Action for More Independence and Dignity in Accommodation Annual Report 2016 Advocacy, Self-Advocacy, Rights, Accessibility, and Community Living for People with a Disability 1st Floor, Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000 Telephone: 9650 2722 Fax 9654 8575 Email: amida@amida.org.au Web: www.amida.org.au AMIDA Annual General Meeting 11th October 2016 AGENDA 10.00 Welcome and Acknowledgement Present/Apologies Endorsement of new members Confirm Minutes of the Previous AGM Chairperson's Report Activities Report – AMIDA advocacy, SARU, Treasurer's Report- Confirm auditor Election of committee members 11.15 Voice At The Table Launch; Amanda Millear facilitator Colin Hiscoe, Fran Lee, Sue Smith, VATT Louise Glanville, Deputy CEO, NDIA 1pm Lunch 1.30 Close of meeting AMIDA Annual General Meeting 13th October, 2015 Minutes Present: James Teeken, Amanda Millear, Ray Groves, Jane Rosengrave, Julian Dickinson, Norrie Blythman, Daisy Serong, John Serong, Pauline Williams, Lincoln Humphreys, Luke Stone, Pam Geoghegan, Kelly Geoghegan, Ariane Garner William, Canna Valern, Matthew Bowden, Simon Chong, Peter Waters, Jacqui Ward, Sue Smith, Peter Christianson, Gabrielle Dickinson Apologies: Janice Slattery, John Slattery, Brain Injury Matters, Cynthia Pilli, Maria Strong, Brenda Lacey, Luke Nelson, Colin Hiscoe, Susan Arthur, Trudy Ryall, Esther Harris Peter Waters chaired the meeting and welcomed everyone. Jane Rosengrave acknowledged traditional owners of the land the Wurundjeri People and paid respects to elders past and present. Minutes of the previous AGM: “that the minutes be accepted as a true and correct record” Moved - James Teeken Seconded-Luke Stone Carried Chairperson’s Report: Presented by Peter Waters Activities Report: Pauline Williams presented the AMIDA report and Sue Smith presented the SARU report Treasurer’s Report: Brenda Lacey has sent her apologies for this meeting, so Pauline Williams presented the Treasurer’s Report on Brenda’s behalf. Moved - Luke Stone Seconded- Norrie Blythman. Carried Barco and Co, auditors be appointed as auditors for 2015-2016 Moved - Jane Rosengrave Seconded - Norrie Blythman Carried Elections: The Chair was handed to Returning Officer, Pauline Williams There were two continuing members from 2014: Trudy Ryall James Teeken The following nominations were received prior to the meeting: Peter Waters Luke Stone Simon Chong Norrie Blythman Amanda Millear Nominations were called from the floor, and the following people were nominated: Lincoln Humphreys “that the above nominations for the committee be accepted” Moved - Jane Rosengrave Seconded - Norrie Blythman Carried Peter Waters welcomed our Guest Speakers, Mathew Bowden from People with Disability Australia, and Jane Rosengrave who presented on The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse The meeting was closed at 12.30pm Chairpersons Report - Peter Waters I would like to start my 2016 annual Chairpersons report by saying how extremely proud and honoured I feel to not only be a member but to be Chairperson of this great organisation that we know as AMIDA. Over the years AMIDA has provided advocacy to many many many individuals and families, and partnered with many organisations such as Reinforce, Start Community Art and Brain Injury Matters (BIM). Since the early 1980’s when AMIDA was first established I firmly believe we have become one of the leading organisations within our sector. All our hard work could not or would not be at all possible without the great work from our staff many which have been on a long term journey and also our hardworking committee. On a sad note we lost one of our founding members, John Serong, this year. For those of you who don’t know John he was a fierce advocate on behalf of people with intellectual disabilities to come out from institutions and participate fully in our community. The shutting down of Caloola in Sunbury was John’s biggest achievement and his stories about Caloola will stay with me forever more. I give my heartfelt condolences to Johns sister Daisy, his best mate Ray and to all those who know him well. Rest in peace my old friend. I will give you a clue guys, never ever give Pauline Williams and idea because it will happen. I had the idea one day for a self-advocacy Q and A. I think within 1 hour we had it nearly organised. (not really but it was well on the way). Thank you to Dean Dadson who did 99% of the work and got it all up and running. It was a great success with a great panel, with a super MC, me! I don’t know about super but I did my best. Thanks to the self-advocates who asked question and were involved. SARU! Well what can I say? It keeps getting bigger and bigger as they keep getting more and more funding. Thanks must go to Sue, Jacqui, Sally, Dean Jan and the SARU Project Management group for another stellar year. AMIDA just keeps