Strengthening Disability Advocacy conference 2012
Disability advocacy and the legal system: You be the judge!

Monday 26th March, 2012 | Park Function Centre , Melbourne

This event has concluded.
For more information about the event, access to resources and to read the transcripts, please click here.

About

Our 3rd conference aims to make sure the disability advocacy sector understands and is well equipped to use the legal system in their work.

The second day of the conference will also provide a ‘best practice in advocacy’ theme.

This conference provides a great opportunity to consider the effects some of the new legislation could potentially have on people with disabilities.  This includes the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the new Guardianship laws.

The conference is for anyone who undertakes advocacy in their working or personal lives. This includes disability advocates, self advocates, people with disability, legal workers, government and non government officers, community workers and allied health professionals.

Keep up to date with the latest conference news on X (formerly twitter)

Program

Sunday 25th March, 2012

Welcome and Opening Address

Time: 11:00pm - 11:30pm

Location: Blue Room

Speaker: Andrea Coote, Parliamentary Secretary for Family and Community Services
The welcome address at the Strengthening Disability Advocacy Conference: Champions of Change was presented by Andrea Coote, Parliamentary Secretary, Family and Community Services in Victoria.

Keynote Address

Time: 11:30pm - 12:15am

Location: Blue Room

Speaker: Ian Gray, Chief Magistrate of Victoria
The Chief Magistrate will present a broad focus on the court’s programs and services for persons with intellectual disabilities including the Assessment and Referral Court List. He will give references to therapeutic jurisprudence principles and emphasis on the court’s problem-solving jurisdiction.

Monday 26th March, 2012

Twenty years of the Disability Discrimination Act

Time: 1:15am - 2:00am

Location: Blue Room

  • Speaker: Julie Phillips, Manager, Disability discrimination Legal Service
  • Speaker: Graeme Inness, Former Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Australian Human Rights Commission
  • Speaker: Placido Belardo, Principal Solicitor, Disability Discrimination Legal service
  • Speaker: Rob Daly, Lawyer
  • Speaker: Beth Gaze, Lecturer in Discrimination Law, Melbourne University
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) is twenty years old. This panel session will look at what the legal landscape was like for the Act, how things have changed and how things can be improved. The topic will be explored from different angles and perspectives.

Nothing about us without us

Time: 2:00am - 2:45am

Location: Red Room

Find out about People First New Zealand, who we are and what we do.

Guardianship and supported decision making

Time: 2:00am - 2:45am

Location: Yellow Room

  • Speaker: Greg Leeson, Lawyer, Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Service Inc.
  • Speaker: John Chesterman, Manager Policy and Education, Office of the Public Advocate (OPA)
  • Speaker: Sophie Delaney, Senior Lawyer, Mental Health and Disability Program, Victoria Legal Aid
  • Speaker: Anne Coghlan, Deputy President, Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, Human rights division
  • Speaker: Kevin Stone, Executive Officer, VALID

Accessing legal services

Time: 2:00am - 2:45am

Location: Blue Room

  • Speaker: Eleanore Fritze, Senior Lawyer, Mental Health and Disability Advocacy team, Civil Justice Program, Victoria Legal Aid (VLA).
  • Speaker: Robyn Mills, Program Leader, Mental Health & Disability Advocacy Program, victoria Legal Aid
This session is about accessing legal services, with a particular focus on the legal services that people with a disability might require.

Lunch

Time: 2:45am - 3:30am

Location: Skyline

Voting is for everyone

Time: 3:30am - 4:00am

Location: Blue Room

Speaker: Alex Markham, Education Officer, Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC)
Find out who can vote, your rights and how to find help if you need it.

Rural access to justice

Time: 3:30am - 4:30am

Location: Red Room

Speaker: Richard Coverdale, Director, Centre for Rural Regional Law and Justice, Deakin University
The role and activities of the newly established Centre for Rural Regional Law and Justice will be outlined and the findings of a recent report will be discussed.

