News from Commonwealth Department of Social Services

The Commonwealth Department of Social Services (DSS) is gathering feedback from people with disabilities about “Foundational Supports,” new services being introduced outside the NDIS across all states and territories. They want to hear where people with disabilities go to find information and learn new skills, like attending peer groups or using websites.

DBA is specifically interested in Deafblind people’s experiences with accessing information, advice and support. You can share your feedback by:

– Commenting on this video

– Messaging the DBA Facebook page

– Emailing your answers to ben.mcatamney@deafblindaustralia.org.au

If you’d prefer a 1:1 Zoom session, email to arrange a time before 15th November.

Questions:

1. Where do you go to find new information or learn new skills? (e.g., drop-in center, website, phone number)

2. What types of information are hard to find that you wish were easier to access?

3. How can the government make supports and services easier for Deafblind people to access and understand?

4. Have you used the Disability Gateway website or the 1800 number for information?

Auslan video:

Transcript for video:

Hi everybody, the Commonwealth Department of Social Services or DSS for short is currently talking with people with disability all over Australia about a new type of support separate from the NDIS called “foundational supports”. DSS is interested to learn more about how people with disability access information and learn new skills, this could be things like going to a place such as a peer group or calling an Information Hotline, it could also include things like doing study through an online course or researching things through websites. Deafblind Australia would love to hear from a range of Deafblind people about the different ways that they go about studying or learning new skills and information. There are four simple questions in this video that we’d love for you to answer, we have a few different options available for you to give us your answers to the questions, the first option is just to type your answers into the comments below this video the second is to type an email that you can send to Ben Mcatamney at DBA his email address is ben.mcatamney@deafblindaustralia.org.au. The third option is to send your responses in a private message to the DBA Facebook page and finally you can also email us if you’d like to organise a time for a one-on-one private Zoom call especially if you’d like to give your answers in Auslan, it would be wonderful for us to hear from as many Deafblind people as possible to make sure that we can make a holistic representation to DSS about what people need. This will be helpful for DSS to understand what types of supports and services Deafblind people need and how to make information more accessible to them. Here are the four questions that DBA would love to get your feedback on question one, how do you find new information or find study avenues to improve your skills this could mean something like going to a peer group, it could mean going to tafe or a different place for formal study or it could be a hotline or an online space that you find really helpful for getting new information. Question two, what types of information is hard to find now that you wish was easier to find? Question three, how can the Government make information about supports and services easier for Deafblind people to access and understand? What would you like the government to understand better about your needs or the needs of the Deafblind community? Question four, have you tried a website called disability Gateway or have you tried calling the 1800 information number on that website? Thank you m, bye-bye.

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