Our social enterprise, the Housing Hub, host a range of face-to-face and online workshops for a wide range of audiences Australia-wide.
Events round-up: Dec – Feb
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Bridget Doyle. I’m 28 years old. I love going out for coffee, listening to music, walking my dog Lily, playing board games with friends and pottering around in my garden growing my own fruits and veggies.
Where is home for you? Can you tell us about your journey to get there?
I live in SDA in Redcliffe, Queensland. I used to live with my mum and dad, then I moved out to a shared SDA. Unfortunately that didn’t work out and now I live by myself in a SDA apartment. My parents and I had to fight hard to get single occupancy SDA – it was very stressful and took a toll on all of us fighting the NDIS but it was worth it.
It has been a tough journey to get to my current home but it has definitely been worth all of the tough times.
How did you connect to the work of the Summer Foundation?
I got involved with the Summer Foundation through my mum who had connected with the organisation previously. Then last year while I was visiting Melbourne I got to meet some of the team, which was such a lovely experience.
Can you tell us about the co-design work you have been involved with?
I have been fortunate enough to work on some projects with the Summer Foundation and been able to give my insight through my lived experience as a participant of the NDIS. I’ll hopefully also be able to create resources to help other participants navigate the NDIS more easily.
Why do you enjoy working with the Summer Foundation to share your experience and insight?
The Summer Foundation has always been a welcoming, supportive and safe space to be a part of. I love being able to give my input into projects that they’re doing.
It’s been a big year for Reasonable & Necessary, with some extremely important conversations unfolding on Dr George’s podcast. Dr George has interviewed NDIS Review Co-chairs Bruce Bonyhady and Lisa Paul twice this year. He’s also interviewed Minister Bill Shorten, international disability expert Simon Duffy and former Disability Royal Commissioner Alaistair McEwan, to name a few.
The 2022/23 Annual Report was launched on 2 November at the Annual Public Forum. The report shares highlights of the work we are doing to resolve the issue of younger people in aged care. Using the Summer Foundation strategic priorities to structure the report, it details the achievements and work in progress from the Research team, the Housing Hub, UpSkill and the Co-design team.
The Summer Foundation welcomes the emphasis on inclusive housing in the Disability Royal Commission’s final report.
As part of our continuous efforts to enhance and streamline our services, UpSkill training will now be delivered by the Housing Hub.
About 860 people participated in the Summer Foundation’s 10th Annual Public Forum on 2 November.
This included 160 people who attended the forum in person and about 700 who were online to focus on how home and living supports can be transformed to truly meet the needs of people with disability.
The NDIS Review final report was made public on 7 December. Overall the scope and scale of recommendations from the NDIS Review are welcome. The Review clearly articulated the design flaws. Change will not happen overnight.
Welcome to our last newsletter for 2023.
The year ends on a high with the state and federal governments agreeing at National Cabinet to work together to improve the lives of people with disability, and the release of the NDIS Review final report and recommendations.
It is heartening to see the government has laid the foundations for the radical changes to the NDIS that are needed. See our perspective on the recommendations and what will happen next here.
Taken together, the NDIS Review and the Disability Royal Commission recommendations have the potential to transform disability housing. You can read more about this in my recent article in The Conversation here.