getting better and better. Every year out quality audit comes back almost perfect. Thanks to our workers and committee for making a commitment to the highest standards possible. Finally I would like to take the opportunity to thank our workers for their diligence and our committee for making the hard decisions to keep the wheels turning. Thank you to you all for giving me the honour to be your leader. I hope I’ve done you proud. Welcome to any new committee members. May we go on working together as one. Chairperson Peter Waters AMIDA acknowledges the support of the Victorian Government AMIDA also acknowledges the support of the Commonwealth Government. COMMITTEE MEMBERS Peter Waters Chairperson Luke Stone Co-Assistant Chairperson Norrie Blythman Co-Assistant Chairperson & Secretary Brenda Lacey Treasurer James Teeken Assistant Treasurer Simon Chong Committee Member Trudy Ryall Committee Member (resigned during the year) Amanda Millear Committee Member Lincoln Humphries Committee Member Carmel Laragy Committee Member (Co-opted during the year) AMIDA WORKERS Gabrielle Dickinson Housing Rights/Coordinator Pauline Williams Housing Rights/Coordinator Pam Geoghegan Housing Rights Advocate Koula Sarimichaelidis Administration/Finance Gab Reade Radio Technical Producer Jane Rosengrave Peer Educator/Advisor Self-Advocacy Resource Unit Sue Smith SARU Project Worker Jacqui Ward SARU Project Worker Jan Coles SARU Project Worker Dean Dadson SARU Project Worker Rebecca Biddle Peer Advisor Sally De Beche SARU Project Worker AMIDA Activities Report – July 2015- June 2016 Systemic Advocacy In AMIDA’s view despite the fact that Australia has signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability, we are very far from complying with it. A number of the articles in the Convention relate to people being able to live in the community. Article 19 is the right to live independently and be included in the community, choosing where you live and who you live with. In Australia there is no real choice for most people with a disability requiring support. Group homes and Institutions for people with a disability are places where around 15,000 Victorians with a disability live in order to receive needed support. With thousands waiting for a support service, people are forced to accept any vacancy that is offered. We continue to lobby for more person centred support provision and affordable, accessible housing, which is managed separately from support. This year we made a number of submissions about the Specialist Disability Accommodation policy under the NDIS and were pleased to see some of our suggestions were accepted and made policy. Violence and Abuse in residential services This year we again made written and verbal submissions to stage 2 of the State Government Committee Inquiry into Abuse in Disability Services. The Committee has now released its finding which we have summarised in our last newsletter and on the radio. We are urging the state government to accept all the recommendations and act on them as a matter of utmost urgency. Closure of Institutions After much lobbying, letter writing, submissions, protests and radio on the topic, the Victorian Government has committed money in the 16/17 budget for Victoria’s last old style disability institution, Colanda Residential Services to be shut. The money will fund 10 new houses and refurbish and existing property. With 70 residents of Colanda to move into group homes in the community we must ensure these new houses are not congregating too many people on one site or in one house. To ensure more inclusive less congregated housing, under the new Specialist Disability Accommodation guidelines no house with more than 5 residents will be funded. Also new builds cannot cluster more than two 5 bed houses on one site. This new policy will have an impact on funding for houses of 6 bed or more and will stop the building of cluster institutions like Plenty Residential Services which should now be closed. We will continue to advocate for all people with a disability living in congregated segregated settings to be supported to live in the community and given the choice of where they live and who they live with. Improving Accommodation We also continued to lobby for more and better Public Housing. We are concerned that the State and Federal Governments have not funded this adequately. We have urged the new State government to build more accessible affordable housing at meetings and in submissions. Tenancy Rights The State Government has initiated a review of tenancy law and we have made submissions this year on rent, Bonds, security of tenure among other areas. We are hopeful positive changes will be made. The National Disability Insurance Scheme With the introduction of this new Australia wide program we have been busy putting our views into the development of the scheme. We