Celebrating International Day of People with Disability
Published on 29 November 2024
Surf Coast Shire Council activities celebrating International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) will include an art exhibition, fun inclusive storytime for kids, and sharing of insights from people with lived experience of disability.
IDPwD, on 3 December, seeks to increase public awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability and celebrate their achievements and contributions.
The 2024 theme is ‘amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future’.
Councillor Leon Walker said Council’s activities would help educate and inspire community members.
“International Day of People with Disability provides us with an important time to recognise and celebrate the achievements and contributions of people living with disability and increase understanding and acceptance,” Cr Walker said.
“But it also reminds us that we should be striving year-round to improve access and inclusion, helping to ensure that everyone can take part in our community and get the services they need, no matter their abilities.”
About Surf Coast Shire Council 2024 IDPwD activities:
Lynda Dingley ‘Harmonious Storm’ art exhibition
Anglesea Art Space, 21 November to 8 December, open 11am-4pm Thursday to Sunday. Opening event Saturday 30 November 3.30pm
Award-winning artist Lynda Dingley, pictured, works in acrylics on canvas, watercolours and inks on paper. Her work blends Indigenous art and realistic painting, featuring memories and dream-like themes.
She says the title of her latest exhibition Harmonious Storm expresses something of two major influences which add expression to her work – her First Nations heritage and relationship with the land, and perspective shaped by 15 years living in a wheelchair.
“Just as the land transforms through cycles of erosion, growth and reshaping, life in a wheelchair brings its own adaptive journey,” Lynda says.
“Navigating the world in a wheelchair involves adapting to different terrains and embracing resilience. Both the land and the journey in a wheelchair share a story of constant change and strength, finding harmony amid the storm.”
Lynda says art has helped give her a voice and a means of expressing herself in a world which too often overlooks people living with disability.
As a vocal advocate for disability rights and representation in the art world she has become an inspiring role model.
Inclusive storytime for children at Torquay Library
In association with Geelong Regional Libraries, Thursday 5 December, 10.30am-11am.
The engaging and fun inclusive storytime will feature library staff leading songs, supported by an Auslan interpreter, and disability advocate and author Renee D’Offay signing a storybook in Auslan,
Renee became profoundly deaf at 19 after having contracted meningococcal meningitis. Two decades on she is a mum, Auslan educator, teacher of the Deaf and a passionate disability advocate.
She says inclusive storytimes with positive representations of, and interactions with, people with disability can help children understand the challenges others might be dealing with – that everybody is different and can have different needs.
Insights from people with lived experience of disability
During the first week of December Council will share a series of social media posts featuring artist Lynda Dingley and Council All Abilities Advisory Committee members Timothy Harte, Cheryl Middleton and Penny Cilento.
Each will reflect on their inspirations, and share messages about improving inclusion in our community.
The All Abilities Advisory Committee (AAAC) comprises community members, Cr Leon Walker and Council officers and advises Council on ways to improve access and inclusion for people with disability.
The committee meets six times a year and is seeking expressions of interest from new members with experience living with disability or as a carer for someone living with disability.
People can visit surfcoast.vic.gov.au/Community/Access-for-all to:
- Find more information about Council’s IDPwD activities and register for the library storytime session
- Learn more about the AAAC and make an expression of interest for membership.
- Register to receive Council’s regular access and inclusion newsletter.