Published 27th January 2022
MODA announced the keynote speakers of the online Ramping it Up! National Home Modifications Conference taking place February ‘22.
Keynote Speaker – Dr Ben Gauntlett, Disability Discrimination Commissioner
Dr Ben Gauntlett commenced his term as Disability Discrimination Commissioner on 7 May 2019. Ben’s term goals as Commissioner include increased access to meaningful employment opportunities for people with disability, increased access to accessible housing for people with disability, greater community awareness of disability rights and disability discrimination, and strengthened legal and policy frameworks to protect disability rights.
Ben will discuss the importance of universal design and how home modifications need to be available to people with disability across Australia, on an equitable basis, as one strategy to ensure that we increase appropriate housing options availability in all markets.
Ben will be our first keynote speaker on Day Two of the “Ramping it up!” Home Modifications Australia Conference, and will set the tone for a packed program where we will address the challenges that consumers face in obtaining the home modifications they need through the NDIS and in aged care.
Keynote Speaker – Paul Smith, Foundations UK
Paul Smith is the Director of Foundations, the national body for Home Improvement Agencies in England. He was the keynote at the first MOD.A Conference in Canberra in 2016, and returns in 2022 to provide an overview of how a properly resourced association can support the home modifications industry, and have a positive impact upon service quality and professional training.
Foundations UK was recently refunded by the UK Government for a period of 5 years, and will play an important role in implementing the proposed improvements to the longstanding Disabled Facilities Grant, as it becomes better integrated into the disability and aged care systems.
Paul is on a mission to improve how home adaptations are provided. Trained as a Building Surveyor, he has a unique 30 year background in building design, grant administration, policy development and commissioning. He will provoke our thinking and help us understand how we can support the industry as we navigate reforms in aged care and in the NDIS, when he delivers the final keynote speech to the conference on Day Two.
Other speakers include:
Richard Duncan, Executive Director of the RL Mace Universal Design Institute USA, who will provide an update on the state of home modifications in the USA and the growing interest from the health care system in the avoided health costs from improved home environments;
Don Fenn, President/CEO of Caregiver Omnimedia and Founder of Home Modification Canada who will present on the state of home modifications in the Canadian market, the National Ageing in Place/Home Modification Research Study and associated work that is being done to raise awareness of the benefits of home modifications.
Associate Professor Libby Callaway, Independent Living Stream Lead, Rehabilitation, Ageing and Independent Living Research Centre, Monash University, will speak on what consumers want and need from home modifications;
Liz Ainsworth, Proprietor at Home Design for Living in Queensland, and co-author of An Occupational Therapist’s Guide To Home Modification Practice (2nd Edition), who will focus on a range of issues, including practitioner training;
Emeritus Professor Catherine Bridge, founder and Director of the Home Modifications Information Clearinghouse at UNSW, who will talk about research and innovation in home modifications occurring in Australia and overseas.
Also, senior officials from the Australian Department of Health will talk and answer questions about the role of home modifications in aged care reform, and from the National Disability Insurance Agency, to look at how complex home modifications can be achieved within the complex framework of the NDIS.
Register for the Conference here
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