wrote submissions on Accommodation and Disability and the Specialist Disability Accommodation Framework and Pricing Policy. We are also making sure the NDIA and both Federal and State governments know about the importance of advocacy and self-advocacy. A review of the National Disability Advocacy Program has also occurred as a result of the NDIS and we participated in a 2 day summit on the changes coming, and wrote submissions on the Advocacy program. Raising Our Voices Self advocacy Group -the radio show 2015/16 has been our 29th year of supporting people with a disability having the opportunity to be involved in the Raising Our Voices self-advocacy group who produce their own radio show on 3CR 855am. This is a self-advocacy group gives people the opportunity to air their views, their own stories and also tackles systemic issues. The show goes to air on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 6pm and is supported by a dedicated team of broadcasters from Reinforce and AMIDA. Topics this year have included: • Live Radiothon show with James, Amanda and Peter • Speaking Out About Violence Inquiry into Violence, Abuse and Neglect against People with Disability in Institutional and Residential Settings with Jane Rosengrave • Dangerous Deeds Video Art Installation: features art developed by people with disabilities which explores their passions and tells the stories of their involvement in the disability, advocacy and self-advocacy movements with Peter also discussing bullying and strategies to combat it. VALE to Graeme Williams, a great self-advocate and supporter of Raising Our Voices • Human rights in action: learning from social justice advocates Lisa, Paul and Russell • Multipurpose Taxi Review with Ray, Ariane and Peter • The Family and Community Development Committee (Victorian Government) have been undertaking the inquiry into Abuse and Diginity in Disability Services. Norrie and Pauline discuss this issue. • Safety issues on urban streets and how people with a disabiltiy avoid the many hazards like people on mobile phones, getting on and off public transport with Peter and James • Self-Advocacy Q and A- Is Self-Advocacy on the Map? Part 1 –with Peter and a host of self-advocates • Self-Advocacy Q and A- Is Self-Advocacy on the Map? Part 2- with Peter and a host of self-advocates • Live from Reinforce’s No Strangers Here CD Launch in Dec 2015 with James, Jane, Kelly, Danielle, Kelly and many many more • Transport – everything from trains, planes and buses and knowing your rights with James, Lachlan and Ariane • Ariane Garner- Williams and Pauline Williams discuss the 2016 Federal and Victorian State Budgets. The closure of the last institutions and making sure future builds for community housing avoid isolating people with disabilities. Thanks to everyone who participated, supported and produced shows on issues important to people with a disability. There are always many people with a disability who are part of this group and directly involved in the planning, presentation and interviewing for the show and in our training this year. Thanks to Gab Reade, our wonderful technical producer. Thanks also to 3CR. Copies of the shows are available on CD. Shows can be listened to live on your computer if your radio doesn’t pick up 3CR. Just go to www.3cr.org.au/raisingourvoices We also have podcasts of the show on our website www.amida.org.au We are aiming to reach a special 30th anniversary of Raising Our Voices in 2017 and are busy making plans for something special. Information, Advice, Referral and Individual Advocacy During 2015/16 we continued to provide information, advice, referral and individual advocacy to people with a disability. We were able to provide information, advice and referral to 75 people with a disability and community organisations. Hundreds of people were provided with information as part of 7 separate presentations, at forums, conferences and education sessions. 34 people were provided with direct individual advocacy, family advocacy or self-advocacy support. Disseminating information about AMIDA and improving access to AMIDA We again produced 4 newsletters. We have tried to include important information that we receive from government and the community as well as our own activities. Thanks to all the members who made contributions as these are most welcome. The newsletters and lots of other information including our recent submissions are on our web site www.amida.org.au The Self Advocacy Resource Unit (SARU) AMIDA continues to support the SARU and the last 12 months have been very busy. Here are just some of the things we have done . . . . Why Self Advocacy Matters Forum and Q&A The SARU and self advocacy groups organised and ran the Melbourne Why Self Advocacy Matters forum and a Q&A in November 2015. Self advocacy groups were involved in table discussions and were