The Disability Information and Resource Centre

Come along and Have Your Say about unmet needs and service gaps for Carers, particularly if you are a Carer for or providing services to Carers of frail older people or Carers of young people with a disability; or thinking about doing so.

The views collected will be included in a Carers SA independent report to Home and Community Care to help improve local service for Carers.

Riverland

Venue: Berri Resort Hotel, Riverview Drive, Berri

Date: 7 April 2010

• Carers 10:00am-12:30pm
• Service Providers 2:00pm – 4:30pm

RSVP: 31 March: call 1800 815 549

CALD (NB: service providers only)

Venue: Carers SA State Office, 58 King William Road, Goodwood

Date: 8 April 2010

Service providers 2:00pm – 4:30pm

RSVP: 31 March: call 1800 815 549

Lower South East

Venue: Mount Gambier International, Jubilee Highway West, Mt Gambier

Date: 6 May 2010

• Carers 10:00am-12:30pm
• Service Providers 2:00pm – 4:30pm

RSVP: 3 May: call 1800 815 549

Can’t attend? Call Phil Saunders on 1800 815 549 to make a comment or complete postal feedback.

Have Your Say Forums

The Have Your Say forums are part of a larger series of consultations being held across South Australia to look at practical solutions to overcome service gaps for family Carers. Two forums are being held in each location, one for Carers and one for service providers. The views collected will be included in an independent report to the Home and Community Care program (HACC) to help improve local services for Carers. Information from the forums will also be provided to attendees and the regional Carer support organisation.

The project, funded by HACC, is being undertaken by Carers SA in association with local Carer support groups: this CALD forum is being undertaken in conjunction with Multicultural Aged Care.

Carers SA have released their SA Northern Country Newsletter for March 2010 which you can view here.

Carers SA are also running a service provider workshop on the 15th of March in Whyalla for which seats are still available. This workshop is at no cost and is to help carers develop a greater understanding of their caring role.

More information can be found in the flyer.

Please RSVP by Wednesday 3rd March.

Educational & Behavioural Consultancy will be presenting a series of workshops on managing challenging behaviour in Berri, Port Augusta, West Lakes & Mt Gambier, in May 2010.

The target group for these workshops include:

• Parents
• Teachers, Aides
• Child Care Workers
• Special Education Teachers
• Support Staff, TAFES, RTO’S
• Nursing Staff, Carers, Respite Workers

Topics which will be examined:

• Types of Challenging Behaviours
• What is Challenging Behaviour? – A General Definition
• Understanding Behaviour – Why we Behave the way we do!
• Describing Aggressive Behaviour – A Behavioural Model
• Designing a Formal Positive Programme
• Positive Strategies – Using the 14 Point Holistic Approach

More Information

For more information and to register please see the registration form.

Contact Educational & Behavioural Consultancy:

Ph: (08) 8288 0925 Fax: (08) 8288 0847

Email: ebc@iprimus.com.au

Are you a Carer or Provide Services to Carers in the Southern Fleurieu Region? Have Your Say

Come along and Have Your Say about unmet needs and service gaps for Carers in the Southern Fleurieu region.

The views collected will be included in a Carers SA independent report to Home and Community Care to help improve local service for Carers.

If you care for a family member or friend who is frail aged or is a younger person with a disability, please come along and Have Your Say at the morning Carers forum.

Are you providing service to Carers of frail older people or Carers of young people with a disability or thinking about doing so? Come along and Have Your Say in the afternoon Service Providers forum.

Venue: Victor Town Hall

Date: 25 March 2010

• 10:00 – 12:30:  Carers only
• 2:00 – 4:30:  Service Providers

RSVP by 22 March: call 1800 815 549

Can’t attend? Call Phil Saunders on 1800 815 549 to make a comment or complete postal feedback.

We wish to draw to your attention to a report which aired on the ABC’s Four Corners program titled “Breaking Point”.

The report examines the experiences of people with disabilities and their carers, and looks at deficiencies in the services provided to them.

You can view an ABC News report on the story here.

You can view the Four Corners report here.

Are you a Carer or Provide Services to Carers in the Northern Adelaide Region? Have Your Say

Come along and Have Your Say about unmet needs and service gaps for Carers in the Northern Adelaide region.

The views collected will be included in a Carers SA independent report to Home and Community Care to help improve local service for Carers.

If you care for a family member or friend who is frail aged or is a younger person with a disability, please come along and Have Your Say at the morning Carers forum.

Are you providing service to Carers of frail older people or Carers of young people with a disability or thinking about doing so? Come along and Have Your Say in the afternoon Service Providers forum.

Venue

Central Districts Holden Room, Goodman Rd, Elizabeth

Date

2 February 2010

• 10:00 – 12:30: Carers only
• 2:00 – 4:30: Service Providers

RSVP

by 29 January: call 1800 815 549

Can’t attend? Call Phil Saunders on 1800 815 549 to make a comment or complete postal feedback.

A  NATIONAL voice for families

MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL

Expressions of interest are invited from parents, families and carers interested in exercising a leadership role on the National Council of the National Federation of Parents Families and Carers.

