PWD E-Bulletin |
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Issue 40, Special NSW Election Edition, March 2007
Welcome to this special edition of PWD’s e-bulletin. PWD e-bulletins goes out to members and interested others regularly by email. For members who do not have access to email, a printed version of the e-bulletin will be sent by post. To be added to or removed from our mailing list, or to change your email address, please contact Allyson Campbell at PWD on email pwd@pwd.org.au or on one of the numbers listed at the end of this bulletin. The NSW State election is scheduled for Saturday 24 March 2007. This edition of e-bulletin focuses on the key issue of accessing the electoral process. Every Australian citizen with disability registered to vote has the fundamental right to cast a ballot in a fully accessible and equal manner as all other citizens.
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NSW election 2007PWD concerned about electoral accessAs regular readers would be aware, PWD has campaigned for many years about the rights of people with disability to access the electoral system without discrimination. Many people with disability have been excluded from the electoral system or have experienced discrimination through lack of reasonable accommodation. One of the many manifestations of this problem is the failure to provide information about electoral processes and arrangements in easy read, pictorial or similar formats to assist people with cognitive disability to understand the election process. Such failures make engagement in the electoral process difficult for many people with cognitive disability. Since 2003 we have worked with the NSW Electoral Commission and assisted with the development of their Equal Access to Democracy Project. Information on this project is available from the Commission’s website at: http://www.elections.nsw.gov.au/publications__and__forms/publications_for_download/equal_access_to_democracy_plan. Following the election, PWD will be seeking to hold the Commission accountable for the extent to which the spirit and obligations of the Equal Access to Democracy Project were implemented within the 2007 election process. However, PWD is already disappointed to note that according to the Commission’s website, 17 of the 93 Returning Offices for the 2007 election are not classified as accessible. PWD wrote to the Commission on 23 February 2007 to raise our concerns, and to seek clarification of this matter. We are yet to receive a response. This is a matter we will continue to pursue up to and following the election. Accessible ballot for people with blindness or low visionVision Australia (VA) reports that, in partnership with the New South Wales Electoral Commission, they are developing a new initiative for voters who are blind or have low vision. VA’s Enfield premises will be used as a polling place for the NSW State election on Saturday 24 March 2007. The centre will be open for voting from 8am to 6pm. Specialised equipment such as CCTVs, magnifiers, specialised lighting and user-friendly pencils will be available to assist voters to cast their votes. The Commission has also redesigned all its cardboard election furniture to incorporate luminous contrast design to assist voters with depth perception. Ballot boxes will also have Braille signage to indicate to voters which is the Legislative Assembly ballot box and which is the Legislative Council ballot box. Can you access your polling booth?On Saturday 24 March, if you are unable to access or have any difficulties in accessing your local polling booth to make your vote, PWD urges you to consider informing the Physical Disability Council of NSW (PDCN). You can do this via the PDCN website at: http://www.pdcnsw.org.au/pollingbooths.html. This site also provides information on how to make a complaint about the way you were treated. Following the election, the Electoral Commission of NSW will be holding a series of meetings with the disability sector to discuss voting access issues. Any information gained by PDCN will be extremely useful in the ongoing advocacy campaign on this issue. Further information about making a disability discrimination complaint can be found on the NSW Disability Discrimination Legal Centre’s website at: http://www.ddlcnsw.org.au/faq.html. NCOSS and PWD call for ‘A Fairer NSW’Through our membership of the Board of the NSW Council of Social Services, PWD has had input into the development of a comprehensive and integrated set of social policies targeting disadvantaged people in NSW. The NCOSS policy statement ‘A Fairer NSW’ can be found at: http://www.afairernsw.net/ncoss/downloads/a-fairer-nsw.pdf. Various options to lobby, participate in events and support the policy statement can be found at the NCOSS election website: www.aFairerNSW.net. What do the parties say they will do for people with disability?Labor
The policies ‘Leading the way on mental health’, ‘Mental health’, and ‘Disability Services – Stronger Together’ can be located at: http://www.morrisiemma.com.au/
Coalition
A link to the Coalition’s Disability and Ageing Policy Summaries follows:
http://www.pdcnsw.org.au/media/07/0313.html
The NSW Greens’ ‘Disabilities Policy’ and related policies on education, transport, criminal justice etc. can be viewed at their website and by searching on ‘disability policy’: http://nsw.greens.org.au/ DemocratsThe Australian Democrats NSW Division’s policies including a fact sheet on disability can be accessed at their website by clicking on ‘Policies’ at: http://nsw.democrats.org.au/. What does the disability community say? – More LinksFor information on election issues for people with physical disabilities, please follow the link to the website of the Physical Disability Council of NSW: www.pdcnsw.org.au. For information regarding issues for people with disability from non - English speaking backgrounds, please follow the link to the website of The Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association of NSW: http://www.mdaa.org.au/index.html.About PWDPrivacy statement |
++PWD's training servicesPWD has extensive experience in the development and delivery of professional training across a wide range of disability areas, including:
Training packages developed are flexible and tailor-made to meet the needs of the particular organisation. To find out more about PWD's training services or to discuss your specific training needs, contact the Manager, Information ans Education Unit, Kathryn Knight or Ph 02 9370 3100. |
++Privacy statementWe are committed to protecting your privacy. In doing so, we commit ourselves to conforming to the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Bill 2000, which came into effect in December 2001 and the National Privacy Principles issued by the Australian Privacy Commissioner. This newsletter is distributed by email. You have provided us with an email address. This email address will be used only for the purpose for which you have provided it and you will not be added to any other mailing lists unless you specifically request that this be done. Your email address will not be disclosed without your consent. You can have your email address removed from the mailing list for this newsletter by sending an email to
Allyson Campbell, PWD. This newsletter contains links to websites. We cannot be held responsible for the privacy practices (or lack thereof) or the content of such websites. |
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