Conferences
If you’re looking to get involved in the local accessibility community, The National Disability Services NSW Conference is happening on 15-16 February 2018 right here in Sydney. With the rollout of the NDIS due for full implementation next year, this mix of keynote speakers and workshop sessions will focus on themes such as housing, transport, employment and workforce. Registrations will open in late November.
And just a couple of days after, mental health will be in focus at TheMHS 2018 Summer Forum. Facilitated by TheMHS Learning Network, the theme for this forum is Trauma Matters, and will explore how mental health services can recognise and respond to trauma, and how this can be improved going forward. Registration is already open.
Outside of Australia, the 20th International Conference on Disability and Diversity is on from 20-12 December, 2018 in Bangkok. This conference brings together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of Disability and Diversity. While the call for papers has closed, there’s still plenty of time to register for attendance.
Arts
Just around the corner is the Access Leads to Inclusion Exhibition, right here at UTS. Through a selection of text and photographs, curator Naomi Malone sheds light on the voices and experiences of people with disability, raising awareness and knowledge about inclusion and access at the university. By exploring diverse abilities, the exhibition aims to remove barriers and stigma associated with accessibility needs and create greater pride in disability. The launch is happening Tuesday 5 December at 5:30, so don’t forget to register!
Just up the road in sunny Canberra, you can catch the currently on-tour exhibition Unfinished Business, a collection of experiences from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living with disabilities. Along with documentaries showing on NITV, the exhibition combines photographs and stories, and is the project of photographer Belinda Mason. This exhibition is on until 20 January 2018 at Tuggeranong Arts Centre.
At last year’s Sydney Film Festival, the excellent Screenability program screened films featuring and by people living with disabilities. We’ll be eagerly anticipating the return of this program at next year’s festival, but we’ll also be looking out for the release of one of the films screened last year. Pulse is the feature debut of Daniel Monks (writer/actor) and Stevie Cruz-Martin (director). The feature film is an interesting new take on the idea of a body swap, and follows a gay, disabled teenage boy who changes into the body of beautiful woman. As the film has been making its way around festivals to widespread acclaim, we’re looking forward to seeing a wider release!
Sports
Kickstart the year with the 2018 Australian Deaf Games, happening 20-27 January 2018. To be hosted in Albury-Wodonga, the Deaf Games are the pinnacle multi-sports event for deaf people in Australia. Head over to Deaf Sports Australia to find out how to get involved.
And from 5-10 August 2018 the 2018 IWRF Wheelchair Rugby World Championship will be happening. The Sydney Olympic Park Complex and Netball Central will host the world’s top 12 teams including the Australian Steelers who are the reigning Paralympic and world champions playing to defend their world title on home soil. Stay updated by visiting the official website.
Got an event you think should have been in this list? Let us know in the comments!
Feature image credit: Eric Rothermel