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At the meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) in August 2003, Ministers agreed that:
A working party of State and Territory officers was established to progress the draft model Bill and Guidelines. In late April 2004, the SCAG released an Issues Paper regarding this proposed Bill and Guidelines.
WWDA has recently completed its Submission to the Commonwealth and State/Territory Governments in response to the SCAG Issues Paper. WWDA's submission has been informed by women with disabilities whose lives have been touched by sterilisation. WWDA is deeply concerned that the Government's proposed legislation infringes the human rights of people with disabilities. The principles upon which the proposed Bill is grounded, undermine the right to bodily integrity, the right to bear children and the right to individual value and autonomy. WWDA asserts that sterilisation is an act of unnecessary and dehumanising violence which denies a woman's basic human right to bodily integrity and to bear children and which results in adverse life-long physical and mental health effects.
WWDA does not support the Government's current proposal to develop a nationally consistent approach to the authorisation procedures required for the lawful sterilisation of minors with a decision-making disability. WWDA strongly recommends that the Federal Government develop universal legislation which prohibits sterilisation of children except in those circumstances which amount to those that are a serious threat to health or life. In the case of adults, WWDA also strongly recommends that sterilisation be prohibited in the absence of the informed consent of the individual concerned, except in those circumstances where there is a serious threat to health or life.
WWDA's Submission has been widely distributed. A copy of WWDA's Submission to the Commonwealth and State/Territory Governments regarding Non-Therapeutic Sterilisation of Minors with a Decision-Making Disability is available on WWDA's website ('Submissions to Government'). Go to: http://www.wwda.org.au/sterilisesub1.htm
If anyone would like a copy of the Submission emailed to them, please contact the WWDA Office via email on: wwda@wwda.org.au
Copies of the SCAG Issues Paper are also available from the WWDA Office.
The National Summit on Health Services for People with Disabilities was held in Sydney on May 28th 2004, and was convened by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). The Summit was attended by representatives from national disability organisations, as well as representatives from the medical and health sectors.
WWDA was represented at the Summit by Keran Howe (Vic) and Annie Parkinson (NSW). Keran presented a paper on behalf of WWDA entitled 'Lack of Data Means lack of Action: A Clinical Examination of Access to Health Services for Women with Disabilities'. The paper examined a range of issues, including: the impact of structural inequality on health; the medicalisation of disability; lack of data (particularly in relation to access to breast and cervical screening for women with disabilities); and systemic barriers facing women with disabilities in accessing health services.
A copy of WWDA's Paper 'Lack of Data Means lack of Action: A Clinical Examination of Access to Health Services for Women with Disabilities' will soon be made available on WWDA's website ('Submissions to Government'). If anyone would like a copy of the paper emailed to them, please contact the WWDA Office via email on: wwda@wwda.org.au
WWDA will continue to report back to members on the outcomes of the Summit in the coming weeks.
Disabled People's International (DPI) is holding its World Summit in Winnipeg, Canada September 8-10, 2004. A major objective for DPI is the promotion of equality and diversity within its organization. The theme for the World Summit will be diversity of people and their cultures and will focus on women, youth, and Indigenous & Arab peoples.
WWDA has been selected to present a Paper at the Disabled People's International (DPI) World Summit in Canada in September 2004. WWDA will present its National Project on the Sterilisation and Reproductive Health of Women and Girls with Disabilities. Included in this will be discussion of emancipatory research by women with disabilities. The presentation will include the findings of the Project, the ongoing outcomes and achievements, and implications for the future.
Leanne Dowse (who co-ordinated WWDA's National Project on the Sterilisation and Reproductive Health of Women and Girls with Disabilities) and Annie Parkinson will be representing WWDA at the DPI World Summit.
For more information about the NOWSA Conference, go to: http://www.nowsa.com.au
For more information about the Inaugural Conference on Social Aspects of Disease, Disability and Disablement, go to: http://www.kcwh.unimelb.edu.au/
For more information about the 5th Australian Women's Health Conference, go to: http://www.womenshealth2005.com.au/
For further information about the Home Truths Conference, go to: http://www.secasa.com.au/conference/
WWDA receives a small amount of operational funding each year from the Commonwealth Department of Family & Community Services (FaCS). WWDA has a funding contract with the Department, and is required to report against the outcomes specified in the contract.
Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) has recently completed its Outcomes Report for the period July 2003 - April 2004. The purpose of this document is to highlight some of WWDA's major achievements during the period July 2003 - April 2004, in line with WWDA's Funding Contract with the Commonwealth Department of Family & Community Services (FaCS) National Secretariat Program.
WWDA has achieved a significant amount during the past 10 months. The achievements of the organization, along with the high standard of its work, represent extremely good value for the Commonwealth Government. The outcomes achieved also serve to demonstrate the unique capacity of WWDA to fulfill the role of providing effective consumer advocacy to address the needs of women with disabilities and sound policy advice and quality information for and about women with disabilities. The Outcomes Report also demonstrates WWDA's strong links to its membership base, along with the strategic partnerships the organization has formed with other stakeholders.
