News and Events

Want to know what's been happening at Achieve Australia? Check out our News and Events below!

Latest News

2012 Calendars Now Available!

After a very successful photography project called 'The Good Life As I See It', we have created 2012 calendars containing beautiful images taken by our Day Program participants.

Desk and wall calendars are now available for $16 each plus postage and handling.

To order your copy, contact us today at events@achieveaustralia.org.au.

 

‘The Good Life As I See It’ Photography Exhibition

December 2011

To celebrate International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD), we hosted our first photography exhibition at Araluen.

Located in the Chapel, the exhibition featured photographs taken by Day Program participants through a recent project with students from University of Western Sydney. Each participant paired up with a student and every week throughout the semester they visited various locations to take photos of what they considered to be ‘The Good Life'.

 

Achieve Employment - Business of the Month

For Ryde Business Forum

August 2011

Visit the Website

 

Achieve Australia awarded third prize for the 2011 Workability International Photography Competition

27 May 2011

Recently announced at the Workability International AGM in the United States, the photo of John Paul Byrnes and Stefan Hiener at our Meadowbank factory (right) was awarded third prize out of 38 entries.

Congratulations to John Paul and Stefan and to our photographer Murray Harris for taking the award winning picture!

Each year Workability International requests a wide selection of good quality photos that demonstrate the important work undertaken by its member organisations. The images are judged according to the criteria that ‘every photo must tell a story’ and that the ‘image demonstrates people living with disability in socially valued roles’.

38 photos in total were received this year from organisations representing Asia, South America, USA, Australia, India & Nepal. The winners were announced at the Workability International Conference in Orlando, Florida and the winning entries will be printed in the Workability International Annual Review.

The entries were judged by Steve Lovegrove who has more than 30 years experience as a working professional photographer, including commercial and advertising work, photography teaching, and wedding and portrait photography.

The winning entries for 2011 are:

 

1st Place Ability One, USA

“This image stood out for its very dramatic graphic composition. The subject is nicely framed by the truck cabins tilted forward and the use of shallow depth of field has also isolated the subject well from his surroundings. It is also a technically strong image.”

2nd Place Chuk Yuen Integrated Work Centre, Hong Kong

“I liked this image very much for the sheer joy on the face of the subject. He is very clearly happy in his work and proud of the job he does. The background is simple and the subject stands out well.”

 

3rd Place Achieve Australia, Australia

“This image has all the same successful elements of the second place getter. A great moment has been well captured. Composition is good and the bright colours in the image complement the bright expression on the faces of the subjects.”

 

Highly Commended, Ability One, USA

“A very well composed photographed in a difficult factory environment. The stacks in the background frame and lead the eye to the subject. The out of focus elements in the foreground add an extra layer of depth to the photograph.”

 

Source: OAK Tasmania.

 

Recent Functions

Araluen Preview for Day Programs

6 May 2011

On 6 May, we had around 90 day program participants, family members and staff attend a preview of the newly purchased Araluen site.

Four sessions were held over the day and involved short talks from Business Development & Strategic Project Manager David Rafferty, new Operations Manager, Day Services Nathalie Neveu and Chief Operating Officer Lisa Rouse, followed by a tour of the site and sausage sizzle.

There was plenty of positive feedback, questions and suggestions, which we will take on board within the Day Programs Project Group.

Araluen has now become a construction site while renovations and modifications take place to improve accessibility.

 

Official Launch of Achieve Employment

13 April 2011

The Honourable John Alexander MP Member for Bennelong has officially opened our new Achieve Employment offices in Devlin Street, Ryde. Also attended by Artin Etmekdjian, Mayor City of Ryde, the official opening event was very enjoyable and we look forward to seeing great achievements from Achieve Employment in the near future.

 

Cocktail Function for Members

2 March 2011

A Cocktail Function was held for Members of Achieve Australia to inform them about the new developments to our Day Programs in 2011.

 

Corporate Luncheon

2 March 2011

A Corporate Luncheon was held to inform representatives from our local community about the exciting things in store for Achieve Australia this year and beyond.

 

Achieve Australia Volunteer Forum

24 February 2011

The Achieve Australia Volunteer Forum was facilitated by Julie McCrossin, a freelance journalist and facilitator with vast experience and understanding of community programs, disability services. She is also an active volunteer.

The panel consisted of Lynn Dalton, Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Volunteering, Claire Vernon, Chief Executive Officer Jewish Care and George Mavros, long serving Achieve Australia volunteer.

We received great feedback from the Forum and look forward to working with our volunteers over the upcoming months.

Events for People We Support

World's Greatest Shave

10 March 2011

Supported Employees at our Meadowbank Factory were very excited to get involved with the World's Greatest Shave.

During their lunchtime, they held a BBQ and were invited to have their hair sprayed with bright colours!

The team had a great time and raised $200 for The Cancer Council.