The
Able Movement Vision:
The full and equal participation of individuals with disability –
in the community, in education, and in the economy.
Are you ready, willing and able to be part of the most exciting social reform, possibly in Australia’s history? Are you ready to lead the world and show just how able Australians really are?
Did you know …
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Third World figures in a First World country.
But did you also know that people with disability are as capable of contributing to our community and participating in all aspects of our society as anyone else? That there are people with all types of disability, including those with the most
severe disabilities imaginable, who are today living lives that are just busy, productive and fulfilling as everyone else? Who are living at home independently, going to school, to TAFE and university? And who are working in full-time jobs in a full range
of roles, and are paying substantial taxes as a result?
The National Disability Insurance Scheme offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to unlock the amazing untapped potential of people with disability in our nation. It will offer people with disability the support they need to get prepared to go out into the
world, to get an education, to get a job.
But it’s only half the story.
Unless we all truly believe that people with disability are just as capable of contributing to our society as anyone else, and unless we work together to welcome people with disability into our communities, we run the risk that the NDIS will prepare people
with disability to enter the world, but the world won’t be ready to welcome them! “All dressed up and nowhere to go”.
A new social movement to drive real change
The Able Movement will raise the bar on our belief in the capacity of people with disability.
We are a new social movement built on an aspirational view of the untapped potential of people with disability. We will tell real stories of real people with disability who are, today, getting on with their lives. We will facilitate discussions in local communities
about the things that can be done – to welcome people with disability as valued and active members of our community. We will mobilise communities – your communities – to drive real change on the ground.
In the long term we will invest in thought leadership and research, looking for clever ideas about new approaches to disability reform from across the community. We will explore, facilitate and incubate technology developments and other innovations to enable
people with disability participate in our society.
That's our vision. With tremendous pro bono support from The Boston Consulting Group we have a great business plan to achieve it. And our amazing pro bono creative team from OddfellowsDentsu Advertising has created an exciting campaign that truly raises the
bar.
About us
So who are “we”, and why are we so passionate about this?
We are an eclectic group of people with a very broad range of experience. Some of us live with disability and some of us don't. We have people with a very broad range of skills – creative people, strategists, people who know about social change, and others
who know about human development. Some of us are young and some … well, not so young!
One thing more than any other draws us together. We believe that people with disability are far more capable of being part of our community and contributing to building a better world than most people imagine, and we think it's time to show the world just how
true that is.
We hope you will join us on this exciting journey.
Here’s how you can help
Are you ready, willing and able?
If we have 2000 supporters giving $25 each, we'll reach our ultimate goal of $50,000! And we know there are far more than 2000 Aussies who care so much about doing better for people with disability.
A $50 donation will get you are spot on The Able Movement Supporters Wall!
At $100, we'll hand write you a thank you card! Some people get more gratitude from thanks than from things, and we want you to know how grateful we are for you supporting us!
With a $250 donation we will invite you to attend a webinar with the founders of the able movement to share your ideas for how to build the Movement. We'll take the ideas that come from the discussion and include them in our campaign strategy. This is a
chance to really shape the evolution of The Able Movement!
At $500, will invite you to come to our Able Movement launch in Sydney later this year to meet our wonderful team and your fellow Able Activists, and celebrate the beginning of this great movement.
$1000 will make you a founding donor! We'll make you a small plaque to commemorate your contribution to put on your wall or desk. Of course we'll also invite you to our launch!
Tell your friends
And don’t stop there! Tell your friends that you’re an Able Activist and that you’ve made a donation. Use Facebook, Twitter – you know the drill! Ask them to be part of the journey and to make a donation.
The Able Movement will be a household name before we know it! Join us on this exciting journey and help show the world that Australians really are ready, willing and able to make Australia the Lucky Country for every one of us.
Introducing our team
Over the next few weeks we'll introduce you to the ever expanding team of Able Activists who have been working feverishly to bring The Able Movement to life. There are over 30 of us now, so it will take a while! Let's start with the six people who came together
early last year to Raise the Bar on Australia's belief in people with disability.
