Welcome to our June Newsletter
Our new phone number is 6243 6948.
Message from our Chair – Nihal Iscel
Welcome members. As winter settles in, we have updates to share with you. Our lease in West Perth has ended, prompting us to seek a more accessible office space in Perth. Our Mandurah office continues to operate as usual, ensuring no interruption to our services. Our new contact number is 6243 6948, and you can also reach us via email at admin@pwdwa.org or visit us at 22 Ormsby Terrace Mandurah 6210.
Our systemic advocacy efforts persist as we push for necessary funding increases. Additional funding is crucial for independent disability advocacy organisations to effectively address critical challenges faced by individuals with disabilities in areas such as housing, health, and overall well-being. We believe everyone deserves to be heard; we can make a difference together.
Moreover, we actively advocate for adopting the new Liveable Housing Design Standard across Australia. We aim to ensure that every individual has access to housing that can accommodate their evolving needs. We are committed to this cause and will continue to push for positive change.
Let us continue our relentless efforts to drive positive change. Your support is invaluable; together, we can create a more inclusive and accessible future for all.
PWdWA in Action
Systemic Advocacy: Review of the Guardianship and Administration Act.
People With disabilities WA (PWdWA) recently made a submission to the Department of Justice regarding the Review of the Guardianship and Administration Act WA (1990). Despite the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, the Department of the Attorney General (WA), and the Select Committee into Elder Abuse, there continue to be serious issues for people with disabilities affected by the guardianship system in Western Australia.
PWdWA aims to restore the dignity, autonomy, quality of life, and community participation of Western Australians with disability. We call for changes to the Guardianship and Administration Act 1990 (WA) to address these issues and bring Western Australian legislation in line with changing societal attitudes towards guardianship and administration orders for people with disabilities.
Our submission is available in Word and PDF format on our website: https://pwdwa.org/what-we-do/systemic-advocacy/. If you want this submission in another accessible format, please email Vanessa at vanessa@pwdwa.org.
PWdWA Economic Empowerment Project
Underemployment rates for young people with disabilities in Australia highlights their significant employment challenges. The Economic Participation Project (EPP), launched in 2020 by PWdWA and AWA, aims to address these obstacles by training young individuals aged 15 to 25 as Youth Consultants. These consultants provide tailored accessibility assessments to small and medium-sized businesses in select regions of Western Australia, fostering their confidence, soft skills, and industry connections. The EPP has already employed one hundred youth consultants who conducted one hundred business accessibility assessments, prompting an extension from the Department of Social Services to continue the project’s mission of improving employment prospects for young people with disabilities and promoting disability awareness among local businesses through enhanced accessibility.
Furthermore, the EPP will be recruiting an additional twenty youth consultants over the next year to conduct accessibility assessments for local businesses. Through these efforts, the project not only empowers individuals with disabilities to pursue meaningful work but also strives to boost businesses’ capacity to create more inclusive environments. By building bridges between young people with disabilities and the workforce, the EPP works towards a more accessible and welcoming business landscape in Western Australia.
If you have a disability and are aged between 15-25 and would like to be considered for a youth consultant role, please email nicola@pwdwa.org for further information.
PWdWA in Focus
Our Perth Office has now closed.
After nearly five years at City West Lotteries House, our lease has expired. We have decided to use the ending of our lease as an opportunity to look for a more fit-for-purpose facility. While we source a new venue, our business operations will continue as normal with our team of Advocates ready to assist. Please send any mail to our Mandurah office, 22 Ormsby Terrace, Mandurah 6210, and use our new phone number, 6243 6948, to contact us.
If you usually meet with our team in the West Perth office, we can provide you with other alternative safe and accessible options until the new office is established.
Current Issues
Building Better Homes – National Building Code
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation recently published an article that emphasised the ongoing call from PWdWA, Council of the Ageing WA, and Shelter WA for the Western Australian Government to adopt the Liveable Housing Design Standard mandated in the revised National Construction Code.
In the article, Christie shares her experience of waiting seven years for an accessible home and the substantial repair bill she now faces because her current home is too small to accommodate her wheelchair.
This greater accessibility will not only assist those who feel isolated because they cannot have guests with accessibility needs visit them but also allow people with disabilities greater independence and dignity.
You can sign the petition on the website.
Speak Up: Increasing Individual Advocacy Funding
PWdWA shares with other Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA) members our disappointment with the Federal Government’s decision not to increase much-needed funding for individual advocacy services nationwide. We believe that it’s crucial for everyone who needs an advocate to be able to access one.
We will continue working with other DANA members to lobby the Government to respond to the Disability Royal Commission and start implementing the recommendations from the NDIS Review in the coming months.
Upcoming
PWdWA in Pinjarra and Waroona
PWdWA’s Individual Advocate, Lisa, works out of Murray House Community Centre in Pinjarra and the Waroona Community Resource Centre on alternative Thursdays. Lisa would love to see you, and her roster for the next few weeks is as follows:
- Pinjarra: Thursday July 3rd 17th 31st – 8:30 am to 3:30 pm.
- Waroona: Thursday July 10th and 24th – 9:00 am to 3:30 pm.
PWdWA
Would you like your newsletters emailed rather than posted? Just let Vanessa know at vanessa@pwdwa.org.
- Mandurah Office: 22 Ormsby Terrace Mandurah – By Appointment Only
- Pilbara: 1800 193 331. Online appointments by arrangement at Pilbara Community Legal Services Karratha, Port Hedland, Roebourne, and Newman.
- Waroona and Pinjarra: 1800 193 331. By appointment only
PWdWA is funded by the Western Australian Department of Communities and the Australian Department of Social Services.
PWdWA is run BY and FOR people with disabilities and aims to be the voice for all people with disabilities in Western Australia.
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