Strength in numbers: Let’s set up a self advocacy network

Time: 3:30am - 4:30am

Location: Yellow

Round table workshop for self advocates to talk about setting up a Victorian Self Advocacy Network.

Empowering women with disabilities in local communities

Time: 4:00am - 4:30am

Location: Blue Room

Speaker: Lauren Hayes, Project Officer, Women with Disabilities victoria
A learning package designed to assist women with disabilities in representation and advocacy work has been developed.

Afternoon tea

Time: 4:30am - 4:45am

Location: Skyline

Deaf blind world

Time: 4:45am - 5:30am

Location: Red Room

Speaker: Deafblind Victoria,
An interactive experience of the Impact of Deafblindness.

Achieving systemic change – people with disabilities missing in action

Time: 4:45am - 5:30am

Location: Yellow Room

Speaker: Julie Phillips, Manager, Disability discrimination Legal Service
Is there enough activism in Australia or has grassroots action fallen prey to a new and different level of engagement with people with disabilities?

National disability consumer quality assurance tool

Time: 4:45am - 5:30am

Location: Blue Room

Speaker: Matthew Potocnik, Advocate
Discover how this tool identifies gaps in service delivery and how it can be used to match services to consumers.

A history of disability advocacy

Time: 5:30am - 6:30am

Location: Blue Room

Speaker: Sarah Barton, Producer
Highlights of the production of a documentary where 25 survivors of the rights movement are interviewed. Sarah shares her journey and tells stories about issues, characters and ideas that she discovered along the way.

Hypothetical

Time: 11:00pm - 12:15am

Location: Blue Room

Using real life scenarios, panelists will respond to issues raised and discuss processes from their specialist perspectives.

Tuesday 27th March, 2012

Morning tea

Time: 12:15am - 12:30am

Location: Skyline

Fight for your rights

Time: 12:30am - 1:30am

Location: Yellow Room

  • Speaker: Eleanore Fritze, Senior Lawyer, Mental Health and Disability Advocacy team, Civil Justice Program, Victoria Legal Aid (VLA).
  • Speaker: Aimee Cooper, Civil Lawyer, Victoria Legal Aid
Small group discussions and practical information sharing on a range of legal topics which often affect people with disabilities.

Disability advocacy and self advocacy working better together for change

Time: 12:30am - 1:30am

Location: Blue Room

  • Speaker: Paul Ramcharan, Associate Professor, Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University
  • Speaker: Pauline Williams, Advocate, Action for More Independence and Dignity in Accommodation (AMIDA)
  • Speaker: Jen Rowley,
  • Speaker: Colin Hiscoe, Training Officer, Reinforce
  • Speaker: Rachel Walters, Self Advocate, New Wave
  • Speaker: Sue Smith, Coordinator, Self Advocacy Resource Unit (SARU)
Discussions about the long term mutual benefits and outcomes that can be achieved as a result of disability advocacy organisations working in partnership with self advocacy groups.

Disability Vilification

Time: 1:30am - 2:15am

Location: Green Room

Speaker: Deborah Randa, Solicitor, Disability Discrimination Legal Service (DDLS)
Are people actually hated, criticised or put down because of their disability? Is this a problem in Australia?

Rights, the web and video tape

Time: 1:30am - 2:15am

Location: Red Room

Speaker: Michael Buckley, Film Maker
Take a journey through an intriguing new website which creatively explores the Victorian Disability Act through animation, and video.

Success stories about life by self advocates

Time: 1:30am - 2:15am

Location: Blue /room

Speaker: Heather Forsythe, Self Advocate Project Worker,VALID
Through the Keys to Success program VALID gives people who use disability support services the skills and confidence to speak up about what they want in their lives.

Lunch

Time: 2:15am - 3:00am

Location: Skyline

My house, my home, my rights

Time: 3:00am - 3:30am

Location: Green Room

Speaker: Colin Hiscoe, Training Officer, Reinforce
New training resource, featuring actors from Dream Theatre, takes you through a series of events showing a day in the life of people living in a CRU.

