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OUT OF THE SPOTLIGHT: CITIZENSHIP AND PARTICIPATION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY IN REGIONAL AND RURAL AREAS
MESSAGE OF WELCOME
The Hon Justice Michel Kirby AC CMG
Justice of the High Court of Australia
I was recently appointed Patron of the Centre for Peace and Social Justice (CPSJ) which is the sponsor of this conference.
On behalf of CPSJ and its community of scholars and students, I offer a message of welcome to the participants. Disability, in various forms, has been the subject of law, legal cases and a measure of community progress in recent years. However, there is still much to be done and especially in regional and rural areas of Australia. The chief target of the laws and policies concerning disability is stereotyping and invisibility. Stereotypes often prevent people from fulfilling themselves. Invisibility means that injustice and unjust inequality of treatment are ignored because they are not seen. The result is not only personal loss to those affected and their families. There is also loss to their communities, including economic loss arising from missed opportunities. See Gerard Goggin and Christopher Newell, Disability in Australia - Exposing a Social Apartheid, UNSW Press, 2005.
This conference will tackle presuppositions and assumptions about disability. It will insist that strategies (including in the law) must be grounded in empirical research, not myths, presumptions and assumptions. Encouraging all to make the most of their lives is an aspect of modern citizenship. It also happens to be beneficial for a modern economy.
I am sure that all participants in the conference will go away with enhanced knowledge and a strengthened enthusiasm to tackle issues of disability in regional and rural Australia with the benefit of research and knowledge of the progress made elsewhere in the nation and the world.
MICHAEL KIRBY Patron of SCU Centre for Peace and Social Justice Canberra 12 July 2005
Out of the spotlight:
citizenship and participation of people with disability in regional and rural areas
A one-day conference
Conference: |
9:15am – 5:00pm on Friday, September 16 th 2005, at Invercauld House, |
Social event: |
6:00pm – 8:00pm Thursday September 15 th , Zest, Campus Central, |
Cost: |
This conference is free and lunch is provided. |
Contact information
For the latest information including registration and scholarship information:
• see the scholarship link on this site
• contact Rob Garbutt on (02) 6626 9458 or e-mail rgarbutt@scu.edu.au
About this conference
This conference addresses important questions about disability in regional Australia.
Over the past decade, understandings of disability have changed significantly. Our current understandings address disability as a social, political and structural force which impacts on the lives of individuals, communities and social structures in a wide range of ways.
Much of the development of new understandings of disability have occurred without specific consideration of the way disability impacts on life outside of major metropolitan centres. How is participation different for people with disability in regional and rural areas? Are there barriers to activating full citizenship for people with disability who live in rural areas? Are these barriers different than those which impact on people who live in metropolitan areas of Australia?
The core aim of the conference is to provide a crucial, critical learning and sharing space for activating full participation in society. A major focus of the conference is to invite participants to exchange ideas, views and experiences about disability in social and cultural contexts: to deepen our understanding of regional issues and their impact on disability and full citizenship. The conference affirms an interdisciplinary and activist approach to challenge narrow definitions of citizenship based on exclusion.
Major Themes
• Barriers to citizenship
• Frameworks for thinking about disability
• Regional student experience of disability
• Impact of diversity on participation: multiple sets of barriers to participation
• Disability cultures
• Educating for inclusive citizenship
• Ethics and regional participation
Who is this conference for?
Students, scholars, activists, non-government organisations, educationalists and community workers who represent a diversity of viewpoints.
Scholarships
Scholarships are available for students of Southern Cross University who have disability related support needs and require assistance to attend this conference. For more information contact the Out of the Spotlight office on 02 6626 9458 or email rgarbutt@scu.edu.auConference Program
Registration and coffee from 9:15am
Morning - Welcome and plenary sessionsThe morning program will include an overview that sets the scene for the conference, followed by a plenary session and discussion of the conference themes. Speakers include: Iris Ritt (CEO People With Disability), Dr. Gerard Goggin (University of Queensland), Sally Robinson (Disability Studies and Research Institute), Dr. Lesley Chenoweth (UQ), Faye Druett (Disability Rights Activist).
The plenary sessions will address the main conference themes: access, participation and ethics in relation to disability issues. The plenary sessions will include ample time for discussion of the issues raised.
Afternoon – Concurrent Discussion sessions
In the afternoon there will be four concurrent discussion sessions. These sessions will include a mix of formal presentations, briefer perspectives and time for discussion of issues.
Impact of Diversity on Participation
This forum aims to explore what it means to negotiate and participate in everyday life with disability. How do markers of gender, sexuality, class, geography, age, education and so on impact on the quality of full participation in society?
Contributors: Damian Griffis (People with Disability Australia), Amanda Tink (UQ)
Disability Cultures
This forum explores the rich diversity of disability cultures , such as Deaf Culture or Blind Culture and the cultures created by multiple memberships, such as queer culture for people with disability. How do these cultures contribute to the well being of their members? What connections are established and promoted between disability cultures? How do disability cultures relate to the wider community?
Contributors: Bronwyn Watson and Anna Seymour (SCU)
Ethics and Regional Participation
This forum raises important questions about belonging in the regions. How do people with disability ethically intervene into ablist constructions of regionality? What kinds of ethical interventions are needed to bring about full participation in regional society?
Contributors: bring about full participation in regional society?
Contributors: Jayne Clapton (Griffith Uni), Katie Britton (SCU), Marinka Dunlop (SCU), Paige Ridgeway (Spinal Chord Injuries Australia)
Connecting through Story
Telling stories is a powerful means of sharing and connecting with others. The aim of this forum is to provide a listening and learning space where experiences, thoughts and visions can be exchanged about the nature of disability in regional Australia today.
Contributors: Fiona Strahan (Note: All participants are invited to share their perspectives in this forum.)
Venue: Invercauld House, 161 Invercauld Road, Goonellabah, 2480. (Phone 02 6624 1881)
Website: http://www.scu.edu.au/commercial/invercauld
This conference is organised by Southern Cross University's Centre for Peace and Social Justice and the Disability Studies and Research Institute (DSaRI). Funding has been provided by the SCU Equity Office from Higher Education Equity Program funds.
