Who better than people with disability, their families and allies to tell the Disability Royal Commission real stories of how people with disability can be valued, respected and included members of our society?

The Disability Royal Commission has been established to prevent people with disability experiencing violence, abuse and exploitation in Australia and to better protect them. As it is also charged with promoting a more inclusive society that supports people with disability to be independent and live free from those things, it will make recommendations about how Australia could become both more inclusive and safer. It is calling for your ideas and experiences on how Australia could do better in its Promoting Inclusion Issues Paper, by the new date of 4^th June 2021.

Understandably, the Disability Royal Commission is happening because much still needs to change in our society for the people we care about. However at CRU, we also know that a lot of positive change has already happened for many individuals. Some extraordinary – and some wonderfully ordinary –  things have been achieved. Across Queensland and Australia there are many untold stories of people with disability taking their place as valued members of their community. Kids learning together at school, having a meaningful job with real wages, being a helpful and appreciated neighbour, an active volunteer or community member, a skilled and respected hobbyist, to being a responsible and engaged citizen.

These stories of belonging and inclusion are very often the result of thoughtful planning and intentional efforts. They could be enlightening examples for the Disability Royal Commission, to show what is possible, and what it really takes. We believe these real stories could potentially influence the Royal Commission’s final recommendations, and hopefully the opportunities and experiences of generations to come. This is why we want to make sure you know of this opportunity.

We encourage you to draw on your experiences to make a submission to the Disability Royal Commission on the topic of inclusion, to help them understand what helps and what gets in the way in our efforts. A submission can be as long or as short as you want, and be in whatever format or language works best for you. There are guiding questions in the Promoting Inclusion Issues Paper, and our friends at Family Advocacy in NSW have recorded a webinar on responding to the issues paper. Alternatively, you could prepare a simple submission about what inclusion means in your experience using the following questions:

• What are your experiences of being included?
• What difference has belonging to something made in your life?
• In your efforts, what helped you to feel like you were included – what did you or others need to do?
• What barriers to belonging have you experienced – what stopped you, or slowed you down?
• Do you have ideas and suggestions about what would help others to overcome the barriers, or how we could get rid of the barriers altogether?

If you would like to share your story of inclusion this could be a response to the DRC’s issues paper, in which case they are encouraging you to respond by 4^th June 2021 (originally the 2^nd April). You can send your submission to DRCEnquiries@royalcommission.gov.au, post it to GPO Box 1422, Brisbane 4001, or call 1800 517 199 to arrange a time to make your submission over the phone.

If your experiences include abuse, violence or neglect, or if there are particular individuals or organisations who have failed or done the wrong thing and this is relevant to the story you want to tell, it is a good idea to speak to an advocacy organisation. They can give you advice, help you get free legal advice, and support you to telling your story. You can use the national disability advocacy finder to find an advocacy organisation working in your area.

If you are finding that the Disability Royal Commission is affecting you, including through reports in the media, you can access free counselling support by calling the Blue Knott Foundation on 1800 421 468.

Registrations are closing for our first Inclusive Education Workshops for 2021!

Don’t miss the chance to learn more about what an effective inclusive education looks like and how to influence your child’s school experience.

Start the year armed with the most up to date information, a positive direction, and some new advocacy tools!

Working Effectively with your Child’s School (9.15-2.30pm) will be held at Cleveland on Friday 19^th February covering topics like how to recognise and advocate for good inclusive practice, reasonable adjustments, overcoming roadblocks, communication tips and advocacy.  A Department of Education representative will describe resources available and answer questions.

Our final half day introductory workshop Setting the Direction for Success will be held at Coorparoo on Tuesday 23^rd February provides an overview of the fundamentals of inclusion and how a positive vision is a potent tool for successful goal-setting and advocacy.

In the words of one parent: “Highly, highly recommend.  Changed my world, my perspective and most importantly my son’s world”

Printed resources for ongoing learning are provided at both workshops and there will be lots of opportunity for supportive conversations.

We are running our ‘Working Effectively with Your Child’s School‘ workshop at the following times and places:

• 26th February – Mackay
• 2nd March – Charleville
• 9th March – Logan
• 11th March – Townsville
• 19th March – Jindalee
• 26th March – Bundaberg
• 14th May – Caboolture
• 21st May – Ipswich

Regional families in other locations than those listed above are encouraged to contact us to enquire about travel sponsorship.

