IDRS provides a range of resources and publications to help people with an intellectual disability and those who care for or work with them.
Violence and Victims
People with an intellectual disability are vulnerable to violent crime. The most frequent crimes against them are physical and sexual assault, and they are significantly more likely to be a victim of these crimes than the rest of the population.
For more information see >> Violence and Victims
Criminal Justice
People with intellectual disabilities do not get the services that they need to help them keep out of trouble with the law. The lack of services in the community contributes to the over-representation of people with an intellectual disability in prison. The Intellectual Disability Rights Service and the NSW Council for Intellectual Disability commissioned a report setting out a framework for the provision of services to meet the needs of offenders with an intellectual disability.
For more information see >> Framework Report (plain language version)
>> 
Framework Plain Language (pdf version)
>> Framework Intro (pdf version)
>> Framework Main Report (pdf version)
Factsheets 
Discrimination
Maximising a person's ability to make their own decisions
Producing Information for people with an Intellectual Disability
Rights under wills and trusts
Wills for parents of a person with an intellectual disability
Wills for people with an intellectual disability
Working with a client with an intellectual disability - Factsheet for Lawyers
CJSN Support Workers at Court - Factsheet for lawyers
Publications
View PDF order form.
To order complete form and send with cheque or mail order to IDRS.
Legal Rights Teaching Kit: Tools and strategies to teach people with an intellectual disability about their rights and how to assert them (2nd edition) (1995).
Opening the Doors: Supporting women with an intellectual disability - a resource kit for domestic violence workers (1999).
Questions of Rights: A guide to the law and rights of people with an intellectual disability (2nd edition) (1998).
Making A Statement: An Exploratory Study of Barriers Facing Women with Intellectual Disabilities when Making a Statement about Sexual Assault to the Police (2000).
Rights for All Video - based on stories in the Rights for All magazines. The video is structured as a TV current affairs program, aimed at people with an intellectual disability. It has four segments: rights at home, at work, with the police and your right to be the boss of your body (1997).
Rights in Residence: A guide to the law and rights of people with an intellectual disability in supported accommodation (2nd edition) (1996).
Stand Up and Speak! Sit Up and Listen!: People with an intellectual disability participating in the management of advocacy services (1997).
When I'm Gone: An introduction to wills and estate planning for parents of people with an intellectual disability (1999).
Note: This book has now been superseded by FACSIA's (The Department of Family and Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) publication: Planning for the Future:people with disabilities. [PDF Format 266KB]
A sample Will setting up a trust is available by clicking here [MS Word Format 39KB]
In September 2006, Special Disability Trusts were introduced as a means test concession to assist families to make private financial arrangements for people with severe disabilities. The Department has also published a guide on these special disability trusts which you can download by clicking here. [PDF Format 336KB]