WWDA Activity Work Plan 2017 to 2018
WWDA is pleased to present out Activity Work Plan for 2017-18.
WWDA’s Activity Work Plan for 2017-2018 embeds and reflects the key purpose of our organisation – to promote and advance the rights and freedoms of women and girls with disability.
Read more:
Policy and Submissions
- WWDA’s Executive Director contributed to an academic journal article entitled Violence Against Women with Disabilities: Is Australia Meeting its Human Rights Obligations?.
- WWDA provided feedback on the Department of Social Services draft survey to inform the 2016 National Disability Strategy.
- WWDA is finalising several position statements to add to the WWDA Human Rights Toolkit for Women and Girls with Disability
- WWDA Youth Network is finalising seven youth-focused position statements and a human rights workbook for young women and girls with disability which explains the CRPD and CEDAW conventions.
Collaboration
- Disabled People’s Organisations Australia (DPO Australia) provided a submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee Inquiry into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Quality and Safeguards Commission and Other Measures) Bill 2017.
- WWDA continues to work with our DPO Australia colleagues on a range of collaborative initiatives, submissions and strategic planning.
Have Your Say
Survey: National Disability Strategy Progress Report
The Australian Government is inviting people with disability (and their families) to complete a survey about progress made under the National Disability Strategy 2010-2020.
The National Disability Strategy is the overarching policy that concerns all disability related policy-making in Australia, including the NDIS.
The survey includes questions about things like health care, employment and access to the local community for people with disability.
Your feedback can help the Government to create better policies, programs and communities that acknowledge and promote the rights of people with disability.
You can complete the survey at the DSS website.
Find out more about the National Disability Strategy.
The survey will take 10-15 minutes to complete.
Cross-Examination Amendments to the Family Violence Act 1975
The Attorney General has released draft legislative amendments to to the Family Law Act 1975 to ensure people who experience family violence are protected from being cross-examined in court by alleged perpetrators.
The draft amendments see a legislative ban on self-represented parties conducting direct cross-examination where one party is convicted or charged of an offence involving violence against another party. The court will also have discretion to disallow direct cross-examination in other matters where there are allegations of family violence.
To maintain procedural fairness, the court will be able to appoint a person to act as an intermediary to ask questions in cross examination on behalf of a party.
You can find out more and contribute your views on the changes at the Attorney General’s consultation website.
Submissions can be made until 25 August 2017.
Do you write, blog or create media?
WWDA and WWDA Youth Network are happy to promote creative and engaging work by our members on our Facebook pages, websites and in this newsletter. Let us know if you have something you would like to share or if you have found a resource or website you think others might be interested in.
Disability News
Protecting women with disabilities shouldn’t mean taking away their sexual autonomy (TVO Canada)
Intersex babies don’t need ‘fixing’ (Human Rights Watch)
Fran Kelly interviewed Professor Gillian Triggs on her last day as President of the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) (Radio National)
NSW Ombudsman figures reveal alarming rates of violence against people with disability (SMH)
George Taleporos talks to The Guardian about the power and protest of disability activism (The Guardian)