End Deadly Disability Discrimination in our health services now!

25 January 2018

Council for Intellectual Disability (CID) is seeking a commitment from the NSW Government to establish a statewide network of specialist intellectual disability health teams.

Last year we launched our Deadly Disability Discrimination campaign after a landmark study from the University of NSW which showed that:

  • 38 percent of deaths of people with intellectual disability are avoidable.
  • People with intellectual disability die 27 years earlier than the general population.
  • 76 percent of people with intellectual disability die before they are 65 years of age.

This study is stark evidence that people with intellectual disability are very poorly serviced by the health system. Too many people with intellectual disability are dying from preventable illnesses because the NSW Government is not making the necessary investment in the health of people with intellectual disability.

More than 10,000 of our supporters have signed our petition to end this discrimination.

Since the launch of the campaign we have been working closely with NSW Health to address the issue.

Now, we are calling on Health Minister Brad Hazzard to commit to taking real and urgent action.

We have sought a commitment from the NSW Government to establish a statewide network of specialist intellectual disability health teams over four years, starting with an investment of $9.5 million in the 2018 budget and increasing to $17 million per year by year four.

The more State Members of Parliament MPs who are made aware of this issue, and the more pressure they put on the government, the stronger our case will be.

Find out more about our End Deadly Disability Discrimination campaign.

Share online: