Visit
our Minister - The Hon. Paul Gerard Lynch, MP
i:D Bulletin of the Disability Council of NSW
Welcome to the first edition in 2008 of i:D, the monthly electronic bulletin of the Disability Council of NSW – the State’s official advisory body on disability. We will be producing this newsletter once a month, usually around the time of each meeting of the Disability Council so that we can keep you informed of our activities and the Council’s areas of interest.
Please feel free to circulate this newsletter to anyone you believe may be interested in receiving it. If you decide that you would rather not receive it please send an e.mail to us with the words UNSUBSCRIBE BULLETIN in the subject line. We hope, of course, you’ll be happy to read our newsletter and give us feedback.
If you have any topic you wish to raise with the Disability Council of NSW please contact us by e.mail.
Dougie Herd
Executive Officer, Office of the Disability Council of NSW
Contents of this month's i:D
1. Chair's Introduction by Andrew Buchanan
2. New members of the Disability Council of NSW
3. Our new staff team at 323 Castlereagh Street
4. Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) Transport Standards: 5-Year Review draft report released
5. HREOC seeks responses on Queensland Taxi Council DDA exemption application
6. Critical Bridges DVD launched by Minister Keneally
8. About the Disability Council of NSW
9. Your Privacy
1. Chair's Introduction by Andrew Buchanan
In
this, our first electronic newsletter of 2008, may I wish you belated
but sincere good wishes for the New Year.
After a period of renewal for the Disability Council of NSW, with eight new Council Members appointed and four new permanent employees joining the staff team, we look forward to a busy and productive year ahead. There is much to be done.
Of course, the key development of recent months has been the election of Kevin Rudd’s Government. Whatever political persuasion any of us may have, we can all agree I think that change is in the air. New possibilities emerge. We must harness our energies, wherever we sit in the disability community, to build positive and constructive alliances and partnerships. From the new circumstances surrounding the stalled negotiations of the CSTDA to the review of disability transport standards or the possible ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons there is much that the Commonwealth Government will be asked to pick up with regard to disability.
State and Territory Governments have an essential role to play in all those questions (and many more). Here in NSW, we will play our part to the best of our abilities, offering advice to Minister Keneally as she charts a course for disability policy through the year to come and beyond. Our relationships across government agencies and with non-government organisations are essential to our ability to give to the Minister the best advice we can. I hope, therefore, you’ll see this bulletin as part of our ongoing commitment to keep in touch with ‘the sector’ as we hone our advice. Mostly, however, I hope you’ll keep telling us what you think.
Regards
Andrew Buchanan
Chair
Disability Council of NSW
2. New members of the Disability Council of NSW
Towards the end of last year, the NSW Government approved the appointment of 8 new members of the Disability Council of NSW. The new members, who took-up office on 1st November 2007, have been appointed for four years.
Announcing the appointments, Minister for Disability Services The Hon Kristina Keneally MP said:
“These appointments confirm the Iemma Government’s commitment to improving disability services across NSW by broadening and strengthening the range of expertise and experience of Disability Council members.”“The Disability Council provides valuable advice to the Iemma Government on how we can improve the way in which we deliver services and works to promote a positive vision of the future for all people with disability,”
The newly appointed members of the Disability Council are:
- Ms Denise BECKWITH, who lives in Bankstown, has a physical disability. Ms Beckwith has particular enthusiasm for articulating the experience of younger people with disability across a broad range of interests. Ms Beckwith, who is a former Paralympian swimmer, works as Intake and Assessment Officer with People With Disability Australia.
- Mr James CONDREN, who lives in Sutherland, has an intellectual disability. Mr Condren is a respected and widely-known advocate of people with intellectual disability, with particular interest in self-advocacy, peer support, supported living and criminal justice issues.
- Ms Lauri GROVENOR, who lives in Galong, is profoundly blind, has physical disability and is the mother of adult offspring with disability. Ms Grovenor has a long history of involvement in organisations and issues of particular interest to people with disability in rural NSW.
- Ms Sylvana MAHMIC, who lives in Chifley, is the mother of a teenage son with physical and intellectual disability and associated communication impairment. Ms Mahmic, who comes from a non-English speaking background, is employed by Pathways, an early-childhood intervention NGO operating in Sydney’s Inner West.
- Mr Jamie MITCHELL, who lives in Broken Hill, has a physical disability and is the father of three daughters; two of his children have a disability. Mr Mitchell has 20 years experience of establishing, developing and sustaining disability related, self-help, peer support and advocacy groups in the State’s far west. Mr Mitchell owns and runs a small travel business.
- Ms Thushara (Tish) PEIRIS, who lives in Artarmon, has an acquired brain injury with associated cognitive, physical and vision impairments. Ms Peiris is particularly interested in questions relating to the rights, autonomy and cultural perceptions of people with disability. Ms Peiris, who comes from a non-English speaking background, is a freelance journalist.
