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National Launch for Ability First Australia's Walk with Me
Thérèse Rein awarded Human Rights Medal
National Launch for Ability First Australia's Walk with Me
Over 80 people attended the National Launch for Ability First Australia’s Walk with Me event on Friday August 12 at Northcott’s Conference and Functions Centre in Parramatta, hosted by Ian McNamara of ABC Radio’s Australia all Over Program. “I love the name of this event” he said. “There are far too many Fun Runs out there and I for one, don’t see anything fun about running!”
The national event Walk with Me happens at twelve different sites across Australia during the month of September. It focuses on seeing the person not the disability and provides the opportunity for everyone to walk with and in support of people with disabilities.
Ben Keyte and Diana Jelovic, Northcott’s Client Ambassadors for the Walk with Me spoke about what the event meant for them and the importance of respite. Diana, mum of Thomas who has severe autism, said “This is a 24/7 job - to be the best carer you can be, you need to look after yourself and having down time to rest, recharge and revive is a vital part of ensuring my wellbeing as a carer.”
Alex Blackwell, Kerry Stubbs, Ben Keyte, Diana Jelovic,
Macca, Glenn Gardner
Macca spoke with Ben about his studies to be a Social Worker and to Alex Blackwell, Captain of the Australian Women’s Cricket Team and Northcott Ambassador, who is an avid supporter of respite activities. She spoke glowingly of Ben’s initiative to create a game of cricket adapted to people with disabilities and commended his enthusiasm for sport –“one of the best kinds of respite!”
Glenn Gardner, CEO Ability First Australia spoke and acknowledged representatives from the event’s National Sponsors: Liz Jensen of Dilmah Tea Australia; Lincoln Crawley from Manpower Group; Kay House from Shelta Australia and Michael Briggs of Anchorage Capital. Member organisations present were: Kerry Stubbs, CEO Northcott; Kylie Payne from Scope Vic and Rob Grant President of Cootharinga North Queensland. Glenn apologised on behalf of AFA’s Patron Thérèse Rein who had taken the time to prepare a statement which he read. She regretted her absence but explained due to her “husband’s recovery from his “oil and grease” change – somebody has to look after him!”
Thérèse Rein went on to say “I believe strongly that we must encourage every opportunity to see the person and not the disability. This event does just that. It encourages walkers to take to parks, to streets, to pavements alongside and in support of people they love and care for…..and it encourages more people to understand and participate in the valuable work of Ability First Australia and its member organisations.”
Macca finished by officially launching Walk With Me and by the time he left he had not only publically pledged to do a concert to raise funds for Ability First Australia but also committed Kerry Stubbs (Northcott) and Lincoln Crawley (ManpowerGroup) to interviews on his ABC radio program to promote the event and encourage registrations and fundraising at www.walkwithme.org.au
Thérèse Rein awarded Human Rights Medal
A lifetime of dedication to helping people reach their full potential has delivered the prestigious Human Rights Medal for 2010 to our Patron Thérèse Rein.
Excerpt from: Australian Human Rights Commission, 2010 Human Rights Medal and Awards, Media Release, Friday 10 December 2010
Already well known for her high profile advocacy and patronage of major social causes in Australia, Ms Rein was announced today as the winner of Australia’s major human rights accolade at the Australian Human Rights Commission’s annual Human Rights Medals and Awards ceremony in Sydney.
Commission President Catherine Branson QC, said the judges selected Ms Rein for her long-term dedication to human rights, especially the rights of people with disability.
“Thérèse Rein has demonstrated throughout her career, a strong and enduring commitment to ensuring that people, especially those who experience disability and disadvantage, are given the opportunity to realise their full potential,” Ms Branson said.
“In her capacity as wife of the former Prime Minister, she was deeply and genuinely committed to a wide range of issues including homelessness, Indigenous literacy, child health and disability.
“In particular, her support and commitment to improving the design of housing for all Australians, including people with disability stand out. Her role in supporting and encouraging the National Dialogue on Universal Housing Design culminated in the coming together of Australia’s leading residential and building industry players to pursue a universal housing design standard by 2020.”
Thérèse Rein’s passion and commitment to eliminating discrimination and helping people reach their potential was inspired by the experiences of her father who lost the use of his legs after a flying accident in World War Two.
Ms Rein established Work Directions Australia in 1989 to assist people with disability, illness or injury to return to meaningful employment. The organisation soon expanded into providing individually-tailored services and support to assist unemployed people to get back to work.
In 2002, it became Ingeus and partnered with governments in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, South Korea and Switzerland providing back-to-work, health and well-being services to the long-term unemployed, people with disability, people with health conditions, young people, mature age workers, migrants and refugees.
“She put a strong human rights framework around the work she undertook, embracing the privilege of the role of wife of the Prime Minister and using it to highlight a range of important social causes,” Ms Branson said.
Ms Rein is currently in London on business but in a video address to the audience, she said the medal belonged to those in the community who have a disability, those people who love them, and those people they love.
“It’s tough having a disability. It makes life more complicated. It makes life more challenging - not just for the person with a disability but for their families and those who care for them,” she said.
“This medal belongs to those people who, because of their disability, have faced prejudice and assumptions from other people about what they can and cannot do.”
Read the full Australian Human Rights Commission press release.
View Thérèse Rein's acceptance speech of the Australian Human Rights Medal.
Manpower Services Australia Ltd, a world leader in the employment services industry; comes on board to support Ability First Australia’s Walk with Me event.
Ability First Australia is pleased to announce the signing of the sponsorship agreement recently which will see Manpower not only provide financial support to the event, but also encourage their employees across the country to assist the member organisations with ‘manpower’ in the lead up to the events, through their Community service day program. They are prepared to pitch in and help with any aspect of the event - anything from admin and office assistance, encouraging walker participation to pounding the pavement with leaflet distribution – they are up for it and more. There will be teams of Manpower employees attending the walks in each state and adding their time and fundraising for the cause.
Glenn Gardner CEO of Ability First Australia welcomes the move to engage with Manpower which as a company has demonstrated it is serious about its corporate social responsibility.
‘Manpower is actively engaged in efforts designed to provide people with disabilities with the opportunities to get the skills they need to secure a job, make a living and establish themselves as contributors to their community, making them a perfect fit to support Ability First Australia and the Walk with Me event” he said.
Lincoln Crawley, Managing Director, Manpower Australia and New Zealand, is equally enthusiastic about the sponsorship: “Manpower has committed to a broad scope of sponsorship of this event. We will get a tremendous amount out of this association as many of our employees across the country will be involved at the grass roots level, getting to know Ability First Australia’s members, their staff and clients – which is what this event is all about: an inclusive society where we see the person not the disability.
As Glenn adds:”It is about more than the dollars and a signature on an agreement – this will be a partnership that has long term benefits for both organisations and we welcome the Manpower team to Walk with Me 2011!”
About Manpower Australia & New Zealand
The Manpower network in Australia and New Zealand comprises of over 50 offices, represented by Manpower Branch Network, Manpower Professional and Right Management. Services offered to employers range from permanent, temporary and contract recruitment; consulting; cross border mobility; employee assessment and selection; recruitment process outsourcing (RPO); vendor management services; onsite HR services; project resourcing; business process / task outsourcing; payroll and training. More information on Manpower Australia and New Zealand is available at www.manpower.co.nz/default.aspx.
About Manpower Inc.
Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN), world leader in innovative workforce solutions; creates and delivers services that help clients meet their business and workforce objectives while enhancing their competitiveness. The $19 billion company provides a full suite of solutions for the business cycle including permanent, temporary and contract recruitment; employee assessment and selection; training; outplacement; outsourcing and consulting. Manpower’s worldwide network of nearly 3,900 offices in 82 countries and territories is the world’s largest in the industry and enables the company to meet the needs of its 400,000 clients per year, including small and medium size enterprises in all industry sectors, as well as the world's largest multinational corporations. The focus of Manpower’s work is on unleashing the potential of humans so that employers and individuals can achieve more than they imagined. More information about Manpower Inc. is available at www.manpower.co.nz/default.aspx.
Enter the Human Age at: https://www.manpower.co.nz/Research/human-age.aspx
