We are Worth the Investment. NSW Council for Intellectual Disability Conference 16-17 July 2015. Michael Sullivan Chairperson NSW CID at Opening Session NDIS-where are we now?

1. Michael’sOpening Speech for the conference 2015.
Hi everyone, I’m MichaelSullivanthe chairperson for the
New South Wales Councilfor IntellectualDisabilityandI
would like to welcome you to our conference.
The theme and title of this conference is ‘we are worth the
investment’.
The D in NDIS stands for disabilityand we are the people at
the centre of the NDIS and we ARE worth the investment.
New South Wales Councilfor Disabilityrepresents our
members and all people with an intellectualdisability.Our
aim is to help our members have a good life. We are an
advocacy organisationand want more people with an
intellectualdisability toget involvedwith making decisions
that affect their own life. To learn to have a voice, speak out
and speak out for others. This is happeningwith programs
like My Choice Matters Leadership Program. Leaders can
become self-advocates, leaderscan help others with an
intellectualdisability toget involved.But you can’t have
advocacy without informationand New South Wales Council
for Intellectualdisabilityis there providingaccess to that
information.
We are excited to be hosting this conference for the second
year running. There are loadsof sessions to attend and time
to learn more about the NDIS and to hear the experiences of
people who are already using the NDIS. This is also your

2. chance to engage with people from other states {regions?}
and to chat to them and find out how it’s going for them.
Now you may see a second Michaelhanging around, and if
you happento see him please go up and say hello. Don’t
worry he’s harmless. He is a life-size cardboardcopy of me.
We want you to write your suggestions, questionsand
comments aboutthe NDIS and stick them up next to him.
We also have something fun for you to do. It’s called the CID
Soapbox. This is place where you can have your say, or a rant,
or get something off your chest that you have wanted to say
for a long time. We will video you and you might appearon
you tube or on our Facebook page if you want to.
This conference is your chance to get involvedand get
informed. So I hope you have a great couple of days.