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Exciting growth in co-design services

The Summer Foundation is well known for excellence in bringing the voice of lived experience to its work, so it is exciting to see that the team is expanding their remit. This has seen a range of external clients commission this service.

The Co-design team works to improve the housing and living experiences of people who require access to 24/7 support by enabling creative, user led system and service solutions and innovations.

The team brings a unique set of skills that allow them to specialise in unpacking and understanding complex problems and create co-designed solutions with people with complex support needs.

The team, led by Carolyn Finis, works with people with lived experience to shape genuine user led solutions, by overcoming barriers which often prevent the translation and application of that experience.

Co-design Lead Carolyn Finis says: “We know that future innovation in the disability sector will have co-design at its core, so to be leading one of the few teams that offer genuine co-design is a real privilege. Seeding new innovations that have people with disability at the centre of the design is very exciting.”

We’ll be in touch with more information about our co-design service shortly, or visit  our website to find out more, including if you are interested in becoming a lived experience partner.

There has been much discussion and debate in the community about reforms to the NDIS currently before Parliament. We know how important the NDIS is to people with disability and understand the anxiety and concern about the future of the NDIS in the disability community.

Read More

The Building Better Homes Campaign is calling for an end to housing discrimination against people with disability and older Australians in NSW.

Read More

Welcome to our latest newsletter.

The Building Better Homes Campaign is calling on the NSW Government to end housing discrimination against people with disability.

For the past two years the NSW Government is one of only two state governments that has refused to sign up to the liveability and accessibility standards mandated in the National Construction Code – a set of design standards that require new housing developments to offer basic accessibility for all people.

These standards are not a lot to ask – they simply require developers to include things like a step free shower and level entry to the home.

The new campaign push is calling on the NSW Government to stop housing discrimination against people with disability and older people.

Over the past couple of months, the disability community has been focused on the NDIS Amendment Bill currently before Parliament. It is critical that the Bill supports positive reform to the Scheme to ensure it delivers better outcomes for people with disability (Read more here).

This month, the Summer Foundation launched our expanded co-design services. The expansion is a natural progression of our widely recognised excellence in bringing the voice of lived experience to our work.

As we head into the last 6 months of the year it looks increasingly unlikely that the government will meet its target of having no people aged under 65 living in aged care by 2025. I’ve written more about this in my latest piece for The Conversation, you can read it here.

There has been a welcome 31% decrease to 1,470 younger people living in aged care at the end of 2023. But this is largely due to people dying or ageing out of the Younger People in Residential Aged Care (YPIRAC) cohort.

It is also important to note that moving out of aged care does not guarantee better outcomes for younger people with disability. In 2023, 89 people moved out to group homes. We must work with the government and the sector to ensure better housing outcomes for people who need access to 24/7 support.

We’ll be talking about this at our Annual Public Forum – Fulfilling the NDIS promise in housing and living: Innovation starts today – coming up on 17 October. Save the date!

I look forward to seeing you there.

Di Winkler CEO and Founder

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Exciting growth in co-design services

The Summer Foundation is well known for excellence in bringing the voice of lived experience to its work, so it is exciting to see that the team is expanding their remit, which has seen a range  of external clients commission this service.
Read More

NDIS Amendment Bill update

There has been much discussion and debate in the community about reforms to the NDIS currently before Parliament. We know how important the NDIS is to people with disability and understand the anxiety and concern about the future of the NDIS in the disability community.
Read More

Meet Tania

My name is Tania Lewis, I am 52, I’ve been married to my hubby Lenny for 35 years. He is my best friend in life, we have known each other since we were little. Together we managed to create our daughter, she is beautiful, she is 25 now and is doing her own life. Life hasn’t always been great for us.
Read More

The housing specialists at the Housing Hub have created a new peer support group on Facebook for participants wanting to discuss and share their housing journey with others. 

