This Week in Social Inclusion and Diversity

1. In the Cinema

2. National VET Equity Advisory Council (NVEAC)

3. Workplace Assessment Tool

4. On-line Aboriginal Cultural Orientation Course

5. Work/Life interaction, skill development and utilisation in Australia

6. National research priorities for tertiary education and training: 2011-13 (NCVER publication (2 July 2010))

7. The National Disability Coordination Officer (NDCO) Program

1. In the Cinema

On 17 July 2010, it was announced that by 2014, the major cinema chains in Australia (Hoyts, Village, Event and Reading International) would provide captioning and audio description at every one of the 132 cinema complexes they operate in Australia, across 242 screens. This is a significant improvement on the 12 screens around the country that currently provide captioning for three sessions per week.

“This is an extremely important development for people who have always wanted to enjoy going to the movies, but were unable to because cinemas did not provide the necessary access,” said Commissioner Innes. “When fully implemented, this plan will mean that Australia will have one of the highest per capita rates of cinema access in the world.”

Organisations representing the views of Deaf people, people with a hearing impairment, blind people and people with low vision have been advocating for improvements in the availability of captions and audio description in cinemas for many years.

But what is audio description and captioning? And how does it aid and enhance the cinema experience for the large number of people who are deaf, have hearing impairment, are blind, or have low vision? To find out more, Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Graeme Innes spoke to Mr Alex Varley, CEO of Media Access Australia, about this important announcement, the technology involved and the way it works.

To listen to the podcast or read the transcript, see: www.humanrights.gov.au/podcasts/

2. National VET Equity Advisory Council (NVEAC)

NVEAC has released its discussion paper Equal Futures: Achieving Potential through VET; Blueprint for change 2011 – 2016.

This paper proposes five reforms to ‘embed equity’ into the VET system:

1. Sustainable Investment
2. Measuring and Reporting Performance
3. Building the Capacity and Capability of the VET Workforce
4. Enhanced Support for Foundation Skills Development
5. Quality Learning Experiences and Pathways to Work

You can make your responses to the Discussion Paper which can be found at www.nveac.tvetaustralia.com.au or directly to jennifer [dot] gibb [at] tvetaustralia [dot] com [dot] au

Additionally NVEAC are compiling examples of good practice ‘equity in VET’.

If you know of initiatives for NVEAC to consider, please contact Valerie Noy, Principal Project Director, NVEAC Secretariat at valerie [dot] noy [at] tvetaustralia [dot] com [dot] au or on (03) 9832 8107.

3. Workplace Assessment Tool

DEEWR’s Workplace Adjustment Tool lets you search for ideas on how to make a workplace more accessible for people with disability.

You can search for ideas based on either (a) the type of job being undertaken, (b) a particular disability, (c) a type of product, or (d) a particular supplier.

When you find the product or solution you need, you can view the contact details for any suppliers in your area. Follow the step-by-step instructions to begin your search at: http://jobaccess.gov.au/Advice/Search/SoarSearch.aspx

4. On-line Aboriginal Cultural Orientation Course

A free online orientation to Aboriginal culture is available at http://www.apo.org.au/guide/aboriginal-cultural-orientation

Many professionals have little or no knowledge of the post-colonial legacies and cultural perceptions of Aboriginal people. The impact of this poor understanding undermines respect, devalues integrity and compounds communication barriers. These issues have a devastating impact on the health outcomes of Aboriginal people. In recognition that many health practitioners working with Aboriginal people receive little or no cultural orientation, combined Universities Centre for Rural Health, in partnership with WA Country Health Service and Disability Services Commission, has developed an on-line Cultural Orientation Plan.

The package, inclusive of information, videos, activities and links to further resources, consists of five self directed learning modules:

• Culture, self and diversity
• Aboriginal history
• Working with Aboriginal people
• Providing clinical services
• Improving cultural security

This course consists of five self directed learning modules with a focus on allied health. However much of the content is generic to all professionals working with Indigenous people.

5. Work/Life interaction, skill development and utilisation in Australia

Barbara Pocock will consider how the changing nature of work and its interaction with life beyond work (including unpaid work, care and household and community involvement) affects workers' participation in vocational education on Friday, 22 October 2010.
For more information and to register for these free public webinars visit http://www.ncver.edu.au/newsevents/events.html

6. National research priorities for tertiary education and training: 2011-13 (NCVER publication (2 July 2010))

The national research priorities for tertiary education and training 2011-2013 were endorsed by the Ministerial Council for Tertiary Education and Employment (MCTEE) in June 2010.

This document (http://www.ncver.edu.au/research/proj/NationalResPriorities2011_2271.pdf) sets out the context for the priorities, what was learnt from the consultations and the final advice on the priorities by the NCVER Board to MCTEE. The five priority subject areas endorsed are: skills and productivity, structures in the tertiary education and training system, the contribution of education and training to social inclusion, learning and teaching, and the place and role of VET.

