Newsletter No. 1 2015

Dear Members and Friends.

Here’s the latest news as we head into the new year. We hope you have been enjoying the holiday season as we take a well-earned break until 19^th January 2015.

We recommend you
View this email in your browser

Forward

General Enquiries:
info@touchingbase.org
Phone: 0424 591 409

Postal Address:
PO Box 523, Newtown, NSW 2042
AUSTRALIA

Referral List:
referral@touchingbase.org
Phone: 0499 054 400

ABN: 182 1399 7639

Website:
www.touchingbase.org

Patron gives us 10/10 for our roundtable seminar at the University of New South Wales

Associate Professor Helen Meekosha (pictured above) was thrilled with how our roundtable seminar went in October. It was kindly hosted by Helen and the School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, at the University of New South Wales and was co-sponsored by Touching Base and our affiliate members People With Disability Australia Inc and Family Planning NSW. By all reports the 30 participants thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to meet an extraordinarily diverse group, to listen to our guest speakers and discuss the topic of the day: Disability, intimacy, pleasure and sexuality: towards cultures of respect.

We were delighted to have the presence of two of Touching Base's other Patrons on the day. Eva Cox joined us for the entire seminar and participants enjoyed Michael Kirby dropping in at afternoon tea time to deliver an impromptu speech.

Guest Speakers
We are in the process of creating podcasts of the wonderfully insightful and informative speeches that were delivered by our guest speakers. In due course we will be providing a full report that will include links to the podcasts, a summary noting important points raised during the group discussions and recommendations for further actions and topics for research. In the meantime, you can find below a brief description of the topics covered by our guest speakers.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER Dr Tom Shakespeare [Pictured above]	Don't touch? People with disabilities getting to grips with bodies and inhibitions: An exploration of how alienated disabled people can be from their bodies as a result of complicated feelings about impairment, exposure to the medical gaze, and wider social prejudices.
Rosalie Power	Moving beyond the sticky myths: Prevailing myths impact the provision of comprehensive sexuality education and support for people with intellectual disability. How do we move beyond these myths to uphold the sexual rights of people with intellectual disability?
Janna Taylor	Let’s Not Forget to Talk About Sex: Reinterpreting sexual behaviour in people with dementia and how we can assist a person with dementia to live life to the fullest.
Dr George Taleporos / Dr Russell Shuttleworth	Sexual facilitation for adults with disabilities: An overview of the research, policy and practice in regards to what assistance adults with disability require to facilitate sexual expression. Includes a brief summary of preliminary findings from interviews conducted in Victoria.
Mathew Bowden	Protectionism vs liberty: Governments and service providers seem committed to a complex balancing act of protecting people with disability against sexual violence, and enabling and supporting the development of positive experiences of sexuality; the current framework brings with it many pitfalls.
Denise Beckwith	It really doesn't need to be hard: An overview of Touching Base Inc. focusing on the operation of an ever-expanding Referral List of disability friendly sex workers and brothels, and the nature of the enquiries received.

Touching Base at the IDEAS Expo at Maitland – NSW

We would not have been able to present a stall at the 2-day IDEAS Expo in November without the generous sponsorship of GLYDE Health and the dedicated help from Laura Wright - who was a volunteer student placement with us in the second half of this year.

This is the second time GLYDE Health have sponsored us to attend an Expo and we were thrilled with the financial support they have provided. Not only did they cover all of our expenses, but they also provided us with the full range of their sexual health products to sell, including: flavoured condoms, non-latex condoms, female condoms, lubricant and flavoured dams; all at a heavily discounted price.

Laura reported that she enjoyed raising awareness of our work and promoting GLYDE merchandise. There were 54 noted personal interactions with people on Friday and 46 on Saturday. Touching Base is confident our presence at this expo will lead onto other benefits as happened after the expo last year. We have already received several enquiries from clients and service providers from the Newcastle area wanting referrals or further information.

