Voting – it’s how you have your say about who you want to represent you in local, state/territory or federal politics. You have the right to vote and your vote counts, so it’s important you’re prepared well before election day. It’s compulsory that everyone who’s eligible enrols to vote and votes on election day (or through another means). It’s also important to be enrolled well before an election so you’re eligible to vote when the time comes.
In this edition of Choice, we’re giving a shout out to another disability influencer who’s doing great things – 2022 Australian of the Year, Dylan Alcott OAM! Dylan, an athlete, philanthropist, media commentator and disability advocate, is perhaps best known for winning four Paralympic gold medals (three in wheelchair tennis, and one in wheelchair basketball). Importantly, he has also founded several organisations supporting and championing people with disability.
In theory, being connected to the internet gives you access to virtually unlimited information (credible and not so credible), products from all over the world, services, courses, videos and much much more. But often websites are developed without considering that many members of our community live with disability and have different needs when it comes to accessing digital sources.
We might not have the hoverboard from Back to the Future and the flying cars from The Jetsons have yet to zoom in, but technology is opening up access in ways we wouldn’t have dreamed of in previous generations. In Apple products alone, there are tonnes of accessibility options designed to support people with disability, from vision impairment, hearing loss and deafness, through to mobility limitations and cognitive impairment.
A new role has been created in South Australia to reframe autism as an opportunity, rather than a disability, with the state government introducing a national-first Assistant Minister for Autism. Emily Bourke, who is also Assistant Minister to the Premier of South Australia, Peter Malinauskas, has been appointed to the role.
More than 1 million Australians with disability of working age are unemployed and the unemployment rate of people with disability increased from eight per cent in 2003 to 10 per cent in 2018. But fast forward to today, and one retailer is bucking that trend. Coles Group has been ranked first out of 26 organisations for actively recruiting people with disability.
Are you a university student with disability in your final or second-to-last year of study? Yes? Then you could complete a paid internship as part of the Australian Government’s Stepping Into program.
Data released last month by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) confirmed Australia’s unemployment rate had fallen to 3.5 per cent – the lowest rate recorded since August 1974. However, while high job availability can be good news for individuals, it is causing widespread problems for employers and the economy – leading to workforce shortages and stagnated growth.
Not unlike the rental vacancy rate, Australia’s unemployment rate has fallen to just 3.5 per cent. Meanwhile, there are more than 100,000 Australians with disability actively looking for work.
