We lost a valued colleague this week. Delia was a determined advocate for better services and supports for people with disability over many years.
Delia was instrumental in establishing the Nightlife mobile attendant care service in 2003 in Melbourne that provided flexible overnight support that enabled people to continue to live at home and be able to have greater choice over how they lived. At that time, it was one of very few services designed by people with disability and Delia was part of a group of people not wanting to be dictated to by service providers.
Nightlife went on to win a National Disability Award for Inclusive service design in 2016 and is still operating today.
In 2017, Delia found herself forced to live in aged care, something that was not in her plans. She transitioned to the NDIS and began another round of battles to maintain her support. Every year for the next 6 years her support was cut, then reinstated after Delia and her team successfully argued her case.
Delia always maintained her dignity and determination through these periods of conflict and uncertainty. She had a lifelong reputation as a rebel, and she made sure she made her own running in these battles as in other areas of her advocacy.
Living in aged care after such a self-determined life at home was a shock and Delia would talk about how vigilant she needed to be to maintain her identity as a person in aged care and to resist poor practice. Delia was very pleased when the Aged Care Royal Commission was announced, and was sure that her personal experience counted in bringing about the reforms the Commission recommended, particularly those affecting younger people living in aged care facilities. The attached video was her submission to the Royal Commission.
While she did move out of aged care for a brief period, the challenges of the second COVID lockdown in Melbourne meant that her hard won apartment life couldn’t be sustained.
Delia was active in the disability sector, and was a board member of Nightlife, Belonging Matters and the YPINH Alliance as well as having other community involvement.
Despite the impact of ill health in recent years, Delia continued to have a profound and positive impact on the people she mentored as support workers, advocates and providers.
Delia’s compassion for others and her fighting spirit will be sorely missed by all who knew her. Like all who have worked with Delia, we’ll miss her greatly.
