The Brain Injury Association of New South Wales is the only statewide organisation in NSW dedicated to serving all persons affected by acquired brain injury—those with acquired brain injuries, family members, friends, professionals, and the broader community.
Happy New Year to all our members, friends and associates. The staff and board of the BIA NSW are looking forward to the year to come, as we take a positive steps towards a better deal for people with disability and their carers.
Keep an eye on our What's On page for upcoming events and consultations.
Supported Living Fund - Expression of Interest now open
People with disability who are planning or considering moving to a supported living arrangement are encouraged to register with ADHC. The Supported Living Fund is an initiative that aims to provide people with a disability, their families and carers greater opportunity to build person centred and sustainable living arrangements. The focus is on providing a truly flexible and individualised option in the planning of ongoing living supports.
The opportunity to formally register an interest in accessing a Supported Living Fund package is now open. Note that expressions of Interest for this intake round will close on Friday 27 January, 2012. There will be further rounds later in 2012, and also in 2013.
Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC) through Stronger Together Two, have committed to a total of 300 Supported Living Fund packages across NSW (100 each in 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14).
For more information, see the ADHC websiteor contact us at BIA NSW.
BIA NSW Annual General Meeting
A good representation of members and friends attended the BIA NSW Annual General Meeting, held 2nd December 2011 in Parramatta, to listen and ask questions of Minister Andrew Constance.
Amongst other business, the changes to the Constitution as proposed were resoundingly accepted by majority vote, two Life Memberships were awarded, and membership votes were counted to fill two vacant Board positions.
Life membership can be awarded by the Board to any person who has made a significant contribution to the Association and / or the field of acquired brain injury. At the 2011 AGM life memberships were awarded to two people - Peter Jensen and Nick Rushworth. More...
We welcome Helen Anderson to the Board, and congratulate Dr Allison Rowlands on her return. Thank you to John Roach and Christopher Browning for your interest in nominating for Board positions and we look forward to working with you in other ways.
We also take this opportunity to pass on sincere thanks to outgoing board member Dr Yvonne Zurynski for her significant contribution to the Association.
BIA NSW are thrilled with the news that Kate Boyd, life member and an active participant in our Speakers Bureau, has been chosen as one of the Don't DIS my ABILITY ambassadors for 2011! Click HERE to see them all. We pass on our congratulations to Kate for being selected, and look forward to her story being circulated through the media build up to International Day of People with Disability.
NSW Government Person Centred Approaches
The NSW Government has held a series of consultations at a range of locations around the state to understand the needs of people with a disability in the community. The findings of these consultations has been put together into a discussion paper "LIVING LIFE MY WAY - Putting people with a disability at the centre of decision making". Consultations are continuing into 2012 to test the proposed approach to implementing person centred approaches in NSW. For more information go to the ADHC website.
Brain Injury Awareness Week a success
This year's Brain Injury Awareness Week (15th to 21st August 2011) was full of successful events and media attention!
Brain injury in the criminal justice system was the Australia wide theme. Brain Injury Australia prepared a policy paper on the topic for Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA). The paper is available on our Resources page.
This year also saw the successful introduction of the Bang On a Beanie campaign. Many thanks to members and friends who participated, buying beanies for friends and family, or selling them out in the general community. BIA NSW Board President, Paul Raciborski, even managed to get Minister Constance to bang on a beanie!
Disability Care and Support Announcement
On 10th August he federal government announced its response to the Productivity Commission’s final report into lifetime Disability Care and Support. It was announced they will start work immediately with states and territories to build the foundations for a:
National Disability Insurance Scheme – to provide all Australians with insurance in the event they or a family member acquire a disability; and a National Injury Insurance Scheme – to provide no fault insurance for anyone who acquires a catastrophic injury.
BIA NSW welcomes this news. It directly addresses the key inequities surrounding who receives lifetime care and who does not. This is particularly pertinent for our membership, as so many people miss out on essential services following an acquired brain injury.
The government has announced it will:
Deliver an immediate $10 million to start the initial policy work;
Establish a Select Council of Ministers from the Commonwealth, States and Territories to lead reform in this area at COAG next month;
Establish an Advisory Group to the Select Council, led by Dr Jeff Harmer, to provide expert advice on delivering the foundations for reform and preparation for launch.
The Prime Minister’s media release is available at:
To coincide with the release of this report, the BIANSW CEO was interviewed for ABC’s 7:30 (see Media). Our members Grayden and Laurelei Moore provided their personal stories, and some perspectives on how the system urgently needs changing.
There is a lot more work for BIA NSW to do to ensure that assessment processes and eligibility criteria adequately capture who needs access to lifetime care, as well as to ensure that people already in need right now are covered by the scheme when it is finally implemented.
We will continue to keep you informed as best we can.
Recognition of Acquired Brain Injury
BIA NSW are very encouraged by the NSW Government's recognition of the unique support requirements of those affected by acquired brain injury. There is now a web page dedicated to ABI on the Family and Community Services Ageing, Disability & Home Care website. View here
Stronger Together: The Second Phase 2011-2016
In December 2010 the NSW government announced a further $2 billion investment in disability services over the next five years. This funding is in addition to the $2.02 billion it will cost to continue to fund the disability services already provided under the first five years of the Stronger Together program. For more information see Stronger Together. The next five years will see the government take a person-centred, lifespan approach to support services and accommodation for those with disability in NSW. BIA NSW is particularly encouraged by the specific mention of acquired brain injury in the policy papers.
Establishment of new case management service in NSW
A newly established ABI specific case management service has been funded by ADHC (Ageing, Disability and Home Care). The service, which commenced on 1st October 2010, will be provided by arbias ABI Specialist Services NSW. More...
SHUT OUT: The experience of people with disabilities and their families in Australia: Report
At the end of 2008, people with disabilities and their families were invited to provide their experiences and input into a national consultation process to develop a National Disability Strategy. Those experiences have now been compiled into a Report. More...
BIA NSW CarerLink Peer Mentoring Program
BIA NSW CarerLink Peer Mentoring Program is up and running partnering Carers who have gone through similar experiences. CarerLink facilitates support for people who have become carers of someone who has sustained an ABI, through a peer mentoring model, allowing people to share their experience with someone who is a ‘veteran’ to the caring role having experienced a similar challenge. This program provides a complement to other services and programs available for people with ABI and their families, to be accessed as part of their re-engagement with the community.
Please open this link for further information and for answers to frequently asked questions. More...
Call for Volunteers - Brain injury Speakers assistants
The Brain Injury Association of NSW is calling for volunteers with a passion for building understanding.
We need well organised volunteers with good communication skills to assist with running presentations raising brain injury awareness. Duties would include supporting speakers (who all have a brain injury), and co-hosting presentations.Transportation of speakers to venues (presentations currently held at St Ives, Homebush, or Penrith) would also be required.
Support and training will be provided. For more information, click here or contact Amanda MacRae on 9868 5261 or
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