Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA) Ltd

Some great events coming up this month from our team at the National Centre for Disability Advocacy (NCDA) 👇 Since the NCDA launched in 2022, the team has been running monthly networking events and webinars where experts from the disability and advocacy community dive into topics relevant to their work. These events have been so popular that there are often waitlists! The fantastic feedback we’re getting is a real testament to the hard work the team puts into planning, collaborating, and delivering events that help strengthen our sector. Here’s what advocates have had to say: “𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴! 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 :)” “𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴. 𝘓𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦.” “𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘐’𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭.” If you want to find out more about the NCDA events, contact the team below.

We are excited to work with the National Disability Research Partnership (NDRP) on a new co-designed research project. DANA's role is to explore how disability advocacy and consumer organisations can actively co-design and contribute to NDRP's research. We look forward to updating our members and community throughout the project.

Would you like to know more about the Foundational Supports consultations? The Department of Social Services has several upcoming events where you can attend a roundtable conversation, online or in person. Following ongoing demand and waitlists, DSS has announced two additional online events on general supports, which are filling quickly. A reminder that consultation closes on 30 November. 📅 Mon. 4 November ⏰ 12pm – 2.30pm AEDT 📅 Tues. 19 November ⏰ 12pm – 2.30pm AEDT 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gFMNNp7K In-person events are also happening around all states and territories, find the full list on the DSS Calendar and register now: https://lnkd.in/gRYhthMQ

Listen now to the latest SBS News podcast to hear DANA’s Deputy CEO, El Gibbs, share why our disability community is concerned about the recent changes to the NDIS Support lists. El highlights the critical need for state departments and agencies to work together to ensure no one falls through the cracks. “When it comes to the NDIS and disability funding, that plays out right in the very lives and homes of people with disability,” El says. She raises crucial questions about the gaps in support, like who funds essential items such as home modifications or life-saving equipment when state and federal responsibilities clash. Listen here on the SBS News website: https://ow.ly/Gisu50THpPq

As frontline advocates, our members have firsthand experience with how the NDIS Commission monitors and regulates supports. Now is the time to share your insights! The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) is auditing the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and we encourage you to contribute your experiences. The audit is open until October 27, 2024. We've heard from many of you about slow and ineffective processes in key areas like data collection, risk-responsive monitoring, and information sharing. This audit is a crucial opportunity to make sure these issues are addressed. Members who would like to directly contribute to this audit, can do so by using our ready-made template. Contact our policy team for more info: policy@dana.org.au

As International Week of Deaf People #IWDP continues, today's theme puts a spotlight on building resilient Deaf communities in the face of disasters. Disasters do not discriminate and Deaf communities are especially vulnerable. Join the movement by advocating for #SignLanguageRights and fostering strong partnerships between Deaf communities and emergency responders. For more information, read more from the World Federation of the Deaf !

It’s the 2024 National Virtual Disability Conference and DANA is excited to be involved. Alana Starr, our Priorities Project Lead, will join the Foundational Supports panel, while Siobhan Clair from our Policy team will take part in a group presentation on the Future of Advocacy. As an industry partner, we're proud to support this important event. #VirtualDisabilityConference #DisabilityAdvocacy

Yesterday, our CEO, Jeff Smith, participated in a panel at the DARU's Strengthening Disability Advocacy Conference 2024 in Melbourne, which focused on unpacking the Victorian Response to the Disability Royal Commission. He was joined by Sandy Ross from our member organisation RIAC, Deborah Fewster from VCOSS, and Philip Waters from Deaf Victoria. Jeff spoke about the need to redouble our efforts to have a seat at the table at a difficult time for the community. He said that, at the moment, governments are mainly negotiating amongst themselves about the Royal Commission and then coming to the community. He also spoke about DANAs work in identifying priorities for people with disability across both the major reform processes - such as advocacy, foundational supports, housing, eligibility and access to disability supports, keeping people safe and representation and inclusion. These issues resonate at both a federal and state level and give us a blueprint for prioritising the next set of actions to focus on. “The response to the Royal Commission was underwhelming and demoralising for people with disability after all this time…however, there is still enormous room for agency on the part of the sector. We have the imprimatur of the Royal Commission itself, which I think we can hold on and, for example, link to Australia's Disability Strategy that gives us a framework for implementation. Thanks to Disability Advocacy Resource Unit for a great event!

New Statement from the DANA Board Last week, DANA signed onto a powerful statement released by Australia’s Disability Representative Organisations (DROs) condemning the violence and abuse faced by people with disability in our community. Our Board has now issued its own statement, formally endorsing the DRO Statement and supporting the urgent call to end this disrespect, division, anger and abuse within our community. 👉 Read the full statement here: https://lnkd.in/gw_QRHdn

Upcoming events this week from the DANA and NCDA Team ⬇ Here are two events that may interest our members: 𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄: Future of Advocacy online forum on Zoom, hosted by DANA. Share your insights on shaping the future of the advocacy sector. 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆: Manager Peer Network session on ‘Reflective Practice and Supervision’. Learn about different supervision models and how to build a reflective culture to improve outcomes for clients and staff wellbeing. Consider attending and sharing with your team! 📩 To register, members can contact us at: comms@dana.org.au or ncda@dana.org.au