WWDA News
Welcome
Here’s the latest updates from Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA)
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Policy and Submissions
- WWDA released our Performance Report for the period July 2016 to December 2017. The report details our activities over the last 1.5 years. Check it out over at the WWDA website.
- WWDA collated responses to our Right to Health Survey (March 2018) and sent this as a submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disability to help inform her report on access to healthcare.
- DPO Australia and Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) made a submission to
- the Senate Inquiry into the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)DPO Australia made a Submission to the Future of Supported Employment Consultation.
Collaboration
- WWDA is part of the DPO Australia delegation to the 11th Conference of States Parties (COSP) to the Convention on the Rights of People with Disability (CRPD). COSP will take place in mid-June over in New York. Women with disability are a key focus of this year’s conference.
- The COSP 11 delegation will be led by WWDA members Therese Sands (PWDA) and Rosemary Kayess (Centre for Disability Law). Rosemary Kayess has also been put forward as Australia’s candidate for election to the CRPD Committee and a vote will take place at the conference.
- WWDA will be working with Equality Rights Alliance to prepare a brief shadow report to the Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW) prior to Australia’s review.
- WWDA continues to work with 1800RESPECT and Medibank on two projects to improve the responsiveness of violence prevention measures to women and girls with disability.
- WWDA met with the Australian Human Rights Commission on a project related to key issues that affect people with disability.
- WWDA met with our DPO Australia colleagues and other members of the disability sector to start drafting a comprehensive shadow report on progress toward implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in Australia. Australia will be reviewed against the CRPD in 2019.
- WWDA founding member, Professor Helen Meekosha met with Dr Julia Bahner, a researcher from the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds, to discuss WWDA’s ongoing work in the sexual and reproductive rights space.
- WWDA member and NEDA President, Margherita Coppolino, delivered a short plenary address at the National LGBTI Health Alliance, Health in Difference conference.
Disability News
- Government Called on to Employ More People With Disability in Public Service (ProBono)
- A love letter to my body (Carly Findlay)
- We know about the gender pay gap. But what about the disability pay gap? (The Guardian)
Have Your Say
Have you, a family member or a friend experienced violence and been through the family law system?
The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) is undertaking a comprehensive review of the family law system to ensure that it effectively addresses family violence and child abuse.
WWDA encourages our members to share your experiences with the Commission to ensure that the experiences of women with disability are strongly represented in the review.
You can share your experience anonymously by 7 May at the Tell Us Your Story portal on the ALRC website: www.alrc.gov.au/content/tell-us-your-story
For confidential counselling, information and support on family violence, contact visit 1800RESPECT:
https://www.1800respect.org.au/