18 informonline.org.au
18 informonline.org.au News Dylan Alcott wants to remove the barriers faced by people with disabilities. Elly Desmarchelier is sharing her story of discrimination with the Remove the Barrier campaign to inspire change. Tennis champ breaking down barriers He may be a Wimbledon champion, but that doesn’t mean Dylan Alcott hasn’t experienced unconscious bias and discrimination. And it’s exactly this that he is determined to dismantle as he works to breakdown the barriers that people with disability face in the workforce with the new campaign Remove the Barrier. Find more information about Remove the Barrier at removethebarrier.com ‘One of the hardest things to overcome is actually the barriers that you can’t see,’ Alcott told Triple J’s Hack. ‘Those invisible barriers are things like unconscious bias and discrimination.’ ‘You can’t see unconscious bias, but I promise you, as someone who’s faced it, you can feel it,’ he said. Dylan points to things like the assumption that people with disability are broken, or less capable because of their disability and a lack of expectation as just some of the bias faced by people with disability. The campaign features the stories of 15 people with disability and the barriers they have faced finding work. Twenty-six-year-old Elly Desmarchelier, a communications professional with cerebral palsy, is often the ‘first one at the table who’s ever been in a wheelchair’. ‘I’ve often come across these really outdated, kind of odd ways of thinking about disability,’ Elly said. ‘And a lot of that comes from just never having anyone else in the workplace that is disabled.’ Despite her considerable experience, Elly has still faced discrimination and bias in the workplace and during interviews. But she’s committed to making change. ‘If we’re going to create workplaces that are inclusive and creative and productive and reflect the best parts of our society, you are gonna have to look for different people. And that means people with disabilities, it means women, it means people of colour and I just really hope that there are leaders out there who go ‘OK. You didn’t take the same path I took to get there, but that’s OK. And we’re gonna make your path work for this business because I can see that you’re gonna add to it.’
News informonline.org.au 19 Health Services Funded In a positive development for NDIS participants, daily health services including swallowing therapy, catheter cleaning and wound dressings will soon be funded via the NDIS. The news comes after a ruling by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal that the NDIA should fund necessary swallowing supports for a 34-year-old man with dysphagia and cerebral palsy. Following the ruling, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed that the NDIS should fund daily health services that are needed because of disability. It’s estimated that up to 60,000 people with conditions such as dysphagia, diabetes and epilepsy will be entitled to funding. Accessible formats NDIS correspondence will now be available in a greater range of accessible formats thanks to the advocacy of Blind Citizens Australia. Large font, audio, e-text and braille formats will be available to NDIS participants over the coming months as the NDIA moves away from a manual system to an automated system that will recognise the preferred communication format of NDIS participants. 'This is a tremendously important step forward for people who are blind or vision impaired. Blindness is often referred to as an information-based disability. Access to information is often the only thing that prevents a person who is blind or vison impaired from carrying out tasks and activities that they otherwise could,’ said Rikki Chaplin, Acting CEO of Blind Citizens Australia. ‘To be able to easily read your NDIS plan is vital if you’re going to be able to take full advantage of the supports in your plan,’ Chaplin said. NDIS participants will need to update their preferred format via the contact centre or the portal. Specialised support National Disability Services have launched a pilot project that will recruit support workers with specialised skills for specific roles. In reporting the news, Pro Bono News highlighted the case of drummer Bryan Casey, who hadn’t performed for nine years after a brain tumour affected his mobility. To get back on stage, Bryan needed the support of someone with specialised experience working with drum equipment. The pilot project connected Bryan with Marco, and the pair have worked together to get Bryan back performing. National Disability Services Workforce Impact Collective cochair, Wendy Prowse, told Pro Bono that there couldn’t be a ‘one size fits all approach to support work’. ‘Recruiting personalised support that is based on shared interests between a person with a disability and the individual who will be supporting them is allowing people like Bryan to really pursue their goals,’ Ms Prowse said. Virtual resource for women and girls Women and girls with disability around the country are leading the design and development of a new virtual information source from Women with Disabilities Australia. The Virtual Centre website will ‘provide accessible and inclusive information and resources across four areas: leadership and opportunities; decisions and choices; sexuality, women’s health and family; and safety from all forms of violence’. No date has been released for the launch of the Virtual centre, however more information can be found at www.wwda.org.au
