ME/CFS South Australia Inc: Call for change to DSP policies

ME/CFS SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC

Registered Charity 3104

Email:
sacfs@sacfs.asn.au

Mailing address:
PO Box 322,
Modbury North,
South Australia 5092

Phone:
1300 128 339

Office Hours:
Monday - Friday,
10am - 4pm
(phone)

ME/CFS South Australia Inc supports the needs of sufferers of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and related illnesses. We do this by providing services and information to members.

ME/CFS South Australia Inc aims to keep members informed of various research projects, diets, medications, therapies, news items, etc. All communication, both verbal and written, is merely to disseminate information and not to make recommendations or directives.

Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed on this Web site are not necessarily the official views of the Society or its Committee and are not simply an endorsement of products or services.

Call for change to DSP policies

June 21, 2005

Changes to Disability Support Pension conditions announced in the May 2005 Australian Federal Budget are a travesty of social justice. Disability activist Ken Davis calls on all Australians who oppose these changes to unite with one voice and send a message to Canberra.

Ken has suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a disabling neurological disease, for 12 years. Trained as an Occupational Therapist he has a unique perspective on disability, having worked in rehabilitation, having a chronic disability, and now assessing the work capacity of disabled people. “My experience from three different sides of the disability system shows me the Government’s policies, while having some positives, are deeply flawed,” says Mr Davis.

He calls for united action, through media campaigns, personal letter writing, public education, street rallies and a blockade on Parliament House. Concerted action is needed to send a message to the Coalition that this action is the death knell for the Government. It’s not too late to force a change of mind.

Determined environmental campaigns like the Franklin River and the Daintree have successfully forced the Government to back down in the past. While the Environment is important, nothing is more important than how a civilised society cares for the poor and disadvantaged.

Tuesday May 10 is the day the Government finally lost the plot, but individual citizens and disability organisations CAN force the government to reconsider.