Women with disabilities face significant challenges in accessing healthcare due to the intersection of ableism and gender discrimination. This article by By Dr Parimala Srikanteshwara and Helen Freris explores the Experts in Our Health project, whose goal was to improve healthcare access by valuing the lived experiences of women with disabilities.
Dwarfism Awareness Day
Dwarfism Awareness Day
It’s International Dwarfism Awareness Day! It is a day to celebrate dwarfism (also known as short stature) and to raise awareness to stop the negative stigma.
Check out the awesome blog piece written by Julie, member of our WDV Youth Expert by Experience Group, and Sharing our Expertise Group.
Dwarfism Awareness Day blog Word.
Dwarfism Awareness Day blog PDF.
WDV Annual General Meeting 2024
The Board and staff of Women with Disabilities Victoria are delighted to invite you to our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 12 November 2024 at 1:30pm to share with you our progress from the 2023-24 financial year. Save the date!
This year’s AGM will be held online, find out more, register to attend and apply here.
Shaping Foundational Supports: Your Voice Matters
Shaping Foundational Supports: Your Voice Matters
The Australian Government is exploring a new system of disability supports called “Foundational Supports”.
These supports will be available outside the NDIS, and they aim to fill the gaps in existing services for people who may not be eligible for the NDIS.
Why Foundational Supports Matter
Foundational supports are vital because they ensure that everyone in the disability community has access to the help they need.
Support will cover essential areas like:
- Daily Living: Assistance with everyday tasks and activities.
- Community Access: Support to participate fully in your community.
- Skill Development: Opportunities to learn and grow.
Take Our Survey
Please take a few minutes to complete our short survey and tell us what kind of foundational supports would make a real difference in your life.
Your feedback will directly inform our advocacy efforts and help us ensure that these new supports truly meet the needs of our community.
Women with Disabilities Victoria get a Year’s Funding Reprieve
Women with Disabilities Victoria get a Year’s Funding Reprieve
After weeks of uncertainty, Women with Disabilities Victoria is delighted to announce we have received a further year’s funding for the vital community engagement arm of our organisation. This means our four Hubs across Victoria will reopen and our Women’s Empowerment programs will be offered again. We will be able to retain many of our skilled staff, whose jobs would have been made redundant by the funding shortfall.
We would like to thank you for supporting us, it really boosted our spirits during those uncertain times. The emails that were sent to ministers made a big difference, as did the support on social media, messages, and in the media.
If you’d like to read more about our funding, read our media release below:
WWDA, WWDACT and WDV: Joint statement on Government’s response to the Disability Royal Commission
Women With Disabilities Australia, Women With Disabilities ACT and Women With Disabilities Victoria: Joint statement on Government’s response to the Disability Royal Commission
Women With Disabilities Australia, Women With Disabilities ACT and Women With Disabilities Victoria are deeply disappointed by the Government’s response to the Disability Royal Commission, released this week.
We are concerned that only 13 recommendations of 222 have been fully accepted, with many critical recommendations yet to be resolved across different levels of government.
Read the full statement here: Full Statement
Deep disappointment at Government’s response to the Disability Royal Commission
Missed opportunity to ensure Victorians with disabilities are free from violence abuse and neglect.
The Victorian government’s failure to adopt in full the vast majority of the recommendations made by the Disability Royal Commission ensures the continued mistreatment of Victorians with disability, according to Victorian peak disability organisations.
Celebrating Aunty Jane and her RAP artwork
Celebrating Aunty Jane and her Reconciliation Action Plan artwork
Image description: Aunty Jane is standing holding the painting, smiling and facing the camera. Aunty Jane is wearing a purple jumper with the word “Auntie” written in colourful writing.
Proud Yorta Yorta woman, disability advocate and artist, Aunty Jane Rosengrave yarns with us about creating the original artwork for WDV’s Reconciliation Action Plan – Reflect.
Once kept from her Aboriginal culture, Aunty Jane now thrives within it. Jane is a proud Aunty in her community. Once denied the pride of being a part of the disabled community, Jane is now a leader, empowering others.
Read more about Aunty Jane and her artwork here, including a detailed description of the artwork: Artist Bio and Description.
Video of Jane describing her artwork here: Video
Women with Disabilities Victoria are losing 48% of their funding
Women with Disabilities Victoria (WDV) are losing 48% of our funding resulting in a loss of 36% of our staff, this includes 19 women and non-binary people with disabilities.
We are calling on the Commonwealth Government to urgently address the funding of WDV who without this support will be unable to continue our critical work after June 2024.
WDV CEO Nadia Mattiazzo has stated “I am devastated…speaking personally, and I think also from the rest of us at WDV, we will not let our rage at this situation abate. We will respond to this outrageous lack of understanding for who we are and what we do best.”
Here is how you can help, call on Minister Rishworth and Minister Shorten to urgently address this funding shortfall.
Email the Ministers using the pre-prepared letter here.
Joint Submission – Getting the NDIS Back on Track 2024.
Our joint submission to get the NDIS back on track has been accepted. Great work team! We partnered with Women with Disabilities Australia and Women with Disabilities ACT to compile this submission to ‘National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024 [Provisions]’
Check out our joint submission here: (particularly our 11 recommendations on page 7)
NDIS Bill 2024 Senate Committee Joint Submission PDF
NDIS Bill 2024 Senate Committee Joint Submission Word
Image description: The words “submission accepted!” in a burgundy coloured box sits over an open envelope with a letter inside saying “Joint Submission – ‘National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment”