'More Than Just A Ramp' - A Guide for Women's Refuges to Develop Disability Discrimination Act Action Plans - Section Two

So you want to identify the problem in your service

The Barriers in Your Policies and Practices

Barriers in Communication and Information

So You Want to Identify the Problem in Your Service

The DDA makes it unlawful to discriminate in the provision of goods, services or facilities against people on the basis that they have, or may have, a disability. The Act also makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the basis that one of her or his associates may have a disability. The DDA is not about limited access - it promotes and protects equality of access - attitudinal, informational and physical.

Removing barriers for women with disabilities goes far beyond just thinking a ramp needs to be installed.

The Groundwork

In order for the development of your Action Plan to be smooth you will need to establish a solid base. The first thing you need to look at is what you are already doing and what this can tell you about women with disabilities using your service.

You'll need to:
Look at your statistics. Have you collected information about the experience of women with disabilities using your service?

Process

Count how many women with disabilities: work in your service; use your service; are members of your management.
Start with analysis of your own data then look at external data from outreach services and central referral points.
Be aware that at least 18% of the population have a disability and therefore this should be reflected in your service user data. If not, start asking why.
Start making contact with women with disabilities' organisations now.
Make contact with women with disabilities and services that work with women with disabilities. To go to the right service, you will need to know the difference between a Government Department providing services to women with disabilities, a large private service provider and a 'consumer' organisation.
Quiz people who are in areas where women with disabilities initially make contacts, such as disability groups, community health centres, neighbourhood houses or even local GPs. Don't assume all women with disabilities are connected with women with disabilities' organisations. Women with disabilities are everywhere.

Disability makes up 18% of the population so women with disabilities are out there.

Definitely Do

Ask questions and ask for advice.
Involve all staff, management and volunteers from the beginning so that everyone in your service owns and takes responsibility for the change process.
Establish a resource point in your organisation, for example a worker who is willing to co-ordinate and monitor the process - this can be shared, or handed over to another person every 3 - 6 months.
See this as a process you are working towards, so it won't be overwhelming.

Definitely Don't

Make assumptions about how accessible your service is.
Worry that you don't have any statistics of your own.

Developing An Action Plan

Steps to writing an Action Plan

Step 1: Develop a good working group
Step 2: Familiarise yourself with the barriers in your service
Step 3: Consult and involve women with disabilities
Step 4: Educate your organisation about the DDA
Step 5: Ensure that you are well supported
Step 6: Develop strategies
Step 7: Resource the Action Plan
Step 8: Negotiate with relevant government departments
Step 9: Determine responsibility
Step 10: Evaluate

Step 1: Develop a Good Working Group

The success of the Woorarra Project required going beyond the actual writing of the Action Plan, to developing a strong co-operative relationship between women with disabilities and the domestic violence sector. Therefore, it was critical from the beginning to have this project's outcomes owned by women with disabilities and the key players in the domestic violence sector. A Working Group was therefore established and is recommended as a useful step.

Process
If you decide to establish a Working Group, then the make-up of the group is crucial. The group needs to be made up of equal numbers of women with disabilities and women from the domestic violence sector, including central points of referral, outreach services and domestic violence community education and training organisations.

Talk to women with disabilities - disability communities/organisations could be contacted to recommend women with disabilities who could participate, e.g., see if there is a statewide network, attend one of their meetings (See appendix for contacts).

When establishing a Working Group, factors which will need to be considered include:

the accessibility of the meeting place - the costs of women with disabilities getting to and from the meetings; attendant care, interpreters or support people; rewards for refuge volunteers and management committee members involved.
Resource women with disabilities on the working group by at covering least costs. Pay to attend if possible and recognise that many other members of the Working Group will be paid to participate. Also that many women with disabilities will have other costs to get to participate in your Action Plan, such as taxi fares or support people.
The Working Group will need to have training in the DDA. Your group may also need to get some training to increase the awareness of issues for women with disabilities. Make sure this training, which may well be provided by a number of people, is presented by women with disabilities or women with a good reputation with women with disabilities' organisations.
In terms of training in disability awareness, it is important to stay away from training which simplifies and often trivialises the experience of disability by sitting you in a wheelchair for 20 minutes or asking you to put a ping-pong ball in your mouth and then try and speak. (see resources in appendix). Check that the organisations you go to have very strong links with disability consumer organisations or the disability community.
Appoint a facilitator/resource person for the Working Group.
Allocate responsibilities.
Ensure Working Group members and their organisations are committed to the time required and attendance at meetings.

