National Inquiry into Violence, abuse and neglect against people with disability in institutional and residential settings

You can find out more about the Inquiry at this link http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Violence_abuse_neglect

WWDWA Inc spoke at the inquiry here in Perth at the beginning of April. We will also be preparing a written submission. If you would like to have your experiences with violence and abuse heard, you can write your own submission and send it to the Senate. If you are unable to do this and would still like your experiences heard by the Senate, WWDWA Inc is happy to include them in our report in your own words. You don’t have to use your name and your submissions can be as short or as long as you want. Please email rayna@wwdwa.org.au or call 9244 7463. Submissions are due by the end of June, but we will be asking to have ours due by late August.

What WWDWA Inc Has Been Doing

You may notice that there were no April or May forums. The WWDWA Inc Coordinator and Management Committee have been very busy over the last few months behind the scenes – but the monthly forums are still a very important part of our work and will start again in August.

You may notice that there were no April or May forums. The WWDWA Inc Coordinator and Management Committee have been very busy over the last few months behind the scenes in working on some important administrative tasks to make the organisation run more smoothly.

We have also been busy planning for our big project, funded by the DSC, about telling the stories of our members. We will have more information about how you can be a part of this very soon.

We have also been contributing to the National Inquiry into Abuse and Neglect of People With Disabilities.

But the monthly forums are still a very important part of our work and will start again in August.

WWDWA Inc Receives Community Inclusion and Participation Grant

WWDWA Inc is delighted to report that we were successful in receiving a grant through the Disability Services Commission’s Community Inclusion and Participation Grants Program. Women with Disabilities Making our Lives Count: Past, Present and Future, Subiaco, $35,770: Women with disability will tell their stories through a range of art forms, including writing, spoken word, pictures, visual arts and multimedia resources, with an art show held to share the stories with the community. Part of the grant will be used to make our resources and information more accessible via Easy English to women with intellectual disabilities and women with disabilities who have English as a second language.

We are very excited about these projects. Watch this space for more information!

A number of other excellent projects were funded, please click the link for more information.

http://www.disability.wa.gov.au/about-us1/about-us/count-me-in/community-inclusion-and-participation-grants/

Women With Disabilities WA Inc Joins Other Community Organisations In A Call to Remove Exhibitions that Stigmatise People with Mental Health Issues

Media Release

25 September 2014

Women With Disabilities WA Inc Joins Other Community Organisations In A Call to Remove Exhibitions that Stigmatise People with Mental Health Issues

Women With Disabilities WA Inc is deeply concerned that the Royal Agricultural Show has two Family and Kid’s Show Attractions that stigmatise people with mental health issues.
“Bethlem” and “Asylum 3D Spinning Horror” both take stereotypes of people with mental health issues as an object of fear and entertainment.
It is estimated that up to 50% of Australians will experience mental health issues at some point in their life time. Stigma is a major problem to people seeking help and experiencing recovery.
According to leading suicide prevention organisation Lifeline, suicide remains the leading cause of death for Australians aged between 15 and 44. People who are struggling with suicidal feelings are often afraid of seeking help for fear of mistreatment by mental health professionals and institutions.
The exhibitions make light of the dark history of institutional abuse of people with mental health issues and other disabilities. Bethlem actors in the exhibit stereotype consumers as dangerous, unpredictable, physically different from others, while the exhibition encourages consumers to be viewed as a tourist attraction and as an object of fun for the general public.
The Royal Show is Perth’s largest community event and with an estimated 400,000 people children and families viewing these exhibitions will significant undermine stigma reduction efforts in our community.
WWDWA Inc urgently calls on the Royal Agricultural Show and sponsors to:
Immediately close the sideshow exhibitions, and to
Issue an apology to the public for hosting attractions that misrepresent people with mental health issues as an object of fear, humour and entertainment

For more information and media enquiries please contact WWDWA Inc Coordinator Rayna Lamb on 9244 7463 or email rayna@wwdwa.org.au

Female Taxi Drivers In Perth

Women and people with disabilities are often hesitant to take taxis due to the fear of inappropriate behaviour or sexual assault from male taxi drivers.

There are two female taxi drivers here in Perth, both currently working for Swan Taxis.
Zoe – 0433 489 811 – South of the river
Noeline – 0401 950 884 – North of the river

They both drive Maxi Taxis and do wheelchair work, group bookings and and airport bookings. If they are unable to take your job themselves they can recommend other taxi drivers that are trustworthy.

Bella – 0412 474 940 – Black & White Maxi Taxi – mornings

Taxi Drivers Who Sexually Assault Women With Disabilities – What Can We Do About It?

Dear WWDWA Inc members,

Some of you may have heard about the taxi driver who was recently charged with sexually assaulting women with disabilities who were passengers in his Maxi Taxi. If you haven’t, or don’t know much about what happened, you can read the following links for more information:

Taxi Driver Charged With Sexually Assaulting Disabled Woman

Cabbie Admits To Raping Passengers

An Unlikely Hero

Sexual assault is a very difficult thing to talk about. Especially for women with disabilities. But as hard as it is, we need to talk about it. We need to talk about how it affects us. We need to talk about what could have been done to prevent the assaults, we need to talk about what would make us feel and be safer. Often the solutions that are provided by service providers and the able-bodied community are ones that just make us feel more silenced and vulnerable.

So this is the time for us to speak up, not as individuals, but as a group, as many voices with different experiences, but with the same desire to feel safe in our lives in our community. But we need to talk to each other before we can have an effective voice, for so many of us it is too frightening and overwhelming to do it on our own.

