Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To mark Down Syndrome Awareness Week, I want to talk about what is going on in my electorate of Page. We are lucky to have such an active, artistic community and a wonderful service organisation called RED Inc., which stands for ‘realise every dream’. Their aim is to support young people with disabilities to achieve their goals, realise their dreams and maximise their potential. In July this year RED Inc. staged a musical production called Showboat of Dreams. About 40 people performed in this vibrant musical production. A crowd of 500 packed the Lismore City Hall and the production received rave reviews. This month RED Inc. staged its second annual art exhibition at Lismore’s Serpentine Gallery, called Any Medium Goes. Working in portraiture, landscape, abstraction, printmaking, ceramics and multimedia, these young artists have expressed all facets of life: passions and dreams, love of community and hope for the planet and its future.

I am proud to be part of a community that celebrates abilities in people with Down syndrome and other disabilities, but it is not all singing and dancing and good news for people with Down syndrome and their families in Page. As in many regional areas, there are gaps in the services available and often a lack of social support. Young mothers with new babies with Down syndrome can face the daunting task of trying to understand the special health needs of their child without the advantage of some of the support groups in the cities. A child with Down syndrome may have major health problems as well. This can mean travelling to a city hospital. (Time expired)