Definitely Do

Explore setting up a Working Group. It may be for your own service or for a group of domestic violence services in your region.

Definitely Don't

Try to do it on your own.
Think you don't have to have equal numbers of women with disabilities and women from the domestic violence sector.

Step 2: Familiarise yourself with the barriers in your service

The Physical Barriers
During the Woorarra discussion groups, one woman said that they would NOT assume that a refuge was accessible. 'There is no point going to a refuge if you can't get in.'
How others use the environment can create barriers for women with disabilities: for example, leaving doors ajar, vacuum cleaners in hallways. For instance, if a blind woman bumps into a vacuum cleaner, people will regard it as her own fault.

The Woorarra Working Group used the following criteria to identify barriers and solutions:

Barrier
Ideal
Current Practice
Barriers to Ideal

How to Identify Physical Barriers:

Listen to what you are being told by women with disabilities.
Get a copy of an access check list from Villamanta or Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.

Get an architect/skilled person who has previously identified barriers which limit physical access to and around the service and has developed solutions to these barriers. They need to be able to comply with:

the Australian Standards 1428
Building Codes of Australia
the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Access Guidelines

Get References from organisations who have used them

Be aware that there may be a number of solutions to a particular physical barrier. Woorarra refuge is on a hill which is very steep. To enable women with disabilities to come and go it is recommended that a scooter be bought and the van fitted with a hoist.

A refuge in Victoria was built to be accessible but because it was not designed by an architect recommended by women with disabilities, many aspects of the refuge still remain inaccessibl e.g. measurements of ramps, doorways, etc, do not allow for access.

Some physical barriers will only require a shifting in consciousness and practice. For example, not having tatty/torn rugs on the floors and rearranging the layout of furniture.

Process

Invite women with a range of disabilities and experiences to the service to identify barriers.
Contact the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission re: skilled people for access audits.
Ring any community organisation doing work around the DDA and ask what they are doing and who they are using for the access audit.
Expect to pay for the access audit.

Definitely Do

Have a commitment to the process and to learning about access.
Establish a process to determine priorities in conjunction with the working group.
Be aware of funding sources - involve them pre-negotiation stage.
Have an access audit done.

Definitely Don't

Be put off by the cost.
Assume to be the expert.
Don't get a builder who is the in-law of a friend of someone who knows one of your staff!! Unless of course they have the skills and recent experience and references.

The Barriers in Your Policies and Practices

You'll need to:
Audit and review your policies and practices. This could be done with the Working Group.

One example of a policy and practice barrier is that information on the rights of women in a refuge needs to be given within 24 hours of arrival. This information is not yet provided in alternative formats. Also, there hasn't yet been any formal consideration of the issue that some women may have trouble grasping and retaining all this information.

A strategy to overcome this barrier would be to make the information available in alternative formats, and to ensure the workers are trained to be responsive to women's needs in accessing and retaining information and also providing information in alternative formats.

Another example of a common policy which excludes women with disabilities was Woorarra's fire evacuation policy. Nothing in the evacuation procedures ensured women with disabilities were able to leave safely. There was nothing in the procedures to identify how women with disabilities could evacuate the building, and there was no alternative signage showing exits.

You will need to identify the gaps in your services policies and practices. You may also need to develop new policies and practices.

Process

Establish questions/criteria that need to be addressed when assessing all policies and practices. For example, when looking at the policy ask: How are women with disabilities included in this policy?; How will women with disabilities be affected by this policy?; How have you included the diverse range of disabilities, backgrounds and experiences in your policies and practices?
Look at how practice excludes women with disabilities (eg, no information on tape).
Your refuge may require development of new policies such as affirmative action or information policies along with new procedures.
A strategy may be developed to ensure that all information will be in different formats/languages.
Regular evaluation of workers' practice must be linked in with job descriptions, staff appraisals, and supervision.
Regular policy and practice audits need to be in place. Your organisation might establish a regular checking mechanism for policy review and evaluation.

