Welcome To Aids & Equipment Alliance

Aids and Equipment Action Alliance is a non-profit, multi-member group consisting of people with disabilities, advocates, health professionals and service providers working to improve the availability of aids and equipment to aged and disabled Victorians.

Latest News

15th September 2011

Selected References for the Effectiveness of Assistive Technology 1979 - Dec 2010

The Library section now has a quick list of evidence regarding Assistive Technology which we hope will assist you in any searches
http://www.aeaa.org.au/library-references.asp

5th August 2011

Report: Telecommunications & Deafblind people

Telecommunications and Deafblind Australians Able Australia & ACCAN have released a report calling for better support for deafblind people to access customised telecommunications solutions. The report calls for greater access to aids and equipment for deafblind consumers. The AEAA's Equipping Inclusion Studies were cited within this document.
http://www.ableaustralia.org.au/newsevents/2011news/accan-report

27th July 2011

Aids and Equipment Action Alliance AGM

The Aids and Equipment Action Alliance (AEAA) AGM will be held on Wednesday the 10TH AUGUST 2011, 10.30AM for an 11AM start at The Nerve Centre, 54 Railway Rd, Blackburn. The AGM will be followed by a General Members meeting with lunch at 12pm. Please RSVP to aeaa@msaustralia.org.au for catering purposes.

20th July 2011

Aged and Community Care Conference

Congratulations and many thanks to Natasha Layton who presented twice at this conference held in WA in May 2011.
Please see below the links for the program and Natasha's presentations:

• ACSWA Program
• Equipping inclusion: assistive technology costs and outcomes
• Using technology to achieve valued life outcomes

20th July 2011

Motivation Australia's, Mobility Solutions Symposium

Please see the link below to this symposium addressing the mobility needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
www.motivation.org.au/component/content/article/12-events/66-mobility-solutions-symposium.html

8th April 2011

AEAA Members Special Meeting held 16th March 2011

The proposal for changes to the AEAA Constitution were all passed at the Special Meeting. A total of 17 votes were received, nine via proxy, and the result was a unanimous agreement to the proposed changes. There was one amendment to the membership process proposed at the Special meeting. It was proposed that 3c) read "Such membership is current until member resigns". This proposal takes membership from the proposed annual renewal and retains it at the current ongoing membership. The proposed amendment was voted on at the Special meeting and all votes were in favour. Therefore this amendment will be added to the AEAA Constitution along with the other agreed changes.

Many thanks to all members who took the time to respond and send in their proxy votes. The revised Constitution will now be lodged with Consumer Affairs Victoria.

Launch of the AEAA Policy Statement 2011-2013

The following Policy Statement launch will be at the AEAA General Members Meeting in March, and is the accumulation of a lot of input from members for which we are extremely grateful. Special thanks to Michael Summers who has been responsible for this document. The purpose of this policy statement is to provide a focus to agreed priority areas regarding issues of access to Aids and Equipment, and all members are encouraged to distribute this document broadly to your networks, local members and those with an opportunity to influence policy in this area over the next 2 years. Hard copies of the document are available so please contact the AEAA if you require them.
AEAA Policy Statement

AEAA Strategic Planning Day held 19th January 2011

The first AEAA Strategic Planning day was a great success with over 20 members in attendance and a volunteer Facilitator, Janet Tucker, who came to the AEAA via the SkillShare website.

There was a broad agreement in the need for the AEAA to develop a Vision and Mission and review the existing principles and objectives.  An exercise at the Planning Day gave each member an opportunity to write a Vision statement and there was an incredibly high degree of consensus on the Vision of the Alliance which was very gratifying.  The Executive Committee will now work on finalising these elements.

There was also a broad agreement on the proposed AEAA Key Strategic Areas for the next three years which are:

1. Policy and Advocacy
2. Research
3. Building and Engaging Membership
4. Sustainability

The afternoon saw the group brainstorming potential project ideas within the Key Strategic Areas and there were an amazing number of ideas generated from the members which will be key for the AEAA in identifying and moving toward future funding opportunities.

Many thanks to all the members who participated, including those who were unable to attend but sent questions and thoughts via email to be included in the general discussions on the day.

The ideas and decisions made at the planning day will enable the Executive Committee to progress the AEAA Strategic Plan, and more about the plan will be communicated to members as it develops.

Rail lifts revamp to take stretchers

Age Newspaper article regarding the issue of lack of ramps at new rail stations. Read here

Government Media Access Report

The Australian government has released its 'Investigation into access to electronic media for the hearing and vision impaired' report which can be accessed here.

Equipping Inclusion Study

The Equipping Inclusion Studies are the result of a two year research project funded by the William Buckland Foundation. The 200 page report contains new evidence as to needs, cost burden, and the impact of existing aids and equipment programs, for people living with a disability in Victoria.

The research report by Deakin University, launched 13 October 2010 at the Melbourne Town Hall, is in two formats: a short summary report Key Findings and Policy Implications , and the Full Report . A Press Release is also available.

For more information on this research the Report’s authors can be contacted through the AEAA at info@aeaa.org.au, or Natasha Layton, Associate Researcher, at nlay@deakin.edu.au

AEAA presentations at the 2010 ARATA conference

Click here to download the report.

AEAA Incorporation

The AEAA is now incorporated within Victoria. Please click here to view the certificate.

Thank you to all those who participated in this process. The final Incorporation document for the AEAA can be downloaded here.