Disability Pride Parade 2015
04/12/2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 4, 2015
Kelly Vincent, Dignity for Disability MLC
Disability Pride Parade 2015
In collaboration with Barriers to Justice, DACSSA and Victim Support Service
Dignity for Disability MLC Kelly Vincent is proud to headline Australia’s first Disability Pride Parade today while also highlighting the barriers to justice still faced by South Australians.
“In collaboration with DACSSA and Victim Support Service, Dignity for Disability are thrilled to present Australian first Pride Parade as part of Barriers to Justice,” says Kelly Vincent.
“It’s fantastic to spend a moment celebrating International Day of People with Disability and taking pride in our abilities, but we also need to reflect on the many barriers South Australians with disability face every day trying to access the justice system.
“It’s an outrage that people with disability can’t access the justice system, nor the community in general, in the same way everyone else takes for granted.
“In 2015 there have been many positive policy and legislative improvements, but we have a long way to go before Australians with disability enjoy the access our non-disabled counterparts already enjoy.
“I look forward to speaking alongside my fellow South Australians with disability,” concluded Ms Vincent.
Speakers joining Kelly Vincent today include:
Ben Paior Smith: 15, has an intellectual disability, and attends the same school as four generations of his family before him;
Esther Simbi: a mother and African woman with disability, has a Masters degree in Mediation, and is the YWCA’s Crossing the Bridge Project Coordinator;
Bonnie Millen: 29 years old, is a mother of 3 with a son aged 6 who wears both a cochlear implant and hearing aid, like Bonnie herself. Bonnie is on the Board of with People with Disability Australia and Women with Disability Australia, is studying both a Masters in Social Work and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Policy and Social Research;
Phillip Beddall: member of Barriers to Justice and Dignity for Disability Board, and lifelong disability advocate.
Schedule for Disability Pride Parade 2015
10.45am: Assemble at the Christmas tree at Victoria Square/Tarndanyangga
11am: Pride Parade departs Victoria Square/Tarndanyangga
11am – 11.50am: Marching down King William Street to Victoria Square
12noon: Speeches on the steps of Parliament
