Some of Our Parts

Community Training Now Available!

The Australian Centre for Disability Law has started free online Learning Together community training.

This training is for students with disability, families of students with disability and advocates who assist students with disability.

Online training is now available for students with disability, their families and advocates.

The training will be practical and interactive, and it will focus on:

• Your rights
• How to build a good relationship your school or education provider
• Communication tips
• How to deal with issues if they arise.

Register Now!

9 September |  10:00am to 11:30am
16 September  |  9:30am to 11:00am
7 October  |  1:00pm to 2:30pm
18 October  |  11:00am to 12:30pm

What is This Project All About?

ACDL has been funded by the Department of Social Services (DSS) through their Information Linkages & Capacity Building (ILC) programme to make it easier for students with disability to stay in mainstream education and reach their full potential.

They have created a detailed toolkit so that students and families can understand their rights, and advocate more effectively for reasonable adjustments.

• Please see the following link to register today – https://disabilitylaw.org.au/projects/education/
• Any questions, please contact Laura – lcottam@disabilitylaw.org.au

Diversity and Inclusion Week – Register For Events Now!

• Don’t forget to register for online events running all week, 13-17 September (Week 8).

Underpinned by the Diversity and Inclusion Framework, the week celebrates our diverse community and strengthens our inclusive culture.

It’s about helping to create an environment of involvement, respect and connection through sharing and learning from one another.

Looking for Something Different to Do During Your Lunchtime?

There are online events running everyday at lunchtime (12 – 2pm) during Diversity and Inclusion Week 13–17 September.

• Monday – Understanding Intersectionality in the Learning Environment
• Tuesday – Spring Celebrations Across Cultures
• Wednesday – *Autism: A Personal Perspective, and Beyond Braille: Inclusive Tech for a Fairer World
• Thursday – Mentoring and Mental Health: Opening the Conversation, and *Understanding Autism
• Friday – Super Women

*Events hosted by Disability Support Services

Visit the Diversity and Inclusion Week website to find out more and to register for over 50 upcoming events. https://www.monash.edu/diversity-inclusion/week

There’s something for everyone so make sure not to miss out!

• Register for events now.

AND’s Accessible Procurement Taskforce launches the ‘ICT Tender Tool’

At AND’s Annual National Conference: Igniting Innovation through Inclusion, the AND-established Accessible Procurement Taskforce launched the ICT Tender Tool.

What is the ICT Tender Tool?

The ICT Tender Tool supports organisations to procure accessible and inclusive Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

The ICT tool can also be used to evaluate and determine the accessibility of ICT resources.

“The tool clearly articulates what accessible goods and services look like,” says Matt Hawkins, ANZ, Chair of the Accessible Procurement Taskforce. “Secondly, it provides responses that are easy for evaluation teams to score.”

• You can read more about the ICT Tender Tool on AND’s website.

Share your story (*PAID opportunity!)

The Workability Project is looking for students with disability interested in participating in a paid interview to talk about their ability and Post-school pathways for Workability Series on Vimeo and in-person speaking opportunities at schools to students and staff.

To apply, you must have a disability or live with ‘diverseability’.

• Aged 16 years or older
• Have experience in employment or running their own business
• Available during school hours
• Be able to attend One Day Training

Different ways to get involved:

• Speaking to small groups of students with disabilities
• Take part in a Video interview
• Write your story for a newsletter or social media

 Share your experience with any of the following topics:

• Work experience
• TAFE/ University
• Apprenticeships
• How you talk about the ability
• Rights at Work 

Want to get involved?

Apply Here

Guidelines – Supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students Online

ADCET and the NDCO program are excited to launch Guidelines – Supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students Online. This resource is a part of a COVID response project, funded by DESE.

Content includes the impacts and challenges of online learning and provides information around everything from using captions, speech to text technology and tips and tricks when teaching.

The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic led to multiple challenges across all levels of education. Many of these challenges centred around the provision of accessible and inclusive online education for people with disability.

The guidelines were developed by Joe-Anne Kek-Pamenter who works at Griffith University and is Deaf herself. And the project was overseen by Cathy Easte, Bobby Blackson and Gary Kerridge.

When Does an Online Video Need Audio Description?

*From Australian Network on Disability

A video with audio description will have a separate audio track that describes what’s happening on screen for those who can’t see it. Key visual elements, such as actions, scenery, expressions and on-screen text, are described by the narrator to ensure people who are blind or have low vision don’t miss out on important visual information.