Definitely Do

Remove or rewrite those policies and practices that indirectly or directly discriminate against women with disabilities
Regularly revisit and revise your policies and practices. Some organisations find it useful to undertake such a review every three years. To be effective, the review must be done in conjunction with women with disabilities.
If you don't know what needs to go into the policy and procedures, ask women who do know.

Definitely Don't

Review policies and practices in isolation.

Barriers in Communication and Information

A women attending the blind and visually impaired women's discussion group talked of an instance where a pregnant blind woman escaping domestic violence met with a blind agency and the Catholic Church, who offered to help her get out of her unfortunate situation. But in doing so, they brainwashed her into having the baby adopted: they insisted that she wouldn't be able to look after her child without a partner. Although she didn't agree with them, she eventually complied, feeling there was no alternative. It was the biggest heartache for her. If only she had been given the correct information, such as 'there is a single parents pension ...' Women with disabilities have identified that the information they need in order to make a decision for themselves - about the range of domestic violence services available, how to use them and what it expect - is, on the whole, not available.

You'll need to ask:

Is your information in accessible formats?
How skilled is your service in communication?
How flexible and trained are your staff in providing information in various formats?

The Woorarra discussion groups' findings identified the following issues:

Listening skills are very important, and are an area where staff may need more training and development.
The time it takes to get sign interpreters in an emergency is important. There is an emergency after-hours service, but not many domestic violence workers are aware of it.
Existing information is not in alternative formats. As one visually impaired woman said, 'for me if information is on paper, all it is, is a piece of paper'.
The lack of relevant training for refuge and other domestic violence workers in understanding and working with women with disabilities.

Process

Look at how the organisation provides information and in what way. This could be done with the Working Group or using the checklist developed by Villamanta Publishing Service (see bibliography).
Audit all information in the refuge such as: information to residents, forms for collecting information, and information on residents rights and responsibilities.
Look at what other organisations have done and ask what worked and what, if anything, would they do differently
Look at how general information on domestic violence is provided to women with disabilities.
Inform others of findings - establish processes within programs rather than just individual refuges/shelters.
Identify the skills staff do or don't have in working with sign interpreters.

Definitely Do

Look at what already exists - internal and external.

Definitely Don't

Assume you can do it on your own.

Attitudinal Barriers

The discussion groups for the Woorarra Action Plan identified common attitudes such as: women with disabilities are dependent; women with disabilities will take more time and disrupt the service.

Regarding attitudes about women with disabilities and domestic violence, women with disabilities said:

Paternalistic attitudes reign strong in the community, everywhere.
People don't look beyond the label of mental illness.
Women with disabilities are seen as asexual, and not being likely to be in a relationship. Therefore, 'women with disabilities don't experience domestic violence'.
Most people, whether doctors, police or magistrates, look upon the disabled partner as the dependent partner, whether or not this is the case
Most women spoken to did not assume that the refuge would be accessible.

A common belief about women with visual impairments by community policing and others can be that a woman is safer in her own environment as she knows it well. 'If we take them on we might be getting into deep water; maybe we'll give the perpetrator a good talking to and let them go home.' Whereas the woman has the right to choose where she feels the safest and to get the support she needs to stay there.

These attitudes reflect the many negative attitudes towards women with disabilities common in our society.

You'll need to:

Develop a dialogue with women with disabilities.
Get good training and enjoy it - it will be very confronting and empowering.
Ask what mechanisms does your service have to allow for women with disabilities to feed back their experience of your service. For example: Do you have a survey? Does it encourage women to talk about attitudes of the staff? What arrangements do you have to assist a women with disabilities in filling out the evaluation? Is the evaluation available in other formats?
Analyse what the workers' attitudes are - you may want to use checklists or discussion groups.

Process

Create an environment in which it is safe to explore prejudices and attitudes either by using a facilitator or using existing disability awareness training.
Work on the basis that everyone's experience is valuable.
Talk to relevant people about disability awareness; for example Villamanta, Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council.
Develop a component of evaluation which examines attitudes and practices of staff, management, and volunteers, and attach this to their staff appraisal and education review.
Work with women with disabilities to develop questions/scenarios which will attempt to draw out attitudes of the staff as part of the selection criteria for those involved with the service.

