Feros Talks

Lonely people have a 25% increased risk of death - the equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes or having six alcoholic drinks per day. So with one in four Australians identifying as lonely, what can we do to lead the change towards a more connected future? The Virtual Social Centre allows you to meet people online, stay connected, and have new experiences, all from the comfort of your home. You can find resources and information to support your journey on feroscare.com.au/podcast

In the past year, we’ve seen a rise in suicide across Australia. However - outside of R U OK Day and World Suicide Prevention Day – very few people are having meaningful conversations about suicide and mental health. Here's why the conversation needs to change. Beyond Blue is 24/7 support for anxiety and depression, with free online support to talk to a counsellor. Lifeline provides all Australians experiencing a personal crisis with access to crisis support and suicide prevention. If you or someone you know is struggling mentally contact Lifeline on 131114

Since 2008, statistics for volunteering in Australia have been steadily decreasing. Aussies simply have less time for recreation, less time for leisure, and certainly less time for social and community interaction. So, considering the benefits to wider society - what can we do to change those stats? Interested in volunteering? Visit feroscare.com.au/volunteer to be matched with the perfect visitor. You can find resources and information to support your journey on feroscare.com.au/podcast

Mark Payne doesn't just live one-handed. He thrives one-handed. From doing a marathon in a wheelchair to kickboxing and writing a cookbook for one-handed people, Mark’s here to tell us what it's like to get around in a society that isn't really set up for you – and how you can still make the most of it. It doesn’t matter what your ability is, or what kind of barriers you’ve previously come up against. We’re here to work with you. You can find resources and information from the experts to support your journey on feroscare.com.au/podcast

As a nation, Australia has the highest proportion of older people living in institutional care. Only 20% of Australians live in a multi-generational household, and many of those are adults who haven't yet moved out of home. So why don't Aussies want to share a home with their elderly parents? Find out how to support your own elderly parents to stay in their own home, or live with you in your home. You can find resources and information from the experts to support your journey on feroscare.com.au/podcast

Intersectionality. If you haven’t heard of it – it’s what happens when various aspects of a person’s identity can expose them to multiple forms of discrimination. And while the solutions aren't simple, having conversations about intersectionality is an important step in the right direction. Find out more about our community projects and the co-design principles going a long way. You can find more information on all of our co-design projects on feroscare.com.au/podcast

Despite an increasing awareness in society among how various disabilities present, and how they impact people, invisible disability is still misunderstood. So why is that – and what can we do to change it? We’ve engaged neurodivergent advocate and author Yenn Purkis to deliver this course, designed to support you to harness your strengths and validate your lived experience. It provides you with practical steps you can take to manage your environments sharing and expressing your authentic self. You can find resources and information from the experts to support your journey on feroscare.com.au/podcast

Is life just about luck, or is it about hard work too? What happy memories do people carry most with them? And what do they wish they did differently? We go into our community and interview those who have worked directly with the elderly for the longest periods of time. Check out some of the wonderful projects highlighting people's stories from every walk of life. You can find more information on all of our Grow Bold projects on feroscare.com.au/podcast

If you're a carer, you're more than likely feeling some level of burn-out. But although there's some respite available, it's not always enough. Here are real life stories from carers who have shifted their life to the side to allow for their loved ones, and how they're managing to avoid burnout territory. Resources and information from the experts to support your journey as a carer on feroscare.com.au/podcast

Part two of real-life stories on what it's like to be a full-time carer - plus a clinical perspective on what carers can do to seek more support. Resources and information from the experts to support your journey as a carer on feroscare.com.au/podcast

In this episode we meet Nat Bartsch, and award winning musician and composer and neurodivergent parent. She talks about meeting her husband, Jeremy who is also a musician and neuro-divergent and their experience of becoming preganant, then parents to their now four-year old son.

In this episode we meet Renay Barker-Mullholland, a proud Birpi / Daingatti yinarr (woman) and leader in her community - or as she refers to herself 'Queen of the Outcasts'.

Today’s episode of Grow Bold with Disability is the second instalment of our Q&A Podcast Panel. In this episode we debunk the statement that people with autism don't have social skills.

In this episode we talk with Charles Brice about the accident that caused him to change his career from a commercial airline pilot to journalism, and what it was like to enter this competitive field as a person with disability.

Jo Lynam, Karene Gravener and Erica Hahn join Pete to share their wisdom, ideas and experiences caring for, living with and employing people with disability in a robust discussion around the value of people with disability as employees.

In this episode, we meet Chloe Hayden - speaker, actor, performer, author, influencer, content creator, and disability rights activist and advocate. Chloe was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD at the age of 13 and has created a platform where she advocates and educates about the conditions. She talks with Pete and Tristram about her experience and what can be done to create a welcoming world for neurodiverse people.

Growing Bold and Carers

Today's episode of Grow Bold with Disability is Growing Bold living with Tourette Syndrome. Our guests are the president of Tourette's Syndrome Association of Australia and mother of three kids with Tourette’s, Mandy Maisy and her eldest son, and Tourette’s Awareness Ambassador, Connor. In this episode, we'll find out just what is Tourette Syndrome, how it affects those with it and what we as a society can do to help understand those with Tourette's. And there is a language warning on this episode. There is a fair bit of swearing.

