Ben is speaking up for people with an intellectual disability in the NT

Congratulations to Ben Hankin from the Inclusion Australia Northern Territory team (IANT) who has been invited to join the NT Disability Advisory Committee.

The Committee gives advice to the Minister for Disabilities about things that are important to people with disability in the Northern Territory.

Ben attended his first meeting of the Advisory Committee last week. Ben and Liz Collier, IANT Manager, presented to the Committee about employment for people with an intellectual disability.

After the meeting Ben and Liz met with the Northern Territory Minister for Disabilities, Ngaree Ah Kit and talked about how important open employment and fair pay are for people with an intellectual disability. They also talked about how to include people with an intellectual disability in deciding how to improve employment for people with disability in the NT.

Ben and Liz talked about the work IANT has done to hear what people with an intellectual disability think about the NDIS for the NDIS Review, and the work the team would like to do in the NT in the next year. It was great to hear that Minister Ah Kit still had the Traffic Light cards for inclusive meetings that the IANT team gave her in April.

This week Ben and Liz met with Bill Shorten, Federal Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for a working lunch and attended a meeting for the first annual report of the NT Disability Strategy Action Plan at Parliament House in Darwin.

Ben said he wants to use his position on the Disability Advisory Committee to make sure that everyone has the same accessible information and to talk with people with an intellectual disability about speaking up.

It will be great to see what Ben achieves during his three-year term.

To keep up with the latest from the IANT team, visit: https://www.inclusionaustralia.org.au/about-us/inclusion-australia-northern-territory/

For more on the NT Disability Strategy Action Plan visit: https://tfhc.nt.gov.au/social-inclusion-and-interpreting-services/office-of-disability/disability-strategy/action-plan