SHUT
IN Campaign
to Close Institutions NATIONAL LAUNCH
3 December 2010 International Day of People with Disability
Kim’s Story
“I have many friends now: people I can
talk to, go to dinner with and call on for support. I am in charge of my life
now, I make my own decisions and I am free. No-one tells me what to do or when,
what I have to eat, or when I have to go to bed—I can do what I like whenever I
like.”
Kim lived in institutions for 17 years. She is now a passionate advocate for the
closure of all institutions in Australia.
Click here to read Kim’s
story, along with the stories of other people who have
successfully moved out of institutions.
From the
Campaign Coordinators
Position
Paper - Accommodating Human Rights
Personal
Perspectives – Life in an Institution
Introduction
International
Day of People with Disability is a time to recognise the contributions people
with disability make to the economic, social, cultural and political life of
our community. It is also a time to celebrate
the many gains people with disability have made in the fight for human rights
and to take further action against human rights abuses.
Australia has
ratified the UN Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and
made a commitment to respect, protect and fulfil our human rights. Such a guiding framework is more critical
than ever, as we fight the re-emergence of regressive ‘supported accommodation’
policy, which has seen Australian governments stall in their commitment to
close institutions and to provide genuine community based housing and supports
for people with disability.
Many people may
have thought that we had won the fight to close institutions throughout
Australia, and that most people with disability now live in the community. While governments throughout Australia have made
commitments to provide community based accommodation services to people with
disability, the growing demand for disability services and ‘supported
accommodation’ in particular has meant that this commitment has waned or been
breached. Consequently we are hearing a great deal about the crisis in
‘supported accommodation’, the need to explore ‘supported accommodation models’
and to build ‘accommodation facilities’ for people with disability.
The focus on
‘supported accommodation’, the dominant service language, already confines
discussions to ‘models’ that require a different response for ‘accommodating’
people with disability, rather than recognising that people with disability
have a right to adequate housing on an equal basis as all others in the
community. This issue is a housing issue
and an issue of the supports required for a person with disability to live in
housing equivalent to everyone else in the community. This is a right enshrined in Article 19 of
CRPD.
On this
International Day of People with Disability, we are launching our Shut In
campaign to take action against the ongoing congregation, segregation and
isolation of people with disability in institutions:
·
People
with disability are still in institutions.
These institutions are still being funded and have not closed regardless
of promises that have been made to do so.
·
People
with disability are still being placed in institutions regardless of government
policies that stipulate that this should not occur.
·
Some
institutions are not being closed but are being redeveloped into ‘contemporary’
institutions that continue to congregate people with disability and segregate
them from community life.
Institutions
for people with disability are in breach of CRPD and Shut In aims to raise
awareness about this human rights abuse, to take action to close institutions
and to advocate for housing and supports that enable people with disability to
live in the community in the same way as everyone else.
Our launch
e-bulletin provides information about the campaign, who is involved, what the
situation is in different States and Territories and how to get involved. More information is available on the Shut In
website at www.shutin.org.au
People with
disability are being Shut In to institutions.
This is a human rights abuse and it has to end NOW.
From the Campaign Coordinators:
Message from Campaign Coordinators
Mark Pattison - Executive Director, National Council on Intellectual
Disability
I
remember in the 1990's attending meetings about the establishment of 'group
homes' in my neighbourhood. I and a few others put up our hands and said yes to
"in my backyard". We were in the minority! Those were the days of
promise, promise that was slowly fading.
Since
then people with disability and their families have seen their hopes and dreams
smothered. As the community has become more accepting, governments have not
responded to their many inquiries, the citizenship of people with disability,
nor the evidence of what makes a ' good life'.
Instead
of fulfilling their promises and closing institutions, governments are
redeveloping old ones and opening up new ones. Governments have failed people
with disability, families, the community – all of us.
It is time to say No More Institutions!
Kevin Stone – Executive Officer, Victorian Advocacy League for
Individuals with Disability
“The Shut Out
report, released last year by the National People with Disabilities and Carer
Council, showed that people with disabilities are often discriminated against;
exploited physically, emotionally and financially and excluded from the
mainstream of Australia’s social and economic life.