In this episode, we talk with Tim Daly and find out how he came across ‘This is My Brave’ Australia. We also learn why Tim is passionate about breaking the stigma of mental illness and what how sharing stories can be a catalyst for positive change.

This episode of Grow Bold with Disability is growing bold and dealing with bullying and exclusion. And our guest is Yarraka Bayles, an indigenous woman who last year posted a heart-breaking video of her 9-year-old son Quaden who lives with achondroplasia saying he wanted to take his own life after being bullied.

This episode of Grow Bold with Disability is growing bold as an amputee. And our guest is meningococcal survivor Mike Rolls. In this episode, we'll discover just how Mike contracted meningococcal, how he survived and how he came out the other side with a whole new perspective on life.

This episode of Grow Bold with Disability is ‘Growing Bold with a Love of Music’ and our guest is Australian singer songwriter Rachael Leahcar. Rachael came third in the very first season of The Voice Australia, has release three Top 10 ARIA charting albums and is also legally blind. In this episode we find out how Rachael discovered her love of music, the struggles she had to overcome as a blind person in a seeing world and how she made it to the top of her game.

As the Founder and Principal Lawyer of Equality Lawyers, Natalie is a leader in providing premium legal advice and representation to people with disabilities and their families. In 2016, Natalie was awarded Australian Young Lawyer of the Year and South Australian Young Lawyer of the Year in recognition of her work on law reform projects that advanced the rights of people with disabilities and commitment to diversity in the legal profession. Today we talk about her love of the law, accessible education and how we can all play a part in creating more inclusive communities.

Our guest is Lisa Cox, an award winning media professional, author, public speaker and amputee. We talk with Lisa to find out how she lost her leg, her toes and her fingertips. How society started treating her differently and what living with a disability meant for her relationships and her career.

In this episode of Grow Bold with Disability we talk about pain management and our guest is Australian comedian, podcaster, writer, and television presenter Wil Anderson. Wil talks about about how he manages his chronic pain holistically, the role medical marijuana plays in his pain management plan and his goal of building a better, more inclusive future.

This episode of Grow Bold with Disability is Growing Bold and Autism Spectrum Disorder, otherwise known as ASD. Our guest is 19 year old Chelseann Osborne, who last year represented Australia in sailing at the Special Olympics World Games, where she won the gold medal. And her dad, Pete Osborne, also joins us. He also appears alongside Chelseann in Feros Care’s Season Two in the Fearless Films series.

This episode of Grow Bold with Disability is Growing Bold in the face of adversity and having the courage to face your fears. Our guest is Queensland’s first quadriplegic doctor, Doctor Dinesh Palipana (OAM). Dr Dinesh Palipana, is founder of Doctors with Disabilities Australia and has been named as Queensland’s 2021 Australian of Year. In this episode we will discover just how Dinesh became a quadriplegic, the effect it had on his family, why he fled back to his native country Sri Lanka, and what drove him to come back and finish his medical degree and become a doctor.

In this episode we discover how Bus Stop Films came about and what changes it made to the lives of people living with disability by helping them live their best life in the entertainment industry.

In this episode, our guest is Aussie swimming legend, world record holder and Olympic gold medal winner Cate Campbell. Cate’s brother Hamish has severe cerebral palsy and requires around the clock care. We speak to Cate about what it's like growing up with a sibling who has a disability. And we find out what influence Hamish has had on Cate's career.

Patrice O Brien from Beyond Blue and Paralympian Danni Di Torro talk with Pete and Tristram about mental wellbeing, how and when to ask for help and exploring being OK with making mistakes.

Andrew Gurza is a disability awareness consultant and crippled content creator and has cerebral palsy. In his work, he seeks to explore how the lived experience of disability feels, as it interplays with intersectional communities. In this episode, we'll discover what it's like to be, as Andrew calls himself, a queer cripple and how he's attempting to change our homo normative and beautiful body culture.

In this episode, Isabel Osuna-Gatty talks about culturally and linguistically diverse communities, how they view disability and how their approach to community is so different.

Jessie Sadler founded the Christina Stephens adaptive clothing label after her mum had a fall some years back and damaged her elbows. After researching the fashion available in the market for style conscious women with short or long-term physical challenges, she realised there was a social and business opportunity in front of her. Jessie wants to give women living with disabilities a choice. She wants to bring inclusive and adaptive clothing to the mainstream. You can listen to her story as she talks to Pete and Tristram about her fashion label and her plans for the future in the adaptive clothing industry.

Nastasia Campanella, who has been blind since she was 6 months old, is a successful journalist and broadcaster whose voice you may recognise from Triple J for the last 7 years. Nas talks about some of the obstacles she faced throughout her career and how she came to be a Disability Affairs reporter for the ABC.

Growing Bold and Technology

In this episode we’ll attempt to get to the bottom of why Aboriginal people experience disability at a greater rate than non-indigenous Australians and what could be done to help Australia’s first people with disability.