Employment for people with disability

Time: 3:00am - 4:00am

Location: Red Room

Explore the facts, statistics and experiences of people with disabilities in open employment, supported employment, unemployment and under employment both here and New Zealand.

Criminal justice system and people with disability

Time: 3:00am - 4:00am

Location: Yellow Room

  • Speaker: Jessica Richter, Lawyer, Victoria Legal Aid
  • Speaker: Kerry Stringer, Chair, Victorian Coalition of ABI Service Providers (VCASP)
  • Speaker: Peter Persson,
  • Speaker: Patrick McGee, Coordinator, Aboriginal Justice Campaign, Ofice for the Public Advocate (OPA)
  • Speaker: Ben von Einem, Case Work & Policy Lawyer, Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Service
In spite of law reform efforts to strengthen the rights of victims of crime who have a cognitive impairment, there are still significant barriers in prosecuting these cases.

Everything you wanted to know about strategic lobbying and campaigning but were afraid to ask

Time: 3:00am - 4:00am

Location: Blue Room

Speaker: David Imber, Account Director, Essential Media Communications
The ability to lobby and campaign are essentials for any advocate- whether you’re helping an individual, a discreet local cause or seeking to affect national social change.

Supporting self advocacy: Reflections on empowerment, trust and respect

Time: 3:30am - 4:00am

Location: Green Room

Speaker: Heidi Peart, Self Advocacy Advisor
This workshop examines the findings from a discussion paper on developing a code of conduct for self advocacy advisers and workers.

Afternoon tea

Time: 4:00am - 4:15am

Location: Skyline

Tear down the walls

Time: 4:15am - 5:15am

Location: Blue Room

Speaker: Johnny Crescendo, Disability Civil Rights singer/song Writer and activist
Johnny talks about the Independent living movement from its birth to present day and beyond. He talks about core philosophy, how it has developed and its future. He talks about ADAPT in the US and the UK’s Direct Action Network’s struggle for IL services and their relative success in “Freeing our people” from institutions and compares British and US policies and practice. He talks about his concerns for the future and the principle of consumer control.

Wrap up

Time: 5:15am - 5:30am

Location: Blue Room

Speakers

Aimee Cooper, Civil Lawyer, Victoria Legal Aid

Aimee assists people with Centrelink, victims of crime, discrimination and equal opportunity, debt, guardianship and administration, tenancy, infringement, and other Council and Commonwealth prosecution matters

Alex Markham, Education Officer, Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC)

Alex's role is to educate the community about how elections work.

Andrea Coote, Parliamentary Secretary for Family and Community Services

Andrea Coote was elected to Parliament in September 1999 and has proved herself to be a pivotal part of the Victorian Parliamentary Liberal Party. She is currently Parliamentary Secretary for Families and Community Services. Andrea’s primary responsibility in this role is with the Disability Sector.

Anne Coghlan, Deputy President, Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, Human rights division

This Division is responsible for the Guardianship List, the Anti-Discrimination List, the Mental Health List and the Health and Privacy List. Anne has extensive experience in the area of Merits Review....

Ben von Einem, Case Work & Policy Lawyer, Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Service

Ben has worked in private practice and as a university lecturer, published legal publications and has particular expertise and experience in the area of criminal law.

Beth Gaze, Lecturer in Discrimination Law, Melbourne University

Beth Gaze teaches anti-discrimination law at Melbourne University Law School, and has written many articles on aspects of the law. She has been a member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal and the Victorian Mental Health Review Board.

Cindy Johns, National Manager, People First NZ

Cindy has worked, both voluntary and professionally, alongside people with a learning/ intellectual disability and their families for over 20 years. Cindy also has lived experience of the disability community as she is the parent of a young man with learning disability.

Colin Hiscoe, Training Officer, Reinforce

Colin is passionate about improving the lives of people living in Community Residential Units (CRU) and has committed his life to fighting for the rights of people with a disability.

