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World congress on disability for Melbourne

The Minister for Youth and Community Services, Dr Denis Napthine, has announced that the State Government is to contribute $100,000 towards the hosting of an international conference on intellectual disability.

The World Congress of Inclusion International is staged every four years in a different city around the world and is to be held at the Melbourne Convention Centre from 22 to 27 September, 2002.

Inclusion International speaks for 169 non-government disability organisations in 105 countries and supports policies to advance the rights and community participation of people with a disability.

In announcing the funding, Dr Napthine said that the Victorian Government contributes more per head of the population towards support for people with a severe or profound disability than any other State or Territory and spends a higher total than NSW, despite NSW’s larger population.

The National Council on Intellectual Disability (NCID) is to host the Congress, with the assistance of the Victorian Advocacy League for Individuals with Disability (VALID).

(News Release, Office of the Minister for Youth and Community Services, July 6, 1999)