WWDWA Inc Members, how would you like to have this conversation? Would you prefer to have a forum about this, or have a survey you can answer without giving your name, or contact WWDWA Inc privately to give your thoughts and ideas? Or is there some other way you would feel comfortable in telling us your story? What would make you feel safer when travelling by taxi?

What do you want us to tell government departments, service providers and the community?

Welcome starecase – the new magazine for people with disabilities by people with disabilities

Earlier this month a new magazine for people with disabilities started – `starecase’

“In Australia, we do a lot of talking about disability.
But we don’t always talk about the important things.
What it’s like to live our lives.
What its like when people do things ‘for’ and ‘to’ us, not ‘with’ us.
What its like to have ‘special’ things for ‘special people’, instead of being part of the rest of Australia.
We want to talk about the things that matter. To us, not them.
We want to say it out loud.
And if they’re not listening, we will say it louder.”

You can find copies of starecase on the starecase website

They want to hear from all people with disabilities. If you have something to say about living with a disability, they want to publish it!

People With Disabilities Australia Access to Voting Survey

PWDA Access to Voting Survey

Following the recent Federal Election, we want to hear from people with disability across Australia about your experience of voting.

People with disability have the right to accessible voting to ensure that OUR VOICE and OUR CHOICES are heard by government. Accessible voting requires polling places that are accessible, voting methods that are secret, and information about elections in accessible formats.

PWDA has put together this short survey so that YOU can tell us about your experience, positive or negative, of voting in the 2013 Federal Election. Access To Voting Survey

The survey will be open for 2 weeks until midnight Sunday 29 September.

Using the results of the survey we will write to the Australian Election Commission to tell them what they are doing well, what needs improvement, and to make recommendations about what should change. We will also write to the Election Commission in YOUR State or Territory to help them make local and State elections more accessible for people with disability.

Please pass on the survey to other people with disability and help us to reach 500 responses! People with disability have the right to full political participation, the more responses we get the louder your call for voting equality!

For more information about voting and elections or if you have any questions please contact Ngila Bevan ngilab@pwd.org.au or call 02 9370 3100

Women With Disabilities Access to the Criminal Justice System – Have Your Say!

Women With Disabilities WA Inc will be making a submission to the Human Rights Commission about Access to Justice in the Criminal Justice System for People With Disabilities. If you would like to have your experiences and thoughts on this important issue included in our submission, please contact us via email, Facebook message or phone by Tuesday 20 August.

We apologise for the short time frame, but this is an important issue for so many women with disabilities and it is important that we have our say. For more information please go to http://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/access-justice-criminal-justice-system-people-disability-issues-paper-april-2013

The Australian Human Rights Commission is concerned that many people with disability who need communication supports or who have complex and multiple support needs are not having their rights protected, and are not being treated equally, in the criminal justice system. This is happening to children, young people and adults with disability. It is happening to people with disability who are victims of crime, accused of crimes, witnesses, defendants and offenders. It is happening in police stations, courts, prisons and juvenile institutions, and other corrective services across Australia.

Questions from discussion paper:

What are the biggest barriers for you or other people with disability in the criminal justice system?

What could be done to remove these barriers and help people with disability in the criminal justice system?

Can you provide information about support that has helped you or other people with disability to participate in the criminal justice system?

Please tell us about any time that you or another person with disability experienced barriers to justice.

Do you have any other thoughts, ideas or comments you would like to make about people with disability and the criminal justice system?

National Inquiry Announced: Reducing Legal Barriers For People With Disabilities

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus QC announced today that he is asking the Australian Law Reform Commission to inquire into how to reduce legal barriers to people with disabilities.

“I want to make sure that existing Commonwealth laws and legal frameworks do not create barriers to people with disability exercising their rights and legal capacity,” Mr Dreyfus said.

“Most of us take for granted the independent decisions we make about our lives. People with disability deserve the same opportunity.

“This inquiry is about maximising choice and autonomy for Australians with disability.”

Minister for Disability Reform Jenny Macklin said that people with disability are entitled to the dignity that comes from being able to make choices over their own lives.

“Ensuring that people with disability have access to the same rights and opportunities as Australians without disability is a hallmark of a just society,” Ms Macklin said.

“As we celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act, it is fitting that we consider whether our laws are adequately supporting people with disability.

“The announcement of this inquiry coincides with the upcoming launch of DisabilityCare Australia, the national disability insurance scheme, a significant reform that will transform the way people with disability are supported and put choice and control in the hands of people with disability.”

Consultation on draft terms of reference for ALRC inquiry into equal recognition before the law and legal capacity for people with disability

The consultation seeks stakeholder views on draft terms of reference for an Australian Law Reform Commission inquiry into equal recognition before the law and legal capacity for people with disability. The inquiry will consider:
• Commonwealth laws and legal frameworks that deny or diminish the rights of people with disa bility to make their own decisions, and
• act on their own behalf, and what, if any, changes could be made.

The Draft Terms of Reference can be downloaded in PDF or Word at:
http://www.ag.gov.au/Consultations/Pages/ConsultationondrafttermsofreferenceforALRCinquiryintoequalrecognitionbeforethelawandlegalcapacityforpeoplewithdisability.aspx

The Australian Government invites stakeholders to make submissions outlining their views on the draft Terms of Refer ence. If you would like to make a submission, send it:

by email to:
disabilityrights@ag.gov.au

by mail to:
Submission – legal capacity
Human Rights Policy Branch
International Law & Human Rights Division
3-5 National Circuit
Barton ACT 2600

Electronic submissions are preferred where possible.

The closing date for submissions is 28 June 2013.

If you cannot make a submission in either of the above ways and would like to express your views by another method, you can contact the Human Rights Policy Branch on 02 6141 6666 or disabilityrights@ag.gov.au