Space allocated to Cardiff woman’s flat is inaccessible, so she uses one reserved for disabled visitors
A disabled woman is reportedly facing fines of more than £1,000 for using a disabled-driver car parking space outside her flat.
Cerys Gemma, who lives in Cardiff, told reporters the space allocated to her flat is inaccessible as it has a pillar on one side and another car parking space close on the other.
Continue reading...Disability royal commission begins hearings in Alice Springs focused on NDIS for First Nations people
An Indigenous teen once featured in national disability insurance scheme promotional material was placed in state care after the agency running the NDIS cut his funding package, an inquiry has heard.
The disability royal commission on Monday began five days of hearings in Alice Springs, focused on the experience of the NDIS for First Nations people with disability in remote communities.
Continue reading...Chris Nicholson was left stranded on platform at Milton Keynes station in 31C heat
A wheelchair user was forced to drag himself up stairs at a railway station platform, saying staff refused to help him owing to health and safety policy.
Chris Nicholson, an athlete and spokesperson for the Myprotein sports brand, was travelling to address an event in London on Friday when the incident took place at Milton Keynes station.
Continue reading...Reuben Kigame’s campaign team claims the Electoral Commission discriminated against him because he is blind
A gospel singer who wants to be Kenya’s first disabled presidential candidate has brought a case in the country’s courts after being barred from the electoral race.
Reuben Kigame, who is blind, filed against Kenya’s Electoral Commission (IEBC) last Tuesday, claiming he had been blocked from entering the 9 August election.
Continue reading...Pop star says she ‘never want[ed] to promote derogatory language’ and re-releases song, removing offensive term for spastic diplegia
Lizzo has removed an offensive term for disabled people from her latest song after days of public criticism, saying she “never want[ed] to promote derogatory language”.
Grrrls, the latest track from the musician’s upcoming album Special, was released on Friday. In the opening verse, the pop star – who has become well-known for her lyrics championing acceptance and self-love – used a derogatory term for spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy.
Continue reading...The 54-year-old, who had cerebral palsy, died in 2020 from septic shock, multiple organ failure, severe pressure sores and malnourishment
Two directors of the care provider for Adelaide woman Ann Marie Smith have been charged with criminal neglect over her death.
Smith – who had cerebral palsy – died in hospital in April 2020 from septic shock, multiple organ failure, severe pressure sores and malnourishment.
Continue reading...Advocates call for NDIA to be led by person with disability after Martin Hoffman steps down as chief executive
The chief executive of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), Martin Hoffman, has resigned ending weeks of speculation about his future.
Hoffman, who took on the role in November 2019, was heavily criticised during the last government’s term by Labor’s then NDIS spokesman, Bill Shorten, who accused the NDIA leadership of losing the trust of the disability community.
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Continue reading...Winner of the inaugural Amal Clooney Women’s Empowerment award says she saw mainstream culture did not represent her, so she created her own space
Tanzila Khan does not like people feeling too sorry for themselves – or for her.
“I don’t like sob stories or tragedies,” said Khan, who is a disability and women’s rights campaigner in Pakistan. “I’m not saying they don’t exist – we can all face adversity – but I think we need a more positive approach to solving problems. I wanted to present people with disabilities in a more positive way.
Continue reading...Daniel Challis, who has cerebral palsy and is unable to speak, is auditioning people to provide his new voice
Daniel Challis was born and brought up near Walsall, surrounded by family members with distinctive regional accents.
Yet the communication aid he uses to speak with sounds nothing like them, instead vocalising in a robotic version of received pronunciation. The 18-year-old, who has cerebral palsy and is unable to speak, is appealing for people to audition to provide his new voice – providing they have the right accent.
Continue reading...Dave Sharma condemns comments of Warringah candidate Katherine Deves; Labor MP Terri Butler’s electorate office hit by car; nation records at least 50 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed
Q: But senator, I do want to take you up on that. This was the debate we were having in the dying days of the parliament, and all the national security experts and veterans in the field say it was unhelpful and that the ALP was anything other than supporting Australia’s policy, so why are you continuing this line of attack?
Simon Birmingham:
The Labor party have created the points of difference in the way they expressed themselves and the language they used. When last in office, let our investment in our defence forces whittle away to the lowest share of the economy. We brought it back to 2% of the GDP, and having that credible investment is what has enabled us to strike new defence pacts and partnerships with countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, making us a credible partner for defence and strategic investment in areas of artificial intelligence, in missile equipment and investment, and the nuclear-powered submarines.
I think we have seen a Labor party, who when China were making decisions to apply trade sanctions and tariffs against Australia, Labor seemed to want us to reach a compromise with China rather than to stand up for Australia.
Anthony Albanese spoke at the National Press Club not that long ago – he suggested we should negotiate or settle some of the points with the Labor party – sorry, with China. Well, ultimately, we have to stand up for Australian interests.
