Defence

Feature

Special abilities

A recent photography competition aimed to showcase people with disabilities in the Australian community. Private John Wellfare reports.

Deliberately emphasising the letter A, the UN-sponsored International Day of People with a disAbility aims to raise awareness of disability issues in the general community.

This year a Defence-run competition to celebrate the day called for photographs on the theme "disAbility in the Australian Community". The competition, open to Defence employees and their immediate families, received a number of entries from across the country.

The entries, some of which are featured here, were displayed at Russell Offices in Canberra. CDF General Peter Cosgrove presented prizes to the competition winners at an event to celebrate the day and launch the new Disability Management Strategy 2004-2007. Amputee Black Hawk helicopter pilot Major Glen Todhunter and Defence employee Tanya Pascale, who suffered a stroke three years ago, were both guest speakers at the event.

The Disability Management Strategy 2004-2007 aims to support Defence employees managing disabilities in the workplace. The strategy includes a website specifically devoted to dealing with disability issues within Defence.

The proceeds from the open lunch will be donated to the Defence Special Needs Support Group. The group was formed in 1994 by several Defence families and has since grown into a valuable support mechanism for Defence members who have dependents with special needs.

Leading Seaman Troy van Dongen spends Anzac Day with his mother, former senior Navy steward Jeannette van Dongen, who broke her back in a diving accident in 1971. Photo by Kellie van Dongen	Benjamin Mewett, who suffers Down Syndrome, watches a cow jump over the moon. Photo illustration by John Mewett Disabled Defence employee Dean Wright delivers mail throughout building R1 at Russell Offices in Canberra. Photo by Lieutenant Commander Annette Nelson, Career Management Policy	Cerebral palsy sufferer Asha Zanker plays on the swings at a park near Coogee Beach in Sydney. Photo by Samantha Zanker Blind Defence employee John Hunter makes a light-hearted attempt at driving at Campbell Park offices in Canberra. Photo by Kathy Heydon, CSIG
For more information go to www.defence.gov.au/equity.

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