Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hidden away in Northmead in my electorate is one of our best kept secrets: an organisation known as TAD. It is a secret to just about everyone in the world but, to those who know TAD well, it is a lifesaver. TAD is the only charity in New South Wales which designs and builds custom equipment to enable people with disabilities to lead more independent lives. TAD quietly gets on with the job, but it does that job well enough to have been declared the winner of the Innovation in Independent Living Award at the NSW Disability Industry Innovation Awards 2012, just a couple of weeks ago.

TAD started back in 1975 when a small group of engineers, led by George Winston AM, decided to use their skills to profoundly change the lives of people with disabilities. Together they formed Technical Aid to the Disabled—TAD. Today, TAD Disability Services has 230 volunteers who design and custom build over 1,000 diverse items every year. In their 37-year history they have developed over 30,000 devices that have assisted people with disabilities from all age groups. None of it would have been possible without the TAD volunteers who come from a broad range of backgrounds and experience—from engineers to carpenters, from handymen to electricians—and they give their own time and skills, many in their own workshops, to make equipment for people with disabilities. The volunteers work with therapists to help solve problems and design equipment to enable people to live more independently. TAD assists in all aspects of everyday living, including with equipment to assist the development of young children, tools and services for education, work, recreation, daily living and personal care, and equipment to assist older people to remain mobile and independent.

I am speaking about TAD today because of a project that they have which is close to my heart. It is called TAD's Freedom Wheels and it provides bicycles to enable children with disabilities to ride bicycles for the first time. Many of these children cannot walk but they can ride, if there are people prepared to give their time and expertise to modify a bicycle especially for them—perhaps attach a new seat with a postural support for the back, hips or head and neck; fix foot cups on pedals; attach hand mitts for riders with poor upper limb and hand control and strength; and attach outriggers for stability. It is quite a job to modify one of these bikes, but they are done specifically for each child and they enable children to get some exercise and therapy that they might not otherwise get. Perhaps most importantly of all, they provide another way for a child to spend quality time with their family doing something that most of us take for granted as part of growing up—that is, going for a bike ride with their brother or sister or their mum and dad. It is good for the child and it is good for their families. Watching a child ride with their brothers and sisters or their mum and dad for the first time is a joy for the observer, but it is nowhere near as much joy as it is for the families. These bikes mean a great deal and TAD provides them to around 300 children each year.

This year, TAD Disability Services is a Gold Pedal Charity of the annual City of Sydney Spring Cycle. The Spring Cycle is in its 29th year and it will bring together over 10,000 people to fill the streets of Sydney with bicycles, including quite a number of the TAD kids. I encourage cyclists of all ages and abilities as they enjoy the day out on 21 October to ride for TAD's bikes for kids with disabilities to raise awareness and funds for these special bikes. I am riding for TAD on 21 October but I am not going to suggest that anyone sponsor me. I am going to suggest that people consider sponsoring a very special young man called Curtis. Curtis is five years old and he cannot walk independently, but it turns out that, thanks to a TAD Freedom Wheels bike, he can actually ride a bike, and on 21 October he is going to ride his TAD bike across the Harbour Bridge with his mum and dad, a very special day for a young man and a very special day for TAD. Quite frankly, I think we should all sponsor him. I think we should all go online to www.everydayhero.com.au/curtis_ride and sponsor this young man and support the work he is doing to provide assistance for the many other children who would love to be able to ride a bike and currently cannot.

For those of you out there who ride bikes, if you have forgotten just how good it feels to ride a bike, it is worth going to the TAD website and having a look at some of the YouTube videos of the TAD kids riding for the first time. The expression on their faces will remind you exactly how good it feels to ride a bike. I suggest we all sponsor Curtis and help a few more kids enjoy that feeling.