Continue reading...Disability royal commission told low rates of pay are calculated using tool said to measure ‘productivity’ of employees
People with disability are packing boxes, cleaning and gardening for legal pay rates as low as $2.27 an hour, a royal commission has heard.
The disability royal commission is holding a three-day hearing into Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs), which provide supported employment to people with moderate to severe disabilities.
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Continue reading...Insufficient accomodation and government support spark calls for better resourcing and planning in disaster responses
After being evicted from her short-term accommodation to make way for tourists, flood victim Margaret was left with nowhere else to go.
“I would have been homeless, living out of my car with two dogs,” the 79-year-old said.
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Continue reading...Boy, 12, takes Marsi Bionics-designed kit into Madrid school for first time
Given the day’s importance and the many long months he and his family had dreamed of it, Jorge would probably have preferred a special guest appearance by Tony Stark, Dr Bruce Banner or Marshall the fire pup from Paw Patrol. Or, better still, all three.
But in the end he had to make do with a surprise visit from Pedro Sánchez. At 12.45pm on Tuesday, surrounded by friends and teachers – and Spain’s prime minister – Jorge fulfilled the biggest ambition of his 12 years by standing up, walking over to his classmates, and playing with them.
Continue reading...CEO Martin Hoffman says he regrets the practice and ‘it was a single case’ that will not be repeated
The National Disability Insurance Agency boss, Martin Hoffman, has apologised after his staff used the social media posts of a woman applying for the scheme to challenge her eligibility.
Guardian Australia revealed on Friday that NDIA staff had created an “intelligence report” including examples of the woman’s Facebook and LinkedIn posts dating back as far as 2015.
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Continue reading...Rosa Maria Maione pleaded guilty to manslaughter over the 2020 death of Adelaide woman who had cerebral palsy
The carer who admitted the manslaughter of Adelaide woman Ann Marie Smith, who had cerebral palsy, has been jailed for at least five years and three months for her criminal neglect.
Sentencing Rosa Maria Maione in the Supreme Court, Justice Anne Bampton said the 70-year-old was grossly negligent, with her care for Smith falling well short of the standard expected.
Continue reading...Arthur Hughes says decision for 2022 production will allow lived experience to be ‘shown properly’
He is one of Shakespeare’s most reviled characters, distinguished by his “deformed, unfinish’d” figure. Now, for the first time, the Royal Shakespeare Company has cast a disabled actor in the title role of Richard III in a new production opening later this year.
For Arthur Hughes, it is a “dream come true” although his first reaction to being cast as the 15th-century king of England was disbelief. “It’s a part I’ve always wanted to play, it’s a very complex role, and it’s the biggest thing I’ve done,” said Hughes, 30.
Continue reading...A tender moment captured by Mehmet Aslan of Munzir al-Nazzal and his son, both survivors of the Syrian war, prompted Italian organisations to act. A year on, they are settling into life in Tuscany
In January last year, while working on the Turkish-Syrian border, photojournalist Mehmet Aslan photographed a Syrian man, Munzir al-Nazzal, who had lost a leg in a bomb attack. Munzir was playing with Mustafa, his 5-year-old son, who was born without limbs, and the shot portrayed the father, propped up on a crutch, raising his smiling child into the air.
Aslan entitled his photograph Hardship of Life.
Continue reading...Martin Hibbert, who was 5 metres from the deadly explosion, is now tackling Africa’s highest mountain
It was a month after the Manchester Arena attack when Martin Hibbert learned the catastrophic toll of his injuries. He and his 14-year-old daughter, Eve, on a “daddy daughter day” to an Ariana Grande concert, were 5 metres from the explosion that killed 22 people and injured hundreds more in May 2017.
Hibbert, 45, from Chorley in Lancashire, was told he would never walk again. Eve would probably never see, hear, speak or move – if she made it out of hospital. They were the closest to the bomb to survive.
Continue reading...Breakthrough offers hope of restoration of sight to people suffering vision loss because of dry AMD
An 88-year-old woman has told of her joy at becoming the first patient in the UK to benefit from a groundbreaking bionic eye implant that enabled her to detect signals for the first time since going blind.
The woman from Dagenham suffers from geographic atrophy. The condition is the most common form of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which affects millions of people worldwide and can cause loss of sight.
Continue reading...The first time I worked in an office, I was the boss of a group of sceptical youngsters. They looked for my weak spots – then became my first full-sighted friends
My first experience of office life was daunting. You might expect one’s first experience of working in an office environment to be pretty gentle: making the tea, a bit of filing, running errands for the boss. Not a bit of it, in my case. Aged 20, with no experience of office life, I was the boss. And, just to add a little spice to the task, I was totally blind.
My job as a community service volunteer at Youth Action York was to persuade a sceptical group of teenagers to give a helping hand to local elderly or disabled people who were struggling – assisting them with their shopping, perhaps, or tidying up their garden. It felt like a challenge, and my teenage volunteers made sure it was.
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