- Ms Sally ROBINSON, who lives in Dorroughby, has two family members with a disability and is the legal guardian of a third. Ms Robinson has 15 years experience as a personal and professional advocate, service provider and researcher in the disability NGO sector. Until recently Ms Robinson was Policy Director at the Disability Studies and Research Institute at UNSW. Since relocating to the State’s far north Ms Robinson is working on her PhD and provides policy advice services.
- Ms Cath STUART, who lives in Dulwich Hill, has psychiatric disability. Ms Stuart is deeply involved with mental health service consumer advocacy, self-help and peer support based in Sydney’s Inner West with a particular interest in the experiences of women and mental health.
The appointments bring the Council to a total of 15 members. The existing members of the Council are:
- Mr Andrew Buchanan, Chair of the Disability Council of NSW
- Dr Breda Carty
- Ms Michelle Dellagiacoma
- Ms Fiona Given
- Mr Matt Laffan
- Ms Alison Salt
- Ms Sue Samad
3. Our new staff team at 323 Castlereagh Street
During 2007 the Director General of DADHC agreed to a request from the Council’s Chair, Andrew Buchanan, for a review of the staff team employed by DADHC to support the work of the Disability Council of NSW. The review, which was completed in June 2007, resulted in a modest increase in the number of permanent positions with the unit (from 5 to 6), new roles to better fit the requirements of the agency and a re-structuring of positions.
The vacant positions created by the review were advertised last Spring and filled towards the end of the year. Our new staff team is introduced below (fuller biographies will be posted to our Web Site soon.
- EXECUTIVE OFFICER (full time): Mr Dougie Herd, who has worked for the unit for 3 years. Prior to joining the staff team Dougie worked for the Physical Disability Council of NSW for 5 years and before that lived and worked in Scotland.
- SENIOR POLICY OFFICER (full time): Ms Angela Hardman, who joins the unit following 8 years with NSW Police and 7 years with the NSW Department of Housing.
- POLICY OFFICER (full time): Ms Ebru Sumaktas, who joins the unit after 3 years with Vision Australia and 2 years with People With Disability Australia.
- PROJECT OFFICER (part time, 21 hours): Ms Amelia Starr, who has been with the unit on a temporary basis for 2 years during which time she also managed her own access consultancy service. Before joining the staff team Amelia worked overseas and for Spinal Cord Injuries Australia.
- ASSISTANT POLICY OFFICER (full time): Mr Suriya Lee, who has worked for the unit for 7 years. Suriya was appointed to this new role following the review of the staff team.
- ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT (full time): Ms Marisa Pereira, who joins the staff team following brief periods with the NSW Department of Juvenile Justice and in the private sector. Before that Marisa worked for the Siemens Corporation in Mumbai for 23 years.
- LOGISTIC SUPPORT (part time, 21 hours): Ms Spike Deane, who has been associated with the unit for 4 years on short term contracts. Spike has been contracted to provide support to the unit on a continuing basis for the last eighteen months and will continue to provide policy, resources, records management and IT back-up until at least June 2008.
4. Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) Transport Standards: 5-Year Review draft report released
The Allen Consulting Group was commissioned by the Commonwealth
Government to carry out the statutory five-year review of the DDA
Transport Standards. The draft report of the review team is available
to download from the Allen Consulting Group web site at:
http://www.ddatransportreview.com.au/?x=report
The web site explains that Section 31 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 provides that the Attorney-General may formulate standards in relation to, relevantly, the provision of public transport services and facilities. The Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (the Transport Standards) were made under section 31, and took effect on 23 October 2002.
Part 34 of the Transport Standards requires the Minister for Transport and Regional Services, in consultation with the Attorney-General, to review the efficiency and effectiveness of the Transport Standards. A review is required within five years of the Transport Standards coming into effect and every five years thereafter.
The Disability Council of NSW gave verbal evidence to the Sydney
public hearings organised as part of the review. You can read
transcripts of those hearings and others at:
http://www.ddatransportreview.com.au/?x=hearings
Responses to the draft report are requested by Allen Consulting no later than 31st March. The Disability Council of NSW will consider its response when it meets in February.
5. HREOC seeks responses on Queensland Taxi Council DDA exemption application
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has received an application together with a supporting affidavit from the Taxi Council of Queensland and the Taxi Council of Western Australia on behalf of their respective members, for exemption from the operation of Part 1.2 of Schedule 1 of the Disability Standards for Accessible Transport 2002 and from the operation of section 24 of the Disability Discrimination Act (“the DDA”) so far as it would have the same effect as this provision of the Standards.