It has been a busy few months at CRU as the team has settled back into working mostly at the CRU office with occasional days working from home. As you know we have offered a number of webinars and online workshops and we are just about to start offering some face to face events for the first time since March.  We have lots of safeguards in place –and we are starting by booking small numbers to allow plenty of space and we are booking venues that are easy to cancel if needed.

The Families for Inclusive Education project have organised workshops here at CRU, and at the Gold Coast, Rockhampton and Toowoomba.

• Setting the Direction for Success EVENING, at the CRU Office, South Brisbane: Tuesday 27^th October, 6.15pm to 8.30pm – click here to register

 Please note: The ‘Setting Direction for Success’ workshop is our ONLY evening session this year and particularly relevant if you are new or newish to inclusive education.

 Working Effectively with Your Child’s School, to be held in:-

• • Toowoomba, Thursday 29^th October, 9.15am to 2.30pm – click here to register
  • Rockhampton, Friday 6^th November, 9.15am to 2.30pm – click here to register
  • Gold Coast, Monday 9^th November, 9.15am to 2.30pm – click here to register

CRU is also delighted to be able to offer workshops in these three locations where we had to cancel workshops earlier this year. A reminder that families in South West Queensland and Central Queensland who can travel to Toowoomba or Rockhampton, can apply for financial support with travel and accommodation to attend.  Contact us for more information by emailing lisabridle@cru.org.au

Getting to the Heart of What Matters, for support workers will be offered at the CRU office this week and next.  Numbers are limited and this workshop filled very fast so if you wanted to attend but were unsuccessful, please join the waiting list as that gives us a good indication of interest. We hope to offer it again before the end of the year.

We are testing the waters on face to face events and will re-evaluate before we plan for workshops in 2021.

Workshops, Online Workshops and Webinars

We will also continue to offer webinars and online workshops during the rest of 2020. When CRU refers to a webinar we mean a seminar type session, to a large audience that we record and Q&A is conducted through the chat function.  The online workshops are more interactive with a small group of people and are not recorded. You will still need to register for these online events, as places are limited.

If you are at all concerned about how to participate in an online event, please let us know and we can arrange a practice session before the event.

 The Families for Inclusive Education project have three more online conversations planned:

• Using the Human Rights Act to Protect the Rights of Students with Disability  – Wednesday 21 October – click here to register
• The How, What and Why of Authentic Inclusive Classroom Learning  – Tuesday 3 November – click here to register
• Taking Stock and Aiming High: Preparing for the 2021 School Year (evening session) – Tuesday 17 November – click here to register

There will be flyers coming out soon with details of more online workshops and webinars including sessions on Safeguarding and Succession with Dr Michael Kendrick. This first round of online events are all free of charge. In the future, CRU will continue to offer a mix of free events and fee paying events depending on what we have been able to attract government subsidy for.

New Book

We are excited to announce the release of a new book Ageing and the Good Things of Life: The Application of Social Role Valorization to Supporting People as they Age.

The book contains contributions from 14 key thinkers about ageing and Social Role Valorization (SRV), and includes never previously published chapters by Dr. Wolf Wolfensberger.

The book is edited by Ronda Held, John Armstrong, Ray Lemay & Susan Thomas, and published by Valor Press in Canada. CRU will be one of the Australian Distributors and it will also be available through Belonging Matters in Melbourne.

Click here to download the press release from the publisher, Valor Press, more detail on this book, or you can purchase it via our online bookstore.

Other News

I wanted to  also draw your attention to the launch of the “From School to Work” project which will run a series of webinars starting 16^th November.

This initiative is to equip high school students and their families with information and inspiration to seek employment.  Gina Barwell-Pickup has joined Jen Mouritz from CRU to work on this important project which will resource high school students and their families to think about and seek out employment.

If you wish to join the dedicated mailing list for this project please sign up on the From School to Work page.

We have also had some other new staff join us. Kelly Harrison is working with Danielle Mason on the Fee for service arm of CRU and Diana Kerr, Trish Murdoch and Trish Feehely have joined us in a casual capacity.

The Families for Inclusive Education Project newsletter is designed to provide an overview of key trends and issues impacting on inclusive education, but most of the featured organisations are independent of CRU.  You can contact them directly for more information on EducationProject@cru.org.au

At the Annual General Meeting this Wednesday, Fletcher Tame and Luke O’Sullivan who have served as Directors on the Board for the past five years will not be renominating. I want to acknowledge their contribution through a very tumultuous five years and thank them for their commitment to CRU.

