Building Ministers agree to include mandatory minimum accessibility standards in the National Construction Code It has taken many years to get here, but from next year all new homes in Australia will be built to meet minimum accessibility standards. Last week Building ministers convened to discuss the proposal to include mandatory minimum accessibility standards in the NCC. With support from Victoria, Northern Territory, Queensland and the ACT, an agreement has been reached to make the 'Silver level standard' mandatory for all new housing.The Gold Standard will also be included in the NCC as a ‘technical referral’ meaning states and territories can decide to upgrade to Gold voluntarily. While there is still work to do to secure a mandatory Gold Standard, this is a big win for people with disability, seniors and indeed all Australians. Congratulations to
everyone who has worked over many many years to secure this critical reform. Over the last few months, the Melbourne Disability Institute (MDI) joined with disability advocates across Australia to express significant concerns about the Federal Government’s planned changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and, in particular, the introduction of Independent Assessments (IA). The next hearing to cover the proposed independent assessments is scheduled for 4 May 2021. If you would like to follow along, visit the Committee website below and follow along using the 'Track Inquiry' option under Independent Assessments. A disgrace, NDIS architect slams robo-planning proposal NDIS Changes will blow up support scheme Free music workshops for children on the autism spectrum Music making and singing in groups is a great way for children and young people to socialise and work together. The University of Melbourne is running a series of 10 music workshops as part of a research project to learn more about how music making helps social connections and wellbeing. This project is for: Workshop details: COVID-19 Vaccine and the Disability Support Workforce Between March and April 2021, researchers from the University of Melbourne and UNSW Canberra conducted an online survey of over 350 disability support workers (DSWs) about their opinions and needs surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine. Findings show that trust in independent medical advice is strongly associated with vaccine acceptance. Vaccinating the highest-risk groups first was the plan. But people with disability are being left behind Do you want to learn more about the NDRP or how you can get involved? NDRP Governance Model You can access these documents and sign up for a consultation on the NDRP website here. We need to invest in the careers of researchers and policy makers with disability It doesn’t seem too much of an ambit claim to say we have reached a crossroads in terms of inclusive research practice. There are increasing expectations that people with disability will feature in research projects through co-researcher and lived experience positions, and to a limited extent, this is increasingly reflected in guidelines for grants and funding. However, we are yet to see this expertise translate into opportunities that encourage significant investment in career development of disabled scholars and researchers and to building a ‘third wave’ of inclusive research where leadership is by disabled people, above and beyond our contribution to research practice (valuable as this is). Read more. Find out about opportunities and events that are happening in the community below. Interested in promoting your event, sharing a job posting, research opportunity or another item of interest? Send the details through to Sara.Donaldson@unimelb.edu.au. |