

NDS** is developing a paper on equipping disability service providers for the NDIS. It will outline the implications of the NDIS (and associated reforms) for disability service providers, identify pressure points, document current resources and projects available to assist service providers and recommend actions to bridge the gap between what is available and what is needed. We’ll keep you updated with developments, and please let us know what you think.

Discussion of the implications of the NDIS for service providers and next steps will feature at NDS’s CEO Meeting on 5-6 December in Canberra.


* COAG = Council of Australian Governments (ie State and Commonwealth)
** NDS = National Disability Services (responsible for carecareeers)

Follow the carecareers blog for more updates about the sector!

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Government commits to National Disability Insurance Scheme

carecareers

Read today's press release about the Federal Government's commitment to a National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The NDIS will mean huge changes for the disability and community care sector and its staff - this means you! Stay tuned to carecareers so we can work together towards understanding these exciting new developments.

 

The Every Australian Counts campaign today commended the Federal Government for its commitment to the introduction of a National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Every Australian Counts Campaign Director John Della Bosca said the lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians with a disability and their families would ultimately be transformed by today’s historic announcement by Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

“This is the biggest social-economic reform Australia has seen since the introduction of Medicare. It will have a transformational impact on our community and our economy,” Mr Della Bosca said.

Mr Della Bosca said the announcement was a tremendous victory for the tens of thousands of Every Australian Counts supporters who had worked for almost a year to ensure the Federal Government took rapid action on the Productivity Commission’s report.

“It has taken extraordinary courage for some people with a disability and their families to speak out about the challenges they faced to demonstrate why change was so necessary,” he said.

“They have done so because they believed that once their fellow Australians understood the challenges they faced, they would support their calls for change.

“And they were right – people with a disability and their families have been joined on this campaign by ordinary Australians who have stood up to say they supported a better deal for their fellow citizens.

“Every Australian Counts has become a truly grassroots movement of people from all around the country and from all walks of life who have come together to say people with a disability and their families are part of our community and they deserve a fair go.

“I want to thank all of our supporters and to say to them ‘today your voices have been heard’.”

The Prime Minister today released the final report by the Productivity Commission into a national long term care and support scheme for Australians with a disability and their families. The report recommends a complete overhaul of the disability system and the introduction of a National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Mr Della Bosca said the campaign had been marked by not only strong community support but also strong bi-partisan support.

“ All the major parties had agreed the system was broken and that more needed to be done for people with a disability and their families,” he said.

“We therefore look forward to hearing the Federal Coalition’s response to the findings of the Productivity Commission.”

Mr Della Bosca said the campaign acknowledged that much hard work lay ahead in finalising implementation and funding details.

“There is a long road ahead.  Such a transformational change cannot be achieved overnight. But today the government took the first steps to ensuring people with a disability and their families will finally get the support they need to get on with their lives.

“People with a disability, their families and carers will now look forward to working with the government on the implementation and design of the national scheme to ensure it is the very best it can be and will meet their needs.”

Information about the Every Australian Counts campaign is available at

via everyaustraliancounts.com.au
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