Getting about at Conferences

Committee Members Rachel Wotton and Fleur de Lys attended the Scarlet Alliance – Australian Sex Workers Association, National Forum in Melbourne during our busy month of November. They did a short presentation on Touching Base and lots of membership forms were filled in by sex workers across Australia.

One of the main issues coming out from the Scarlet Alliance National Forum was the bill before the South Australian Parliament to decriminalise sex work, which will be voted on in 2015.

Results of the Annual General Meeting

Several members joined with committee members at our AGM, kindly hosted again this year by international law firm Ashurst Australia, on the 36^th floor of a tower block in The Rocks, Central Sydney. Ashurst Australia generously provided a delicious light lunch we enjoyed before the official business commenced. Along with conducting our official AGM business, this was a great opportunity for members to enjoy some casual networking with an expansive view across Sydney Harbour in the background.

As noted in the President’s Report Denise Beckwith, our longstanding Vice President, stood down this year after holding this position since 2007. Although we are sad to lose Denise from the Committee, it is great to know that she will be utilising all her years of experience and expert knowledge to her ongoing volunteer role of Referral List Operator.

The majority of positions on the Committee have been filled unopposed; leaving one Ordinary Member position open as a casual vacancy.

Role	Nominee
President	Saul Isbister
Vice President	Sarah Cameron
Treasurer	Jill Maginnity
Secretary	Rob Hardy
Ordinary Members (5)	Matthew Bowden
	Rachel Wotton
	Grant Wardell-Johnson
	Fleur de Lys
	Casual vacancy

We are thrilled to welcome Sarah Cameron to the committee as our new Vice President. Discussion was held regarding the option of leaving the casual vacancy unfilled until the Committee have had an opportunity to review their skills set in January. It was agreed that we will then seek a new Committee member able to meet any skill gaps identified.

Training

October and November 2014 were our busiest ever training period. We held four days of Service Provider Awareness Training (SPAT) for Challenge Community Services in Maitland and Tamworth, along with our regular SPAT Workshop in Ashfield, Sydney.

During this period we also held our one-day Professional Disability Awareness Training (PDAT) workshop for experienced sex workers in both Canberra and Sydney

Training Calendar for disability service providers in 2015
Consistent with our strategic plan 2014 to 2017, we are pleased to announce that next year we will be offering our SPAT Workshop in more regional locations with our training partner, Family Planning NSW.

Location	Date	Apply
PENRITH	21 April 2015
WOLLONGONG	11 June 2015
NEWCASTLE	27 August 2015
ASHFIELD	15 October 2015

Scarlet Road and other media

By coincidence Scarlet Road was re-broadcast on SBS national television on the same day as our UNSW seminar. This the third year in a row that Scarlet Road has been broadcast around this time of year – a great demonstration of this documentary’s enduring capacity to provide insights and entertain.

A couple of weeks later Touching Base was covered during the screening on SBS-2 of a French made documentary program called Sex in the World’s Cities. Here is a link to where you can find the program online: http://www.tvcatchupaustralia.com/sbs-2/sex-in-the-world-s-cities/s1-ep4-sydney-73009

Touching Base comes up for a few minutes around 39 minutes into the doco, when our prior Vice President David Cunningham is shown being interviewed whilst enjoying a sensual massage

Making a donation

A big thank you to members who have been making monthly donations. What a great way to show your ongoing support for our work and you don’t have to be a member to donate.

Description: Touching Base current phone, well outdated nokia, circa 2009.

It is time for us to retire our old phone (pictured) and we would very much appreciate the donation of a late-model smart phone, for our general use. So if you, or someone you know, are updating your current phone for a newer model and would like to see it put to good use, please email saul@touchingbase.org

Remember all donations over $2.00 are tax deductible and because we are unfunded every gift makes a difference. You can donate via our website http://www.touchingbase.org/support-us or click on the GiveNow logo below to directly access our secure online donation portal right now.

Make a donation now