David Craig, Consultant

David has worked in the disability sector in Victoria for over 30 years. Over this period he has worked in a variety of roles that include community recreation development and operational management with a large disability service provider, sessional training and lecturing work in disability and recreation courses in tertiary institutions , a short stint in a residential aged care organisation and then 12 years with a state-wide disability advocacy organisation.

David Imber, Account Director, Essential Media Communications

David’s understanding of the workings of Government, as well as his experience as an advocate for community organisations, means he has seen campaigns from a number of critical perspectives- from developing a strategy and pitching stories to advising on responding to campaigns.

Deafblind Victoria,

Heather Lawson, Trudy Ryall and Michelle Stevens are founding members of Deafblind Victorians. The group is run by and for people who are Deafblind or who have both vision and...

Deborah Randa, Solicitor, Disability Discrimination Legal Service (DDLS)

Deborah has worked extensively in the family court system and community legal services prior to starting work at the Disaiblity discrimination legal Service. She has also been involved with some community education projects and has been involved with many community organisations where she has provided her services on a voluntary basis.

Deidre Griffiths, principal lawyer and executive officer of Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Service Inc

Deidre has worked at Villamanta for thirteen years. During this time she has been an active member of Disability Advocacy Victoria (formerly VDAN), the Disability Law Committee of the Law Institute of Victoria and the Federation of Community Legal Centres (Victoria), working collaboratively on disability rights issues.

Eden Parris, Advocacy Coordinator, Communication Rights Australia

Eden has a background in law and in the homelessness sector. For the last five years Eden has incorporated human rights legislation into the practice of disability advocacy in order to achieve better social justice outcomes.

Eleanore Fritze, Senior Lawyer, Mental Health and Disability Advocacy team, Civil Justice Program, Victoria Legal Aid (VLA).

Recently, Eleanore has been involved in providing training and professional support to lawyers working in mental health and disability law and other areas of law which promote social inclusion. She is actively involved in law reform and strategic advocacy to improve outcomes for people with disabilities.

Gordon Prior, Self Advocate

Being institutionalised for much of his life has not stopped Gordon from knowing his rights and becoming an accomplished self advocate. Gordon has finally found a position where his skills are properly acknowledged and he is paid a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work.

Greg Leeson, Lawyer, Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Service Inc.

Greg has worked as a casework and policy and law reform lawyer at Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Service Inc. for the past 8 years. During that time he has represented many people in relation to guardianship and administration matters and various other legal issues and provided community legal education on these areas of the law.

Heather Forsythe, Self Advocate Project Worker,VALID

Heather is interested in helping to support people with a disability to communicate effectively and has worked over many years to become a leader in the intellectual disability field; she has completed several leadership courses and represented self advocates on many committees, including the Victorian Disability Advisory Committee.

Heidi Peart, Self Advocacy Advisor

Recently completing a Bachelor of Social Science in Psychology, Heidi Peart is a self advocacy advisor who has worked in various support roles for people with disability, including recreation, case...

Ian Gray, Chief Magistrate of Victoria

In March 2001 Ian Gray was appointed as the Chief Magistrate of Victoria, and leads 112 magistrates covering 52 court locations throughout the State. From 1982 to 1986 he was in private practice as a solicitor and then as a barrister.

Jane Hauser, President, Reinforce

Jane has been actively involved in self advocacy for the past ten years. She works as a volunteer at Reinforce three days a week. She has featured in numerous videos and films including Bungee Jumping Lawyers and Love. She is passionate about the closure of all institutions in Australia. Jane is a member of the SARU Project Management group

Jen Rowley,

Jen has a background in nursing and also as a sessional – teacher in Community Services at TAFE. She has worked in the Community Sector for the past eight years as a disability advocate and Executive Officer with Gippsland Disability Advocacy.

Jessica Richter, Lawyer, Victoria Legal Aid

Jessica is the criminal law section’s “client group expert” for clients with intellectual disabilities. This means that as well as working primarily as a legal representative for clients who have disabilities, she has developed specialist knowledge and relationships around this client group and the disability sector so that she can be a resource for other practitioners who act for clients with an intellectual disability.

