Spinal Cord Injuries Australia

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Spinal Cord Injuries Australia (SCIA) provides services to people with spinal cord injury (paraplegia, quadriplegia) and similar conditions.

SCIA was established in 1967 as the Australian Quadriplegic Association (AQA) by a group of patients in Prince Henry Hospital in Sydney, Australia. They were unable to leave hospital because there was no accommodation or services to support them in the community. AQA was renamed in 2003.

The founding members were Trevor Annetts, Tom Clarke, Graeme Dunne, David Fox, Peter Harris, George Mamo, Jim McGrath, Robert McKenzie, Alan Moore, John Munday, Cecil Murr, Brian Shirt, Paul Sorgo, Stan Wanless, and Warren Mowbray. David Fox was the first president. They were encouraged to set up an organisation by social worker Gary Garrison, supported by Dr George Burniston.

They were successful in securing accommodation at Bon Accord Nursing Home in Coogee and later established Ashton House in Maroubra. AQA developed a number of other supported group accommodation residences and transitional accommodation services.

AQA advocated independent living services that would support people with high level care needs in their own homes, such as public housing, personal care, housekeeping, equipment supply and income support. Over time these were introduced by federal and state governments. AQA also advocated for people with disabilities to have employment opportunities.

Services provided by SCIA today are information, advocacy, accommodation, employment, peer support, New South Wales regional offices. It publishes Accord magazine (first published in 1977 as Quad Centre; name changed to Quad Wrangle in 1979; Accord in 2003). SCIA has injury prevention and awareness programs: Wheelies Challenge for school education; Teamsafe for workplace safety education.

The AQA has been instrumental in other improvements of accommodation for disabled people, such as putting forth the concessions for wheelchair-accessible transport, on the governmental level.^[1]

Funding for SCIA comes from government grants and charitable fundraising.

Under its constitution at least 50% of its board must have a disability.