While there has been lots of change behind the scenes at CRU, we remain, as always interested in the things that make life better for people with disability. We are happy to take a call if you want to talk something through – just give Kim and Kerrie a call and they will put you through to the right person.

Thank you for your support, encouragement and patience as CRU develops new ways work with you.

With best wishes

Margaret

Margaret Rodgers │ CEO

It has been a while since FFIE  have been able to offer Face to Face workshops so we are pleased to let you know we have the following Face to Face workshops scheduled for the remainder of Term 4.

Numbers are limited due to COVID restrictions so please remember to RSVP soon!

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This information was sent in a CRU Email update on Wednesday 6th May 2020.

With all of the information being circulated at the moment, and in the busy-ness of peoples’ lives we thought it might be helpful to pull some of the information together into one place.

This week we are drawing from a very broad range of interest areas so and hope there is something here for everyone.

WEBINARS AND ONLINE LEARNING

Communication with School – Building a Foundation for Partnerships Webinar, with the CRU Families for Inclusive Education Project Team

Effective parent and school partnerships may be more important now than ever. This webinar will give parents an opportunity to refocus their vision and goals for their son or daughter, and to explore effective communication and collaboration skills that can lead to achieving the best outcomes for their child. Effective advocacy strategies will be explored, including tips specific to email and phone communication.
Registrations closing Friday 8th of May for the LIVE session of the Webinar on Monday 11th of May (11am – 12noon), or the RECORDED Session on the 18th of May.
Please click on this text to register.
Note: For anyone who has not used ZOOM before, please let us know if you require ‘technical instructions’ and we can happily send these out to you.

Becoming a Better Communication Partner for Someone with Communication Needs

Dr Jane Remington-Gurney has developed an online, self-paced communication partner training course.
“Do you interact with someone who has a complex communication need? Are you frustrated by not being able to communicate smoothly with this person? Do you feel that your interaction is just a series of questions and answers rather than a conversation? Chances are that the person you are supporting shares your feelings of communication frustration. Only too often training courses for communication partners deal with one specific product or tool and leave you wondering about the big picture and how you develop their communication partner skills.”
Please click on this text to go to the website for more information or to register.

Universal Design in Housing

The Centre for Universal Design Australia has launched our new FREE e-learning course on universal design in housing.
“Home is the foundation upon which society functions and yet Australia still does not have a mandated minimum standard of universal design for dwellings. The course shows how housing fits into a broad policy context ; digs deep into the statistics to determine ‘need’; and assesses the current compliance context. Home Coming? provides a knowledge and evidence base to understand how housing contributes to economic, social and human rights outcomes in Australia and how a lack of mandated standards are affecting Australia’s productivity and prosperity.” Click on this text to find out more or register.

SURVEY

CYDA Annual Survey

Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) is conducting their annual survey on education issues and we would encourage you to make a contribution.
In the past, the CYDA surveys on education have produced important snapshots of the issues faced by students and their families which is able to inform systemic advocacy issues, highlighting the gap between what students and their families need and should be receiving in line with their human rights, legislation and policy – and what they experience. Obviously in noting good examples of inclusive education and supports, it also points to ways forward for systemic reform.

This annual education survey of young people and families is focusing on the COVID-19 environment this year. Please share widely with your networks as CYDA is keen to hear from as many young people with disability, and families, as possible. Click on this text to go to the online survey.

NEWSLETTER

Disability Royal Commission Newsletter, Edition 2 of CONNECT

Edition 2 of Connect, the newsletter from the Disability Royal Commission has now been released.
You can read the newsletter by clicking this text to link to the website.
This edition looks at the awareness and recognition of the rights of people with disability.
The DRC want to learn more about the level of awareness that people with disability, and the wider community, have about the rights of people with disability. They are also interested in attitudes towards people with disability, and want to know more about how those attitudes develop and what can be done to change them.

We hope you find some, or all, of the this information helpful and that you continue to keep safe during the COVID-19 distancing measures.

These videos were filmed by Community Resource Unit Ltd. (CRU) at a joint event held with Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) at Common Ground on the 18th February 2020.  The videos can be viewed on the playlist above, or can be viewed individually in our videos page.

This event discussed the Disability Royal Commission (DRC), its interest in education of children with disability and how people can share their stories with the Royal Commission.

CYDA has created a workbook to assist families as they prepare submissions around education.  Download the workbook here (MS Word).  They also have created some factsheets which we have linked to below.

