Events

SRV Gathering  27-28 March 2020 (Cancelled)

UPDATE: Sadly, the SRV Gathering will not be proceeding on 27-28 March. The Australian SRV Association and Values in Action held an urgent meeting this morning to discuss the wisdom of going ahead with The SRV Gathering. 
 
There has been much excitement around The Gathering, with 132registrations (plus others who’ve had to pull out for various reasons), 40 great speakers who have collaborated with ASRVA to develop a really good program and 16 room hosts. ASRVA and ViAA deeply value what people have brought to this event, and we commit to building on the momentum.  

We noticed though that we were fielding an increasing number of queries about whether The SRV Gathering was going ahead given the Covid19 pandemic. Participants and speakers were either withdrawing or seriously considering withdrawal. We noticed that some organisations have banned all travel by their staff. While we had originally hoped that our safeguards of providing hand sanitiser and encouraging individuals to act responsibly in their attendance, we are more mindful that a large number of participants would be in close proximity for two days and that the vast majority of us are connected to people who live with many vulnerabilities - not just health vulnerabilities but also those vulnerabilities that are increased if the people around them are ill. 
External advice strongly says to limit social gatherings. We are also mindful that it is impossible to accurately project where the level of infections will be in two weeks time, but it seems accurate to say that there will be more people who will be ill. The rate of passing on the virus seems to be increasing daily. Furthermore, we wondered about the extent to which participants might be distracted with worry about their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of loved-ones at home. 

With all those considerations, we are very sad to say that we have made the decision that The SRV Gathering will not go ahead on 27-28 March.

We will deliberate further about our next steps. We will keep you informed. For those of you who would like an immediate refund, please let us know. Others might like to wait and see what we decide about the future of The Gathering as we may be able to hold your fees over, that way you avoid having to find the money next time. 

We sympathise with those who will experience inconveniences as a result of this decision and hope that your arrangements can be altered as satisfactorily as possible.

We also thank you for your interest in The Gathering and hope to see you again soon. We will be in touch over the coming weeks with an update son our decision-making about the future of The Gathering.

*Please note this event has been postponed. 
We're very pleased to announce the first SRV Australia-wide conference.  It will be held in Brisbane 27-28 March, 2020.

Registrations are now open and you can find out more about how to register and rego costs and rates by reading both: 
The 2020 Australian SRV Gathering  Flier.  

Program Sessions for The 2020 Australian SRV Gathering

• The SRV radar: understanding devaluation and its impacts
  The ASRVA research showed that understanding social devaluation and its impacts was vital for good SRV application. This session sets the scene for the rest of the conference by grounding people in the experiences of people with a devalued status
• SRV ideas in practice
  This session is about listening for the SRV ideas in practice in stories told by experienced users of SRV.
• Tools from SRV
  SRV is more than a set of ideas. The SRV framework is full of practical strategies. This session showcases some of them.
• Engagement through a Community of Practice
  One of the strengths of The Gathering is the coming together of people who are using SRV. It is the beginning of people sharing
  approaches and ideas. Strengthening a community of practice is a way of building on this.
• The Community of Practice: keeping SRV vital.
  This session is a chance for participants to work on key issues facing the use of SRV: such as leadership, good mentoring, developing resources, and developing local networks.
• Using SRV in complex contexts
  Sometimes SRV is mistakenly thought of only being useful in inclusive contexts or with people with mild impairments. This session showcases SRV used with people in challenging contexts.
• Sticking at it: using SRV over time
  This session is about sustaining and enduring the journey to SRV benefits and outcomes, including in hostile or complex environments.

Speakers who will be presenting at the Gathering

• Neil Barringham, well regarded for his work with people with significant mental health issues
• Lisa Bridle who brings long experience in disability advocacy and family support
• Rhiannon Brodie brings her deep commitment to SRV teaching and implementation from seeing significant positive impacts from an SRV framework. She has significant personal family experience and professional experiences in working with others in both the advocacy arena and in the NDIA.
• Fiona Cameron-McGill whose training and consulting has been in the area of behaviour support as agencies and families struggle to implement successful methods to resolve difficult behavioural issues.
• Fiona Campbell, who has found that SRV has been a life shaping tool in her work and personal life and underpins her thought processes when considering advocacy action and how to support others.
• Yvonne Donnan found SRV to be a profoundly life changing experience in 1994, informing her practice in working and standing alongside people with disabilities and family members since then. She has been engaged in a diverse range of senior leadership and management roles delivering support services in community and institutional based settings and in her personal relationships.
• Graham Hambleton who is the General Manager of Disability Services, UnitingCare Queensland and who has led significant service transformation efforts, informed by SRV
• Jan Kruger who is the Executive Director of Imagine More, a Canberra based family led organisation guided by SRV principles, as well as having personal experience in using SRV
• Glenys Mann has extensive experience in using SRV in a school context. She is currently a lecturer in the School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Her doctoral thesis used SRV as a framework for understanding parents’ decision to transfer their children from regular to special schools.
• Kane Morgan has held a variety of roles serving young people, people with disabilities and older people. He is passionate about SRV and its potential to transform people’s lives and communities, and will speak on using SRV in a congregated environment.
• Jodie Roberts who has over thirty years experience in working with people living with dementia
• Neva Vaidyanathan will speak on the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers, based on her experience as a lawyer with the Refugee and Immigration Legal Service. She was first introduced to SRV when working at Queensland Advocacy Incorporated.
• Bridget Wickert's deep desire to work with people with disability to achieve their goals comes from a strong sense of social justice, commitment to inclusive practice and a belief in seeing difference as uniqueness. She brings experience in a range of contexts with people with disabilities, including community and educational settings.

 
More Speakers to be added shortly.


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