“I just was sad. I was sad for my girls having to suffer.” Find out exactly how best friends Kate and Mandy of Too Peas in a Podcast came to host a hugely successful podcast and why people love to listen to them. In this episode we’ll hear how these two mothers from Victoria came together to find a voice in the silent world of parenting multiples with disabilities and additional needs. And in doing so they have started their very own revolution. Kate Jones and Mandy Hose are hosts of the hugely successful Too Peas in a Podcast and very little is off limits as these two women chat in a raw and honest way sharing their truths with their audience, outside of the twin world, outside of the disability world, outside of additional needs.

"Tris accidentally drives over the guy's ankle." Co-host Tristram Peters and his carer Dan talk with Pete about the Carer Relationship and share some of their funniest stories.

" A little Tweet changed everything for you.." Adam Hills is an Australian comedian, radio and TV presenter and was born without a right foot. He wears a prothesis and is a huge supporter of the South Sydney Rabbitohs. In this episode Pete and Tristram talk to Adam about "that Tweet", his Physical Disability Rugby League team, his new documentary "The Last Leg" and his dream to one day play for his beloved Rabbitohs.

"There was a turning point in my life where I thought that, you know, there is no room for this kind of people. There is no room for hate. There is no room for discrimination. And I decided that I turned my back again to the past and face the past and basically work as hard as possible to fight for people, dignity and tolerance and acceptance." Professor Munjed Al Muderis talks about his escape from the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq and how he has gone on to become a game changer in the world of orthopaedic medicine with his Osseointegration surgery - a completely revolutionary technique or technology that integrates the body with a robotic arm or leg.

"If you can't walk, obviously you're not sexual." Jodi Rogers is a Sexologist, Counsellor, Special Education teacher and Relationship Expert on "Love on the Spectrum". In this episode Jodi talks about the attitudes and values that come with people who surround people with a disability and the barriers they can create. She also talks about the struggles that people with disabilities face when it comes to sexuality, education and stereotypes.

Tim Ferguson was 19 when the first symptoms of MS starting presenting themselves. "My eyes went crossed and I looked a bit like Barbara Streisand, except good looking." Tim is one of Australia’s most accomplished comedians and in this episode talks with Pete and Tristram about MS, some of the challenges he faces, how comedy helps change attitudes to disability and how life is for living.

"I kind of fell into it." The conversations which led Northcott's Sexuality and relationship Education coordinator Alicia Melita ontot he path of helping people with disability achieve sexual satisifcation. Alicia supports people with a disability engage in sexual activities of their choosing. In this episode Pete, Tristram and Alicia discuss sex, dating and some of the hurdles facing people living with a disability when it comes to their sexuality. Alicia talks about the stigmas and barriers around a topic that has been seen as taboo for people with a disability. She is passionate about people having equal rights including the right to enjoy sexual relationships.

"I'm just like, what the hell?" How a letter delivering a shock diagnosis for son, Lucas, rocked the world of former Big Brother favourite Reggie Bird. Reggie is mother to Mia and Luca. Lucas has Cystic Fibrosis. Reggie is also losing her vision. In this episode Pete and Tristram talk to Reggie about being a single mum, the financial cost of treatments for her son, her experience looking for work, what life has been like raising a child with Cystic Fibrosis and how she likes to live in the moment and make the most of life.

"Why can't I be a social worker or a lawyer or a journo just because I'm missing some muscles." Karni Liddell is a paralympian, disability and diversity specialist, clinical social worker, and a member of the Queensland Premier's Domestic and Family Violence Implementation Council. In this episode Karni talks with Pete and Tristram about the disturbing statics facing the disability community when it comes to domestic and family violence and what needs to be done to solve this issue. She also talks about her frustrations with people with a disability being recognised as good at sport yet when it comes to employment there is a completely different attitude.

"He wasn't hitting the regular milestones." Chloe Maxwell started her charity 4 ASD Kids to help other parents who had children with Autism access the same resources she did with her son Max. In this episode Pete and Tristram talk with Chloe about Max who has autism, his aspirations for the future and how sporting venues are becoming more inclusive for children like Max.

"In ten years, mate, I'll be walking." A cycling accident left Angus a C4 quadriplegic back in 2013. In this episode Angus talks to Pete and Tristram about alternative therapies, neuroscience and the use of Virtual Reality in his quest to walk one day.

"Medical professionals were quick to question my ability to parent." Eliza Hull is a mother with a physical disability. She is also a singer, songwriter and producer. In this episode Eliza talks about becoming a parent for the first time and the discrimination and ableist behaviour around parents with disabilities.

"I had to keep that really secret." Carly Findlay is a blogger, writer, speaker and appearance activist who lives with a skin condition called Ichthyosis. In this episode you’ll discover what it’s like growing up looking different, what some of her biggest challenges are as a result of her condition and about her amazing project" Growing Up Disabled in Australia".

"You know, it is just life changing stuff." Perry Cross raises funds for medical research to find a cure for paralysis caused by spinal injuries. Now with his good mate Tom Ray they have started a new life changing initiative. In this episode Pete and Tristram talk with Perry and Tom Ray about determination, passion and plans for the future.