The Disability Information and Resource Centre

From November 27 – December 3 Every Australian Counts will be holding a week of action across Australia to grow the movement for an NDIS to 100,000 supporters.

As part of the week, you can do one of 3 things (or all 3) to help support a national Disability Insurance Scheme:

1. Hold a stall in your community
2. Letterbox 40 houses
3. Sign up 10 friends

Registrations close tomorrow, Friday 11th November. Register now.

The Every Australian Counts SA e-update for October 2011 can be downloaded here.

From the Every Australian Counts campaign:

Today we managed a coup for the NDIS – MPs stood up in Federal Parliament and said “Count On Me”.

Our politicians have heard the call for a National Disability Insurance Scheme, loud and clear, but there is more to be done.

We need to get out into the community to help everyone understand why the NDIS is so important.

Will you help spread the word?

November 27 – December 3 is Spread the Word Week – a national week of action to make sure we reach our campaign goal of 100,000 supporters by the end of the year.

We have to make sure all Australians – our family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues and fellow community members – have the chance to hear how the NDIS will change the lives of people with a disability and their families.

Register today to take part in Spread the Word Week, and we’ll send you the materials you will need.

There are three things you can do to get the word out:

• hold a stall in your community;
• letterbox the houses in your street;
• or sign up at least 10 friends.

Can you choose one? Or, even better, all three?

Watch our new campaign video and hear from one group of parents about why they support an NDIS – and why they hope you do too.

We have to continue to make sure as many people as possible get behind the NDIS.

Your voices have been heard in Parliament. Now let’s make sure everyone in the community hears them too.

John Della Bosca
and the Every Australian Counts team
www.everyaustraliancounts.com.au

From Every Australian Counts:

On Monday, hundreds of people began meeting with their Federal MP to make sure the National Disability Insurance Scheme doesn’t slip off the national agenda.

There are big issues coming up in the Parliament next week, but we are committed to ensuring that our politicians stay strong in their support for an NDIS.

We need to let our MPs know that we are watching and that we will act if progress is not made.

Will you ask five friends to join the campaign?

The Federal Government has stated it “shares the vision” for an NDIS, and it has taken the first step dedicating $10 million to the groundwork necessary to get the scheme up and running.

But we need to make sure that the government takes the next step, and the one after that.

And we have a plan to make sure that happens.

Watch the new video to learn more about where the campaign is heading.

We want to show our politicians that at least 100,000 people support an NDIS, and those people will keep campaigning until the scheme is locked in.

To make sure the NDIS gets moving in 2012 we want to see:

• Launch sites announced and locked in by the end of the year;
• The National Disability Insurance Agency established to run the NDIS; and
• Funding allocated to make both these things happen.

After so much hard work together, we are close to achieving this landmark reform. We cannot allow an NDIS to be swept back under the carpet.

Ask 5 friends to join the campaign today, and let’s keep on campaigning.

John Della Bosca
and the Every Australian Counts team
www.everyaustraliancounts.com.au

P.S. Send a message of support to campaigners who are visiting MPs on the Every Australian Counts Facebook page.

Yesterday, August 10th, the Federal Government announced it’s support for a National Disability Insurance Scheme.

From The Australian:

Julia Gillard throws weight behind historic disability reform

Julia Gillard throws weight behind historic disability reform

AUSTRALIA will have a National Disability Insurance Scheme after Julia Gillard yesterday declared her unequivocal support for the key social policy and the Productivity Commission said any hostile state could be bypassed.

The Prime Minister’s support for the historic reform came in response to the commission’s final report on disability care and support, which strongly endorses a commonwealth-run, no-fault NDIS.

“I certainly want to see a national disability insurance scheme. I share the vision of a national disability insurance scheme as the right way forward for our country,” Ms Gillard said.

But the Prime Minister said there was a lot of policy work still to do before the scheme, estimated to cost an additional $6.5 billion beyond current disability funding, could be rolled out. She said it could be seven years before the scheme was up and running.

Ms Gillard also warned that the new system must be “fiscally sustainable”, saying “We’ve got to get the money right and that will take time”.

Fierce resistance from some states to the mining tax, the carbon tax and aspects of health reform have dogged the federal government’s recent reform agenda, leading to concerns over its ability to deliver major policy.

But a disability insurance scheme, along with large-scale, aged-care reforms proposed earlier this week, could be the circuit-breakers the government is looking for. The NDIS has received bipartisan support, with the federal opposition and most states backing the measure. Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten, a former parliamentary secretary for disabilities, said the NDIS was a key plank of social policy.

“There are four pillars which assure the quality of Australian life for all – the minimum wage, the age pension, compulsory superannuation and Medicare. The National Disability Insurance Scheme has the potential to be the missing fifth pillar,” he said.

Read the rest of The Australian’s story here.

Read the government’s press release.

Read the Productivity Commission’s Final Report.

The Community Accommodation & Respite Agency (Cara) will be holding a DisabiliTea Event on August 2nd to raise awareness of, and provide support for, the introduction of a National Disability Insurance Scheme.

• Find out about the importance of the proposed National Disability Insurance Scheme.
• Hear firsthand from Cara Chief Executive, Denice Wharldall, about what the NDIS could mean to people with a disability and their families.
• Watch the special edition and update about the Every Australian Counts campaign.

Full details of the event can be found here.

Purple Orange is conducting the second Tellus survey to gather information about the experiences of people living with disability. Completing the survey will allow you to highlight the issues that are important to you. All participants are eligible to win an iPad 2.

Full details can be found here.

Next month, the Productivity Commission will hand over its final report to the Government.

The goal of the Every Australian Counts campaign is to make sure the Federal Government accepts the recommendations of the Productivity Commission and commits to introducing the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

To that end, they are encouraging people to visit their federal member and recruit them to be supporters of the campaign. They’ve created some useful resources to help people do this:

• A tool to find your federal member.
• A feedback form to let everyone know how your meeting with your MP went.
• A toolkit giving advice on how to meet with your MP and how to conduct the meeting.
• A page documenting successful campaigners.

The first Australian 1 in 4 Poll is seeking people to respond to a survey on social inclusion. The Poll can be completed by:

• people with disability; and
• carers who are family members or who are paid. Carers can support a person with disability to complete the survey or can complete it themselves.

The information will be used by the researchers – Deakin University and Scope – and by National Disability Services (NDS) to influence government policy and inform future practice and research.

The 1 in 4 Poll is a national survey, to be conducted at regular intervals over the next 3 years. It takes its name from the fact that disability touches the lives of one in every four Australians – either directly or indirectly in the case of carers. It aims to provide a vehicle for people with disability to voice their opinions on current social issues.

The results from this survey may assist in building impetus for a National Disability Insurance Scheme and the implementation of the National Disability Strategy.

The Every Australian Counts campaign has a story on Jane and her 12 year old daughter who was born with cerebral palsy:

Jane and her 12 year old daughter Jessica are like many of us, busy running between appointments, juggling commitments and always short of time.

Sound familiar to you?

But for Jane and Jessica the NDIS could give them more time.

Jessica was born with cerebral palsy. She uses a wheelchair, cannot speak and needs round-the-clock care. And on top of everything else this family has to do, her mum Jane spends hours and hours filling out forms for support and respite care.

The NDIS could make a huge difference to a family like Jane and Jessica, with a tailored individual program for Jess to make sure she has what she needs and funding from one source.

Watch Jane tell her story.

Fill out a form to support the Every Australian Counts campaign.