CID will be closed from Wednesday 25 December to Wednesday 1 January.

From Tuesday 2 January you can contact us

• On the phone at 1800 424 065
• By email at info@cid.org.au.

The CID office will open on Monday 6 January.

This message is from our Chairperson Fiona McKenzie AM.

This is a good time to think about the things that happened this year.

Think about the good things you have done.

Think about things you are happy to have in your life.

Do not just think about big things.

Your good thing could be a good friend you have.

It is also a good time to think about what you want to do next year.

Be kind to yourself when you think about what you want to do next year.

Happy holidays from Fiona and CID.

The sun can be very hot.

It is important to protect your skin.

Australia has many beautiful beaches.

It is important to be careful when you swim.

In this Easy Read guide we share Summer safety tips.

Bushfires happen during hot and dry weather.

Our Bushfire Information Guide has information on

• What is a bushfire

• Where bushfires happen

• Fire ratings

• Emergency fire alerts

Read the Bushfire Information Guide at the link.

A heatwave is when the weather gets very hot.

Heatwaves can affect your health.

This guide has 3 tips to help you in a heatwave.

More people get together during the holidays.

This means more people might get COVID.

You should stay home if you are not feeling well.

If you are not feeling well you should do a rapid antigen test. We say RAT for short.

A RAT tells you if you have COVID.

There are two kinds of RATs. You can see how to use them in these videos.

One kind of RAT is done from your nose.

The other kind of RAT is done with your spit.

If you test positive you should stay at home and away from other people.

When you start feeling better you can test again to see if you are negative.

If you test negative you should test again in a day if you still feel unwell.

If you are sick make sure you get medical advice.

Some RATs will also tell you if you have influenza.

Influenza is another sickness like COVID.

It is also called the flu.

If you test positive for the flu you should stay home until you feel better.

Check out our podcast over the holidays.

Our podcast is called Visibility.

Visibility is a podcast for people with intellectual disability to share their stories.

Our current series is Life My Way.

This series is about making decisions.

Listen on our website at the link.

The holidays can be a wonderful time.

But it can be hard too.

Here are some phone numbers you can call if you need to talk to someone.

If you feel sad and need to talk call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Call Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 if you are a young person aged 5 to 25.

If you are a parent or carer of a young person aged under 18 you can talk to Parent Line on 1300 130 052.

Call the Griefline on 1300 920 552 if you feel grief.

Grief is when you feel sad because of a loss.

Call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 if a partner or family member is treating you badly.

Call QLife on 1800 184 527 if you or someone you care about is LGBTIQA+.

It is open from 3pm to midnight.

You can learn what the letters in LGBTIQA+ mean at the link.

Call Witness to War on 1800 845 198 if you are from a place where war is happening.

It is open from 10am to 7pm Sydney time.

Thank you for your support of CID in 2024.

We hope that everyone has a happy end of the year.

We are excited to be back in 2025.