ACT DISABILITY ADVISORY COUNCIL
Minutes of the 11th Meeting for 2011-13
Tuesday 28August 2012-Level 8 Board Room, 11 Moore Street, Civic
The meeting opened at 5:05pm.
- Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners
Chair David Long welcomed members and opened the meeting with an Acknowledgement of the Traditional Owners.
- Attendance, Introduction of Guests and Welcome of Members
ACT DAC COUNCIL
David Long (Chair)
Louise Bannister (Deputy Chair)
Sherrill Bell
Philip Brown
Peter Granleese
Mary Webb
Mary Hodges
Sue McIntosh
Apologies
There were no apologies.
EX OFFICIO
Disability ACT
Meredith Whitten, Acting Executive Director, Disability ACT
Council Support
Neil Finch (Secretariat)
Guests
Allison Cooper-Stanbury, Project Student
Sharon Hooper, Information Officer, Disability ACT
Kerrie Heath, Manager, ACT Education and Training Directorate
- Confirmation of Previous Minutes
With some technical amendments the minutes of the meeting held on 24July 2012 were agreed.
Moved-Sue McIntosh
Seconded-Louise Bannister
- Presentation: Disability Education Issues
Kerrie Heath, Manager (Disability Education), ACT Education and Training Directorate provided a presentation on current disability education issues. This included an overview of disability issues covered by the Gonski Review. Ms Heath highlighted that the review recommended a nationally consistent standard on access to education for students with disability and that work will be carries out to establish the levels of adjustment required in each jurisdiction. These adjustments would include both physical (built environment) and non-physical curriculum adjustments.
Ms Heath also detailed the approach to disability education in the ACT and the four public school networks. A number of reforms had recently been introduced including an early intervention programme and a more holistic approach to the needs of students with disability and their transition from school.
The Disability Advisory Council was asked to consider sending a representative to the Disability Education Reference Group (DERG) which meets four times each year.
- DAC Website Refresh
Sharon Hooper, Information Officer, Disability ACT was in attendance to answer questions around the website refresh. Council members discussed a number of different options about the future look and content of the DAC website.
Following discussion it was agreed that the format of the website should closely follow the terms of reference of the council and include a link to copies of all reports and advice provided to the Minister for Community Services. Phillip Brown reminded members of the need for content to be in Easy English.
Sue McIntosh undertook to write a short paper for comment by members on future website content and format.
- National Disability Insurance Scheme - Update
David Long confirmed that he had attended an initial meeting of the NDIS Expert Panel and had signed a confidentiality clause. David stated that he wished to provide a DAC perspective as a member of the panel.
Meredith Whitten gave an update of the current position regarding the progress on launch sites and the target groups within each site. A postcard had been produced by the ACT Government with key NDIS messages for the ACT.
It was acknowledged that people with an intellectual disability were currently underrepresented on the panel. The NDIS will remain a standing item on the DAC agenda.
- World Cafe-Report Back
Members had previously been distributed with initial feedback on the comments and major themes emerging from the World Cafe event held on Wednesday 25 July 2012. 25 surveys had been returned from organisations and 27 surveys had been received from individuals. Any additional surveys needed to be returned to Alison Cooper-Stanbury by Wednesday 31 August.
- DAC Budget Update
The DAC budget for 2012-13 had been remodelled with a number of adjustments made between cost centres to reflect council priorities.
It was noted that although the travel budget had been increased, this budget line may still need to be adjusted during the financial year.
- Other Business
Meredith Whitten advised that an article had appeared in the Sunday Canberra Times of
26 August 2012 regarding incidents in group homes recorded on Riskman. In connection with this, Phillip Brown enquired about the availability of Positive Behaviour Support training for Support Workers.
Members were advised that there remained two council vacancies. Louise Bannister had provided the names and contact details of two potential members, however this matter was unlikely to progress given that ministerial appointment could not be made during caretaker government which begins on 13 September 2012. Mary Hodges offered to circulate information among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander networks.
Peter Granlees reminded members to submit any articles to him for inclusion in the next DAC Newsletter.
- Next ACTDAC Meeting
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 25September 2012 at 5:00pm
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