Welcome to the second edition of the Melbourne Disability Institute newsletter The Melbourne Disability Institute is wrapping up for the year. This year we have been developing our strategic plan, hosting public lectures, organising workshops, developing our program of work and building our website with easy to understand stories about the research being undertaken at the University of Melbourne on the topic of disability. 2019 is looking to be even busier. We will launch our strategic plan in early 2019 and share information about applying for seed funding, community grants, doctoral research and much, much more. Watch this space and keep checking our website for updates. NDIS Housing Pathways PartnershipThe Brotherhood of St Laurence and the Melbourne Disability Institute are co-funding a project focusing on the promotion and facilitation of whole of community strategies to house NDIS participants in diverse, proven housing options. The project aims to inform people with disability and their families, local area coordinators and service providers on the different housing models available and practical tools to implement them. This initiative is being led by Joseph Connellan, the newest member of the MDI team. Get Involved! City of Melbourne invests in research to make Future Melbourne AccessibleMaking the City of Melbourne more inclusive for people with disability. A partnership between the City of Melbourne and the University of Melbourne aims to identify ways in which the City of Melbourne can be more inclusive for people with disability. This project is seeking participants to take part in a series of workshops that bring together people with disability, City of Melbourne staff, disability advocates and academics to brainstorm practical ways to make Melbourne more accessible. Click the button below to read more about the project and how you can be involved. Podcast of Dying for Change Public LectureImproving the health and wellbeing of people with intellectual disability. In Australia, if you have an intellectual disability you are likely to die 25 years earlier than someone in the general population. And you are twice as likely to die from a preventable death. But, it doesn't have to be that way. Improving the health and lives of Australians with intellectual disability is the topic for discussion in this 'Dying for Change' podcast, recorded at the public lecture held on 12 November. Coming up in 2019A lot of interesting public seminars, workshops and events will be happening in 2019, so don't forget to keep up to date by checking our website https://disability.unimelb.edu.au/ and following us on Twitter @mdi_unimelb. The Melbourne Disability Institute will be taking a break over the Christmas period. We will be hitting the ground running on 7 January 2019. From all of us here at the MDI, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year! |