How do IDEAS help people with disability, their carers and supporters?
IDEAS stands for Information on Disability Education & Awareness Services. Our purpose is to enable the frail, aged, people with disabilities, their families, carers, supporters, and service providers to become better informed when making decisions. We aim to improve awareness and understanding of disability and aging issues and resources, including through community education, information provision, and training.
We do this by:
Information Provision
We collate high quality and accurate information and house it on our curated website. Information is also disseminated via our e-news and social media channels.
Community Engagement
We travel across the country to connect with people, speaking at community forums and events. We work in partnership with organisations, train workers about disability awareness and inclusion, and answer inquiries from people with disability.
Community Connectors
IDEAS are providing services as part of the new National Community Connector Program (NCCP), developed as a response to the under-representation of many diverse population groups receiving and properly utilising NDIS funding, due to a combination of cultural, social, economic and discriminatory barriers.
Read more: CALD Community Connectors
PossABLE Advocacy
IDEAS is funded through the NSW Department of Communities and Justice to deliver individual advocacy in South West and South East Sydney and the Southern Region of NSW.
Read more: PossABLE Advocacy
Projects
Together with partners we are, and have been involved in many projects in line with our mission:
- IDEAS is a partner with Wide Angle Film Festival (WAFF). This year WAFF will screen to over 70,000 Australians.
- Through our partnership with Eastern Riverina Arts, PLATFORM was developed to increase the participation of artists and people with disability in volunteer-run, community-based festivals. PLATFORM is a portable, accessible sensory space adapted from a 40ft shipping container and designed by artists with disability. As part of the Information, Linkages and Capacity Buiding (ILC) project in 2019-2020 PLATFORM also allowed IDEAS to develop Ezy-Dun.
- A Linkages and Capacity Buiding (ILC) project partnership with The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) saw IDEAS develop a website/database accessible telecommunication information.
- A current partnership with National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) sees IDEAS delivering the NDIS Community Connector program into Newcastle, NSW Central Coast, Campbelltown and Wollongong. This program assists people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities to access the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Keep up to date with everything important to you...
The IDEAS eNews is a regular shout out from IDEAS delivered directly to your email Inbox.
We collect and curate high-quality information and resources as well as the latest disability sector news, share videos, podcasts and recipes with a focus on information that is useful and engaging for people with disability, their families, carers and supporters as well as professionals in the disability sector.
You can check out our latest edition here. To subscribe, please login or register.
