Symposium: Mobility Solutions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island People

Monday 23 May - Wednesday 25 May 2011

Bradley Forum, UniSA City West campus, Hawke Building level 5, 50-55 North Terrace, Adelaide

Registration from 8.30am Monday 23 May

Final report now available (pdf format)

Motivation Australia, the First People's Disability Network (Australia) and The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre are pleased to present the first Symposium addressing the mobility needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island People.

Full program

23 - 24 May: Two Day Symposium

The Symposium will engage stakeholders including Aboriginal people with a disability, service providers, Government and Non-government organisations through presentations and round table discussions in order to identify potential solutions to the challenges many Australian First People face in accessing appropriate wheelchair services.

Presentations will include:

• Experiences of wheelchair provision in Remote Australia including challenges surrounding appropriate technology, service delivery and training;
• Success stories in wheelchair provision and / or disability service provision in Remote Australia and other contexts;
• Findings and recommendations from remote community consultations currently being carried out by Motivation Australia and the First People's Disability Network;
• An introduction to two World Health Organisation (WHO) documents and the relevance of these documents within the Australian context:
  • The WHO Guidelines on the Provision of Manual Wheelchairs in Less Resourced Settings and
  • The WHO Community Based Rehabilitation Guidelines.

25 May: Wheelchair Provision Workshop

This one day workshop is aimed specifically at service providers and will include:

• Service Delivery: An overview of the 8 steps of wheelchair provision as outlined by the World Health Organisation, and its relevance to Rural and Remote Australia
• Achieving upright posture: benefits of upright posture, the impact of the pelvis on upright sitting, postural trade-offs, matching supports with postural outcomes
• Motivation Products: History of Motivation product design, Motivation Rough Terrain Wheelchair, Active Folding Wheelchair, Pressure Relieving Cushion, Sports Wheelchair
• Motivation Australia programme approaches: Wheelchair Service Delivery, Peer Group Training

Further information on the program or mobility issues, please contact Kylie Mines, Motivation Australia: kyliemines@motivation.org.au or +61 8 8556 6703 / +61 (0)4398 40194.

While the views presented by speakers within the Hawke Centre public program are their own and are not necessarily those of either the University of South Australia or The Hawke Centre, they are presented in the interest of open debate and discussion in the community and reflect our themes of: strengthening our democracy - valuing our diversity - and building our future.

The copying and reproduction of any transcripts within the Hawke Centre public program is strictly forbidden without prior arrangements.