News & Media

Disability Royal Commission: WWDA’s Response to Emergency Planning Issues Paper

In 2020 the Disability Royal Commission released an issues paper on Emergency Planning. The issues paper asked 11 questions about the specific difficulties people with disabilities may have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Summer bushfires, or any other emergencies. You can read and download the issues paper on the Royal Commission website. WWDA has…

The Rural Women with Disability COVID-19 webinar

Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) would like to thank everyone who attended our webinar yesterday, our panellists for their amazing contribution, the Auslan interpreters and captioner’s, WWDA President, Tricia Malowney and the Office for Women for funding the amazing event. We would also like to thank the National Rural Women’s Coalition (NRWC) for putting this…

  • Date 15 October 20

Media Release: #MakeItSafeToSpeak

The Disability Royal Commission has been running for over a year without offering full confidentiality to people with disability making submissions.   We are being asked to tell our personal stories of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation, without a full guarantee that the perpetrators will never have access to the information we give. If we are not able to…

Heidi La Paglia wins the Disability Sector Award at Tasmanian Young Achiever Awards Night!

At the Tasmanian Young Achiever Awards tonight, WWDA Policy and Projects Officer, Heidi La Paglia, took out the TADPAC Print Service to the Disability Sector Award. We are so proud of Heidi and her achievements. Heidi is an advocate for young women with disabilities, like herself. Heidi undertook leadership roles for the Tasmania University Union and…

DRC Debrief – with WWDA CEO Carolyn Frohmader

WWDA CEO, Carolyn Frohmader will join Senator Jordon Steele-John, Paula McGowan, Dr. Linda Steele, and Therese Sands to discuss last week’s Disability Royal Commission hearings. The debrief will explore how to end the use of unauthorised restrictive practice. There will also be a Q and A with the audience at the end of the debrief.…

Heidi La Paglia’s presentation at the recent NDS webinar

Last Thursday, 24 September 2020, The Australian Human Rights Commission and the Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health held the National Disability Strategy (NDS) – Beyond 2020 webinar. The webinar discussed community expectations of the strategy and key elements which needed to be addressed in the planning of the strategy prior to its…

WWDA News – September

24 September 2020

Jody Barney – speaker at the upcoming Rural Women with Disability COVID-19 Webinar

Today, the 23 September is International Day of Sign Languages, and to celebrate we are introducing our first panellist who will be presenting at our upcoming event: The Rural Women with Disability COVID-19 Webinar on 14 October. Jody Barney is a proud Deaf Aboriginal woman, who is connected to many women with disabilities across Aboriginal…

  • Date 23 September 20

Apply to join the WWDA Youth Network Advisory Group!

The WWDA Youth Network is seeking expressions of interest from young people with disability who identify as women or non-binary and are between the ages of 15-30 to join a WWDA Youth Advisory Group. The WWDA Youth Advisory Group will include a diverse group of young women with disability with a variety of experiences and expertise. For…

Call for WWDA Blog Commentary (Paid Opportunity)

Are you a woman, girl or non-binary person with disability that lives in Australia and likes to write, make videos or podcasts? We want to hear from you! WWDA will soon be launching a blog on our website.  WWDA’s new blog will belong to our community and be a space to explore what leadership means to…

WWDA’s top tips for interacting with others on social media

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms are now being used by people from all over the world. There are many positives about using social media including, staying in contact with friends, learning new things and keeping up to date with the latest news. How people interact with each other on social media can be a…

Meet new WWDA member – Jude Marshall

This week WWDA caught up with one of our new members, Jude Marshall, to shine a light on her experience in the industry and her passion for disability rights. Jude, you have had a long and illustrious career in the NGO sector in Australia and NZ, tell us more about yourself… I began my career…

  • Date 20 September 20

The Rural Women with Disabilities COVID-19 Webinar

The experiences of women with disability living in rural, regional or remote areas of Australia during COVID-19.

  • Date 10 September 20

Open letter to the Attorney-General The Hon. Christian Porter MP

We call upon the Attorney-General to introduce legislation into the Australian Parliament to protect the confidentiality of information given to The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.

Media Release: WWDA urges the NDIA to halt independent assessments

On 28th August 2020, the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Hon Stuart Robert announced the “most substantial” reforms to the NDIS since its establishment. The package includes implementation of the Australian Government’s Response to the 2019 Tune Review and the new NDIS Participant Service Guarantee. One part of the reform will see…

Disability Royal Commission: WWDA’s Response to Employment Issues Paper

In 2020 the Disability Royal Commission released an issues paper on Employment. The issues paper asked 9 questions about why people with disability are less likely to be employed and have lower incomes than people without disability, how people with disability experience discrimination at work and how well specific programs designed to increase the employment…

A report on the Our Site website project is now available!

The Our Site report provides a comprehensive overview of how the Our Site website was developed with the input of over 100 women with disability across Australia. An Easy Read summary of the report is also available. Our Site was created by and for women with disability through a national two-year project led by WWDA.…

WWDA attends forum to help boost women with disability workforce participation

WWDA’s Director of Policy and Programs, Dr Trish Mitra-Kahn attended the Women’s Job Creation Forum to represent the needs of women with disability in the context of COVID-19. Trish also prepared a presentation to be shown at the forum on the challenges COVID-19 presented and how WWDA overcame those to support and improve workforce participation…

  • Date 11 August 20

Stage 2 of the National Disability Strategy Consultations

Today, the Department of Social Services (DSS) launched the second stage of consultations on the National Disability Strategy. If you are a person with disability, carer, parent or supporter, DSS wants yours feedback on the proposals for the next Strategy, as set out in a new National Disability Strategy position paper. You can download, read…

Easy Read version of Our Site for women and girls with disability leading the way for accessible websites

Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) are again leading the way in advancing the rights of all women with disability through the release of an Easy Read version of the Our Site website. WWDA aims to improve the rights, safety and well-being of women and girls with disability across Australia. To achieve this, it is crucial…

COVID-19 Children and Young People with Disabilities Global Statement and Recommendations

Over the last few weeks, WWDA staff member and a young woman with disability, Heidi La Paglia, has been working with the Commonwealth Children and Youth Disability Network (CCYDN) and the UK based organisation, Include Me TOO to develop a statement with recommendations to address the global impact of COVID-19 on children and young people with disability. On Friday evening, the CCYDN launched the statement via a webinar, with speeches from young people with disability representatives from around the world, including Heidi who spoke about the experiences of girls and young women with disability.  “Throughout the…

Vale Sue Salthouse

Written by: Carolyn Frohmader, WWDA CEO, and Christina Ryan, CEO, Disability Leadership Institute, for and on behalf of Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA) and Women With Disabilities Australian Capital Territory (WWDACT).

WWDA’s response to the Disability Royal Commission’s Group Homes issue paper

In 2020 the Disability Royal Commission released an issues paper on group homes. The issues paper asked 10 questions based on some of the key issues and barriers experienced by people with disability living in Group Homes. You can download the issues paper from the Disability Royal Commission website here. WWDA have now submitted their response…

WWDA is hiring a Senior Project Officer

Senior Project Officer – Flexible Location

WWDA President, Tricia Malowney OAM has been appointed by the NDIS Minister to the NDIS Expert Advisory Council

Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Stuart Robert, today announced the new and returning members of the Independent Advisory Council from 1 July 2020. The Independent Advisory Council provides formal advice to the Board of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), the governing body of the NDIS, on the most important issues affecting…