The following excerpt from the document (p.13) considers the contribution of education and training to social inclusion:
Tertiary education and training plays a significant, but not singular, role in contributing to an inclusive society. The aim of this priority is to prompt thinking about the design of an education and training system which supports all learners to achieve their potential and to investigate how education and training can achieve good economic and social outcomes for disadvantaged groups.

Understanding the motivations of individuals and the role of learning and qualifications in enhancing social mobility, creating opportunities and opening up pathways are key concerns.

We also need to know more about the barriers to participation, completion and outcomes for disadvantaged learners.
Importantly, there is a need to consider the capacity of the tertiary system to respond to the requirements of a range of individuals who experience disadvantage, or who are at risk of disengagement from learning and employment opportunities. How can tertiary education and training best cater to all individuals, build resilience in our youth and play its part in redressing social exclusion?

• Crucial here will be consistent definitions and appropriate measures. Fundamental concepts include:
• Defining disadvantage and appropriate measures, eg:, low socioeconomic status; disengagement; reconceptualising equity
• Individual motivations and nature of pathways
• Institutional capacity to respond eg:, accommodating disadvantage; incentives to reach ‘hard to reach’ learners
• Role of different learning environments
• Learning communities
• Social mobility and the role of qualifications
• Youth at risk and scarring effects
• Language, literacy and numeracy skills
• Equity groups eg:, low socioeconomic status, youth, mature age, migrants, Indigenous, rural and remote, disability, gender.

7. The National Disability Coordination Officer (NDCO) Program

The National Disability Coordination Officer (NDCO) Program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR)

It operates Australia-wide and aims to facilitate the transition of people with disability from school or the community into post-secondary education and training, and then into employment.The programs operate as one network of local officers who can provide:

• information and advice on post-secondary education and training options, supports and services in your region.
• assistance in understanding the transition to post-secondary education and training and employment.
• links with appropriate people in your region to help you plan for and make a successful entry into further study and employment.
• advocacy to improve your region's services.

The aim of the NDCO program is to overcome the barriers that people with disability experience in gaining access to, and successfully completing, university study or vocational education, especially in regional, rural and remote Australia. There are 31 NDCO's across Australia.
For more information about the program go to: http://www.deewr.gov.au/ndco where you can scroll down the right-hand side of the page to find the nearest NDCO to you.

The latest news from the NDCO includes the following advice:

Changes to Disability Employment Services: From 1 July 2010 additional assistance will be available for school leavers and job seekers with moderate intellectual disability entering Disability Employment Services.

Extension of Eligible School Leaver Eligibility: This measure extends the definition of an Eligible School Leaver for Disability Employment Services to include young people who enter directly from generally a state-based transition to work program, or within 12 months of leaving school. This measure will enable these Eligible School Leavers to access Disability Employment Services without the need for further assessment and to access the highest level of support.

The Disability Employment Services Eligible School Leaver Guidelines will be updated to reflect these changes in consultation disability sector.
Additional Assistance for job seekers with moderate intellectual disability:

This measure introduces a 70 per cent loading on some Disability Employment Services fees available where a job seeker has moderate intellectual disability.

From 1 July 2010, the loading will be applied to the first two quarterly service fees as well as job placement, 13-week and 26-week employment outcome fees where these fees apply to jobs of at least 15 hours per week.The Department will undertake consultation with the disability sector on the criteria for defining moderate intellectual disability within Disability Employment Services.

For more information go to:

http://www.deewr.gov.au/Employment/Programs/DES/Pages/Overview.aspx

New Centrelink facts sheet for DSP recipients who wish to work: Centrelink has released a new factsheet ‘Options and services for Disability Support Pension customers’ that details support available for DSP recipients who wish to work. It’s available at http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/publications/id040.htm

New Transition Planning Resources : ‘Get Ready for Study and Work’ (student workbook)
A new transition planning resource has been developed by the NDCO team in Western Sydney. Although the website has been designed for students attending NSW schools, a National version of the Get Ready workbook can now be downloaded from their website: www.uws.edu.au/ndco

‘Get Ready for Study and Work provides the top ten tips for young people who have a disability or chronic medical condition’. The workbook contains lots of practical advice, activities and useful resources to assist young people to make a successful transition from school to post-secondary education and employment. Our top ten tips for transition planning are to get:

1. Ready early 2. The big picture 3. Connected 4. To know your options 5. The skills
6. Organised 7. Support 8. Involved 9. To know your rights and responsibilities 10. Confident

You can download the workbook from the “Key Messages” page at www.uws.edu.au/ndco or contact your local NDCO for a copy.

‘Links to further education and employment’: This is a resource for people with a disability considering the transition to further education or employment. It has information on specific support for the Western NSW Region. http://www.cwcc.nsw.edu.au/uploaded/148/995325_55transitionresource.pdf

New Online Resources: Supporting Students with Asperger's Syndrome

This guide aims to improve the situation of students with Asperger's Syndrome (AS), and the staff supporting them. It targets the academic who has little or no experience of AS. The guide includes a case study, typical academic scenarios as well as ideas for supporting students with Asperger's Syndrome. See: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/physsci/home/pedagogicthemes/accessibility/aspergerssyndrome