In July 2013, the then Minister for Employment Participation, Hon Kate Ellis, advised Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) that the Australian Government would be providing a small, one-off funding grant to a number of national disability organisations, including WWDA, to assist in improving the delivery of Disability Employment Services (DES). The specific purpose of the one of funding grant is to lift consumer engagement and knowledge of the DES program, facilitate provision of consumer advice to the Government about the needs of women with disabilities in the context of the DES, and look at ways to improve future disability employment services. This mid-term progress Report from WWDA details work undertaken on the Project to 31 January 2014. In the context of WWDA’s human rights based approach, WWDA’s report not only provides information on specific activities and deliverables of the Project, but highlights a range of key systemic advocacy and public policy themes that WWDA has identified during the Project to date. Furthermore, the Report includes information on systemic advocacy initiatives undertaken by WWDA in response to those issues and themes identified.

The WWDA ‘Mid-Term Progress Report for the Disability Employment Services (DES) Consumer Engagement Project’ is now available for download in both PDF and Word versions.