Posts tagged Disability

Aboriginal-driven research is a must for Indigenous say in disability policy, says John Gilroy

0 Comments read Disability, Health & Science, Indigenous, NDIS
Dr John Gilroy. Photo Credit: Supplied by JG.

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 04.01.2021 (Hireup): Aboriginal-owned and driven research is essential to enable Indigenous people to have a voice in disability policy, says John Gilroy, a Koori man from the Yuin nation. His lived experience of growing up with a significant speech impediment, linked to a chronic respiratory condition, has made him a passionate advocate of Aboriginal and disability rights.

He recommends the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) should invest more resources into building and up-skilling the current National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) planning workforce and the Aboriginal community-controlled services sector.

“The NDIS is built on a white fella capitalist viewpoint of purchasing services and working on for-profit market-based philosophies. This goes against the grain of how many Aboriginal people want to engage with services and supports relating to their disabilities or being carers of people with a disability,” says Gilroy, associate professor and deputy director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research at the University of Sydney.

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The omnipresence of Omicron as we usher in 2022

7 Comments read Features
Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

The incisive eyes of a Powerful Owl were staring at me from the last page of the wall calendar. The days had melted into weeks and then months. 2021 had begun on a note of optimism, ignited by a promise of vaccines against the novel coronavirus, but that ray of hope has been eclipsed by the lengthening shadow of new mutations.

A more transmissible mutation — the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant is surging unhindered as we usher in another year of living with SARS-CoV-2. The omnipresence of Omicron has dimmed New Year festivities and disrupted family reunions, just as we were hoping life would return to some form of normalcy.

Globally, on an average one million new coronavirus cases are being recorded daily. Public health systems have been stretched to a breaking point. Doctors, nurses, medical laboratory professionals, pharmacists, scientists and the innumerable health professionals have spent most part of their waking hours over the past two years helping the world cope with the pandemic.

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Employ more Aboriginal people in the disability service sector, says June Riemer

0 Comments read Disability, Indigenous, NDIS
June Riemer. Photo Credit: Supplied by FPDN

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 20.12.2021 (Hireup): June Riemer, a proud Gumbaynggirr Dunghutti woman and Deputy CEO of First Peoples Disability Network has led national campaigns for better, more inclusive and culturally appropriate access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for her people. She speaks to me about why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a disability face numerous barriers in accessing and navigating the NDIS and what measures can be taken to ensure they receive culturally appropriate supports.

“The NDIS wasn’t designed culturally, whether that’s for the First Nations people or the culturally and linguistically diverse community,” says Riemer, who won the 2021 NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year award in recognition of her four decades of advocacy for Indigenous people with a disability.

“Culturally, given Australia’s history and the fact that we weren’t even citizens till 1967, having a disability within our communities is not any different because everyone’s at a disadvantage. This is a good thing because disability is not seen as a deficit, but it’s about caring and supporting someone, who might need more help, for example, with walking or communicating,” she adds.

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