John Chesterman, Manager Policy and Education, Office of the Public Advocate (OPA)

John is a trained lawyer and prior to joining OPA he lectured in politics for more than eight years at the University of Melbourne. He has written a number of books, including (with Louise Chappell and Lisa Hill) The Politics of Human Rights in Australia (Cambridge University Press).

Johnny Crescendo, Disability Civil Rights singer/song Writer and activist

Johnny's songs “Choices and Rights” and. “Tear Down the Walls” have become anthems for the disability movement in the UK and the United States. In the early ‘90s Johnny led the UK movement to victories removing patronizing representations of disabled people in the media and coine the phrase Disability Pride.

Kairsty Wilson, Principal Solicitor, Association for Employees with a Disability (AED) Legal Service

A major highlight during Kairsty’s leadership at AED has been her advocacy to improve the wages and working conditions for people with disability working in business services, now known as Australian Disability Enterprises. This work for people with disabilities was formally recognised by the legal profession in 2011, when the Law Institute of Victoria awarded Kairsty with the Community Lawyer of the Year Award.

Kate Bergman, Program Manager, North East citizen Advocacy (NECA)

Kate has been involved in Citizen Advocacy for 22 years, firstly as a Committee of Management member and also the citizen advocate for a couple with two children. Kate then joined the staff of North East Citizen Advocacy 7 years ago as part-time Program Manager.

Kerry Stringer, Chair, Victorian Coalition of ABI Service Providers (VCASP)

Kerry has extensive experience in the disability sector and is passionate about working with people with disability and complex needs. Over the past 12 months Kerry has chaired the Victorian Coalition of ABI Service Providers (VCASP).

Lauren Hayes, Project Officer, Women with Disabilities victoria

Lauren was president of Young Blind Citizens Victoria from 2007-2009, and has also served as treasurer, vice-president and as a general member on the committee. In 2008, Lauren was choir director at Medley Hall, a residential college at the University of Melbourne.

Matthew Potocnik, Advocate

Matthew has been campaigning many years to improve systems, particularly in the area of Disability Accommodation Services where he has worked in direct care. He has experienced first-hand the short-falls in the current care and support system for people with disabilities.

Michael Aldridge, National Chairperson, People first NZ

Michael is the National Chairperson and President of the Top of the South Region. Michael lives in Nelson, New Zealand where he works in a fish factory. Michael is a...

Michael Buckley, Film Maker

Michael is a media manipulator, artist, and filmmaker. He has 35 years of experience producing video resources, comics and animations about disability rights issues. He is currently based at the SARU office where he wears many different media hats.

Patrick McGee, Coordinator, Aboriginal Justice Campaign, Ofice for the Public Advocate (OPA)

Patrick has been working in the field of disability for twenty-four years starting out in a government run institution for people with an intellectual disability in 1988. During this period, Patrick completed a certificate in mental retardation nursing.

Paul Ramcharan, Associate Professor, Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University

en involved in research with, for and about people with intellectual disability for 23 years and has maintained an interest in the development of self advocacy for most of those years.

Pauline Williams, Advocate, Action for More Independence and Dignity in Accommodation (AMIDA)

During her 16 years at AMIDA, Pauline's role has included systemic advocacy to achieve such goals as the inclusion in law of residential rights for people with a disability living in shared supported accommodation. AMIDA is involved in promoting these rights to residents empowering them in how to use their rights and Pauline has coordinated the creation of training resources for this purpose.

Peter Persson,

Peter has worked in disability services throughout his working life including day and recreational services, community residential programs and institutions. Following a two year stint in China, he worked for the Office of the Public Advocate and the Department of Human Services, before coming to Corrections in 2002.

