This paper provides an overview of the methods and synthesises findings from an ARC Linkage project that explored Self Advocacy and Inclusion of People with Intellectual Disabilities and considers the implications of the findings in the context of the National Disability Strategy (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011) and reforms to the disability service system thorough the...

The exploratory study found that participants, including those with cognitive disability, mostly supported the broad concept of supported decision making. However supporters saw this as a complex, dynamic and frequently chaotic process. Fundamental to the process were relationships and tailoring support to the individual. The skills and knowledge required included communication skills, self-awareness, the capacity...

Social Cohesion underpins the success of Victoria’s diverse multicultural society and provides significant economic and social benefits for Victorians. In March 2015, The VMC contracted La Trobe University to undertake a research project into Understanding Social Cohesion in Shepparton and Mildura. The objective of the research, is to identify the key success factors in Shepparton’s...

This toolkit provides a set of guidelines for tailoring mood-disorder e-therapies to the needs of same-sex attracted people. It gives developers of e-therapies a set of practical recommendations for adjusting e-therapies to more effectively accommodate lesbians and gay men. These recommendations are supported by in-depth research that was designed specifically to inform this toolkit.

Around 40,000 children are estimated to require out-of-home care in Australia and this number has risen every year over the past decade (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2014a). Young people up to 18 years who are unable to live with their birth families are placed in different forms of out-of-home care, including kinship care...