While this
report shines a welcome spotlight onto the lives of many people with
disabilities, it doesn’t tell the full story.
For many people with disabilities, particularly people with intellectual
disabilities, not only are they shut out from the opportunities enjoyed by
other Australians, they are often congregated in institutions which, despite
the best efforts of their carers and staff, inevitably isolate, segregate and
de-personalise.
In other
words, they are Shut In.
VALID and Reinforce
have initiated the Shut In Campaign because we know we
have much more chance of getting our message across when we work together. We
are excited by the prospect of organisations across Australia coming together
with PWDA and NCID to call on the Australian community to stop shutting out
people with disabilities and to demand Australian governments stop shutting
them in!”
Dean Price – Advocacy Projects Manager, People with Disability
Australia
Over the past
three decades there have been promises from Governments of all persuasions to
make the treatment of people with disability an issue for their social policy.
Many improvements have been made for people with disability. This has been
welcomed. However the need for action, on behalf of all governments, is
immense.
There have
been specific promises by State and Territory Governments for the devolution of
institutions and the recognition that people with disability should live in the
community. The Australian Government has
stated its support for human rights through their ratification of the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Despite this,
instead of fulfilling these promises and fulfilling our rights, we still have
people with disability living in institutions and we are seeing ‘newer, cleaner’
institutions being built. The structural failures of institutional
accommodation, such as prioritising staffing and service delivery over the
individual needs of a person, continue no matter what the bricks and mortar
look like.
A number of PWD’s founding members were people
who have fought to get out of institutions and to live in the community.
Our current President, Jan Daisley is one of those pioneers for human
rights. It is not surprising that PWD views Shut In: the Campaign to Close Institutions as a key priority area
for action.
Shut In isn’t
asking for anything radical. We are simply demanding our right to live in a
regular house, in a regular neighbourhood, in a regular community. We don’t want to live in the special Centre,
we don’t want to live on a special island and we don’t want to live in the
special unit. We want a place to live in any house, on any street, in any block
of units, in any suburb. We want what everyone else wants.
What
is SHUT IN?
Shut In is
the national campaign to raise awareness about people with disability in
institutions, to take action to close institutions and to advocate for housing
and supports that enable people with disability to live in the community in the
same way as everyone else.
Shut In is a
human rights campaign that is underpinned by the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
The campaign website
brings together
Click here to learn more at the Shut In
website
Who is running Shut In?
Shut In is primarily
being run by people with disability and their representative and advocacy
organisations
National
Coordinators
PWD
– People with Disability Australia
PWD Australia
is a national, cross-disability, human rights organisation that has been
providing representation, information, advocacy, training and complaints
handling for almost 30 years.
PWD was founded in 1980, in the lead up to the International Year of Disabled persons (1981) to provide people with disability with a voice of our own. PWD has a fundamental commitment to self-help and self-representation for people with disability by people with disability.
We are
governed by a Board made up entirely of people with disability. Our primary
membership is made up of individuals with disability and organisations
primarily constituted by people with disability. PWDA also has a large
associate membership of other individuals and organisations committed to the
disability rights movement.
PWD has a
vision of a socially just, accessible and inclusive community, in which the
human rights, citizenship, contribution, potential and diversity of all people
with disability are respected and celebrated.
NCID -
The National Council on Intellectual Disability
NCID was established over 50 years ago by parents and
friends, in an endeavour to
improve the quality of life of people with intellectual disability and to fill
the need for national unity and information.
Our mission is to work to make the Australian
community one in which people with intellectual disability are involved and
accepted as equal participating members.
NCID has over 5,000 members representing all eight
States and Territories. In addition to having people with intellectual
disability on its Board, NCID receives policy advice from Our Voice. Our Voice
is a committee the membership of which is exclusively people with intellectual
disability representing all States and Territories.
