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State Election

Disability is an election issue - Your vote matters
Parents of children with a disability and their extended family and friends come from all walks of life and across all areas of Victoria. A significant proportion describe themselves as swinging voters and indicate that the content of disability and ‘carer' policies is a key factor in considering their vote.

Our pre-election mailout to parent/family members included a range of information about some of the disability related election policies of the two major parties:

• Letter to Association members (144 KB PDF)
• A one-page Victorian State Election Summary Analysis (33 KB DOC) in answer to the question: Of the two major parties (the ALP and the Liberals), in relation to policies specifically designed to assist children with a disability and their families, which one has the better policies?
• Press release from the Coalition for Disability Rights: Labor and Liberal Disability Policies Fall Short (262 KB DOC)
• An excerpt from the ALP policy documents Addressing Disadvantage, and Disability and Carers Fact Sheet available from www.alpvictoria.com
• An excerpt from the Liberals' media release A Better Deal for Victorians with Disabilities, and policy document A Liberal Government Plan to Deliver Opportunity for Our Children available from www.vic.liberal.org.au
• Call to political parties booklet of the Coalition for Disability Rights

For information about the policies of other parties visit:

The Greens www.greens.org.au
Family First www.familyfirst.org.au
People Power www.peoplepower.org.au
The Nationals www.vic.nationals.org.au

Disability counts
Even leaving aside people aged 65 and over who have a disability, ABS data tells us that the number of Victorians aged 0-64 years with a profound or severe disability is 175,000+ (see ‘Disability Counts: A statistical profile of children and young adults with a disability living in Victoria'). The total population of the ABS's ‘All with Disability' count of people aged 0-64 years in Victoria is 650,000+.

For more information contact Lauren Matthews laurenm@acd.org.au or phone 03 9818 2000 or 1800 654 013 (rural callers).

Coalition for Disability Rights: A fairer deal for people with disabilities and their families

Call to political parties: 2006 Victorian State Election
The Coalition for Disability Rights has produced a document ‘Call to political parties’ which details 56 commitments sought from all political parties and candidates contesting the 2006 Victorian State Election. The commitments cover many areas (across all ages) and include early childhood intervention services, student support services, aids and equipment and supported accommodation.

Call to political parties (689 KB PDF)

The Coalition brings together people with disabilities, families, carers, advocacy bodies, peak bodies and disability support provider organisations to work together for a fairer deal for people with disabilities and their families. The aim of the Coalition is to seek commitments from all political parties contesting the 2006 Victorian State Election to do something about the crisis of unmet needs for services and support for people with disabilities and their families.

Coalition partners include our Association, the Victorian Disability Advocacy Network (VDAN), Victorian Advocacy League for Individuals with Disability (VALID), Physical Disability Council of Victoria, ACROD Victoria, VICRAID and the Council of Intellectual Disability Agencies (CIDA).

For more information about the Coalition for Disability Rights visit the CIDA website.

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