On Saturday, 19 August 2023, WWDA held a forum as part of the NDIS Review to discuss what improvements could be made to the NDIS to better support our sexual health needs.
We want to thank our guest speakers, Saul Isbister and Rose Handley from Touching Base and WWDA Member, Melanie Hawkes, for their time and valuable contributions.
We would also like to thank those who attended and provided incredible insight, shared experiences and created a safe and equal space for an open and frank discussion about our sexual needs. The insights we collected have been developed into a report which will be submitted to the NDIS Review this week.
The key themes that emerged from the session include:
- There is a lack of conversation about sexual supports
- NDIS staff and providers must be trained to talk about sex in ways that are safe and supportive
- A range of sexual supports are necessary
- The NDIS requires a Sexuality Strategy to support people to meet their sexual support needs
- The Strategy must be co-designed and co-produced with people with disability
- Sexual supports can be life-changing
If you would like to watch the first half of the session, which includes the presentations from our speakers, the recording is now available on our YouTube channel here.