The Disability Information and Resource Centre

Dignity for Disability (d4d) are holding an event to celebrate Kelly Vincent MLC’s first year in office.

Where

Governor Hindmarsh Hotel
Port Rd, Hindmarsh

When

Sunday 10th April 2011, 6.30pm – 10pm

Featuring live music by

• Standing Stones (folk band)
• Andy and Maria (folk guitar duo)
• Chris Dewin (solo guitarist)

Purchase tickets for a $5 discount from www.d4d.org.au.

At the door: Adults $30, Students & Concession $20, Under 12 years $10.

Companion Cards welcome.

Finger food included.

Plus Door Prize, Raffle and Much More.

View the poster for the event here.

Rick Neagle, d4d President, recently released the following:

Last night, d4d held its first Board Meeting for the year. Our various sub-committees, which have been very active over the last six to seven weeks reported to the Board. We have met on a regular basis to begin realising our goals for 2011. The focus will be to further strengthen the party by increasing our membership base and raising funds through our long list of fundraising strategies and events. Your precious support is valuable and there will be more to come during the year about these activities.

Our primary focus is to support our MLC Kelly Vincent in the Parliament Office. This will be achieved by developing numerous policies around Kelly so that the d4d brand becomes stronger and stronger. Kelly, as the face of d4d, continues to represent our party in the media and the public with consistent flair and professionalism. The d4d Policy Development Sub-Committee has become very active as we strive to send Discussion Papers out to our members for comment on various policies. The Sub-Committee has considered our issue of being transparent through this process and so we’ve held strong debate over the proper protocol. We aim to develop policies immediately on supported accommodation and unmet need and as we proceed forward, the Sub-Committee will streamline the processes involved and begin forming other policies on education, employment and transport and so on. As I’ve said these Discussion Papers will be circulated around for input from our d4d members, so please join as member of d4d and have the opportunity to direct these evolving policies.

As always our message of human rights and dignity through choice will form the heart of our policies. People with Disabilities and the Carers within our communities are tired of the “welfare based” funding models offered to the Disability sector. It is time that the State Government and the Social Inclusion Board acknowledge that it is the right of people affected by disability to have the same opportunities as others.

Of course the hot topic at present is the recent release of the NDIS Report by the Productivity Commission. The feeling is buoyant in the Disability Community. It is an exciting time! After recent discussions with John Della Bosca, the NDIS Rally originally scheduled for March 23rd will be rescheduled at a later date, closer to the release of the Final Report and will be rebranded “Every Australian Counts”. The NDIS political campaign will support the new rally with its resources. In the meantime, I encourage everyone to attend community group meetings to further promote this scheme. Take time to speak to the unconverted, spread the word. Aim to tell 5 of your friends outside of the Disability Sector about the strong economic and social benefits of the NDIS. And it is important that all disability advocates and supporters work closely with NDIS to give a powerful and united voice under the “Every Australian Counts” theme.

We look forward to the ongoing support during 2011. It will be an exciting year, transformation is real and nearby!

Rick Neagle

d4d President

Read the original article.

A media release from Dignity for Disability:

MEDIA RELEASE, 3rd December 2010

My Perfect South Australia for People with Disabilities

Today on International Day of People with Disability, Kelly Vincent MLC is thrilled to launch Dignity for Disability’s “My Perfect South Australia for People with Disabilities” Word and Visual Art competition.

The competition offers $2,000 in prizes and encourages people living with disabilities, their families, carers and supporters to express their ideas as to a perfect South Australia for people with disabilities.

‘This competition idea essentially comes from my own love of words and art, and my belief that they are powerful tools in shaping the world around us,’ said Ms Vincent.

‘We’ve all heard of “Unmet Needs” where people are waiting for essential services like mobility aids, accommodation and respite, but what exactly does that mean for people and their lives and what is the perfect solution?

‘Today is a day of celebration and this competition is about celebrating people with disabilities as part of our world. However, it is also about their struggles and frustrations and gives people a chance to express their perfect South Australia for people with disabilities in a way that we may not have heard or seen before.