Part 1.2 of Schedule 1 of the Disability Standards for Accessible Transport provides that response times for wheelchair accessible taxis are to be the same as for non-wheelchair accessible taxis and places responsibility for this requirement on taxi radio networks and co-operatives. The application argues that radio networks and co-operatives do not have the ability to ensure compliance.
The application for temporary exemption from the DDA can be viewed
on the HREOC web site at:
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/exemptions/taxi/noi.htm
The Disability Council of NSW understands that many people with disability who use wheelchairs and organisations of people with disability are concerned that the application for exemption (for five years) has the potential to undermine their legal right to equal response times of booked wheelchair accessible taxis and non-accessible taxis. We will make that point in our submission.
HREOC seek responses to the application by 1st February.
6. Critical Bridges DVD launched by Minister Keneally
Minister
for Disability Services, The Hon Kristina Keneally MP, launched the
‘Critical Bridges’ DVD in Sydney in December 2007.
The Critical Bridges DVD is the product of a year long partnership between the Disability Council of NSW and DET partners with responsibility for disability inclusion in schools and TAFE. We staged a series of three interagency forums, which looked at the role played by State education services at critical points of transition for students with disability and their families. The three points of transition were:
• Pre-school to school.
• School to post-school.
• Acquiring a disability in adult years.
We have produced six half-hour broadcast quality programmes that make up the DVD. Each programme explores the interests, issues, concerns and policy questions that arise at points of transition. We consider those transition processes from various perspectives including people with disability, their families, education service providers, policy staff and planners.
If you would like to obtain a copy of the DVD or get more information, please contact either Mr. Suriya Lee or Ms. Marisa Pereira at the Disability Council of NSW on (02) 9211 2866 or
7. People and Places
FEvery month in i.D we want to pass on news about the people and organisations that make up the disability sector in NSW and beyond. If you have snippets of news about people joining, moving within or leaving your agency pass it on to us and we’ll share it with broader community. Indeed, if you’ve any news about your agency that people might like to read about, send it to us. We’ll try to find space to put it in but please … keep it brief.
Contact us at: info.disabilitycouncil@dadhc.nsw.gov.au
MDAA
BARBEL WINTER leaves the Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association after eleven years as Executive Director during which time this key non-government organisation has been transformed. Barbel’s creative energy, ideas generation and work efforts are the stuff of legend! The sector as a whole, not just MDAA, has been strengthened by Barbel’s work. Bon voyage.
MAUREEN KINGSHOTT announced her departure from MDAA (in mid-February) at the agency’s Annual General Meeting towards the end of 2007. Maureen, who has been the agency’s Assistant Director, has made an immense contribution to the growth, development and organisation of MDAA. Through Maureen’s work the rights of people with a disability and their families from non-English speaking backgrounds have been energetically protected and promoted.
NSW CID
HELENA O’CONNEL leaves the NSW Council for Intellectual Disability after nearly nine years as Executive Officer. Helena’s personal contribution to the development of CID as ‘user-led’ peak body and her tireless work to promote the rights and interests of people with intellectual disability have been an inspiration. Helena will be much missed.
8. About the Disability Council of NSW
The Disability Council of NSW is the official advisory body to the State Government on disability matters. We also provide advice to the Commonwealth on the effect of national policy at a State level.
We seek to provide best quality advice to Government and promote a positive vision of the future for all people with disability.
For us that means working with others to achieve a socially just community in which Government policy and practice reflect the lives and experiences of people with disability as individuals, family members and participants with many roles in a broad range of diverse settings. At all times we strive to remain mindful of the rights of people with disability, respecting their choices, celebrating their diversity and valuing their contributions.
Our role is clearly set out by an Act of Parliament, The Community Welfare Act of 1987. We have three duties as a result of that Act. They are:
- To advise Government on disability matters;
- To raise community awareness about people with disability and their aspirations; and
- To promote participation by people with disability.
We are committed to building and sustaining partnerships across sectors around a shared purpose. It is our hope that you will feel encouraged by our goals and will want to work with us as we organise to achieve them.
Contact Details of the Disability Council of NSW
Disability Council of NSW
L19, 323 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, New South Wales 2000
Tel/TTY: (02) 9211-2866
Fax: (02) 9211-2271
Tollfree (Voice/TTY) 1800 044 848
Email:
info.disabilitycouncil@dadhc.nsw.gov.au
Web: www.disabilitycouncil.nsw.gov.au
9. Your Privacy
We are committed to protecting your privacy and commit ourselves to conforming to the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Bill 2000, which came into effect in December 2001 and the National Privacy Principles issued by the Australian Privacy Commissioner.
This electronic bulletin is distributed by email. You have provided us with an email address. This email address will be used only for the purpose for which you have provided it. You can have your email address removed from the list for this bulletin at any time by sending an e.mail to the Disability Council of NSW
This Bulletin may contain links to external websites. The Disability Council of NSW cannot be held responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites.
