On 11-12 October 2023, the Australian Human Rights Institute at UNSW Sydney will host its biennial conference, Accountability in crisis: the rise of impunity as a challenge to human rights. It is an important event, as the lack of accountability of perpetrators of harm in the dementia and aged care system in Australia is appalling, as…
This draft blog was sitting in my draft folder, written a few years ago as part of observing a Brain health Awareness Month series. Inspired by Wendy Mitchell, I’ve been trying to reingnite my habit of daily, or at least, a more regular writing habit, and today, it seemed appropriate to talk about the impact…
‘Ellen Louise Pence (April 15, 1948 – January 6, 2012) was an American scholar and a social activist. She co-founded the Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Project, an inter-agency collaboration model used in all 50 states in the U.S. and over 17 countries. A leader in both the battered women’s movement and the emerging field of institutional ethnography, she was the recipient of numerous awards…
For almost 15 years, I’ve been campaigning for ALL people with dementia to be advised the symptoms of dementia are acquired disabilities, not only a death sentence, and for all people with dementia to receive rehabilitation, immediately after diagnosis. This is to support, and even improve cognitve and functional abilities, as well as improve our…
Over the last few years, but especially the last few months, I feel like I have finally found my tribe, or perhaps, I have found a new tribe. This emerging and growing group of people I have come to know, either through social media, zoom and even a few who I’ve met in person, not…
Long term care (LTC), is one term used to describe congregate living style settings including nursing homes and residential aged care institutions; most countries have their preferred term, as do academic journals. As a humanitarian and campaigner for civil rights and social justice, I’m becoming increasingly aware, and more educated on why these locked assisted…
Todays’ blogpost begins with a petition I have signed, and which I’d encourge you to read, sign and share. Please. People with dementia should not be harmed by drugs that are fast tracked for approved, after accelerated drug trials, and which are known to be unsafe. People with dementia are not lab rats or mice.…
In recent months and years, I have finally found my ‘tribe’, other people who are truth-tellers, and who refuse to stay silent on the matters that impact and harm them, and harm others. Some are academics and/or activists, and many, like me, have survived trauma. These are people also appear to have put their quest…
Watch the recording of this important community discussion, exploring how institutionalization has long operated as a tool of social control, disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities, manifesting today in the expansion of involuntary commitment directives nationally. The work being done by the event organiser, the Institute for the Development of Human Arts is very relevant…
If you live in Adelaide, or can travel here, and are interested in the regulation of detention, and other restrictive practices in aged care facilities in Australia, you will be interested in the following seminar, being hosted by the Law School at the University of Adelaide. I’m very pleased to be invited, to present on…
Monday 13 February 2023 was a significant day for First Nations Australians. 15 years ago was the National Apology to the Stolen Generations, acknowledging the profound harms and trauma inflicted to First Nations people. The then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said sorry, one of the first steps towards healing, but we are still such a…
‘How can we redress and repair violence, abuse and neglect of people living with dementia in residential aged care?’ People living with dementia have been subject to significant harm, including violence, abuse, and neglect in aged care in Australia. Yet, this harm is rarely recognised and redressed. People living with dementia in aged care, as well as…
I’m a member of the Australian OPCAT Network, and with permission, am posting a revised version of the contents of an email from the network here. As people with dementia living in residential aged care which they are locked in, and segregated, they too are living in places of detention, hence my interest in OPCAT.…
Movie Spoiler Alert. We recently watched a movie featuring Tom Hanks called ‘Otto’ which was poignant, sweet and funny. Hanks is an incredible actor and I was looking forward to seeing it, and from the trailer, thought it was going to be a modern day improved version of ‘Gumpy Old Men’. However, it may be…
As another year comes to an end, and christmas nears, for me, and for many of us, our grief reappears, sometimes in painful and unexpected ways. To have have loved, means you will grieve… It if is a first Christmas since someone you loved has died, it will likely be one of the toughest, and…
You must be logged in to post a comment.