‘It’s about breaking the mould, and giving people with disabilities a different kind of voice – one that the Government cannot ignore.’

Entrants may use word or visual arts to express their ideas and entries close on 20 February 2011. Winners will be announced on 20 March 2011, one year to the day of the historic election that saw Kelly Vincent elected as South Australia’s youngest and first ever Member of Parliament to use a wheelchair.

Further information and a competition entry form can be found at d4d.org.au

A media release from Dignity for Disability:

MEDIA RELEASE 2nd December, 2010

Stories, Not Statistics

In the lead up to International Day of People with a Disability, Kelly Vincent MLC yet again calls on the Minister for Disability to clear the now infamous Unmet Needs Waiting list. However, this time Ms Vincent has also offered to help the Minister understand that there are stories behind these statistics.

“For years disability advocates have been calling on the State Government to clear the Unmet Needs List and for years people have languished while waiting for respite, accommodation, in-home support and other basic services” said Ms Vincent.

“This Government seems to accept that there is a crisis in the disability sector, at least their rhetoric does, but they do not seem to understand that it is people (not just the budget) who are in crisis.

“How is it, that in this day and age in South Australia we have more than 300 people who are seen as being in critical need of accommodation and more than 600 people who are in need of in-home support such as assistance with showering or getting into bed at night.

“I cannot understand why this State Government is allowing the crisis to continue. How can Mr Foley say that we don’t have the money when the State Government is happy to spend more than $500 million on a sports stadium?

Ms Vincent has decided to take a different tack by asking the people who are waiting for essential services to tell us a bit more about their story.

“Tomorrow, on the International Day of People with a Disability I am calling on all of those people who are on this voiceless list to speak to me about their unmet needs. I will be in Rundle Mall from 2pm until 3.30pm with a clipboard, ready to hear people’s stories.”

Ms Vincent will continue to collect the real stories of the people who are waiting on the list throughout the Parliamentary sitting break. People can tell their stories by either logging on to the Dignity for Disability Website at www.d4d.org.au from 3 December 2010 and filling in the ‘Stories not Statistics Survey’, or by contacting Ms Vincent’s office via phone (8237 9543) or email (megan.folland@parliament.sa.gov.au). Ms Vincent will present the people and their stories behind the statistics to the Minister in February next year.

Ms Vincent will be in Rundle Mall tomorrow, Friday 3 December 2010 from 2pm until 3.30pm.

A media release from Dignity for Disability:

MEDIA RELEASE 1 December 2010

Better Late than Never

Kelly Vincent MLC congratulates the Rann Government on finally announcing a review of the Disability Services Act.

In 1993 the South Australian Disability Services Act was passed, and one year later it was reviewed. That review recommended that the Act be reviewed every five years. Now, 15 years later, under fierce pressure from both the disability community and Kelly Vincent MLC, the Minister for Disability, Jennifer Rankine has belatedly announced a review.

“The disability community has long awaited and desperately needs this review, and while it is welcomed, it is absurdly overdue. The community is simply sick of waiting and cannot afford to wait any longer” said Dignity for Disability MLC, Kelly Vincent.

“The Minister has now indirectly answered one of the three questions regarding the Act that I asked of her in Parliament in October, but I still await answers as to why has it taken so long to initiate this review, and whether the Minister will commit to implementing any more of the recommendations made in 1995?

“I am hoping that the Minister’s answer to these questions will be followed by further answers to the more than 50 questions I have posed in Question Time since I was elected in April this year. To date, I have been given the courtesy of answers to only three of these questions.

“I hope the government doesn’t take another 15 years to complete this review, and it DOES NOT use it as a shield which prevents them from fixing the Disability Unmet Needs crisis that our most vulnerable people face every minute of every day.

“Better late than never” said Ms Vincent.

October 28th, 2010

Parliamentary Question Time

The Hon Kelly Vincent MLC

I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister representing the Minister for Disability a question regarding Disability Services in this State.

