Chief Executive Officer update - February 2024

Hello,

Welcome to our first edition of News@Yooralla for 2024.

I hope you all had a wonderful time over the festive season and had time to relax and recharge before the start of this year.

We are already seeing progress towards the recommendations of the NDIS review that were handed down late last year, with the Government announcing an $11.6 million investment for the development and implementation of a Foundational Supports Strategy.

This strategy seeks to provide support for people with a disability in mainstream settings, such as school and childcare. This will help the nearly four million Australians with a disability who aren’t NDIS participants, including fast-growing numbers of children with autism or developmental delay.

They have also announced funding for design and consultation on:

• ways to make it easier and fairer for people to use their NDIS budget;
• improvements to home and living options;
• ways to make it easier for people to get and pay for the help they need; and,
• ways to help support young people with disability in early childhood.

You can read more about this announcement on our website. We will keep you updated with any further progress on the recommendations of the NDIS review, including consultation opportunities, as they are announced.

Speaking of change, we are very proud to be supporting the campaign of Uli Cartwright, disability advocate, public speaker and consultant – calling for changes to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act (the Act).

The Act currently currently prevents people with disability under guardianship or administration orders from sharing their experiences in the public domain and with media.

Even when under guardianship or administration, the dignity and human rights and choices of people with disability must be respected.

We believe that the voice of people with disability is critical to the reform required across the disability sector. Without amplifying the voices of those with disability, violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation can continue.

With that in mind, we are proud to support Uli’s campaign – part of which includes a protest in Melbourne on Thursday 8 February, at Parliament House steps. Follow his page for more information.

I hope that many of you will join the protest or sign Uli’s petition online, to lend your voice to this important cause.

Stay safe and well.

Terry Symonds
Chief Executive officer