Definitely Do

Get disability awareness training by women with disabilities or by women who are well connected to women with disabilities and women with disabilities organisations.
Provide opportunities for staff to mix in other circles where information and contact with women with disabilities is available.
Think about the change the Action Plan will provide/create within the context of women in general.
Build networks.

Definitely Don't

Think that disability training is enough to transform the culture of your organisation. You'll need to go further than that.
Tack any action on making your communication and information accessible onto the end of some existing policies/practices.

Step 3: Consulting and Involving Women with Disabilities

Many women with disabilities will have the valuable knowledge and experience YOU NEED to develop your Action Plan. There are four main ways of involving women with disabilities in the development of your Action Plan.

1. Have equal numbers of women with disabilities and women from the domestic violence sector in the Working Group or any other structure you set up to manage and inform the development of your Action Plan.
2. Consult with women with disabilities to identify: the domestic violence issues for women with disabilities; the barriers preventing or making difficult access to refuges for women with disabilities, and the strategies to eliminate these barriers.
3. Get women with disabilities onto your management structure. Provide any necessary support.
4. Employ women with disabilities.
But don't just do one of these.

You'll need to:

Educate yourself - read literature, don't expect women with disabilities to educate you about domestic violence issues for women with disabilities and issues of access to services (see the bibliography).
Throughout the Action Plan development, implementation, and the evaluation process you will need to have contact with women with disabilities who have: had personal experience of domestic violence and feel comfortable using that experience to assist others, and/or women with disabilities who have expertise in women's services, and/or women with disabilities representing relevant organisations, and/or women who are seen by women with disabilities to represent their situation and views.
You may decide to hold a couple of discussion groups for women with disabilities to discuss: what is domestic violence?; what are the barriers to accessing a service?; what are the strategies to eliminate these barriers?; what is an ideal service?
Distribute a leaflet about the discussion groups which explains: exactly what you will be doing and why; how women with disabilities can be involved; what women with disabilities will get from your consultation; how you will keep them informed about what you are doing with the results of the consultations.
Try to talk to women with a range of disabilities: Contact Women With Disabilities Australia or other women with disabilities groups in your state; Ask if you can put a notice in their newsletter or meet with them.
Talk to advocacy organisations: put a notice in their newsletter; if they have a women's group, see if you can attend a meeting which focuses on issues for your service.
Talk to peak groups (see appendix).
Read reports on violence against women with disabilities or articles on violence written by women with disabilities to inform yourself of the issues for women with disabilities (see appendix).
Set up a library.
Look at the findings from the Woorarra Action Plan.
You need to be aware why you are consulting. You need to consult with women with disabilities because women with disabilities are likely to have the knowledge of what is required and be the experts in how this can be provided.

Process

Establish a set of principles that your service will use for the discussion groups, such as:

Access:

The venue chosen to hold meetings/discussion groups must be accessible and this information provided to women with disabilities.
You will need to offer sign interpreters and ask women to tell you if they need support people present.

Support:

Always have support people present, if required, to assist a woman to participate in the group (especially in the beginning), or to be present should a woman disclose her experience of violence for the first time.

Facilitation:

Have a facilitator who is skilled in working with women with disabilities and who has an understanding of group dynamics (including a variety of strategies to deal with problems in group dynamics that might arise).

Confidentiality:

You will need to:

Explain to women how you will use information.
Ensure women know that no women will be able to be identified.
If you are taping the sessions, explain who will hear them and what will happen to the tapes at the end of the project.
Offer a number of ways in which women with disabilities can participate.
Recognise the different needs of women; for example: Conduct phone interviews; Develop questionnaires; Offer women assistance with transport and support so they can attend the discussion groups; Be flexible, creative and responsive to local community (for example, women with disabilities may want you to attend their group in the consultation process); Get information out to women with disabilities (Use the local newspaper, disability organisations newsletters, neighbourhood houses).