Mr President, as all members would be aware, the Disability Services Act was passed in 1993 so as to provide for the funding and provision of disability services in SA. At that time the then Minister for Health proclaimed that that the legislation ‘serves to endorse and protect the right of people with disabilities to dignity, autonomy and self-determination’.

As members would know, there is a section of the Act which required for the Act to be reviewed within 1 year of its commencement. And on 31 March 1995, a report on the Review of the Act was indeed provided to the new Minister for Health. Looking back at the contents of the review, there were some very wise recommendations made at that time.

For example, the review recommended:

• the establishment of a formal complaints mechanism to handle complaints about services provided for people with disabilities; and
• that a system of mandatory reporting be implemented; and
• that consideration be given to the implementation of a volunteer Community Visitors Scheme; and
• that the Act be reviewed every 5 years.

From what I hear, these ideas are still being recommended by people who champion the rights of PWD’s today. Yet, 15 years on, we in the Disability community are still waiting for these recommendations to be implemented.

My questions to the Minster are:

1. When will the Minister conduct a comprehensive review of the Act?
2. Why has it taken so long to conduct such a review?

Will the Minister commit to implementing any of the recommendations listed above?

Kelly Vincent MLC Announces Seminar Series

“How you can Help Protect your Sons and Daughters with Disabilities from Sexual Abuse”

Kelly Vincent, Dignity for Disability MLC, in support of Carers Week welcomes parents and guardians of children and adults with disabilities to the first of a series of workshops aimed at giving families the tools to protect their sons and daughters from sexual abuse.

It is estimated that children with a disability are 700% more likely to be a target of abuse. While that is a frightening statistic, parents and carers can arm themselves, and the people they care for, with the tools to understand, recognise and report sexual abuse.

Following on from her introduction of The Disability (Mandatory Reporting) Bill in July 2010, Ms Vincent’s Parliamentary Office has been deluged of reports from workers and families supporting the bill and lamenting the lack of current supports to prevent, report or manage abuses of some of our most vulnerable citizens.

Kelly Vincent, MLC said “I have been informed of several tragedies in the past few weeks, where people with disabilities have suffered horrendous abuse. We are working with Government to prevent abuse at a systemic level, but I believe that every parent and carer needs to educate themselves and their children, in a developmentally appropriate way to stop these nightmares.”

In this first seminar of a series of events, world renowned child abuse expert Dr Freda Briggs will share her knowledge of the problem and offer practical ways to help children, and adults with intellectual disabilities in particular, protect themselves.

Carer Support has generously offered their support of the event, and will be providing on-site childcare with qualified workers for children with and without disabilities to make sure parents have every opportunity to attend.

The incidence of abuse and neglect of people with disabilities, particularly those with intellectual disabilities, (who make up around 1-2% of the Australian population) is one of the great unknowns, and in South Australia, there are no public records of numbers of recorded abuse among this population.

“I ask all parents of children with any disability, parents of adults and with an intellectual and/or communication disability as well as disability support workers to make every effort to attend” said Ms Vincent.

Speaker: Emeritus Professor Freda Briggs AO

Cynthia Poulton Hall, St Peters Cathedral
Cnr King William Road & Pennington Tce, North Adelaide

Monday November 8th 9.30am – 12.30pm

Free childcare provided (bookings are essential)

RSVP via Email (preferred): D4DEvents@parliament.sa.gov.au

or Message Phone: 8237 9528

For further information, please contact:

Sam Paior | Adviser to Kelly Vincent MLC | sam.paior@parliament.sa.gov.au

Kelly Vincent MLC, from Dignity for Disability, has introduced The Disability (Mandatory Reporting) Bill 2010.

This bill will afford the same protections as the Child Protection Act to those with intellectual or severe communication disabilities.

You can read more about the bill in this d4d media release.

Below you can read the text of Kelly Vincent MLC’s maiden speech in Parliament, read yesterday (13th May, 2010).

Kelly Vincent’s Maiden Speech (PDF).

Kelly Vincent’s Maiden Speech (Word 2007).