Some of Our Parts

Happy Monday.

The laudable Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Graeme Innes AM will be giving his last speech on Wednesday the 2nd July 2014 at the National Press Club in Canberra.

Mr Innes, who was appointed by the Howard Government in December 2005, finishes in the role July 4.

More details to follow.

Almost every Friday, we post disability news from around the world here on the Some of Our Parts blog.

Here’s a sample from this week’s news reel:

• Have an autoimmune disease and feel like no one gets you? Here are 15 celebrities who understand!
• Have you seen those emotional ‘Deaf Person Hears for the First Time’ videos on the net? Some thoughts about why they might not be as inspiring as they seem.
• Any biomedical engineering students out there? Here’s a rewarding task you might want to take on after exams are over.
• Check out this poignant video tackling stigmas attached to depression and mental health conditions.
• An innovative invention for those who experience hand tremors
• Spent time in a psychiatric hospital lately? How would you redesign it if you go the chance?

Washable paint walls?

The Department of Social Services is offering a challenging and meaningful career at the heart of the Australian Government’s social policy agenda.

The DSS have a central role in delivering policies and programs that improve the lifetime wellbeing of people and families in Australia. They are responsible for about a quarter of the Australian Government Budget, responding to need across people’s lives, encouraging independence and participation, and supporting a cohesive society.

The Department is committed to providing a diverse and inclusive workforce that supports the employment of people with disability. As an education institution that shapes our future leaders, the DSS considers it imperative to work together to provide transitional opportunities for university graduates with disability, and strengthen relationships between tertiary education and employment. Currently, DSS is participating in the Australian Public Service (APS) RecruitAbility Scheme Pilot. The purpose of the Scheme is to support and increase employment of people with disability.

Please email Andy Paras, Director of Learning, Development and Diversity, at diversity@dss.gov.au if you require any further information.

What does the budget mean for you and your disability?

• It’s time to raise our expectations
• Disability advocates urge Federal Government to work with big business to create jobs
• Budget crackdown to hit younger people on disability pensions
• People on disability support pension to have ability to work reassessed
• Disability Support Pension changes unlikely to feature in May budget: Kevin Andrews
• Disability in Budget 2014

The Human Rights Arts and Film Festival is showing its commitment to improving the accessibility of the festival for all festivalgoers. HRAFF’s accessible services have been made possible thanks to the support of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. We make every effort to ensure our accessibility information is correct; please contact us if you find any errors so we can update our information.

Download a text version of the program here (Word)

Download a text version of the program here (PDF)

For information regarding service dogs, wheelchair access, companion cards, audio description, assistive listening, AUSLAN and captions, see the HRAFF’s accessibility page.

Calling all legal eagles! It’s Law Week in Melbourne next week starting the 12th of May.

Law Week is an annual festival of events that makes learning about the law easy. Held in May each year, the seven-day program has taken place across Victoria since 1980. Presented by the Victoria Law Foundation, Law Week offers Victorians the opportunity to find answers to everyday legal issues, go behind the scenes at the courts, or simply get carried away in the drama of the law.

Some program highlights include:

• You decide who decides – understanding enduring powers of attorney
• Your rights at work
• Unpaid internships – experience or exploitation?
• Courts Open Day – Road Trauma Support Services
• Community BBQ presented by Fitzroy Legal Service and Inner Melbourne Community Legal
• Speed date a lawyer
• Everyone like me – an exhibition at West Heidelberg Community Legal Service

What it’s like to identify as a woman with disability and a feminist? Are there particular antagonisms between disability as a political category and feminism as a political project? What is the social model of disability and what can feminists learn from it?

Just some of the areas feminists and disability theorists and activists share space in are: body autonomy, positive difference, reproductive rights, street harassment, sexual assault, sex positivity, sex work and media portrayals of women and disability. There’s a lot to talk about!

And just as with feminism, we’re seeing more and more public conversations about disability but they’re not always positive or helpful. Let’s have a look at them together – where they overlap, intersect and sometimes, flat out contradict one another, causing tension, misunderstandings, and sometimes, harm. Disability is certainly a subject that mainstream feminism needs to get a lot more literate around, so this will hopefully make a contribution.

The panel will feature:

Dr Shakira Hussein – writer, researcher, academic, feminist

Jax Jacki Brown – perfomer, writer, educator, feminist

Jessica Knight – poet, arts writer, artist, feminist

Cherchez La Femme is held at The Duke, which we chose largely because it’s fully wheelchair accessible. But my goodness, the food is delicious too! Right near Flinders Street Station, opposite the Forum Theatre, with parking available across the road at Fed Square.

Tuesday 6 May 7-9pm
The Duke Level One (upstairs via elevator)
Cnr Russell & Flinders Sts Melbourne
Tickets $15 online & $20 on the door*
Kitchen open all night

Welcome back to another week of the DLU Friday round up. Public holidays and long weekends have meant that we’ve missed a couple of Friday Round Ups, but hold tight, I’ve got a bunch of the best and most exciting disability related news articles and events around Melbourne for you today.

• NEXT TUESDAY NIGHT – Make time to check out the very exciting event run by Cherchez La Femme, ‘Disability and Feminism’, a panel discussion featuring Dr Shakira Hussein (writer, researcher, academic, feminist), Jax Jacki Brown (perfomer, writer, educator, feminist) and Jessica Knight (poet, arts writer, artist, feminist). At the Duke of Wellington on Flinders Lane – tickets from here.
• For those with an interest in non-visual art, you should check out Smell You Later. As the program states: ‘audiences are invited to participate in non-visual artwork experiences by creating scent-based Next Wave Festival memories with Smell You Later. Discover a series of scent-based encounters embedded within Festival venues and sniff out the scent trail that winds through corridors, stairwells, lobbies and bathrooms.’
• Speaking of non-visual arts, the Metropolitan Museum in New York is holding regular ‘Seeing through Drawing’ classes for Blind or Partially sighted visitors. In fact, they have a range of programs for visitors with different disabilities ranging from mobilities to Autism spectrum.
• Auslan Stage Left are a non-for-profit organisation that enables and provides quality Auslan interpreted theatre, and training to interpreters and deaf consultants in the area of theatre interpreting.  Check out some the feedback from their Grease show and you can keep an eye out for their upcoming shows here.
• It’s Budget time – where is the NDIS now?
  
• An interesting read for job-seeking grads – how do you disclose hidden disabilities to future employers?
  
• Although recent news seems to suggest that employees with hidden disabilities such as Autism are being sought after. So much so that Freddie Mac is offering specific internships for recent graduates and current students on the autism spectrum.

And finally, some wisdom from Gothe