The NDIS Housing Peer Support Group is a closed Facebook group and is hosted and moderated by the Housing Hub admin team who are NDIS participants with personal experience of finding a suitable home.

If you are an NDIS participant going through your housing journey and would like support from others with similar experiences, this group is for you!

Sign up here

Our latest episode of Reasonable & Necessary is available for you to download and listen to. Dr George meets with disability rights advocate El Gibbs and disability law expert Mitchell Skipsey to discuss the NDIS Bill, the recent amendments and what is needed to ensure that the NDIS Bill meets the needs of NDIS participants.

The guests highlight the importance of constraints on the NDIA’s information gathering powers and the need for strengthening avenues for appeals. They also highlight the importance of considering the whole person in determining support packages. They explain what happens next and express hope that the Senate committee will recommend further amendments to address the concerns of the disability community.

Watch here

We are pleased to announce that this year’s Annual Public Forum will be held on Thursday 17 October. 

Since 2013, the Summer Foundation has proudly hosted the Annual Public Forum, providing a platform for engaging conversations on topical issues aligned with our strategic objectives. We are currently preparing for this year’s Forum. The confirmed topic is:

Fulfilling the NDIS promise in housing and living: Innovation starts today

This topic will allow us to showcase innovative housing and living models and discuss necessary policy reforms to drive urgent changes in this critical area. We’ll be joined by a panel of housing and living experts, including participants, providers, academics and government officials for the discussion. This is a free event.

Save the date:

Date: Thursday 17 October 
Time: 12pm – 1:30pm
Venue: NAB Arena, Docklands and online

Look out for the official invitation and booking instructions soon.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Watch a video of last year’s highlights below.

Tell us about yourself?

My name is Tania Lewis, I am 52, I’ve been married to my hubby Lenny for 35 years. He is my best friend in life, we have known each other since we were little. Together we managed to create our daughter, she is beautiful, she is 25 now and is doing her own life. Life hasn’t always been great for us. Sickness happened and got in the way of our life,  I guess you could say. I had a stroke at 39, due to that I ended up in aged care.

How did you first connect with the Summer Foundation?

I met the Summer Foundation at a forum in Newcastle when I was living in aged care. They just happened to be at the table that I sat at, and you know everyone yaps at those things. They seemed to have the belief that I have, that people with disabilities should not be forgotten, we’ve all got purpose in life no matter how hard we do it.

We first met you over 11 years ago, how is life for you now?

When we met I was living in aged care, now I am living with my beautiful hubby and daughter in an SDA home. I am a casual employee with the Summer Foundation and I also have part time employment with another company called Community Disability Alliance Hunter. I am on the board of an indigenous corporation and I try to get involved in any work or events in the community. 

You started off as a volunteer with Summer Foundation, now you are employed as a casual working across a couple of co-design projects. Can you tell us about this work?

The most recent work I am doing with Summer Foundation is at a very crucial time. A lot of companies are now seeing the value of lived experience from people with disabilities. The Summer Foundation is going to draw from our lived experiences to create solutions together. 

Why do you share your experience and insights?

The power of peer support has taught me, if you don’t share what you know, how is anyone else ever going to learn from it or see it as a way forward. You know, someone sees you doing something and says “wow they can do that and they are in a wheelchair and they’re smashing goals and they’re trying and they are giving it a go, maybe we can do it.” 

Sharing what I have been through and what I know, it is who I am. It is a passion of mine now.

Do you have any advice for others thinking about connecting with the Summer Foundation and sharing their knowledge and experience?

Just come along (to workshops), pop your head in and have a listen. Listening is good sometimes, absorbing what others are doing until you feel comfortable to share. They never put pressure on people. The Summer Foundation has always put people first and put people with disabilities first. They do it 100% right.  I would do anything to help them because they have changed my life – through their eyes I have been able to see other people’s lives and seen life through others’ eyes. So go and pop your head in, I reckon.

If you are interested in sharing your story, please get in touch with us at:
livedexperience@summerfoundtion.org.au