This National Council is the key policy-making body for the Federation. The Federation has an ambitious agenda for 2010 in creating a national voice for families in public life, with campaigns in health, education, social support and privacy legislation reform. Additional members of the Council are sought to help drive this agenda.

The Federation’s interests cover many areas which are usually treated as segmented fields. Expressions of interest are invited from people who have strong interests in at least some of the following areas:

• Early years
  ·         Child care
  ·         Education and school
  ·         Work and family
  ·         Stay-at-home supports
  ·      Disability
  ·      Mental illness
  ·      Learning difficulties
  ·      Behavioural issues
  ·      Youth support
  ·      Alcohol and drug issues
  ·      Sole and separated parents
  ·         Blended and step families
  ·         Chronic and acute illness
  ·         Senior years

Expressions of interest should include:

Personal and professional history (please attach a CV).
Previous and current involvements in advocacy on family and family member issues.
Evidence of skills in advocacy, initiative-taking, public speaking, community organisation or policy work.
Names and contact details for two referees.

Applicants should be capable in using online communications, since membership of this Council is dispersed around Australia.

Register your Expression of Interest at www.civilsociety.org.au/NationalCouncilEOI.htm

Please forward expressions of interest to:

Vern Hughes
Secretary
0425 722 890
vern@civilsociety.org.au

PO Box 159 Yarraville Vic 3013

Go to our website at www.civilsociety.org.au/NFPFC_membership.htm to join the National Federation of Parents, Families and Carers. There is no cost.

A free public forum which will examine recent legislative changes and Australia-wide policy issues affecting carers who are in paid employment.  It is designed to inform employers, policy makers, managers in the caring and health sector, university researchers and carers.

Wednesday, 21 October   4.15pm for a 4.30pm start

Bradley Forum,  Hawke Bldg Level 5, UniSA City West Campus, 50 North Tce, Adelaide  SA

RSVP essential to the Hawke Centre website or phone (08)  8302 0215

The latest report on disability in Australia, released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, examines the frequency of multiple disabilities and their impact on the care needs of Australians.

Dr Xingyan Wen of the Institute’s Functioning and Disability Unit said, ‘In 2003, half of all Australians with disability, or about two million people, had a combination of two or more disabilities.

‘These disabilities can include intellectual, psychiatric, sensory/speech, disability from acquired brain injury (ABI) and physical disabilities,’ he said.

The report shows that half of all children under the age of 15 who had a psychiatric disability (over 42,000 children) or ABI (over 11,000 children) had three or more disabilities.

Over one-third of children with sensory/speech (over 48,000 children) or intellectual disability (over 55,000 children) had three or more disabilities.

More than half of people aged 15 to 44 with ABI (more than 85,000 people) or intellectual disability (over 95,000 people) had three or more disabilities.

‘The more disabilities people had, the more likely they were to need help with ‘core’ daily activities such as self care, mobility and communication,’ Dr Wen said.

‘Some combinations of disabilities had more marked effects on people’s activity, participation in major life areas and the subsequent need for assistance,’ he said.

The report, Disability in Australia: multiple disabilities and need for assistance, shows a substantial proportion of care for people with multiple disabilities is provided by their family members and friends.

The report also found that people with multiple disabilities who needed very frequent assistance with daily activities were much less likely to have their needs fully met than people with less frequent need for assistance.

Support needs of people with early onset multiple disabilities vary depending on the nature of their disabilities and their life stages. As they grow older, they may have higher support needs than other people with single or late onset disability.

People aged 15 to 64 years with a mix of psychiatric, physical disabilities, and other disability were more likely than others to have employment restrictions.

Over one-third of people with three disabilities and almost half of people with four or five disabilities had profound employment restriction.

Among people with four or five disabilities, 30% of those living in households were unable to go out as often as they would like to participate in community activities, over 40% were living in institutions and a majority (77%) were aged 65 years or over.

The address and link for the pdf version of the report is:

http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/dis/dis-55-10788/dis-55-10788.pdf

The address and link for the rtf (rich text format) of the report is:

http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/dis/dis-55-10788/dis-55-10788.rtf

On 14 July 2009, the SA Parliament passed the Equal Opportunity (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill, strengthening SA laws and giving South Australians better options to solve discrimination problems locally.

There is more protection for:

• people who care for a dependent child or a family member
• people with a mental illness, or an infection without symptoms
• domestic partners
• people discriminated against because of their spouse or partner
• contractors
• people who have been sexually harassed.

Workers have better protection, if they:

• are sexually harassed and the employer has not taken reasonable steps to prevent the harassment
• are harassed by customers or clients – such as waiters harassed by patrons, and care workers harassed by residents
• wear dress or adornments symbolic of their religion.

Schools and universities must have sexual harassment policies.  And, students and staff are able to lodge a complaint about sexual harassment by any student aged 16 or over.

The time limit for lodging a complaint is doubled, from six months to twelve months.

Also, some outdated laws have been repealed:

• clubs and associations may not turn away homosexual members
• small partnerships may not refuse to admit new members to partnership on the ground of their sexuality
• church-run hospitals, aged-care homes and welfare agencies may not discriminate on sexuality.

A commencement date for the new law is yet to be fixed.  For more information, go to:  www.eoc.sa.gov.au