Welcome to Eureka Street

back to site
Forgot your password?
Subscribe

Keywords: Disability

  • AUSTRALIA

    Hope beyond disability support flip-flopping

    • Moira Byrne Garton
    • 03 August 2012
    2 Comments

    Disability policy is no longer a short-term issue for political point-scoring, it is in the middle of the public policy sphere. While it is heartening that there is general consensus between political parties on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, some state premiers' bickering over funding has fuelled the distress of affected people.

    READ MORE
  • INTERNATIONAL

    Euthanasing the disabled

    • Moira Byrne Garton
    • 29 June 2012
    6 Comments

    Earlier this month a Canadian Supreme Court effectively legalised physician-assisted euthanasia. While there is a general perception that those opposed to euthanasia do so on religious grounds, many people with disabilities oppose euthanasia because they believe it is bad policy that denies their right to live. 

    READ MORE
  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Xanana on the wall

    • Tessa McMahon
    • 26 June 2012
    9 Comments

    The bed on which I lie is scientifically sprung, approved by chiropractors ... and blessed from on high by Klimt ... Made by a woman Timor-thin, cross-legged on concrete.

    READ MORE
  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    When kids and cancer is a laughing matter

    • Tim Kroenert
    • 31 May 2012

    Sleepless parents, on the eve of their child's surgery for a brain tumour, confess their fears to each other: that he will die, or acquire a disability. But they turn this, too, into a game. Far from making light of the situation, they find, in humour, genuine solace from genuine fear.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Fund facts about living with disability

    • Patricia Mowbray
    • 18 April 2012
    5 Comments

    At the end of each day, one of our three adult sons will ask, 'What's on tomorrow?' They don't ask this lightly. They have Down syndrome. Whether they participate in the community, go to work or remain at home depends on what funding we can access.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Social justice arguments against dismissal regulation

    • Paul Oslington
    • 19 March 2012
    6 Comments

    A subtle effect of dismissal regulation is that it penalises workers who are risky for employers, such as those returning to work after a break to rear children, those with a disability, or from particular racial groups. The most vulnerable in the labour market miss out as employers lean towards 'safe' workers.

    READ MORE
  • EDUCATION

    The best teacher I ever knew

    • Frank O'Shea
    • 07 December 2011
    13 Comments

    Top classes or remedial ones, nerds or footballers, were all the same to Albert: he was first a teacher of boys and then a teacher of maths. One of Sydney's most prestigious schools offered him a position which he turned down due to a disability that would remain with him for the rest of his life.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Jobs lost to the office evolution

    • Paul O'Callaghan
    • 30 November 2011
    7 Comments

    If you walked into a public service office in the early 1980s, you'd see typing pools, mailrooms and whole floors full of people doing routine clerical work. People with disabilities were disproportionately employed in low level positions. Today, most of those positions have gone.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Disability reform shows Labor has a heart

    • Moira Byrne Garton
    • 12 August 2011
    11 Comments

    Julia Gillard this week described access to disability services as a 'cruel lottery', and declared support for proposed reforms. Her response demonstrates compassion and goodwill during a time when many citizens have expressed disgust at Labor's treatment of asylum seekers.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Aborting abnormality

    • Zac Alstin
    • 12 July 2011
    112 Comments

    Research suggests that 85 per cent of Australians support legal access to abortion for 'severe disabilities', and 60 per cent for 'mild disabilities'. While we encourage tolerance and diversity in our multi-ethnic society, our medical culture is moving in the opposite direction.

    READ MORE
  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Churches where no wheelchairs go

    • Moira Byrne Garton
    • 24 May 2011
    11 Comments

    Upon seeing the steps in front of one big city Catholic cathedral, we looked for disability access. We followed a sign uphill to find the side entrance also had steps. So we made our way to the back of the church, where we discovered a long ramp and a door. We rang the bell and waited. And waited.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Mixed Budget blessings

    • Paul O'Callaghan
    • 11 May 2011
    7 Comments

    The Budget contains a number of positive measures to promote mental health, employment and training. But without greater investment in individualised support for job seekers and those on disability support pensions to assist their transition to work, we are not likely to see major change.

    READ MORE