Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA)
Update Report January/February 2008
Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) is the peak organisation for women with all types of disabilities in Australia. It is a not-for-profit organisation constituted and driven by women with disabilities. It is the only organisation of its kind in Australia and one of only a very small number internationally. WWDA is inclusive and does not discriminate against any disability. WWDA is unique, in that it operates as a national disability organisation; a national women's organisation; and a national human rights organisation (more information about WWDA can be found at the organisation’s extensive website: www.wwda.org.au). Please find below a brief Update Report from WWDA for the months of January/February 2008. If you have any questions, or would like more information on anything in this report, please email Carolyn or Shirley at: . Previous Update Reports are available on the WWDA website at: www.wwda.org.au/bulletin.htm
Contents:
1. World Conference of Women's Shelters
2. United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - Update
3. Draft National Patient Charter of Rights
4. Australian Government Social Inclusion Board
5. WWDA Submission to the Review of the Family Violence Act (Tasmania)
6. Victorian Women with Disabilities Network Advocacy Information Service – Building the Evidence Project
7. Challenge Grant to End Violence Against Women
8. Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
9. Communiqué: Special Meeting of Disability Ministers, Melbourne
10. United Nations experts welcome Australia’s apology to indigenous peoples
11. New Report: State of the World's Children 2008
12. New Book: A Deafening Silence: Hidden Violence Against Women and Children
13. National Disability Advocacy Program (NDAP) Review - Second Consultation
14. WWDA Resource Manual on Violence Against Women With Disabilities
15. Join WWDA!
1. World Conference of Women’s Shelters
Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) in conjunction with the Disabled Women’s Network (DAWN) Canada, have submitted a proposal to present a paper and workshop at the first ever World Conference on Shelters, to be held in Alberta, Canada, September 8 – 11, 2008.
The Conference, ‘Discovering the Common Core: Practical Frameworks for Change’ will present a new opportunity for family violence workers in Alberta and around the world to learn from international experts and each other. The Conference host, Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters, state: “Too often, women's shelter work is overlooked in discussions on family violence, when in reality they are at the forefront of dealing with this issue. This Conference will increase the capacity of shelters in Alberta, across Canada, and around the world to affect change in their organizations and their communities to better meet the needs of ethnocultural, multicultural and racial communities when dealing with family violence.”
WWDA and DAWN’s proposal ‘Forgotten Sisters: Recognising and Responding to Domestic Violence in the Lives of Women with Disabilities’ will address a range of issues, including for example, incidence, prevalence, barriers to services, key strategies to end and prevent violence against women with disabilities. Central to WWDA and DAWN’s presentation is the need for meaningful engagement with women with disabilities so that their experiences and their views are integral to identifying potential solutions and building successful interventions.
WWDA and DAWN are now awaiting confirmation from the Conference organisers to see if our presentation has been accepted. Should we be successful we will then need to work hard to secure the funds to enable our representatives to attend.
For more information:
Discovering the Common Core: Practical Frameworks for Change
September 8 – 11, 2008, Edmonton, Alberta CANADA
Web: www.womenshelter.ca/home_en.php
2. United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - Update
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its Optional Protocol were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 13 December 2006, and opened for signature on 30 March 2007. On 30 March, 81 Member States and the European Community signed the Convention, the highest number of signatures of any human rights convention on its opening day. 44 Member States signed the Optional Protocol, and 1 Member State (Jamaica) ratified the Convention. The Convention was negotiated during eight sessions of an Ad Hoc Committee of the General Assembly from 2002 to 2006, making it the fastest negotiated human rights treaty. The Convention aims to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy human rights on an equal basis with others.
As of 8 February 2008, there were 16 ratifications of the Convention, and 10 ratifications of the Optional Protocol. The Optional Protocol allows the UN to receive and consider communications from or on behalf of individuals or groups of individuals subject to its jurisdiction who claim to be victims of a violation by that State Party of the provisions of the Convention.
Having signed the CRPD, Australia has signaled its intention to ‘continue the treaty-making process’ (UN 1999). Ratification, on the other hand, is where a country officially decides that it wants to become a State Party to a convention.
Australia is now at the point of undertaking the process of ratification. This will involve a number of processes, including a National Interest Analysis (NIA), which examines the foreseeable economic, environmental, social and cultural effects of the Convention; the obligations imposed by the treaty; its direct financial costs to Australia; how the treaty will be implemented domestically; and what consultation has occurred in relation to the treaty. On completion of the NIA, it will be tabled in both Houses of the Australian Parliament along with texts of the Convention.
WWDA is currently participating in a series of Consultations being undertaken as part of the Australian Government’s National Interest Analysis in relation to the ratification of the CRPD. These consultation workshops aim to obtain the views of the disability sector about:
· Australia’s current level of compliance with CRPD obligations;
· The foreseeable economic, environmental, social and cultural effects of implementation of the CRPD within Australia, including the likely costs of implementation;
· The ways in which the Australian government should implement the CRPD in Australia;
· Whether Australia’s ratification of the CRPD and its Optional Protocol should be accompanied by policy instruments to clarify or modify their effect in Australian law.
The Consultations with the disability sector are being conducted by People with Disability Australia (PWDA). PWDA has prepared a Background Paper entitled ‘Impacts in Australia of Ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’. If anyone would like a copy of this Paper emailed to them, please contact .
3. Draft National Patient Charter of Rights
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care is seeking written submissions on a draft National Patient Charter of Rights. The National Charter of Rights will underpin the provision of safe and high quality health care and support a shared understanding of the rights and responsibilities of patients, consumers and health care providers.