NCID is an evidence based organisation and the
evidence is clear that people who are given the choice about where they live
and who they live with have good lives. By good lives, we mean, lives as
members of their community with the capacity to fulfill their responsibilities
to their communities, with independent support we know that people with
disability do not choose to live in institutions. People living in the family
home when given financial and planning support choose lifestyles and housing
options similar to their brothers and sisters. They do not choose to live in a
congregate living situation with other people with disability!
People with disability want independent choice and the
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities compels all
governments and organisations to
enable them to have that choice.
VALID
– The Victorian Advocacy League for Individuals with Disability
VALID is a disability advocacy organisation committed to
the vision of an Australian nation in which people with disability are
empowered to exercise their rights — as human beings and as citizens — in
accordance with the United Nations Declarations on Human Rights and the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities.
VALID provides individual advocacy support to adults
with intellectual disability and their families across Victoria, primarily
those who are considered eligible for disability support services.
VALID represents the rights and interests of adults
with intellectual disability to government, departments and services and to the
broad community, through the provision of systemic advocacy.
The VALID Self Advocacy program aims to assist people
with disabilities to develop or maintain the personal skills and
self-confidence necessary to enable them to represent their own interests to
others and in the community.
Reinforce is a self-advocacy organisation for people
with an intellectual disability. Reinforce is here to assist, support and
encourage independence for people with an intellectual disability. Reinforce
promotes the rights of people with an intellectual disability to be upheld in
the same way as everyone else in the community.
Reinforce provides training, resources, lobbies
government, holds forums and promotes socialising
and networking. Reinforce is run almost entirely be volunteers.
Reinforce and VALID jointly began the 'Shut In'
campaign, representing the 4,813 Australian Citizens with disabilities who are
not only Shut Out of the community but remain 'Shut In' large scale
institutions, that continue to be segregated from the community where people
are housed in substandard conditions
What does Shut In involve?
The campaign
brings together
Click here to learn more about campaign
activities at the Shut In website.
What can I do?
It’s great
that you want to get involved! There are many ways in which you can support the
Shut-In Campaign and actively work to close institutions around Australia
There are many ways in which
you can support PWD which will make a real difference to the lives of people
with disability both in Australia and overseas.
Make a Donation
towards supporting the campaign. At present the campaign is unfunded and
already stretching our budgets. With your financial support we’ll be able to
visit more institutions, hold louder protests, create more media interest and
spread more information. Visit www.everydayhero.com.au/Shut_In to leave a donation and please encourage your
friends to do the same!
Endorse the
Campaign
and add your voice to the growing numbers of people who want to be counted in
the fight to close institutions. To endorse the campaign, please write to us at
info@shutin.org.au with the subject
line “Endorse” and leave your name and, if you wish, a short message of
encouragement. Both Individuals and Organisations can endorse the campaign.
Be
informed
on the issues which have led to the need for Shut-In to take place. Learn the
facts and use this knowledge to inform your views and decisions. Visit the Shut In Website
and learn more about institutions, CRPD and the way towards a positive future.
Spread
the word to
your friends, family, colleagues, neighbours, MP’s, everyone about the fact the
Australia still had institutions with thousands of people still occupying them!
We want this campaign to reach beyond people with disability and people working
in the movement – we want everyone to know what we’re fighting for and why.
State-Based Activities:
Victoria:
Victoria’s
activities are being spearheaded by VALID and Reinforce.
For over twenty years VALID and Reinforce have led the
call in Victoria for the right of people with a disability to be supported to
live in the community. In particular, they have campaigned together to:
·
achieve a system of
quality community-based housing and support
·
achieve the closure
of Victoria’s large-scale institutions
“While our
State’s disability services system has undoubtedly come a long way, it still
has a long way to go. On many fronts, the rights of people with
disabilities continue to be neglected. Too often, the right of people to
choose who they live with, and where, is over-ridden and ignored. Too often, we
see people being victimized and institutionalised, even in some of our so-called “community group
homes”.
