+61 3 6215 6800
Empowering people with disability to use our voices.
Disability Voices
Tasmania
By people with disability for people with disability
Vision
A Tasmania in which people with disability understand our rights and where those rights and the dignity and opportunity of people with disability are respected and advanced.
Purpose
To inform, connect, empower and give voice to tasmanians with disability – we work to strengthen and promote the individual and collective voices of people with disability
Values
We are an inclusive, diverse, transparent organisation, led by people with disability who engage in open dialogue and debate
Disability Voices Tasmania is here to:
Strengthen and promote the individual and collective voices of people with disability.
Work together to ensure people with disability participate in and contribute to our community as full and equal citizens.
Be an inclusive, diverse, transparent and democratic organisation led by and for people with disability.
Funded project work
2020-2023Funded for 3 years through the National Disability Insurance Agency’s Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) program, Disability Voices Tasmania’s 3 projects a year are run by people with disability for people with disability to increase:
Skills and capacity of individuals
Motivation, confidence and empowerment to act, and
Participation in and contribution to community.
Find out more about the projects, how you can Build Your Voice
and how to get involved.
Systemic Change
Our systemic change work aims to create long-term social change to address issues of shared concern to our community. Disability Voices Tasmania’s Board members work with groups of people with disability, other community organisations and allies to influence legislation, policy and practices to produce positive change.
This could be lobbying government on issues such as the Religious Discrimination Bill or hate crimes. It could be working with a coalition of organisations on issues such as the e-scooter trials on public footpaths in Hobart and Launceston. It could be making submissions on issues such as the review of the Disability Services Act, the importance of accessible websites or Accessible Public Transport Standards.
Disability Voices Tasmania’s
Principles
Human Rights
Disability Voices Tasmania is committed to upholding and advancing the human rights of people with disability to contribute to and participate in the community as equal citizens.
Social Model
Disability Voices Tasmania adopts the social model of disability which recognises that disability is caused by the way society is organised, rather than a person’s impairment or difference and focuses on actions to remove barriers that restrict life choices for people with disability.
All Voices Count
Disability Voices Tasmania recognises that the skills, values, goals and priorities of people with disability vary, however, all voices count and all will be treated with equal respect.
Ensuring voices are heard
The experience of people with disability is valued and the ways people communicate are supported and respected. This includes ensuring people with disability are provided with any support or service required to ensure their views and experiences are heard and understood.
Safety
Disability Voices Tasmania is committed to providing a safe environment for people with disability to contribute and have their voices, views and experiences heard.
Designed by people with disability
All activities of Disabi lity Voices Tasmania will be led by people with disability; and where other expertise is needed Disability Voices Tasmania will engage with others in a co – designed approach.
Led by people with disability
The majority of members of Disability Voices Tasman ia will be people who identify as having a disability.
Inclusive of diversity
Disability Voices Tasmania recognises the need for representation reflective of diversity across disabilities, age, gender (including gender identity), location, socio – economic status, cultural identity (including those for whom English is a second language) , and sexual orientation, and Aboriginality.
Transparency
Disability Voices Tasmania will provide information about its operations in timely and accessible ways to the extent that doing so does not pose a substantial risk of harm to the organisation or to any person to whom it has a duty of care or of confidentiality.
Capacity
Disability Voices Tasmania recognises that:
a. parents, families and others in caring relationships 1 wi th people with disability may act as the voice of that person to the extent that the person, because of their age or legal capacity, is not able to speak or act for themselves, and/or
b. other people may have a role as the voice of the person with disability because they have chosen to have another person speak on their behalf.
Team approach
Disability Voices Tasmania is committed to a team approach while recognising the importance of enabling individual contributions by those for whom teams are inaccessible.
Working in partnership
Disability Voices Tasmania values the opportunity to work in partnership with governments, businesses, mainstream community groups, disability service organisations and other community disability advocacy and information organisatio ns on issues of common interest.
Supporting other organisations
Disability Voices Tasmania recognises the importance of, and continuing need for, disability – specific advocacy and information organisations as well as organisations that are focussed around the age, status, gender, location, cultural identity or Aboriginality of people with disability.
Allies
Disability Voices Tasmania recognises the role of people and organisations who are allies in supporting the goals of Disability Voices Tasmania and the human rights of people with disability.
+61 3 6215 6800