part of the Q&A panel. There were many Victorian groups, people from the National Disability Insurance Agency and people from other services at the forum and Q&A. The Q&A was facilitated by Peter Waters and was very successful. Voice at the Table Project The Voice at the Table Project was completed. The project aims to increase the numbers of people with cognitive disabilities sitting on committees and boards, and giving advice to governments, services and community organisations. Project activities included: • Writing training for self advocates to learn about consumer participation and representation. • Running the training for 23 Self Advocates over 12 days • Writing resources and information for government, services and community groups to use so they can run meetings which include everyone and give everyone an equal say. Check out the great feedback on the next page. . . Self Advocacy and the NDIS NDIS Self Advocacy Working Group In May the NDIS Self Advocacy Working Group met with David Bowen CEO of the NDIA, Stephanie Gunn General Manager Community Linkages and Maryanne Diamond Manager Media Communications. Self advocates talked about their concerns about the future of self advocacy and funding for self advocacy. They also talked about how self advocacy groups and the NDIA can working together including self advocates running training for NDIA staff. Self Advocacy Groups and the NDIS In May 2016 the SARU was given some money by the Victorian Government to help self advocacy groups get ready for the NDIS. The SARU plans to use most of the money to work with each self advocacy group to look at their: • Strengths • Weaknesses • Opportunities • Threats This is called a SWOT. The SWOT will then tell the SARU and the groups what work is needed to help them to get ready for the NDIS. This might be things like running activities to get better links in their local area or help with writing submissions. The money will also be used to make a film (DVD) for people with an intellectual disability in Group Homes and other places. The DVD will help to explain how people can get ready for the NDIS and to prepare for their Plan. The State Plan Forum In June SARU ran a forum to support self advocacy groups to have a say and help shape the next Victorian State Disability Plan. Over 40 self advocates from all over Victoria came to the forum. At the forum self advocates worked in groups to talk about the issues and brainstorm ideas. All of the information was sent to the Victorian government to help them write the new state plan. Group Round Up Here is just some of the great work groups have been doing: • Victorian Self Advocacy Network ran a successful forum which was attended by nearly 40 self advocates. At the forum self advocates made lobbying resources including 16 short videos to go on you tube, radio interviews to be broadcast on Raising our Voices radio show on 3CR. • Deafblind Victorians –DeafBlind Victorians have had a very successful year. They ran workshops for Melbourne City Council staff, Travellers Aid volunteers, Public Transport Victorian and ASLIA Interpreter services. The workshops raised awareness of the barriers faced by people with deafblindness and how services can be improved. Organisations paid DBV for these workshops. DBV now have an online site: https://deafblindadvocacy.wordpress.com/ • Brain Injury Matters - Minister Martin Foley launched the Brain Injury Matters Hitchhikers Guide Through the Brain Maze kit. The launch was very successful. • New Wave – continues to spread the word about self-advocacy and how it can change lives. • Speak Up Alexandra made a video and are planning to do a building projection in Alexandra to raise awareness about self advocacy and their group. • United Brains continuing to support a network of ABI self advocacy and support groups. And lots more . . . . . Treasurers Report - Brenda Lacey AMIDA finished the financial year 2015/16 in a healthy position. Our reports are consolidated into one report as this is a requirement of Consumer Affairs. The reports show a net loss of $1,927. This small loss is due to projects funded in previous financial years which we finalised this year. We have retained profits of $139,846 which includes grants that are being spent over more than one year, provisions for workers and donations received. AMIDA continues to receive funding from the Commonwealth Department of Social Services under the National Disability Advocacy Program. We receive funding from the State Department of Health and Human Services through the Office for Disability for the Self Advocacy Resource Unit. For the first time this year we received project funding from the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). Overall the financial position of AMIDA, and the projects it supports, is a healthy one and we are in a position to meet all our obligations.