Yet, despite
these ongoing problems and issues, the closure of Victoria’s largest
institutions has ensured overwhelming improvements in the lives of thousands of
people with disabilities. This is not a matter of opinion. It is a clear and
unequivocal fact. The evidence of many reports and studies on Victoria’s de-institutionalisation process is supported by national and international
research and experience.” – Kevin Stone, VALID
The past year
saw the release of The Shut Out report, by the National People with
Disabilities and Carer Council, which helped expose the isolation and exclusion
of people with disabilities across Australia.
The report
prompted VALID to partner with Reinforce to establish the Shut In campaign,
which aims to expose the continued neglect and segregation of people remaining
in large-scale residential facilities
The current situation in Victoria
In Victoria
there are four remaining government institutions for people with intellectual
disability:
Colanda
- 115 residents
Sandhurst
- 42 residents
Plenty
Residential Services - 115 residents
Oakleigh
Residential Services - 42 residents
VALID and
Reinforce have commenced a campaign to have these four remaining institutions
closed.
The Minister
is considering a proposal to close Colanda, which currently has 115 residents,
but as yet no decision has been made. This is because there are concerns from a
small group of parents regarding the possible closure.
Sandhurst
currently has 42 residents. VALID
is running self-advocacy and rights training for Sandhurst residents which is
having positive outcomes.
Plenty
Residential Services currently has 115 residents.
Oakleigh
Residential Services - has approx 35 residents. There is funding for 15 Oakleigh
residents to move out.
NSW:
Action in NSW
is based on a long history of strong advocacy against institutionalisation
conducted by a number of disability peaks and advocacy organisations. These groups continue their advocacy today as
Shut In NSW, which is coordinated by PWD,
with representatives from Family
Advocacy, NSW Council for Intellectual
Disability, Western Sydney Intellectual
Disability Support Group, NCOSS, Intellectual Disability Rights Service and Disability Enterprises. Shut
In NSW also receives support from the NSW Disability Advocacy Network (NDAN).
A recent history:
During the
1990s – particularly from 1995 to 1998 – the NSW Government came under intense
pressure to fund the transition of the States’ (then) 47 large residential
centres for people with disability.
There was a succession of public scandals associated with abuse and
neglect of residents of these institutions and a series of scathing
investigative reports into practices at particular institutions by the NSW community
Services Commission.
In 1996, PWD
lodged more than 200 appeals against decisions of the Minister to adopt
transition plans for large residential centres on the basis that they did not
comply with the Disability Services Act
1993 (NSW) (DSA). Appeals were also
lodged against these transition plans by the NSW Council for Intellectual
Disability and Family Advocacy.
In 1998, when
it became clear that these appeals would be progressed, the Minister made the
first announcement of the plan to close institutions by 2010. This appeared to provide the basis for a
political solution to the appeals.
However, by the end of 1999 the NSW Government had still taken no
substantial action towards the implementation of the devolution plan. By this point most of the transition plans
had expired without the institutions achieving full conformity with the DSA.
PWD therefore
lodged new appeals in relation to the continuing funding of these non-compliant
large residential centres. While these
appeals failed to proceed, the Minister re-announced the 10 Year devolution plan
in 2000 and allocated a budget for the large residential centres that would be
included in Stage 1 of this 10 year plan.
Again, this appeared to provide a political solution to the issues
agitated in this litigation and our appeals were withdrawn.
For a range
of reasons, Stage 1 of the 10 Year plan was very poorly managed and eventually
collapsed. In 2006, the NSW Government
announced additional five year growth funding for disability services that was
underpinned by a high-level policy,
Stronger Together: A new direction for disability services in NSW 2006-2016
(Stronger Together). Stronger Together did state that it would move to close large
residential centres over time, yet in some cases the properties containing
large residential centres would be redeveloped to provide support for people
with complex needs. The centres named
for redevelopment included Peat Island, Lachlan and Grosvenor Centres.
Although
there have certainly been ups and downs, the broad thrust of accommodation
policy in Australia has been towards community living. The policy
outlined in Stronger Together reverses that thrust and seeks to establish a new
generation of residential institutions that will ensnare future generations of
persons with disability in NSW. It represents the most regressive
disability policy to emerge in 30 years.
