Some of Our Parts

Hearing Help for Bushfire Affected Communities across Australia

Hearing Australia has established an emergency hearing help service to support its clients and members of the community in bushfire affected areas across Australia.

Hearing Australia will help all people with hearing loss to have access to support during the bushfire crisis.

The service is available to anyone needing hearing help and includes:

• An emergency Helpline 1800 826 500 available 8.30am to 5.00pm AEST, seven days a week
• Access to emergency appointments to see a qualified audiologist at the nearest Hearing Australia centre
• Priority support services including hearing checks, replacement hearing aids and batteries
• Hearing Australia bus will visit communities in bushfire impacted areas when it is safe to provide hearing healthcare

Hearing Australia will work with government services like Centrelink and local organisations so that people living in bushfire affected areas know how to get help from Hearing Australia if and when they need it.

More information here.

A Comprehensive Guide to Making Your Conference Accessible

Zero Project has released a comprehensive guide that supports organisations to plan and deliver conferences that are accessible and inclusive of people with disability.

The Zero Project Conference Accessibility Guidelines provides detailed, practical advice on:

1. Preparing for your conference;
2. Making written and video material accessible;
3. Orientation at the conference venue;
4. Creating participatory and inclusive conference sessions; and
5. Communication after the conference.

To read more and get a copy of the guidelines, visit the Australian Network on Disability website.

Applications Open NOW for Mentoring Positions!

Please note that applications for Australian Network on Disability’s mentoring program, PACE Autumn 2020 are now open, and are closing at the end of February 2020.

Another Paid Internship Opportunity Available

AND has another paid internship opportunity available! The position is for 3 months with commencement in late-January 2020.

• Latrobe City Council (Morwell) – Organisational Development Officer Intern

The intern will provide professional and administrative support and assistance to the Organisational Development team. Main tasks would include:

• Sourcing and scheduling training
• Set up and pack up of training venue
• Ordering catering, purchase orders and general administration
• Administration of performance appraisal system
• Administration of learning management system
• Facilitate some training (i.e. corporate induction)
• Some travel required

The role is open to current University students in their penultimate or final year of study, and TAFE students studying a Cert IV or above. The role is also open to those who have recently graduated. If this sounds like you, or someone you know, please apply here or you can visit the Students page of the Connect50 website to apply or download the Position Description. Applications for the role are open until Sunday January 12^th 2020.

*P.S. From all of us at DSS, we hope you have a safe and enjoyable Christmas and New Year. Our office will re-open on 2 January 2020.

If you watched the 2018 ABC TV series Employable Me as it followed people with neuro-diverse conditions such as autism and Tourette Syndrome looking for work, then you came across the Xceptional, an IT recruitment firm (that gave Tim a job).

Founded by Mike Tozer as a tech service in 2017, Xceptional quickly evolved into employing people on the spectrum as software testers and data analysts. It set itself an ambitious goal of helping 1000 people find work, having already put 30 candidates in specialised IT roles.

“Our growth to date speaks to the incredible opportunity in placing neurodiverse candidates in specialised roles and shattering any stigma around hiring these candidates,” he said.

“Those on the autism spectrum, for example, often have remarkable attention to detail and advanced problem-solving skills, making them ideal candidates for complex code testing tasks.” – Mike Tozer, Xceptional’s CEO

Read more on the Startup Daily online article.

Create Your Future – Showcasing People with Disability from a CALD Background

Create Your Future is a film project showcasing the successes and challenges experienced by people with disability from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds. These films aim to build aspiration for tertiary education and employment amongst those facing similar issues, and to create deeper and broader cultural understandings to encourage culturally safe, accessible and inclusive support services.

Original short films, made with and for people with disability from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, sharing personal stories from their own unique cultural perspective.

To view the films, and for more information, see the NDCO website.

Specialist Disability Accommodation National Seminar Series

Developing and Managing SDA

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will soon be spending more than $22 Billion per annum on services for over 460,000 people with disability across Australia. The NDIS is creating huge opportunities (and challenges) for housing development.

This includes but extends beyond the development of an additional 14,000 places of the NDIS funded Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA).

Seminar attendees will be provided with information about the NDIS housing landscape, SDA and development pathways as well as key issues and trends from skilled practitioners.

Who should attend? ​

• Investors
• Investment advisors
• Developers
• Architects
• Building Surveyors
• Support Providers
• Builders
• Architects
• Law firms
• Support Coordinators
• Policymakers
• Owners and managers of existing housing for NDIS participants
• Self-managed superannuation fund owners

Early bird seminar price: $650 per person for the full-day seminar. The Melbourne date is 31 March 2020.

• ​Price after Early bird:  $750 per person for the full-day seminar
  Includes lunch, morning and afternoon tea. 
• Click here for more Specialist Disability Accommodation Seminar information.

MNHS Invites You to a Panel Event to Celebrate IDPWD

You Are Invited

• Venue: Meeting room G30, Ground floor, New Horizons Building (located at 20 Research Way, Clayton campus)
• For those attending in person, light refreshments will be served from 12:30 pm. Panel discussion will commence from 1.00 pm
• The panel discussion will start at 1:00 pm Melbourne time (10:00 am Kuala Lumpur time, Sunway campus)

2020 Department of Justice and Community Safety Disability Scholarships Program

Are you a person with a disability who is studying a justice related course such as Law, Criminology, Social Work, Psychology, Paralegal or other justice related course?

The Department of Justice and Community Safety (Victorian Government) is offering Scholarship opportunities for students with a disability in 2020.

*Click here for a flyer about this program.

Delivering Ambulance Victoria’s First Accessibility Action Plan

Following an extensive consultation involving over 300 patients, paramedics and community members with or representing those with disability, Ambulance Victoria is proud to launch its Accessibility Action Plan. The plan outlines how Ambulance Victoria will better meet the needs of people with disability, including their patients, staff and community. The plan focuses on four key areas:

1. Inclusion and participation
2. Information, services and facilities
3. Employment, training and volunteering
4. Fairness, respect and safety

The Plan is available in a number of accessible formats that have been tested for screen reader compatibility.

While Ambulance Victoria’s Accessibility Action Plan is now live, their work to deliver a better and more accessible service that supports everyone in their time of need continues.

Please see the Ambulance Victoria web page with more information about its Accessibility Action Plan.

Shining a light on autism

Shining a light on autism and life on the spectrum, My Friend Autism is a podcast breaking down barriers, stigma and misconceptions around Autism.

Host Orion Kelly is autistic and aims to have open conversations that inform, engage and ultimately make the world a better place for autistic people. Orion is currently studying law at Monash.

*On this episode Orion is joined by the Founder and Chief Enabling Officer of the I CAN Network, Chris Varney – https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode/488614

Website: www.orionkelly.com.au

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OrionKellyInc