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Media
Kimberley residents win scholarships to study disability services
Two Kimberley residents have won a prestigious scholarship for a study
tour to examine services for Aboriginal people with disabilities. Disability
Services Minister Sheila McHale said the Disability Services Commission's
Kununurra Local Area Co-ordinator (LAC) Wendy Jones and Russell Gregory,
LAC for Fitzroy Crossing, had been awarded 'The Honourable Ray Young Scholarship'
to travel to central Australia and northern Queensland to investigate
specific services for Aboriginal people with disabilities. The scholarship,
awarded annually by the commission's board, is named in honour of the
late Ray Young, a former Minister for Health and long-time supporter of
people with disabilities. Mr Young, who died in December last year, was
board chairman during the commission's formative years. Ms McHale said
Ms Jones and Mr Gregory had identified a range of complex issues that
affected their Aboriginal consumers with disabilities. "More than 70 per
cent of people receiving services from the commission in the Kimberley
region are Aboriginal," the Minister said. "We can't assume that the approaches
and processes that are effective for non-Aboriginal consumers will be
equally as effective for Aboriginal people with disabilities who may have
differing cultural and linguistic backgrounds. "I congratulate Wendy and
Russell for their initiative. Their area of study will benefit all commission
staff who work with Aboriginal people with disabilities, particularly
those who live in regional or remote communities." Ms McHale said Ms Jones
and Mr Gregory would be examining two projects operating out of Alice
Springs and a third in the Queensland Tablelands. The projects are: Waltja,
which works mainly with remote communities in central Australia and focuses
on gaps in service delivery; the NYP project, which operates in the cross-border
desert region where Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern
Territory meet. It has developed a model for disability services which
includes volunteer community support for local people with disabilities
and carer education to encourage self-management; and the Tableland Community
Link in Queensland which provides a co-ordinator to meet the specific
needs of local Aboriginal people with disabilities. Media contacts:
The Hon. Sheila McHale MLA. Minister for Community Development; Women's Interests; Seniors and Youth; Disability Services; Culture and the Arts A Bunbury group home has taken out an excellence award for services for
people with disabilities. Disability Services Minister Sheila McHale presented
Activ Foundation's Bright Street group home for four women with intellectual
disabilities with the Disability Services Commission's Certificate of
Achievement for providing outstanding quality service to its clients.
The certificate is the highest award for a service assessed as meeting
all eight Disability Services Standards that ensure Western Australians
with disabilities received the best possible services consistent with
the principles and objectives of State and Commonwealth legislation. Four
other services received Certificates of High Commendation. Ms McHale said
the standards provided a safeguard to people with disabilities and their
families. "By clearly defining the expectations required of service providers,
people with disabilities can be confident that the service they receive
reaches requisite levels and will be monitored to ensure those levels
are maintained," she said. Ms McHale said the standards also encouraged
continuous improvement of services by providing a basis for further service
development. She said that over the past four years, 230 services had
been monitored, with 82 assessed against the standards in 2000. "One of
the most pleasing aspects has been the approach by agencies to the monitoring
process," Ms McHale said. "Many agencies go out of their way to encourage
feedback and their willingness to take opportunities for improvement is
evidence of their commitment not only to the standards but to people with
disabilities." The other recipients were: Take Time - a Uniting Church
program, based in Willetton, for young people with disabilities aged between
18-25, providing community access and skills development through recreation
and learning activities; Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service accommodation
options for four Aboriginal people with disabilities through supported
independent community living in Midland, Guildford and Doubleview; Allamanda
Gardens, a group home providing support to assist four men with intellectual
disabilities to live independently in Mirrabooka, run by the Uniting Church
Agency Mofflyn; and the Country Resource Program run by the Cerebral Palsy
Association of Western Australia to assist country people with cerebral
palsy to streamline services and help consumers access information expertise
in their local communities.
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