There is also
potential for this regressive policy to influence the policies of other States
and Territories. Residential
institutions are now no longer a vestige of the past to be overcome, they are
also a dreadful spectre of the future that we must erase.
In 1998, at
the time of the first announcement by the NSW Government to close large
residential centres by 2010, there were over 2,000 people with disability
living in these institutions. Today,
there are still over 1,600 people with disability living in institutions in
NSW.
What are we doing about it?
Litigation
For the first
time in three decades we are seeing substantial resources invested in the
development of disability accommodation services. However, a significant
proportion of this funding is being wasted on the development of accommodation
models that violate human rights norms, which will therefore have to be
dismantled in the short-term.
In early
2009, after many months of unsuccessful attempts to persuade successive
Ministers for Disability Services that these developments represent a violation
of the human rights of people with disability and are contrary to the
requirements of the DSA, PWD filed an application with the NSW Administrative
Decisions Tribunal (ADT) formally seeking a review of the Minister’s decision
to continue to operate the Grosvenor, Lachlan and Peat Island Centres, contrary
to the requirements of the DSA. This action was taken very reluctantly and as a
last resort. However, we would fail in
our duty as a disability rights and representative organisation if we did not
act to prevent a return to institutional approaches to providing housing and
support for persons with disability.
The Minister
and his Department are strongly defending our application and the proceedings
have been protracted. The Minister's strategy appears to be to argue every
procedural point open to him which delays the proceedings. This is perhaps the
best indication of the Minister and Departments’ view on the compliance of
these redevelopments with the requirements of the DSA.
Following an unsuccessful mediation in
the first half of 2009, PWD has spent a considerable amount of time presenting
arguments to the ADT to counter claims made by the Minister about procedural
points. Meanwhile, a number of
institutions have been redeveloped and building continues. People with disability have been or are
currently being placed in these new institutions. PWD continues to make applications appealing
the Minister’s decision to operate these new institutions as they begin to
operate.
If resolution
is not available through the ADT, PWD will to plan how this issue might be
addressed through CRPD and eventually to the United Nations Committee on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Advocacy Actions
·
At the same time as we have been engaged in litigation with the
NSW Government, we have also been advocating at the national level for the
Australian Government to take a lead role in publicly promoting deinstitutionalisation and genuine
community living to all levels of government.
PWD has asked the previous and the current Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities
to:
·
Ensure
that clear guidelines and frameworks about CRPD compliance are developed to ensure
that the awarding of the capital funding grants, or any additional funding for
housing for people with disability are only provided to projects that comply
with CRPD;
·
Ensure
that strong measures are developed within the National Disability Strategy and
the National Disability Agreement to ensure that all levels of government
comply with CRPD, including in relation to housing, and housing and support;
·
We
have also produced a comprehensive position paper, Accommodation Human Rights: A human rights perspective on housing,
and housing and support, for persons with disability (see next section).
·
Shut
In NSW has begun to concentrate on the next five year
phase of Stronger Together, and to advocate for growth funding for the closure
of institutions, the reallocation of funds for redevelopments to closure and
the transition to individualised, person-centred supports for people with
disability to live in the community on the same basis as those without
disability. We expect Stronger Together
2 to be announced on 3 December 2010.
·
PWD
is also producing a number of videos highlighting the human rights breaches relating
to institutions in NSW and seeking support for Shut In. These videos will shortly be available on our
website www.pwd.org.au and the Shut In
website www.shutin.org.au
South Australia:
There are currently
two large government institutions operating in South Australia:
Strathmont -
60 residents
Highgate Park
- 130 residents
There are
also two large non-government institutions in operation.
Four years
ago Strathmont had 260 residents and with the completion of stage one of its
devolution, it is at 60 residents. Residents and families are supportive of
closure proposals which are being prepared for the government.
Four years
ago Highgate Park had 340 residents, now also due to devolution processes its
numbers stand at 130.