Placido Belardo, Principal Solicitor, Disability Discrimination Legal service

Placido Belardo was admitted to legal practice in Victoria in November 1998. Previously, he practised criminal law overseas. He commenced working in the community legal centre sector at the Footscray Community Legal Centre in 1999 and later became principal solicitor at Disability Discrimination Legal Service in 2000,a position he holds to date.

Rachel Walters, Self Advocate, New Wave

Rachel is a proud mum and works part-time. She is also a member of Gippsland Disability Advocacy and is part of the New Wave team that runs the New Wave Self Advocacy Centre which is based in the Gippsland Disability Advocacy Office.

Reinforce,

Reinforce is a self advocacy organisation run by and for people with an intellectual disability. Reinforce works to ensure that the rights of people with an intellectual disability are upheld...

Richard Coverdale, Director, Centre for Rural Regional Law and Justice, Deakin University

Richard has had extensive experience working in the community sector including the disability field. He was involved in establishing and managing Villamanta Legal Service and a publishing and consulting arm of the service. He also oversaw the establishment of Geelong Community Legal Service, the first legal service outside metropolitan Melbo

Riki Domagalski,

Moving to adulthood, Riki faces many challenges in getting paid employment despite having years of experience through volunteering with Grit Media (a disability organisation that produce No Limits on C31) and Peer Support work at Yooralla.

Rob Daly, Lawyer

Rob has been practising as lawyer since 1990 and taken up nomadic career in a variety of roles and variety of places and is now specialising in discrimination law.

Robyn Mills, Program Leader, Mental Health & Disability Advocacy Program, victoria Legal Aid

Robyn is a Solicitor and advocate with over 30 years legal experience initially in private practice and for the last 18 years at Victoria Legal Aid. Robyn practices in many facets of administrative law and regularly appears before the Mental Health Review Board (MHRB) and the Guardianship List at VCAT.

Sarah Barton, Producer

Sarah Barton is an independent documentary maker with more than fifteen years experience as a writer and director and sometimes producer. Her first film Untold Desires (producer Eva Orner 1994) was about sexuality and disability and won the first Logie Award for SBS and an AFI Award for most outstanding documentary.

Seth Howell, Individual Advocate, VALID

Seth is an Individual Advocacy Coordinator at VALID, a Statewide Peak Advocacy organization for people with intellectual disabilities and their families.

Sharon Granek, Coordinator, Disability Advocacy Resource Unit (DARU)

Sharon has previously worked in various capacities always in the field of diversity including case management, residential and respite care, policy development, housing, education, training and employment, public health and advocacy.

Sophie Delaney, Senior Lawyer, Mental Health and Disability Program, Victoria Legal Aid

Sophie works as a solicitor and advocate in Mental Health Review Board, Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) and Disability Act proceedings. She has published major articles in relation to Victoria’s Mental Health Act and the United Nation Mental Health Principles, and on an optimally rights recognising mental health review tribunal.

Sue Smith, Coordinator, Self Advocacy Resource Unit (SARU)

Sue works at SARU and enjoys sharing advice and ideas gained from her thirty years’ experience in self advocacy and community development. She is currently the chairperson of start Community...

Susan Arthur, Self Advocate

I’m very passionate about helping people with disabilities I volunteer as a self advocate with Reinforce where I was recently elected as Assistant Secretary. My passion is to make the world a better place for parents with intellectual disabilities and I hope that one day parents with I.D. can keep their children with the support they need.

United Brains,

United Brains is a recently established support network comprised of Victorian self help and self advocacy groups for people with an ABI.

VCASP,

VCASP, the Victorian Coalition of ABI Service Providers, was established in 1998, in response to the need for co-ordinated policy and service development for people affected by acquired brain injury (ABI).

Tickets

Prices

  • Ticket type: Full Delegate
    Ticket description: For organisations, government and individuals.
    Price: 0

Access Information

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Strengthening Disability Advocacy conference 2012

Disability advocacy and the legal system: You be the judge!

Where:

Melbourne Park Function Centre

When:

Monday 26th March, 2012

Cost:

-

Status:

Closed

Park Function Centre
Melbourne

Sponsors