WWDA will be meeting with officers from the Commonwealth Department of Family & Community Services (FaCS) National Secretariat Program in late June 2004. The purpose of this meeting is to review WWDA's performance for the past 12 months, and also re-negotiate WWDA's operational funding for the 2004-2005 year.
WWDA's Outcomes Report has been widely distributed. A copy of WWDA's Outcomes Report for the period July 2003 - April 2004 will soon be made available on WWDA's website. If anyone would like a copy of the Report emailed to them, please contact the WWDA Office via email on: wwda@wwda.org.au
During May, Sue Salthouse (WWDA Telecommunications Group Convenor) attended the Australian Communications Industry Forum Disability Advisory Body (ACIF DAB) meeting in Sydney. A report on that meeting has been posted separately on wwda-discuss.
Preceding the regular quarterly meeting was a half day combined workshop where the ACIF DAB met with an ACIF Working Party who are developing guidelines and a code for the inclusion of plain English information about all the functions of a piece of telephone equipment. It is essential that manufacturers supply this information to carriage service providers and that they in turn make it available to customers. Many of the standard functions of equipment are not properly described. Many functions which can be of particular use to people with disabilities are thus overlooked. More importantly, many standard functions can be moderated or used in conjunction with other equipment to make them useable by people with disabilities. The joint meeting was conducted both face-to-face and simultaneously by teleconference with Melbourne working party members.
Four telecommunication notices have been posted on wwda-discuss during the month. The synopsis of the TCCC E-news precipitated a string of on-line discussion about unjust treatment of subscribers to telephone services. Although the culprit corporation was not Telstra, the discussion highlighted the need for subscribers to have some recourse to have their complaints heard. A follow-up positing outlined the course to be taken.
Sue was invited to join a panel assisting Disability ACT in allocating $50,000 in funding to help people with disabilities in the ACT to bridge the Digital Divide. Over 70 applications for various combinations of computer equipment, assistive equipment, training, and ISP subscription were received. A large number of applicants will benefit from an allocation of funding.
Information about the member organisations and operation was given to PDCNSW.
During May, WWDA received a Media Release from the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women, Senator Patterson, announcing the National Survey to Produce Data on Violence Against Women. The 2005 Personal Safety Survey is being funded under the National Initiative to Combat Sexual Assault and Partnerships Against Domestic Violence, and will produce national data on violence against women, establishing the nature and prevalence of physical and sexual violence against women and men aged 18 years and over in Australia.
WWDA has written to the Commonwealth Office of the Status of Women (OSW) to seek assurance that the 2005 Personal Safety Survey will include data collection on violence against women with disabilities. Until recent years, there has been a profound silence around the experiences of violence among women with disabilities. The issues for women with disabilities have largely been excluded from most generic policies and from responses to the issue of women and violence. Women with disabilities are largely invisible in both the disability and women's movements, a situation that has relegated them to a position of extreme marginalisation and consequently, to increased risks and experiences of violence.
There is a dearth of research in Australia about the relationship between gender, violence and disability. Research into the extent of violence against women with disabilities in Australia is also limited by the lack of data collected on disability by law enforcement agencies and violence support services. There is no data collected on any aspect of violence against women with disabilities in Australia. Services, including violence services and other SAAP funded services, do not collect data on women with disabilities. For example, the State and Territory SAAP National Data Collection Annual Reports, provide data on Indigenous Australians and people from a Non-English Speaking Background, but do not provide any data, nor indeed, any reference to, people with disabilities.
In Australia, the nature and extent of violence against women with disabilities is mainly derived from qualitative research which has tended to explore violence in relation to barriers to accessing services or with people with intellectual disabilities in institutional care.
Senator Kay Patterson, in her Media Release of May 17 announcing the National Survey to Produce Data on Violence Against Women, stated: "Gathering high quality statistical information is of vital importance to continuing to develop and evaluate policies and programs that prevent violence against women." Given the extent, pervasive nature, and incidence of violence against women with disabilities, coupled with the serious failure of services to respond adequately to women with disabilities experiencing violence, WWDA has strongly recommended to the Commonwealth Government that the National Survey to Produce Data on Violence Against Women must, as a priority, include data collection on violence against women with disabilities.
Recent additions to the WWDA website include:
WWDA Submission to the Commonwealth and State/Territory Governments regarding
Non-Therapeutic Sterilisation of Minors with a Decision-Making Disability.
Go to: http://www.wwda.org.au/saviolsub.htm
WWDA Update Bulletin March 2004.
Go to: http://www.wwda.org.au/bullmar04.htm
This site was developed by Carolyn Frohmader for Women With Disabilities Australia.