Queensland:
Wasted Lives Campaign
Queensland Advocacy (QAI)’s Wasted Lives campaign commenced in late 2009
in an effort to raise community awareness and influence the agenda of
government to stop the planned trans-institutionalisation of a group of
residents living in an institution/health facility in Toowoomba, as well as to
raise systemic issues about the lives of people with a disability living in
health facilities across Queensland.
This group of people (approximately 35) who have a single diagnosis of
intellectual disability have been institutionalised, some for over 45 years,
stripped of their relationships with their family and any connection to community
they may once have had.
This was of great concern to QAI as the potential for these people to
move to community living would be lost and they would be placed with people
with a mental illness or psychiatric disability returning to policies predating
the 1960s.
On 15 October 2010, QAI held a half day Wasted Lives Forum opened by
the Minister for Disability Services and Multicultural Affairs, Hon Annastacia
Palasczcuk to raise awareness about institutional living and to provide a means
for individuals and families to share their stories of creating a better life
and highlight the benefits of being properly supported using person centred
approaches. At this event the Minister Palasczcuk
made a commitment to continue to finalise the institutional reform process
commenced in the 1990’s. At this event
the Minister spoke from her heart and is clearly committed to exploring the
options of people living in the community.
Click
here for further information about the Wasted Lives campaign.
Position Paper - Accommodating Human Rights
This PWD
position paper provides a detailed analysis of the rights contained in the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in relation to
housing and housing and support for people with disability.
The purpose
of the position paper is to highlight the human rights dimensions in housing
and housing and support for persons with disability against a backdrop of
systemic violation and failure to protect, respect and fulfil these rights in
the Australian context.
Click
here to access this paper from the PWD website.
Institutions and Human Rights
The
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) says that people
with disability have the right to live in the community on an equal basis with
others.
Specifically,
Article 19 of the CRPD states that persons with disability have a fundamental
human right to live in and be a part of the community. It requires:
- Persons with disability must have
the opportunity to choose their place of residence and where and with whom
they live on an equal basis with other persons;
- Persons with disability must not
be obliged to live in a particular living arrangement;
- Persons with disability must have
access to a range of in-home, residential and other community support
services to support their living and inclusion in the community and to
prevent their isolation or segregation from the community.
Australia has
ratified the CRPD and its provisions are binding not only on the Commonwealth
Government, but also on each Australian State and Territory Government.
Click here to learn more
about the CRPD at the UN website.
Personal Perspectives – Life in an Institution
Jan’s Story
Upon
acquiring her disability, Jan Daisley was moved to an institution for people
with physical disabilities, where she spent the next 30 years. After many years
of campaigning, she was transferred to a relatively independent group home.
Jan
is a life member and current president of People with Disability Australia
(PWD), has achieved a Bachelor of Education (Habilitation) and Master’s of Education
(Communities and Social Justice) and published two books.
“The words
Shut-In bring back floods of memories of the 30 years I was incarcerated in an
Institution.
It is well
known and documented that large residential facilities housing people with
disability are breeding grounds for abuse; and that much of this abuse is
caused by archaic rules introduced by bureaucracy and the bio-physical and
medical models of disability which prevail in institutions.
It is time
governments stopped passing the buck and injected adequate resources and
expertise into fulfilling their promise to close Institutions. Our governments’
idea of Devolution is not even close to what we expected from the policy
enshrined in the Disability Services Act 1993 (DSA1993). We see the cynical
demolishing of big institutions to be replaced by mini-institutions on the same
site.
Let’s be real
about change, and give people with disability - the Shut-Ins - the chance of
living a quality life in the community. While group homes are not perfect, they
are an enormous improvement on what people with disability both young and old
have to put up with in Institutions.
I moved out
of an Institution over 17 years ago and have no regrets. Sometimes things can
be difficult, but that’s life no matter where you are. When I decided to move
into the community, most people were sceptical of my survival and even said I
would be begging to go back after a week or two. Boy, have I proved them wrong!
I have made a life for myself above and beyond even my wildest dreams.