Here is a list of links that relate to these videos:

CYDA

• Homepage
• Facebook
• Disability Royal Commission Factsheets
• Enquiries: 1800 222 660 or info@cyda.org.au

Disability Royal Commission (DRC)

• Website
• Brochure: Sharing your experience with the DRC
• Enquiries: 1800 517 199 or DRCenquiries@royalcommission.gov.au

Queensland Collective for Inclusive Education (QCIE)

• Homepage
• Facebook

Support for people making submission

• Counselling: Blue Knot Foundation.  Call 1800 421 468
• Legal advice: Your Story, Disability Legal Support.  Call 1800 711 800
• Free advocacy support: Disability Advocacy Finder
• Other support: Lifeline.  Call 13 11 14

Believing a good life is achievable is an excellent place to start.

The Seven Steps to Self-Direction workshop offers a practical framework for intentional thinking and planning about how to achieve a good life; a way of translating thoughts and dreams into do-able actions.

Self-direction has been found to give people with disability and their families greater choice and control, and more effective and flexible use of supports. Good support requires the right people to provide the right level of support at the right time. ‘Seven Steps’ can help you think creatively about how to make this happen.

Presenter Sharon Bourke has rich lived experience in supporting people with disability to live a good life.  As a family member she has hands-on experience of self-directing supports alongside her son, Dan.

As well as the chance to focus on the person and their vision and dreams, you will learn more about how to make a good match between the person and supporters, the ingredients of good support, building relationships of trust, and how to solve problems quickly and creatively to make support relationships sustainable.

Previous attendees have said:

“Using a good process to understand people – who they are, what is important to them etc.”

“It was brilliant. Well moderated by Sharon whose insight was astonishing. Very beneficial”

“Love the openness and honesty of the event”

Come along with your team if you can, but come, and start working through the ‘seven steps’.

Brisbane:

Monday 2nd March 2020
South Brisbane, CRU Office
Find out more information and register here

Gold Coast:

Thursday 23rd April 2020
The Glades Golf Club, Robina
Find out more information and register here

CRU is delighted to be working with CYDA (Children and Young People with Disability Australia) to co-host this workshop on Tuesday 18th February from 9.30am-12.30pm (morning tea provided).

Please arrive from 9am for a 9.30 start. The workshop will be held in the Gambaro Room, Commonground, 15 Hope Street, South Brisbane.

Bookings are essential for catering and venue purposes; please register your interest here:

Click here to register

This workshop will be an opportunity to learn about the Disability Royal Commission and how to have your say on the issue of education. For some of you this is of current concern and for others your son or daughter may have already graduated but you may have a story that you would like to tell.

The workshop will provide information about:

• The current Royal Commission,
• Practical tips and
• Support to prepare your own submission if you would like to do so.

The aim is to help students and parents to feel more confident about contributing their experiences and insights in order to guide the work of the Royal Commission.

On the day, there will be the opportunity to prepare (or at least begin to prepare) a submission – either a written or a video submission. Frequently asked questions will be addressed and you will have some opportunity to hear about other work being undertaken to promote inclusive education through engagement with the Disability Royal Commission.

Advocates from QAI and also SUFY who have funding to support individuals and families to tell their stories, will also be in attendance.

If you are not able to attend due to distance or competing commitments, let us know as we will distribute information following the event and CYDA may be able to resource you further.  CRU also intends to offer further workshops later in 2020.

Parking will be paid on-street parking (4-9 hour parks are available in the following streets – Hope, Montague, Merivale, Cordelia, Russell Streets) or you can park at the Queensland museum. Hope Street is very accessible for public transport – an easy walk from the cultural centre busway and South Brisbane stations.

Dear Friends and Supporters of CRU

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your support of CRU during 2019 and to wish you a happy Christmas and a safe and relaxing holiday period.

Last Friday we received an early Christmas present, with the news that we have been successful in securing some funding from the NDIA for the next three years. This funding, known as Information Linkages and Capacity Building will enable us to continue to work across the state, offering workshops, webinars, leadership development and other small projects.

The focus of this funding is capacity building for people with disabilities and their families, so it does not replace all that CRU was doing and we will continue to seek funds from other sources. This funding gives us a more secure base from which to do that.

You will know from my previous updates that over the past few years, we have been working hard to navigate this transition from secure and flexible state funding to the new competitive world of the NDIS and that at times, our future has been very uncertain.

It is a huge relief to the Board and Staff of CRU to receive this news and very exciting to be able to now plan for longer than a few months at a time. It is due to begin in April 2020 so stay posted for lots more information in the New Year.