Our Founder, Mark Bagshaw, admits to being in his late 50s. He can tell you the rest:
“I was 16 when a spur of the moment decision to dive into shallow water at Avoca on the NSW Central Coast
resulted in a spinal cord injury (quadriplegia) and the start of a life quite different to the life I had led until then. I use a wheelchair for mobility and need help to get in and out of bed every day. A different life, yes, but a lesser life? – no way!
I spent 12 months in the Spinal Unit at Royal North Shore Hospital, and returned home to my wonderful family – Mum, Dad and my beautiful sister, Jane – in Narwee (south west Sydney). I completed my HSC at Newington College, then a Bachelor of Arts at Sydney
University majoring in Economics and Psychology. I also met and married my first wife In our last year at uni. On graduating I saw an ad for marketing trainees at IBM. There began a 28 year career with this amazing company in roles including technical, marketing,
management, business development and executive management. My work took me all around the world – I was hardly ever home! It was also where I met, Bev, who as my PA and now my wife is my rock. I have also been involved in a broad range of community development
activities, particularly in education and disability reform. I left IBM 2007 to focus full-time on social reform. I want all people with disability to have the opportunities I have had.”
Karen Marshman believes in people, and she has spent her life helping people realise their
full potential. She was in her mid-20s when she became CEO of Youth Opportunities, an Adelaide-based organisation that helps young people through troubling times in their mid-teens by teaching them life skills. “I saw first-hand how powerful it was for these
young people to have someone who connected with them meaningfully, believed in them, and helped them develop the skills they needed to sort out their often challenging lives. During that time I met fellow Able Activist, Craig Harrison, who was running an amazing
disability employment service for people with intellectual disability. We joined forces and proved that the same belief in the capacity of Craig’s clients, and building their capacity by teaching life skills, also transformed their lives and significantly
improved their chances of getting a job. I’m excited about the vision of The Able Movement, and I know that we can unlock the potential of every Australian with disability if we all work together.”
Craig Harrison has been at the forefront of disability open employment for 20 years. “I
have spent most of my working life helping people with disability find and maintain good jobs in open employment. It’s a simple formula: a skilled and motivated person with disability, an employer who is willing to give a person a go, a job that needs to be
done. I see this working every day, and I see the benefits to employees, employers and the community. It works. But it’s not working for anywhere near enough people with disability. The Able Movement aims to change that, and Australia will go from being a
poor performer in disability employment worldwide to the leader. And when that happens, we’ll all be better off!”
Martin Stewart-Weeks has amazing skills. He’s worked in government, he’s worked in
the private sector. He is a thinker, and a strategist. He’s been at the forefront of social innovation in Australia and around the world. “I have seen a lot of opportunities in business and the community over the years, but the opportunity we now have to close
the participation gap for people with disability is the most exciting opportunity I’ve ever been involved in. The Able Movement is a new way of thinking. It’s about communities working together. It’s about challenging our fundamental beliefs in the capacity
of people with disability. It’s exciting, it’s challenging, but it is so very achievable. I’m glad I’m part of it.”
Miguel Carrasco is a Partner at the Boston Consulting Group, and he leads the BCG team
in Canberra. “I am excited and proud to be an Able Activist, and I am also proud that BCG is a founding partner of The Able Movement. At BCG we believe that supporting our fellow citizens who face social disadvantage is something we all need to be part of.
We are proud of our ongoing support for Noel Pearson and the Cape York Institute as they work to improve opportunities for indigenous Australians. And now we are proud to support The Able Movement as we work to include people with disability in our society.”
Ray Heckendorf is the Founder of Oddfellows Advertising. You might have seen some of the
ads they have made for Toyota and their other clients over the years. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to be part of The Able Movement, and how excited all of the team at OddfellowsDentsu are to be contributing their skills and talents to bring real stories
of real people with disability leading full and rewarding lives to all people in Australia. You can see our work in the video, and I hope you can feel the excitement and passion that every one of the Oddfellows team felt as they created this snippet of the
stories we will be sharing through The Able Movement. We are without any doubt, Able Activists to the core!”