Think about it in the context of a promotional video on your website, an instructional video within an online learning course, or a live interview shared on social media. Do all of these need audio descriptions to be accessible?

From an online and technical point of view, the answer lies with the World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C. Through its Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) – the global standard for web accessibility – the W3C specifies three levels of conformance when it comes to audio description: Level A, Level AA and Level AAA. But unless you’re fairly well-versed in the Guidelines, deciding when audio description is needed can still be tricky.

Thankfully, Vision Australia has come up with three easy-to-follow decision trees to make it simpler….

*For more information, read the full article at Australian Network on Disability

Evacuation Procedures for People with Disability

*From Australian Network on Disability

Being an inclusive employer means taking every employee’s needs into consideration when implementing Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) procedures. Procedures for fire and other emergencies should always include provisions for the evacuation of people with disability.

As an employer, it’s your responsibility to make sure all employees are aware of the evacuation procedures in the workplace. Here is what you need to consider in order to ensure your evacuation procedure is inclusive of people with disability.

Always keep in mind, the nature of each person’s disability is unique and the best way to prepare is to discuss and develop evacuation procedures with the individuals.

Evacuation considerations

Appropriate structures need to be put in place to ensure all employees can evacuate in an emergency.

To ensure safe evacuation, a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) should be implemented for each individual with disability.

A PEEP is a practical measure to ensure appropriate, agreed actions are taken for the individual in an emergency. This customised document provides the framework for the planning and provision of emergency evacuation of a person with disability.

It is best practice to plan the assistance required (if any) well before any emergency occurs.

Essential steps

• A fire warden should be nominated for each work area, for example per floor in an office building, or a section of a warehouse or factory.
• A PEEP should be in place for any person with disability requiring assistance to evacuate in an emergency. The fire warden should be aware of any PEEPs in place for people with disability in their work area and have an understanding of the assistance that is required.
• Fire warden to advise emergency personnel (for example, firefighters and police) of the location of people with reduced mobility in refuge areas.
• Evacuation drills should be conducted regularly, including practice for evacuating people with disability.
• Emergency exits should be clearly shown using illuminated exit signs.
• Emergency and evacuation procedures should be clearly displayed on appropriate signage.

*For more information read the full article at Australian Network on Disability

What Are Equity Scholarships?

Equity scholarships recognise groups experiencing disadvantage and the impact it can have on their educational progress. Monash awards equity scholarships to students who come from one or more of our defined equity or personal disadvantage groups:

• Indigenous Australian descent
• recent refugees
• experiencing difficult circumstances
• have a low income
• from regional and remote areas
• having a disability or long term medical condition
• attended an under-represented school.

Go to this search page for a comprehensive list of Equity Scholarships for different faculties.

Merit and equity

Merit and equity scholarships help high achievers succeed despite disadvantage.

Monash offers many different types of coursework scholarships such as honours, postgraduate, sport, research and international scholarships.

Check out the information relevant to you:

• Current students
• Prospective students

Scholarships and Grants Available for 2019

All offers are subject to scholarship terms and conditions and require you to meet eligibility criteria and enrol in a relevant course at a Monash University campus in Australia.

Graduate Research Scholarships

For Graduate Research Scholarships (including Monash Equity Scholarship) see this web page .

Monash Support Scholarships

Monash Support Scholarships are provided to current and commencing students whose educational achievements may have been masked by their personal circumstances. The scholarship is awarded based on need – there is no specific ATAR requirement.

You may be eligible if you are a low income earner and intending to study an undergraduate or graduate degree at Monash. Find out more at this web page.

We are seeking student volunteers to work in the Student Life tent on Monash’s Open Day at both Caulfield and Clayton on Sunday 2nd August. We are looking for students who have engaged with Monash services, supports, student organisations through their studies and are willing to speak about their Monash experience.

Volunteers will be working approximately 10 am – 4pm (including a break) and will be responsible for talking to prospective students about SJU programs including Disability Services, Cultural Inclusion and Ally Network/LGBTIQ inclusion. You will also be inducted to have some understanding of other student engagement/support programs including volunteering, careers, counselling, residential services etc.

Volunteers will receive training prior to Open Day to assist them in promoting the SJU and will receive a $95 Coles Myer voucher and Monash hoodie.

If you are interested please complete the expression of interest form.

James Ong, Monash PhD student has received the Sir John Monash Medal for Outstanding Achievement.