The Brain Injury Association of New South Wales is the only statewide organisation in NSW dedicated to serving all persons affected by acquired brain injury—those with acquired brain injuries, family members, friends, professionals, and the broader community.
Latest News & Events
Happy New Year
The staff and board of the BIA NSW would like to thank all members, friends and associates for their support in 2009 and look forward to continuing our relationship with you in 2010.
Paralympics in 2012 - support wanted
One of our members, Stephen Bastick, is working hard towards competing at the 2012 Paralympic Games in the UK. Members may remember that Steve successfully completed a Brain Injury Awareness charity ride in September 2007, raising funds for BIA NSW. Steve is now seeking emotional, physical and financial support to be able to achieve this goal. More...
BIA NSW Board
The Association has an elected Board of nine members and at the 2009 AGM, three Board positions (Secretary, and two Ordinary positions) were declared vacant. Seven nominations were received for the two Ordinary positions and the subsequent election resulted in Dr Ian Baguley and Ms Sylvia Miles being elected to the Board. More...
Sincere thanks to outgoing long term board members Nick Rushworth, Raad Richards and Dr Kath McCarthy for their dedication to the Board of the Association.
Call for Contributions
The Council to Homeless Persons is currently calling for contributions on the topic of Acquired Brain Injury and Homelessness, to be included in the February 2010 edition of Parity (the leading journal in Australia regarding homelessness issues). Although it is difficult to know the exact numbers of people living with an ABI who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, studies cited by Brain Injury Australia point to there being a significant proportion of the homeless population living with an ABI and likewise, a significant number living with a ABI who are at risk of homelessness.
All contributions are welcome and need to be submitted by Friday, 19th February, 2010.
Training workshops in acquired brain injury and challenging behaviour are currently being organised for 2010. Details for workshops in the metropolitan area as well as Bathurst, Griffith, Lismore, Tamworth and Coffs Harbour will be advertised as they are confirmed.
Brain Injury Awareness Week 2009
Brain Injury Awareness Week 2009 focussed on Children, Young People and Acquired Brain Injury.
In Australia, there are almost 25,000 children aged 0-14 and 55,000 young people aged 15-24 with a brain injury, and over 10,000 more acquire a brain injury every year – from car or bike accidents, falls, infections and illness, or child abuse.
A brain injury can mean a life changed forever: there can be dramatic personality changes, chronic health problems, or serious physical and cognitive disabilities. A brain injury can make it difficult to make friends, learn new things, or solve problems. And many people with a brain injury need help with everyday living for the rest of their lives. More...
SHUT OUT: The experience of people with disabilities and their families in Australia: Report
At the end of 2008, people with disabilities and their families were invited to provide their experiences and input into a national consultation process to develop a National Disability Strategy. Those experiences have now been compiled into a Report. More...
BIA NSW CarerLink Peer Mentoring Program
BIA NSW CarerLink Peer Mentoring Program is up and running partnering Carers who have gone through similar experiences. CarerLink facilitates support for people who have become carers of someone who has sustained an ABI, through a peer mentoring model, allowing people to share their experience with someone who is a ‘veteran’ to the caring role having experienced a similar challenge. This program provides a complement to other services and programs available for people with ABI and their families, to be accessed as part of their re-engagement with the community.
Please open this link for further information and for answers to frequently asked questions. More...
Policy Paper on falls-related Traumatic Brain Injury
Falls are now both the leading cause of TBI in Australia (responsible for 42% of hospitalisations in 2004/2005) and the leading cause of injury hospitalisations overall (accounting for 1 in every 3 - or 126,800 - injury admissions in 2003/2004). Executive Officer of Brain Injury Australia, Nick Rushworth, would greatly appreciate your feedback on the Paper's contents, or to hear of your experience of falls-related TBI. Nick can be contacted at ..
Current Research
The BIA NSW Summer 2008 Newsletter highlighted two areas of research within the brain injury sector .
To view the full research articles, The Other Side of the Coin: Training Communication Partners to Improve Communication for people with TBI and Walk Thru Walls: Drama Therapy for People with Acquired Brain Injury click here.
Research Project - Social Skills after Acquired Brain Injury
Researchers at University of NSW are looking for individuals with an acquired brain injury to be participants in a social skills research project. More...
For more News & Events, check our Media and What's On page.
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