The abilityNEWS Daily
The Big Story
Sugar Drinks (image courtesy news-medical.net)
Research Definitively Links Sugar Consumption to Alzheimer’s Risk
Despite clear health and economic modelling showing a sugar-sweetened beverages tax (sugar levy) could raise revenue and help prevent dementia, Australian governments remain too nervous to act. Money comes before health.
We’ve just had Dementia Week and medical researchers have issued another urgent warning: sugar isn’t just fueling obesity and diabetes: it’s putting your brain at risk.
In a year’s time they’ll be issuing the same warning, and again we’ll have the same response from our politicians.
Silence.
There’s now no doubt higher consumption of sugar correlates with increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease and all-cause dementia. Women are particularly vulnerable. While causation isn’t proven, experts say sugar control offers a public health strategy for dementia prevention.
So why won’t Australia’s politicians embraced one of the clearest, budget-positive interventions at their fingertips: a sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) tax or levy?
Proposals exist. The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) costed a 20% tax which it said would generate about A$1.4 billion. The AMA, Cancer Council, Diabetes Australia, Grattan Institute, and others back a sugar tax.
So why not act?
Well, there’s inertia (which is a significant obstacle in itself). But the real key is the beverage industry hate it (business, a coalition constituency) and so do low-income households (a Labor constituency).
Is it desirable and urgent to act? Yes.
Except not for this government, or the next.
The Briefing
New MS diagnosis guidelines aim to deliver treatment earlier and improve care
by Multiple Sclerosis Australia
New guidelines for diagnosing multiple sclerosis aim to identify the disease earlier, allowing swifter treatment and care planning. The update reflects global best practice and seeks to minimise delays that often hinder patients from beginning appropriate therapies.
Join our Healthy Relationships Advisory Group
by People with Disability Australia
Expression of Interest: Help shape A new project focusing on the prevention of domestic, family, and sexual violence against people with disability. People with Disability Australia is developing a three-year initiative to prevent domestic, family and sexual violence against people with disability. They are seeking six diverse people with disability to join an advisory group guiding the project’s design, delivery and evaluation.
Help Shape the Future of the NDIS in WA – Expressions of Interest Now Open
by National Disability Services
WEST AUSTRALIANS are invited to join a new advisory council to support improvements to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Expressions of interest close 13 October, with members to represent a range of lived and professional experiences.
Building momentum for inclusive early support and systemic reform in NSW
by National Disability Services
IN NSW the Office of the Advocate for Children and Young People supports earlier health screening and inclusive services for children. Its review aligns with the National Disability Strategy’s push for stronger early intervention and foundational supports in education.
Strengthening worker screening across disability and child services
by National Disability Services
VICTORIA is overhauling its screening processes to ensure consistency and rigour across disability and child-related workforces. The reforms aim to strengthen safety measures and improve information sharing across human services sectors.
Psychosocial Safety Uplift within Disability Services
by National Disability Services
National Disability Services has secured WorkSafe VICTORIA funding to strengthen psychosocial wellbeing across the state’s disability services workforce. The initiative aims to improve organisational culture and mental health through better workplace support and prevention strategies.
Ensuring Medical Students understand the complex reality of Disability
by Down Syndrome Australia
A Down syndrome advocacy team delivered an interactive presentation to second-year medical students at Curtin University. The session promoted inclusive healthcare and increased awareness of supporting people with intellectual disability.
Training Medical Students about Down Syndrome
The Wrap
Why young women are beating young men in the job search – and earning more in the NDIS
by SMH
We already know Australian women are finishing university at higher rates than men. But research by e61 economist Matthew Maltman reveals the boost in women’s job prospects and wages are largely driven by reasons linked to the expansion of the care economy, including childcare, aged care, disability care and the NDIS.
Butler speaks to ABC Adelaide about new Asthma Handbook
by ABC Radio Adelaide
There is a significant change in this version of the handbook, particularly around the use of short-term puffers, also known as blue puffers, which the clinicians and experts who've been reviewing the handbook are finding are associated with some less than ideal symptoms and some real risks in the long term. It's important that people look at this, particularly doctors. If you've got a question about what this might mean for you as someone who lives with asthma or has a kid living with asthma, I urge you to have a talk with your GP.
Bid to boost $200k NDIS package rejected after AI use found
by AFR [paywall]
A NDIS participant’s bid for more taxpayer-funded support has failed in part because two physiotherapists used artificial intelligence to write letters used to back her claim to top up her $202,000 package. The Administrative Review Tribunal found the therapists’ evidence could not be rationally explained, including one report that claimed the applicant needed more support because she lived in a “rural” location when she actually lives in suburban Perth.
Empowering Abilities Together talks employment support
by Echo Newspaper
Empowering Abilities Together was founded by husband-and-wife duo Stacy and Helen Gray, growing from a local support coordination provider into a hands-on employment mentoring business focused on helping NDIS participants and young people develop real-world work skills. Grey, the director, said she was a former teacher with a background in special education who began the business to help fill gaps in post-school transition services for young people with disabilities.
DEMENTIA Calls for better care for First Nations people
by news.com.au
Dementia rates are five times higher for First Nations people, yet one family's struggle reveals how the healthcare system continues to fail Indigenous elders. Australia’s Interim First Nations Aged Care Commissioner Andrea Kelly said studies have consistently found that dementia is three to five times more prevalent with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than the non-Indigenous population, with a 57 per cent higher rate of mortality.
DEMENTIA Advertising executive diagnosed with Australia's most deadly disease at just 46
by A Current Affair
"He was just full of, full of life. He didn't just, you know, I've said this before. He didn't just embrace life. He ran at it," Vogue Managing Editor Louise Bryant said. But a decade ago, at the age of just 46, Moose's world shattered. He was diagnosed with early onset dementia.
Phillip Thompson and Senator Ann Ruston slam government over NDIS and aged care
by Townsville Bulletin
The politicians criticised the Federal Government on Thursday for what they described as “inadequate” NDIS packages, extensive waitlists for aged care packages — affecting over 110,000 Australians — and a lack of detailed support for vulnerable individuals. The Opposition has stated that it overall supports spending limits on the NDIS.
The Diary