A Consultation Paper has been developed and provides background information regarding the development of the patient charter, discussion of how a charter might be used, and a draft charter. The paper also includes a summary of the issues and questions on which the Commission is seeking feedback.
A PDF version of the Consultation Paper is available from the Commission’s website at: www.safetyandquality.gov.au
WWDA has requested a Word or RTF version of the Paper, and has also requested the Commission to make an accessible version available on its website.
The Commission will be accepting written submissions up to 7 March 2008. Submissions marked “National Patient Charter of Rights” should be mailed to:
GPO Box 5480
SYDNEY NSW 2001
Or email to
Please contact Dr Nicola Dunbar via email on should you require any further information about this initiative.
4. Australian Government Social Inclusion Board
The Rudd Labor Government has sought expressions of interest from energetic leaders with a record of achievement in the private, public and not for profit sectors as inaugural members of the Australian Social Inclusion Board. They will work with Government to champion social inclusion and pursue specific inclusion goals. The Government is looking for leaders who can use their networks, expertise or entrepreneurial skills to tackle disadvantage and maximise economic and social participation. Members will be appointed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister for up to three years. The Board will meet at least six times in its first year with meetings and consultations around Australia. It will provide advice and input on major aspects of the social inclusion agenda including the use of evidence, innovative solutions and ‘whole of government’ strategies.
WWDA has supported Margie Charlesworth (WWDA Secretary) to submit an Expression of Interest to the Australian Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet for the Australian Social Inclusion Board. The public announcement of the successful applicants is anticipated for late February/early March.
5. WWDA Submission to the Review of the Family Violence Act (Tasmania)
WWDA recently provided a submission to the Review of the Family Violence Act (Tasmania). This Act was introduced to enable the delivery of the integrated ‘Safe at Home’ response to family violence. The objectives of Safe at Home are to: achieve a reduction in the level of family violence in the medium to long term; improve safety for adult and child victims, and change the offending behaviour of those responsible for the violence.
‘Safe at Home’ involves a range of services working together to protect and support victims of family violence, including young people and children, while making offenders responsible for their behaviour. Safe At Home is based on the following principles:
· The safety of victims is paramount,
· Police are responsible for providing immediate intervention to secure victim safety and manage the risk that the offender might repeat or escalate the violence,
· The victim does not determine the response of the justice system,
· Family violence is a crime and arrest and prosecution will occur wherever evidence of an offence exists,
· Wherever possible victims should be able to choose to remain in or return (as soon as possible) to their own homes, and
· The criminal justice response to family violence should be seamless and the roles and responsibilities of each participating agency and service should be clear.
For the purposes of WWDA’s submission to the Review, WWDA concentrated on addressing two main areas: the 'Definition of Relationship'; and the 'Definition of Domestic Violence. WWDA believes that these two areas set the scope of the legislation and are of significant importance to women with disabilities in this context. WWDA’s submission continues to stress the need for domestic violence legislation to incorporate a definition and description of 'family' and/or 'domestic relationship' which is sufficiently broad to cover:
· spousal relationships (past and present);
· intimate personal relationships (past and present, including dating relationships, same sex relationships, and non-sexual intimate personal relationships);
· family relationships (with a broad definition of relative which also reflects the extent of kinship and family relationships within indigenous and CALD communities);
· formal and informal care relationships (between a person and a carer which takes place for fee or reward, or for no fee or reward); and,
· persons who are ordinarily members of a household.
WWDA also recommends that: ‘any definition of 'domestic/family violence' must be inclusive of the forms of violence as experienced by women with disabilities’, and that the wording of the Family Violence Act (Tasmania) must be specific enough to encompass the circumstances and contexts within which women with disabilities experience domestic/family violence.
For more information about the Review of the Family Violence Act (Tasmania), contact:
Ms Kylie Smith
Family Violence Act Review,
Urbis, Level 12, 120 Collins St
Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: 03 86634830
Email:
6. Victorian Women with Disabilities Network Advocacy Information Service – Building the Evidence Project
The Victorian Women with Disabilities Network Advocacy Information Service (VWDN AIS), in conjunction with the University of Melbourne is undertaking a research project entitled ‘Building the Evidence’. This Project aims to work with government and the relevant family violence and disability sectors to improve the capacity of family violence services to respond to women with disabilities experiencing violence. It will make recommendations to government and relevant sectors for improvements in service responses, training, data collection, evaluation and monitoring processes. The main objectives of the Project are to:
· Identify current family violence sector standards and the gaps in standards in relation to supporting women with disabilities;
· Identify, document and make recommendations about current data collection processes by government and relevant sectors;
· Document findings about the incidence and nature of violence against women with disabilities in Victoria, drawing upon current data collection processes;
· Document the workforce development needs and training initiatives of the family violence sector and, where feasible, the disability sector;
· Document best practice initiatives being undertaken by the family violence sector to support women with disabilities experiencing violence;
· Identify human rights conventions and their implications for services supporting women with disabilities experiencing violence;
· Consult with women with disabilities who are no longer living in violent situations about their experiences of seeking assistance in combating the violence.
/ For more information about the ‘Building the Evidence’ Project:Lucy Healy, Research Co-ordinator
Victorian Women with Disabilities Network Advocacy Information Service (VWDN AIS)
Ph: 03 9664 9317 (Tues, Wed, Thurs)
Email:
Web: www.whv.org.au/vwdn/
7. Challenge Grant to End Violence Against Women
In late January 2008, the United Nations Foundation announced its support for the “Say NO to Violence against Women” campaign. The UN Foundation was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. The UN Foundation builds and implements public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach.