Shire celebrates International Day for People with Disabilities

LAST Thursday the Surf Coast Shire Council held an event to mark the International Day for People with Disabilities.

The event was open to the community and featured all abilities band The Rockheads as entertainment and dal Catering, who give training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities, providing lunch.

Disability and queer rights advocate and Victorian Disability Advisory Council member Jax Jacki Brown was the key speaker at the event.

Ms Brown spoke about addressing disability as being an issue of social justice and access rather than a personal or individual problem, and how she had been perceived during parenthood.

“Particularly for people with disability, when you choose to become a parent there’s an extra level of scrutiny on our capabilities.”

Surf Coast Shire mayor Rose Hodge praised Ms Brown’s talk and said the event in general was great.

“Thank you to everyone who came along to celebrate International Day of People with Disability. Jax was an incredible guest speaker who shared important insights into how we can help build a more accessible and inclusive community.

“I loved the passion from The Rockheads, who had us clapping along with their performance. It was great to see so many familiar faces, including the All Aboard crew and our All Abilities Advisory Committee. It was a fabulous event.”