Onemda Weekly eNews - Friday 14 April, 2023

Dear Participants, Families & Carers,

Hope it’s been a great week, albeit a short one! Please make sure you take the time to check this week’s updates as some information may affect you, or the person in your care.

Pop-Up Café at Glenroy Neighbourhood House

On Wednesday 12th April, the Glenroy PIE campus took part in a Pop-Up Cafe at Glenroy Neighbourhood House. We welcomed some special visitors including family, community members and Onemda’s CEO, Simon Lewis.

The ACFE : Ready For Hospitality Course is run through the Neighbourhood House in Glenroy, which Onemda PIE participants have been enrolled in during Term 1.

‘Mangia Café’ had an Italian inspired set menu with one of our participants greeting guests on arrival with a prepared speech, "We have been working hard over the past 10 weeks learning all sorts of jobs to prepare us to work in the hospitality sector. Today you are seeing the result of all our effort. We hope you enjoy our service”.

This informative and warm introduction was followed by participants welcoming guests and showing them to their seats. Our waiters for the day were extremely attentive, and there was never an empty glass or dirty plate left on the table. Four participants were in the kitchen cooking up a storm preparing a 3-course meal of Insalata, Lasagne and Gelato for their special guests! The Onemda participants cooking in the kitchen had assistance from other peers also enrolled in the course. It was a great group effort with excellent teamwork.

Guests have told us that they’ll definitely book in for the next Pop-Up Cafe and eagerly look forward seeing what amazing culinary creations will be on offer next time!

The afternoon celebrations included a certificate for the completion of the course – it was a wonderful afternoon for everyone involved!

Disability Royal Commissions Public Hearing 32 gives strong indications of report recommendations

As the Disability Royal Commission reaches its final stages, it’s latest Public Hearing 32 in Brisbane in February gave some strong indications of what will be in its final report, due to be tabled later this year.

The Hearing looked at the policies and practices of service providers to prevent violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability, and revisited the cases of providers whose practices had raised concerns in previous hearings. The direction of questioning in the hearing gave strong indications what the Commission’s final recommendations may be.

As we know, the DRC strongly favours a ‘human rights’ approach to service provision – that is, greater choice, control and powers of advocacy for people with disability. This includes things like supported decision-making, providing opportunity for co-design of supports and worker training, and increased representation of people with disability in the disability workforce, in leadership teams and on boards.

They also clearly believe that better services flow from better workforce training and better pay, and that there are improvements which could make processes like those for complaints and incident management, more participant-centred and easier to access.

Onemda is closely monitoring the progress and outcomes of the DRC but, as always, we are taking a proactive approach to continuous improvement across all our programs and services as part of our commitment to quality, safety and participant outcomes.

We welcome the final recommendations in the hope that it will help identify providers and processes which increase risk and decrease agency for people with disability, and will create better, safer and more positive services and supports for all.

IMPORTANT - CONSENT FORMS NOW OVERDUE

The consent forms recently circulated for your completion are now overdue, so if you have not yet returned your copy to us, we would ask that you do so without delay.

The return of these forms is a mandatory requirement for compliance with the NDIS and provides us with the important information we need to make sure we can deliver our services to you. It also seeks your consent to use and disclose that information if necessary.

If you have already returned your form, thank you. If you have not yet done so, please complete and return it as soon as possible. You can either:

email it to [email protected]
return a to us inside the participant communication diary
pass a printed copy to the Manager you deal with directly, or
if you attend Doncaster East Main Campus, you can hand over to Reception.

If you have any questions about this form, or how to return it to us, please contact Onemda’s Contracts Administrator on [email protected] or call us on 9842 1955.

ONEMDA’S TRANSITION INFORMATION EVENINGS

If you know someone who is leaving school this year and may be interested in joining Onemda, please forward this invitation on to them!

By attending one of our Transition Information Evenings, you will get to hear all about Onemda’s awesome programs and supports, take a tour, and get important information to help you through the transition process. You can talk directly with our friendly team and ask any questions you may have to help you prepare for the year ahead!

Where: Doncaster East Main Campus & Glenroy LLS Campus

When: Doncaster East – 16th May, 5 – 6:30pm | Glenroy – 23rd May, 5 – 6:30pm

RSVP: REGISTER AND FIND OUT MORE HERE

AUSLAN DAY 2023

In 1991, Auslan was recognised as a community language in Australia. The 13th April (yesterday) is now a day to celebrate the publication of the Auslan dictionary, and also to celebrate Auslan and teach others about the language. It is estimated that 16,000 people in Australia now use Auslan.

CAMPUS HIGHLIGHT

TEMPLESTOWE LOWER – Pathways to Independence & Employment (PIE)

Templestowe Campus have been extremely busy, with a strong focus on works skills and employment!

One of our program participants has obtained a job with VALID (Victorian Advocacy League for Individuals with Disability) and is currently in training for four months and then ongoing for the next year, one day a week. They will be going into Supported Independent Living (SIL) houses and asking residents about their personal experiences and if they have any concerns.

Another of our cohort has taken a job two days a week at the Diamond Valley Sports and Fitness Centre. They will be assisting with setting up children’s parties, doing some work in the gym and assisting in the café.

We were also delighted to hear that one of our attendees has been invited to play the keyboard at the upcoming Disability Connection Expo (Developing Australian Communities) being held at the Melbourne Exhibition & Convention Centre from 21st - 22nd April. What a great achievement and a good platform to show off their skills to such a big audience!

A new work skills program will be commencing on 2 May and will run for eight weeks at the recently opened Doncaster Bunnings Warehouse. We hope this might lead to a more regular or permanent arrangement for our group!

We hope you enjoy your weekend and please remember; you are always welcome to contact us if you have any questions or need information.

Just call on 9842 1955 or use the email addresses below.