An inspiring new DVD designed to raise the profile of Indigenous people with a disability will be launched on December 3, International Day for people with a disability.
YouthWorX NT Local Community Partnerships, in collaboration with the National Disability Coordination Officer, NT located in Support and Equity Services at Charles Darwin University, has worked within a series of remote Northern Territory Indigenous communities to identify Indigenous perspectives on “disability”.
These perspectives have been compiled into a DVD and include often moving interviews with Indigenous people with a disability, whose stories display their strength of character and belief in their own selves and their circumstance.
National Disability Coordination Officer for the NT, Liz Reid said: “Every single person in the DVD is totally inspirational. How they see themselves as an individual and how they have approached adversity – they are truly amazing.”
“We wanted to highlight and raise the awareness that Indigenous people with a disability are contributors like any other person. They have the right to education and employment; to be professionally and personally valued as members of society,” Ms Reid said.
The DVD will be used as a resource for registered training organisations, schools, career pathway advisors, business and industry, government-funded Indigenous bodies and community organisations to:
- Improve transition for Indigenous Australians with a disability from their school or community into post-secondary education, training and subsequent employment.
- Increase participation by Indigenous Australians with a disability into higher education, vocational education and training and employment.
- Establish better links and understanding between schools, universities, vocational education and training, training providers and disability service providers so they can work collaboratively to provide the best possible assistance for Indigenous people with a disability.
The DVD will be screened on the first day of the National Pathways 8 Conference in Melbourne, and in Alice Springs, Batchelor, Darwin, Groote Eylandt, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Yirrkala on International Day of People with a Disability, December 3 2008.
“The Yirrkala screening will prove particularly poignant as it (the DVD) is dedicated to the memory of the late Dr Marika Mununggiritj, a guiding light throughout the journey of this project,” Ms Reid said.
A free copy of the DVD can be ordered from the CDU National Disability Coordination Officer website.