Joint Statement from Women with Disabilities Australia, Women with Disabilities ACT and Women with Disabilities Victoria

Posted on by Kayla Morton

Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA), Women with Disabilities ACT (WWDACT), and Women with Disabilities Victoria (WDV) stand united in our endorsement of WWDA’s 2025 Federal Election Platform and 2025-26 Federal Budget Response.

WDV’s Acting CEO, Julie Kun, says that: “21.8% of all women and girls in Australia identify as having disability. It is imperative that our needs are addressed by the government. We all deserve to live with safety, respect, and access to the health and community support we need. The government’s implementation of Australian Peak Bodies for women with disabilities endorsed federal platform and budget response, is essential to making this a reality.”

To read the full joint PDF statement, click the link below.

Joint Statement – Endorsement

WDV Youth Blog: Endometriosis Awareness Month

Posted on by Kayla Morton

March is Endometriosis awareness month. Sharing their experiences with the disease that affects 1 in 7 people assigned female at birth is WDV Youth Expert by Experience Teagan Mitchell.

Sharing ‘endo facts’ and her own experiences, Teagan hopes to provide a greater understanding of invisible disability and the condition.

Click the link to read the full piece:

WDV Youth Blog – Endometriosis Awareness Month

Pleasure and Consent – Discussion Paper Released

Posted on by [email protected]

Pleasure and Consent – Discussion Paper Released

Women and gender diverse people with disabilities in Australia face significant barriers to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and experience higher rates of sexual and intimate partner violence.

Physical, structural, and attitudinal barriers limit access to SRH care and violence prevention. The findings of this discussion paper demonstrate that a pleasure-based approach in healthcare and within gender based violence prevention programs can challenge harmful narratives and support sexual agency for women and gender diverse people with disabilities.

To address these concerns, WDV’s Victorian Women’s Health Program (VWHP), with support from the Gender and Disability Workforce Development Program (G&D), are developing resources on pleasure and consent to improve SRH outcomes and prevent violence.

Read the media release:

Increasing access to pleasure and consent for women and gender diverse people with disabilities – Word Document

Read the discussion paper:

Pleasure and Consent for Women and Gender Diverse People with Disabilities: Discussion-Paper – Word Document 

WDV Youth Blog: Mental Health and Disability

Posted on by Kayla Morton

Mental Health and Disability

Mental health is a good example of inclusion: someone can experience mental health challenges regardless of who they are – it does not discriminate. Anyone can be affected, and there are many reasons and circumstances in which difficulties can arise.
Fortunately, although you might feel alone, there are people out there who can relate and understand you. There is help.

Youth Expert by Experience, Emma Jago, thoughtfully explores disabled identity and mental health challenges in the blog below. Click the link to read the full piece:

WDV Youth Blog – Mental Health and Disability

Free Short-term Technical Advice and Assistance!

Posted on by Kayla Morton

Free Technical Advice and Assistance for Building Disability Access and Inclusion in the workplace! 

Are you a Victorian organisation looking to enhance employee disability access and inclusion from recruitment to onboarding and ongoing support? If so, WDV is here to help! 

We are offering FREE short-term advice and assistance to organisations committed to recruiting and supporting women and gender-diverse people with disabilities as employees or leaders. This incredible opportunity is part of our Sharing our Expertise project, leveraging our extensive experience to foster inclusive workplaces. 

Interested? Please contact us on social media or via emailing the Advocacy Lead, Helen Freris, at [email protected].

Applications are now open for the 2025 Brenda Gabe Leadership Award!

Posted on by [email protected]

Applications are now open for the 2025 Brenda Gabe Leadership Award!

Celebrating Women and Gender Diverse People with Disabilities

Women with Disabilities Victoria is excited to announce that nominations for the 2025 Brenda Gabe Leadership Award are now open.

If you know a woman or gender diverse person with disabilities who is making a difference for other women and gender diverse people with disabilities, please consider them for this award.  

You can nominate yourself or your group (self-nomination), or any individual who identifies as a woman or gender diverse person, who meet all the following criteria:

Identifies with the values and ethos of WDV; and

  • Is 18 years or older; and
  • Identifies as living with a disability/disabilities; and
  • Resides in Victoria.

We welcome nominations for people who have been put forward previously and continue their leadership endeavours for women and gender diverse people with disabilities.

All award nominees are acknowledged and celebrated at our Members Event on Tuesday the 27th of May 2025. Shortlisted nominees are invited to attend the event in person and bring a supporter with them. The winner receives $2,000 for professional development.  Many previous nominees have shared what a difference it made to them to be recognised.

About the Award

Read about the award in the flyer below and on the Brenda Gabe Leadership Award page on our website.  

BGLA 2025 Flyer

How to nominate

Nomination Guidelines 

Nomination Form

You can fill in the nomination form below. You can also access the nomination form directly at this link.

WDV’s 2022 AGM and Members lunch event

WDV’s 2022 AGM and Members lunch event

Posted on by Ben Crompton

WDV’s 2022 AGM and Members lunch event is coming soon! 

WDV’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Members lunch event will be held on Tuesday 8 November from 11:00am to 3:00pm.  This will be a hybrid meeting – so you can choose to attend face-to-face at the Isabella Fraser Room, State Library Victoria, Melbourne or online via Zoom. This year the AGM will be followed by a Members lunch event including a guest speaker. 

More information about the AGM and Members lunch event, how to register, and how to nominate for a position on the Board of WDV will be available in the coming weeks.

New Resources – Family Violence Response for Women with Disabilities Guides

New Resources – Family Violence Response for Women with Disabilities Guides

Posted on by WDV
Quick Links

New Resources – Family Violence Response for Women with Disabilities Guides

WDV’s Workforce Development Team are proud to have produced two new resources:

Family Violence Response for Women with Disabilities Guide (Microsoft Word version); and,

Family Violence Response for Women with Disabilities – A quick guide to safely managing disclosures (Microsoft Word version)

These resources outline the best practice response to violence against women with disabilities, including supporting a woman who discloses experiencing violence, and lists a number of referral services.

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