We had already been planning for 2020 – please download our advance notices and a flyer for our first workshop for 2020, which is a two-day Social Role Valorisation workshop on the Gold Coast. Our workshops on Inclusive Education will continue until May and a date claimer for those is included in the advance notices above.

Thank you to all those who took the time to fill out our recent survey. We have not seen the results yet but expect a report from the third party consultants early in January.

We have just updated the CRU website to make it more accessible so if you have time to have a browse over the holiday period we would welcome any feedback.

The CRU office will be closed from this Friday 20th December and will reopen on Monday 6th January.
2020 is already shaping up to be a busy and exciting year and we look forward to continue working with you to achieve our mission of full and meaningful lives for people with disability.

With best wishes
Margaret

Dear Friends and Supporters of CRU,

Please find below an updated status on CRU events happening between now and the end of 2019.

While many of the workshops are coming to a close for 2019, we are busy making plans for another full program to start the year in 2020 and will release the new Date Claimer as soon as more details are available.

CRU Workshops

Self-Management : Confident, Connected and In Control

Presented by Catherine Laherty & others

The final Self-Management: Confident Connected & In Control workshop for this year will take place tomorrow at North Lakes.

The aim of these workshops are to build the confidence of people to self-manage their NDIS supports. Repeat workshops are being planned for 2020.

CRU 2019 Annual General Meeting

CRU’s 2019 AGM will take place at 5.30pm on Wednesday 27th November in the CRU Office, Level 2/43 Peel Street, South Brisbane.

Everyone is welcome to attend, however you do need to be a current financial member of CRU to exercise voting rights.

Towards a Better Life: Exploring SRV with regard to People who are marginalised

Presented by Jane Sherwin

2020 dates for Gold Coast and Mackay workshops are currently being planned. We will keep you updated as soon as those are available for registration.

Implementing and Reviewing Your NDIS Plan

Presented by Jen Mouritz

• Implementing Your NDIS Plan – from Goals to Action
  Brisbane : 3rd December
  Register for this event
  This workshop will help you better understand your NDIS plan, provide strategies to help you get started to achieve your goals, and consider ways to design and sustain supports to ensure a “good fit” for you and your family. You will look at ways to direct supports for a good life, including recruiting the right staff for the role.
• Reviewing Your NDIS Plan – Record, Reflect, Plan
  Brisbane : 11th December
  Register for this event
  The second workshop is for people who want to get prepared for their annual NDIS review and get clear about the goals they would like to see into the future.

Getting to the Heart of What Matters – the Role of a Support Worker (Support Worker Training)

Presented by Suellen Welch
Brisbane : 5th December
Register for this event

The role of a support worker is complex and multi-faceted. Paid staff can make a significant contribution to a person’s life – enabling the person to live a rich life and pursue their own unique goals and dreams.

This full day workshop will be an opportunity for support workers to critically reflect upon the essential purpose of their role, the values that drive “support”, and the sorts of relationships which are core to supporting someone well, particularly in relation to valued roles and community belonging.

Families for Inclusive Education Project workshops

Presented by CRU

CRU has been funded by the Department of Education to deliver workshops across Queensland under the Families for Inclusive Education (FFIE) project.

These workshops are an opportunity for families to reflect on their long-term vision for their family member – and how the school years can become a pathway to that positive, rich, included life.

While the 2019 workshop program has now concluded, the 2020 program of events is currently being planned and details will be soon be available.

In the meantime, if you weren’t able to tune-in to the webinar that took place on 14th October, the presentation slides that were used are available to downloaded here, or you can watch the recording here on our You Tube channel.

For more information on all CRU workshops, see the Events page on the CRU website,
or click on the individual links listed above for each workshop.

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In this, our 55th edition we have returned to an exploration of what it means to create a home.

Generally we think of home as a safe and secure place to be oneself and from that security take up opportunities to work, study or contribute to community, so we think it’s important to consider why a real home is so often out of the reach of people who live with disabilities. This topic has been the theme of previous editions of CRUcial Times and in some ways nothing has really changed about the fundamental importance of home and how essential it is. What we need to consider to assist someone who lives with disability to create and sustain a home hasn’t changed much either. However, the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in Australia means that for the first time having enough funded support to move into a home of their own is a real possibility for many more people with disabilities.

With many people being offered only accommodation or a bed in a house we thought it was timely to return to the topic of creating a home to ensure that houses do become homes and do offer the comfort and security required to be a Launchpad into the rest of life.

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Read more... (new page)