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SWAN Needs Your Help

Disability SWAN News Autism Uncategorised

SWAN were told late Thursday 23/05/24 that we will no longer be funded beyond 30th June 2024.
Without alternate funding, SWAN will close.

This was only 5 weeks’ notice.  You can check out the list of successful Information, Linkages and Capacity building (ILC) grant recipients here:

Only 25 out of 198 previously funded organisations were funded in this new grant round.  This means that 173 organisations, including SWAN, have lost their funding.

No autism peer support organisations have been funded, nor has any organisation which will be prioritising support to the south west region of WA. There are only four ILC projects to be delivered in WA.  Just over 5% of the funding is coming to WA, despite having 10% of the population living here.

If you need information, support or advocacy, please contact us. SWAN are still open and will give as much notice as we can before this changes.

If you are concerned about losing SWAN’s support, please email the Ministers below:

 

Template Email for the Ministers:

Dear Minister [name of Minister],

I am very concerned about the decision to defund South West Autism Network (SWAN) as of the 30th June 2024, and ask you to contact the organisation to arrange alternate funding so that SWAN is able to continue supporting our community.

SWAN have supported myself and my family by [insert details of how SWAN have supported you, or what you value about SWAN].

SWAN has been providing FREE information, peer support, advocacy and support to navigate disability and mainstream services to the south west WA community and beyond for 15 years. Over the past 3 years, SWAN have experienced extremely high demand for this support, increasingly from people with disability and families living interstate as well as the south west region and wider Western Australia.

Over the past six months, (including via social media peer support groups), SWAN provided information, peer support, linkages and advocacy to an average of 333 people per week. SWAN have been struggling to keep up with the high level of need for support from people with disability and families for the past three years. The advocacy support provided by SWAN is not funded nor reported on, which means the level of demand for advocacy support in the south west community is not fully recognised. Advocacy WA have a waitlist averaging eight to twelve weeks currently.

Without SWAN, the waiting period to access disability advocacy in the region is likely to double or more. SWAN’s ethos is to fill the gaps in support services for our community. This includes provision of some case management for people with disability and families who have fallen through the cracks between mainstream services and NDIS. They work with people to connect them with both disability and mainstream support services to meet their needs, and support them to build the skills and capacity to make decisions independently, understand and navigate complex systems.  SWAN provide the Navigator role that was identified as a major gap by the NDIS Review in their final report, and have been performing this crucial role to the disability community for 15 years.

I am very concerned about the loss of this important service to our community, and respectfully ask that you reach out to SWAN to discuss funding options to ensure that the service is able to continue to support people with disability and families.

SWAN can be contacted by emailing info@swanautism.org.au or phone 0476 315 694.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Kind regards,

[Your Name]

 

What Does SWAN Provide?

FREE support with NDIS, seeking diagnosis, mainstream and disability supports available to meet your / your child’s needs and much more. This includes:

  • Seeking autism diagnostic assessment, understanding the process and navigating the various systems.
  • What to do after diagnosis, including financial assistance available through Centrelink and NDIS, and support to make these applications.
  • Information about what disability and mainstream supports are available, and support to access them. This includes NDIS, Education, Employment, Community Services ,Mental Health, Recreation and Social Connection, Advocacy and more.
  • Person-Centred Planning and Goal-Setting Sessions for people with disability and families. Preparing for your / your child’s NDIS planning meeting.
  • Understanding the NDIS and how to use your / your child’s NDIS plan.
  • Self-Managing NDIS funding.
  • Support with NDIS Plan Variations, Reassessments and Internal Review of Decisions.
  • Peer Support – both individually and via our online peer support groups on Facebook.
  • Autism Go-To Guides.
  • Individual Advocacy where you may need support to advocate for yourself or your family member with NDIS, Education, mainstream or disability services.
  • Systemic Advocacy to State and Commonwealth Governments to improve inclusion and accessibility of different systems for autistic people and people with other disabilities.
  • Youth Mental Health First Aid Training.
  • ‘Understanding Autism’ training to families and the wider community.
  • Workshops and webinars to improve understanding of NDIS.
  • Resources and Guides in our Regional Toolkit.
  • Resource Library for SWAN members.
  • Provider directory and resources on our website.
  • South West distribution hub for various resources, including SECCA’s free guide to Sexuality, Relationships and Your Rights.

Find out more about some of SWAN’s Systemic Advocacy work on our website.

If you would like support from SWAN, please contact us.