DSS promotes payments for people with disability

Aboriginal Quarterly was a Department of Aboriginal Affairs journal intended for an Aboriginal audience. It published these articles in a special insert for the International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP) in 1981.    

‘Kevin Coombs: disabled but able’

One article featured Kevin Coombs. Coombs is a Wotjobaluk man, paraplegic and Paralympian. He had been appointed by the National Aboriginal Conference to promote the needs of Aboriginal people with disability throughout IYDP.

Coombs’s commitment to raising awareness about Aboriginal people with disability is clear throughout the article. In the story, Coombs talked about the childhood injury that paralysed him. He also talked about his work, sporting prowess and his IYDP mission.

Coombs’s full autobiography reflected on the long stretches of time he spent in hospital. He wrote about the lack of government support for his family and how this meant they couldn’t visit him.

‘Assistance for disabled persons’

The other article, ‘Assistance for disabled persons’, outlined 6 government payments and services for Aboriginal people with disability and their carers. It noted that Aboriginal people often did not know about these payments. It told readers to contact their local Department of Social Security office for further help.

Communicating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customers

These articles show the government highlighting Aboriginal voices and suggesting that people check what kind of payments they could get.

Around the same time, the government was beginning to use more engaging ways of promoting their payments to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customers. For example, they began using Aboriginal art on ABSTUDY posters and worked with translators to create information in language.