I encourage
all people with or without disability, their families, friends and advocates to
get behind Shut In, as I believe people are the most powerful weapon for
reform. If and when the National Disability Insurance Scheme becomes a reality,
people will need to have more choice in how and where they live, and who
supports them. No disability is too great or too small to benefit from
community living. Everyone has something to offer, so let’s keep the dream
alive for human rights and equality.
Meg’s
Story
Meg Sweeney is a parent of a daughter
with disability. She is a passionate advocate for the closure of institutions.
“A long time ago I was active in the social movement that brought about
the NSW Disability Services Act (1993) and the promise to close institutions in
NSW. I was passionate about this
endeavour as my toddler at the time was a prime candidate for entry to such
places once she was an adult. I was
committed to the devolution of institutions as a safeguard for my own
daughter’s future. Little did I know that 15 years later they would not only
still operate but would also be redeveloped.
It is distressing that many families of men and women in these
institutions are actively supportive of their loved one remaining on site.
Research, lived experience and moral judgement inform us that even those with
the most profound disability have a better life when supported in individual
ways in the community.
I can empathise with these families in relation to their fear of change;
however, the reticence of families cannot override the fundamental human rights
of their sons and daughters. All people
deserve the opportunity for community living, not just those with supportive
families. No one should be sacrificed.
I am equally distressed when I hear institutions being justified on the
basis of the alleged reluctance of current residents to move. The reality of my
daughter’s intellectual disability means that change and decision making is
difficult for her. She would readily continue in a harmful situation as her
capacity to understand an alternative is impaired.
How could anyone actively facilitate the continuation of something
harmful to her by rationalising it as her choice or her human right of
decision-making? If we as a community know something is harmful to our
vulnerable citizens and we do nothing to enable something better and then
justify our inaction with the idea that this is a person’s choice, it is abuse
of the highest order.
At 19, embracing her significant intellectual disability, my daughter has
enjoyed her school years in regular class, is embedded and encouraged in her
community, has an interesting and full life and well developed sense of self.
Although moving out of home isn’t on the radar just yet I know she will
seek her own space in the future. With
support, she will live with whom she chooses, in a place that she likes, in a
home that meets her needs. Her individuality will be the centre of all decision
making. It is well and truly time that men and women in institutions experience the same
opportunity. We can no longer allow
these precious lives to languish, forbidden to contribute to the richness that
is community.”
Resources
The Shut In
website contains a wealth of resources, toolkits, fact sheets and other sorts
of
·
Shut In – Campaign to Close
Institutions
·
People
with Disability Australia (PWD)
PWD
E-Bulletin
Issue 50, Special Edition, Living Independently and Being Included in the
Community
PWD
Position Paper – Accommodating Human Rights
PWD Link UP #136 –
February 2006 edition on institutions
·
Family
Advocacy:
Resources
and Library: www.family-advocacy.com/resources.php
·
NSW
Ombudsman:
Review of
individual planning in DADHC large residential centres
Report: People
With Disabilities and the closure of residential
centres
· Supported
Living Campaign:
www.supportedliving.org.au/resources
·
MDAA
– Multicultural Disability Advocacy Organisation:
·
Queensland Advocacy Incorporated:
·
Reinforce:
·
NSW Council on Intellectual Disability:
Advocacy
– Accommodation (Easy English)
· WSIDSG - Western Sydney Intellectual Disability Support Group:
Advocacy in Action
publications (take a look at the Community Living for All series): www.wsidsg.org.au/Publications.html
·
La
Trobe University School of Social Work and Social Policy:
·
People First of
Canada
·
Dumping Grounds for
People
The outcome of a four-month long journalistic investigation, conducted mostly undercover in ten institutions for adults with intellectual disailities or mental illnesses in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia.
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If you would like to receive regular updates on the Shut In Campaign, or learn more about how you can help, please contact
us by email or by one of the means below:
Email:
info@shutin.org.au
Phone: (02) 9370 3100
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Street Address
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52 Pitt Street
Redfern NSW
Australia
Postal Address
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Australia
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