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National Assistance Card assisting people living with brain injury The National Assistance Card, designed to help people with brain injury remain independent, has been officially launched. ABC chair Ita Buttrose, who cared for her father after his dementia diagnosis, spoke to Kymberly Martin about the impact this condition had on his life and how the National Assistance Card could have helped him in the many stressful situations he encountered in the community.
Photo courtesy of Macular Disease Foundation Australia
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unique initiative from the Brain Injury Association of Tasmania (BIAT), the National Assistance Card (NAC) was launched in Tasmania in 2021. Funded by the Department of Social Services, the NAC is an expansion of the Tasmanian Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Identification Card.
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February/March 2022
Ita Buttrose, triathlete Alexa Leary (Move For Lex) and actor/singer Michael Cormick have been appointed National Assistance Card ambassadors. “It is not always easy to recognise that a person has a brain injury,” Buttrose said. “There may be a slow reaction
in a situation where someone cannot immediately remember what to do. She said the National Assistance Card gives people with brain injury reassurance, this ultimately helping them to maintain their independence. In her father’s case, because he lived