Definitely Do

Plan groups properly, be organised and be open.
Explain the process you will be using to participants and work on any necessary changes in the beginning.
Contact existing groups and utilise the knowledge of others who have done this.
Find an appropriate, skilled facilitator.
Ensure contact with a wide range of groups which reflect the range of disabilities.

Definitely Don't

Consult for the sake of it - consult for a clear purpose and outcome.
Have someone facilitate and take notes at the same time.
Decide not to consult with women with disabilities.

Step 4: Educate your organisation about the DDA

You'll need to:

Get excellent training in the Act from women with disabilities or organisations skilled in delivering training about the DDA (see appendix).
DDA training will need to include: what is direct and indirect discrimination, Action Plans, and what constitutes unjustifiable hardship. The training should also explain the complaints process.
Your organisation will need to have regular training on the rights and responsibilities under the DDA.
Ensure your organisation develops evaluation mechanisms which are able to assess workers' disability awareness, their attitudes and practice.
There must be active involvement in training and follow up training by staff, volunteers and management.
Start getting copies of other community groups' Action Plans, distribute these to staff, management and/or Working Groups, and follow up organisations whose Action Plans seem relevant or good.

Process

Identify and utilise existing resources; there are a number of manuals and videos (see appendix).
Training in DDA for all staff and Management must not be done in isolation from disability awareness training.

Definitely Do

Learn the acronyms and terminology - it will help!
Ensure training in both the DDA and disability awareness is organised at the beginning of the project. All people involved in your Action Plan should be involved in the DDA training, including the Working Group.
Ensure staff get to relevant seminars run by the disability sector and provide feedback to your organisation.
Put your service on the mailing lists of relevant disability organisations to receive their newsletters.
See training as an ongoing process for the life of the service not just for the development of the Action Plan.

Definitely Don't

Just read the DDA and expect to understand it.

Step 5: Ensure you are well supported

'One of the most important issues we learnt is that this process cannot be done in isolation. For a service to develop and implement an Action Plan, other services and peak bodies must be supportive and involved and committed to the same outcome - the Action Plan being not only developed but implemented.' (Woorarra)

You'll need to:

Ask what needs to be in place to ensure workers and management feel supported through the change process.
Enable refuge workers and management to identify the types of support and ways this can be organised. This will be ongoing.
Explore the possibility of the Working Group continuing beyond the actual writing of the Action Plan to actually implementing it.
Explore how women with disabilities, disability organisations and relevant domestic violence services can continue to support the refuge in the implementation of their Action Plan. If the Working Group can't continue, the refuge might decide to meet on a regular basis with women with disabilities and domestic violence organisations, or put out a regular newsletter stating where they are up to with their Action Plan and what assistance you need.
Explore the possibility of a state wide reference group assisting your service and other women's refuges in implementing DDA Action Plans.

Process

Organise and utilise de-briefing and supervision for domestic violence workers
Recognise that women with disabilities may want the opportunity to de-brief throughout their involvement in the Action Plan development and implementation. Work with them to determine how this can be set up.
Set up a support group for staff and management.
Explore setting up an advisory group of women with disabilities.

If services were to attempt this without support, it would be too overwhelming, and it is doubtful the process would be successful.

Definitely Do

Acknowledge and build into work time any new responsibilities workers have in implementing the Action Plan.
Establish networks with women with disabilities, other domestic violence services and domestic violence service providers.
If you don't know keep asking.

Definitely Don't

Be protective of your lack of knowledge.
Keep your struggles, wins and frustrations to yourself.

Step 6: Develop Strategies

Steps to writing an Action Plan:

Step 1: Develop a good working group
Step 2: Familiarise yourself with thebarriers in your service
Step 3: Consult and involve women with disabilities
Step 4: Educate yourself about the DDA
Step 5: Ensure you are well supported
Step 6: Develop strategies

You'll need to:

Use information from discussion groups to develop strategies, and ensure women with disabilities are encouraged to put forward solutions (remember their expertise as a result of their own experience).
Brainstorm solutions with the Working Group.

The following is an example of the format which was utilised by Woorarra to write their Action Plan. The barriers, strategies, responsibilities and outcomes were identified by the Working Group, the discussion groups and Woorarra staff.

