Disability news wrap

News on Tuesday, 27 June 2023

Posted 27/06/2023

No Limits program shows workplaces the value of employing people with disability

ABC News program The World has the story of a new program, No Limits, using sport to break down barriers preventing some people with disability from joining the workforce. Former Paralympic tennis player David Johnson is behind the initiative, and told ABC News that while he’s had much success on the tennis court, “I couldn’t get my head around going to job interviews and people looking at me in my wheelchair and not me as a person.” Johnson has teamed up with NSW community service provider Social Futures to deliver No Limits and run sessions with workplaces to show them the potential of this disproportionally untapped talent pool.  

Bill Shorten urged to stop “dodgy” NDIS providers from allegedly underpaying workers

An exclusive report from NCA NewsWire shares that The Australian Services Union (ASU) sent a letter to NDIS Minister Bill Shorten last week, “demanding urgent action after its investigations found more than 30 providers were committing wage theft against employees”. In the letter, ASU NSW & ACT Secretary Angus McFarland wrote that: “Both the NDIA and the NDIS Commission have various regulatory powers to establish standards and rules that could require anyone doing business in the NDIS to pay their workers the correct Award rates and entitlements. 

“It should not be up to disability support workers – most of whom are insecurely employed – to have to navigate complex and lengthy litigation to be paid what they deserve, and to be paid what the Government already provides funding for in NDIS packages.”

Disability sector workforce “remains precarious”

The Australian says it anticipated the unintended consequences of a 15 per cent pay rise for aged-care workers in other areas of the care economy, including the disability sector. The masthead has reported an increase in disability workers looking to transfer to jobs in aged care. “Disability support wages have generally been 25 per cent higher than aged care pay but the gap will narrow from Saturday…” says a recent editorial. “National Disability Services chief executive Laurie Leigh said the disability sector workforce remained precarious, with a continued undersupply and high turnover.”

Lewis Capaldi’s Glastonbury set put disability centre-stage

And in a compelling op-ed for The Guardian, Frances Ryan reflects on Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi’s performance at this years’ Glastonbury Festival. Capaldi, who has Tourette syndrome and anxiety, was struggling toward the end of his set. As Ryan writes, he told the audience: “I’m going to be honest everybody but I’m starting to lose my voice up here, but we’re going to keep going … until the end. I just need you all to sing with me as loud as you can if that’s OK?” 

“The crowd did not let him down,” writes Ryan, who goes on to explain that while “disability is still portrayed as an inherently bad thing, something that cannot coexist with careers, love or happiness. Capaldi’s performance directly challenged this shallow understanding. The realities of his health were not hidden away or kept out of sight until deemed ‘more acceptable’: disability was front and centre on the Pyramid stage – with joy, pain and talent alongside it.”

News on Monday, 26 June 2023

Posted 26/06/2023

Amy Evans says she faced discrimination trying to get ticket to Taylor Swift's concert

Content creator and wheelchair user Amy Evans has told ABC News that when she tried to arrange accessible tickets for herself and her twin sister and fellow wheelchair user, Rebecca, to Taylor Swift's show at the MCG, she was told she could fill in a request form and someone would get back to her. Evans was also told that “companion cards tend not to be valid in VIP sections”, so her support worker might not be able to accompany her. “The process has been quite frustrating, and honestly, even exhausting. Having to advocate for rights that should just be in place anyway,” said Evans.

Former Afford CEO “still making money from the NDIS”

News Corp is following the story of Steven Herald, the former CEO of Afford – a disability service provider that’s been condemned by The Disability Royal Commission for failings that led to the death of a young woman in their care. Reportedly, Herald is still making money from the NDIS by way of his new business, Eloma Care. “The new CEO of Afford Jo Toohey, who was not involved in the company at the time of Ms Aprem’s death, said she was ‘astounded’ Mr Herald is allowed to continue to operate a disability service,”  writes National Social Affairs Reporter, Julie Cross.

Making pride more inclusive means creating space for 2SLGBTQ+ people with disabilities

A piece in The Conversation shares insights from several studies around the intersection of disability and queerness. “Through our research, we have heard how 2SLGTBQ+ people with developmental and mental disabilities struggle to find space to explore their identities, meet intimate partners, find community and form a sense of belonging,” write Assistant Professor Alan Santinele Martino and Master’s student Emily Coombs. “However, despite these struggles, their desire for community was clear.” The duo also highlight how physical barriers to queer celebrations are an issue, and emphasise the “need for greater solidarity between queer, neurodiverse and disabled communities”.

News on Friday, 23 June 2023

Posted 23/06/2023

University of Queensland to partner with Paralympics Australia

According to Paralympics Australia, while three-quarters of Australians with disability want to play sport, only one-quarter get the chance. In an effort to overturn this low percentage, world-leading sport science researchers at The University of Queensland (UQ) have partnered with Paralympics Australia ahead of the 2032 Games. Para-swimmer and UQ student, Lakeisha Patterson, told NT News: “Most of the time, people with a disability want to be involved and help their clubs or communities be more accessible, but a lot of organisations or facilities don’t have the knowledge or awareness of how they can be more inclusive. Funding is also quite a disadvantage.” 

WHO launches disability-inclusive health services training package

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released The WHO Disability-Inclusive Health Services Training Package which, alongside its previously published WHO Disability-Inclusive Health Services Toolkit, “will help ensure equitable access to health services, best-quality outcomes and improved quality of life for all people with disabilities to achieve universal health coverage”. The need for tools like this was explored by Liel Bradford in her recent op-ed for Hireup, “Experiencing ableism in the medical field can be life altering”. Find the training package and other resources on the WHO website. 

NSW Tobacco Control Campaign portrays tube-feeding as “the end of the world”

Melissa Ward’s son eats – and thrives – by tube-feeding. In an opinion piece for Hireup, Ward shares how it feels to see this way of eating used in a “threat-based campaign” to encourage people to quit smoking. “The NSW Tobacco Control Campaign uses tube-feeding in ‘a threat-based and graphic style campaign that encourages people who smoke to quit’,” writes Ward. “It portrays tube-feeding in an exceptionally negative and depressing light. As if a person who tube-feeds does not have a life worth living.”