Barriers
Disability issues not included in any staff or management induction.

Strategy/Action
Woorarra will develop and maintain a reading kit for new workers and management committee members on issues of gender and disability, and domestic violence and women with disabilities.
Visits to organisations such as the Independent Living Centre will also be part of the induction.

Responsibility
Co-ordinator, Domestic Violence and Incest Resource Centre and Working Party

Timeline
Started August 1997 - ongoing

Outcome
New staff and committee members familiar with issues for women with disabilities.
Staff comfortable with and knowledgeable about working with women with disabilities.

Adopt other services' strategies where appropriate - you don't need to reinvent the wheel. The above is one example of a strategy which could apply to many services, not just Woorarra refuge. If appropriate, use it. There are many others which may also be applicable to your service.

Process

Short/long term planning - prioritise what needs to be done first and what can be done.
To develop strategies, the Working Group, Staff, and the Management (all levels) need to be involved.
If everyone feels a sense of ownership then all stakeholders are likely to have a commitment to implementing these strategies.
Develop realistic time lines and incorporate tasks such as funding negotiations
Link strategies to existing activities and policies. For example, Woorarra's Action Plan will be attached to the 'Inter-refuge sub-group minimum standards document'.

Definitely Do

Develop a written plan of action.
Consult - keep consulting.
Make definite realistic time lines.
Have clear expectations/outcomes.

Definitely Don't

Think that you need an 'expert' to develop strategies.
Develop strategies in isolation.

Step 7: Resourcing the Action Plan

You'll need to:

Utilise what you already have.
Draw and expand on worker skills identified in your staff skills audit.
Identify what costs and what doesn't, then take it to the Working Group to assist in developing priorities and strategies.
Develop a knowledge of what's around. Ask lots of questions - pester people. Compile a list of services that supply and/or hire out the equipment which is needed.
Identify and build networks with services that may have resources and be interested in supporting your service.

To respond in the short term to the barrier in the refuge policy which says a woman needs to supervise her own children, Woorarra have decided the following action. If a woman with a disability comes to the refuge and needs assistance with supervising her child or children, Woorarra will employ a trained integration aide and child care worker to assist the woman with a disability with her child.

Process

Utilise the skills and attitudes audit of the workers.
Be flexible and creative in how you resource the Action Plan.
Utilise the strength of the working group in any negotiations with the relevant Department/s.
Create visibility between the sectors - publicise/promote what you are doing. For example: speak at conferences; put articles in disability and domestic violence newsletters; publicise your successes; let other services know it is possible to make a service accessible; tell others of the benefits of creating an accessible and inclusive service.

Definitely Do

Link into existing structures/peak bodies.
Think laterally.

Definitely Don't

Only look at dollars and resourcing and then do nothing.

Step 8: Negotiating with Relevant Departments

You'll need to:

Inform the relevant Departments of your desire and commitment to develop a DDA Action Plan
Look at their Action Plan if they have one. If they don't, find out what their plans to develop one are.
Invite key workers from the relevant Departments to participate in the Action Plan's development or to be kept up to date.
Introduce the Working Group to regional and/or state Departmental representatives.
Put your best people forward, don't use your negotiating as an opportunity for learning - it is too important. People negotiating need to have problem solving skills.
Consult with the relevant Departments when your service has identified there is a problem.

Process

Identify roles and responsibilities between the Department, the Working Group, the refuge and the refuge peak bodies.
Consult with all Departments and bureaucrats who have responsibility (for example, support services and housing services) at a regional, state and national level.
Be strategic and prepared when meeting with the Departments, be prepared to answer queries on costs and priorities. You may need to inform them of your service's responsibilities under the DDA.
Provide regular up-dates by inviting the Departments to meetings with the Working Group, discussion groups with women with disabilities who have been involved in the project.

Definitely Do

Develop links with relevant people in the Department.
Work collaboratively with other services.
Consult with other services in your state who may be at a similar stage to you, or further down the track.
Invite the Department to Working Group meetings and celebrations, evaluations and any launches.
Involve women with disabilities in any negotiations with the Department.
Ensure that you are well informed of the Department's responsibilities under the DDA.

Definitely Don't

Exclude some of the key players.
Give up easily.

Step 9: Determining Responsibility

You'll need to:

Spend considerable effort in determining and allocating responsibility both in your refuge and in outside agencies.
Ensure everyone is equally responsible for eliminating the barriers to access and participation for women with disabilities. This includes workers, management, volunteers, peak bodies and the relevant government departments.
Have the Action Plan on the agendas of all meetings pertaining to your service, including: staff meetings, management meetings, meetings with regional offices (if relevant) and any strategic planning or evaluation for the service.
Ensure that someone is responsible for keeping the Action Plan on track.

Woorarra example: As part of its implementation strategy, Woorarra will set up a DDA Team to be made up of a staff representative, the Co-ordinator, a management member and a representative from the Working Group, to oversee and co-ordinate week-to-week implementation.

Process

Explore different methods to keep the process alive such as the Woorarra DDA Team, regular meetings with women with disabilities, six monthly evaluation, activities involving the Working Group.

Definitely Do

Allocate and define responsibilities. This process could include building-in certain responsibilities in workers' job descriptions.
Connect responsibility to the interests and positions of workers and management.
Build in recognition of people's involvement, completion of tasks and meeting of objectives.
Celebrate this.

Definitely Don't

Expect roles and responsibilities will fall naturally into place.
Assume that all people who could be involved will offer themselves and recognise their own capabilities - some people might just be waiting to be asked.

Step 10: Evaluation

You'll need to:

Recognise that evaluation is critical because you need to be able to see that not only have you met your goal but that it has achieved the change that was required. If your goal was to have more women with disabilities using your service, how will you know this has been achieved without analysing your statistics?
The success of your Action Plan may be indicated by an increase in the number of women with disabilities using your service, changes to staff attitudes or improvements in the physical accessibility of your premises.
If you don't develop mechanisms for evaluation then your organisation has no way to assess whether it is achieving the goals, and whether the way you are going about implementing your plan is actually producing benifits for women with disabilities or women with a child with a disability.
Section 61 of the DDA refers to the Action Plan having provisions for evaluation. (see earlier section).
Involve women with disabilities and relevant organisations in evaluation.
Build in regular evaluation in your Action Plan.
Identify whether the strategies are appropriate and whether additional barriers are now being highlighted as the Action Plan is being implemented.
Ask how the Action Plan has made a difference.

Process

There is quite a wide range of evaluation techniques that would be useful for your Action Plan. You may find a combination of techniques will be required.
If it is appropriate, it is important to involve women with disabilities who have used your service in the evaluation. Any evaluation needs to also include all workers, management members, volunteers, Working Group members and any relevant disability organisations, women with disabilities networks and, when appropriate, any relevant Departments.
Design and prioritise evaluation strategies which include: analysis of data and statistics; residents' evaluation; staff, management, and volunteer evaluation; questionnaires and surveys; meetings with staff, management, women with disabilities and relevant Departments.
Organise regular evaluation.
Involve people in different ways - sharing facilitation, note taking, designing evaluation.
Be clear about why and what you are evaluating and recognise that evaluation is a process.
You might need to get statistics from other services, such as local domestic violence outreach services or central referral points.
Make sure you work on strategies to then link the outcomes of the evaluation to the implementation of your Action Plan and other organisational processes.

Definitely Do

If one of your goals is to increase the numbers of women with disabilities using your service, make sure you are rigorously collecting the pertinent information. If disability or level of disability is not being appropriately and routinely recorded, then you will have NO evidence to support your perception. For example if, when you come to evaluate, you find you are personally sure that you have worked with more women with disabilities than your records suggest, you will have no evidence to back it up.
Check that from the beginning of the implementation of your Action Plan you are collecting relevant information to assist in the evaluation.

Example: In Woorarra's Action Plan they have identified that in the first Working Group meeting after the Action Plan has been completed, the Working Group will develop some key evaluation strategies to be used in the first six monthly evaluation.

Involve people who know about evaluation and are good at it.
Ask other services about their evaluation strategies and processes.
Explore the opportunity of undertaking evaluation on a sector-wide level, either statewide or on a regional basis.

Definitely Don't