‘Advancement through Advocacy for Women With Disabilities’
Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA)
Final Report - January 2007
This Project was funded by the Australian Government under the Women’s Leadership & Development Programme, Office for Women, Department of Family, Community Services & Indigenous Affairs.
W / W / D / AThis document was published by:
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Nominee, FrenchRepublics Human Rights Prize 2003
Nominee, UN Millennium Peace Prize for Women 2000
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© Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA)
January 2007
‘Advancement through Advocacy
for Women With Disabilities’
Final Report – January 2007
Thanks
Thanks are extended to the six members of the Reference Group – Louise Bannister, Michele Castagna, Rayna Lamb, Karen McQuigg, Lina Pane and Belinda Wardlaw, for the support they gave to the Project Officer in contributing feedback, expertise, and ideas on Project Activities, as well as giving thoughtful evaluation comments.
Thanks are similarly extended to the three women, Margaret Bayley, Vicki Humphries and Madge Sceriha, who were among the first to put their names on the Register, with whom the Project Officer had ongoing contact, and who consented to contribute to the evaluation of the Project.
WWDA also thanks those who assisted with the Project, including Louise Bannister who researched and developed the Guide for Representatives, and Sheila King who developed the Access Database. The administrative support given by the WWDA Business Manager, Angela Court, is also greatly appreciated. In addition, thanks go to the Workplace Training Advisory of Australia for its contribution to some leadership training.
Finally, thanks are due to the women who are now on the WWDA Register which was developed over the time of the Project. In a spirit of enthusiasm, dedication and hope, they bring to this endeavour a wide range of qualifications and experiences. Their responses reveal a pool of exceptional talent which is as yet, largely untapped. They share the vision of the Project to bring about improvement in the status of women with disabilities in Australian society, by making themselves available to take up representative positions on Advisory Boards in the workplace, in government and in the community.
Sue Salthouse
Project Officer
January 2007
Index
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...... 5
1. BACKGROUND...... 11
2. PROJECT AIM & OBJECTIVES...... 12
3. PROJECT RATIONALE...... 12
4. PROJECT OUTCOMES...... 13
5. PROJECT MILESTONES...... 13
5.1.Develop Project Plan...... 13
5.2.Obtain the services of a woman with a disability as the Project Officer
to implement the Project in conjunction with the Project Manager...... 13
5.3.Establish a Project Reference Group made up of women with disabilities...... 14
5.4.Publicise the Project widely...... 15
5.5.Develop information management capacity building systems...... 15
5.6.Research and Develop tools which can be adapted to support women
with disabilities in their representative and advocacy roles...... 19
5.7.Research and identify opportunities for representation of women with disabilities
on relevant committees, Advisory Bodies and other relevant forums at State, Territory
and national levels...... 20
5.8.Develop WWDA Representation Opportunities Database...... 20
5.9.Develop Progress Performance Report to OFW...... 25
5.10.Develop Final Report for the funding body (OFW)...... 25
5.11.Distribute Project Report widely...... 25
5.12.Undertake Audit of the Project...... 26
6. MATCHING...... 26
7. MENTORING...... 27
8. TRAINING...... 28
9. RECOMMENDATIONS...... 29
10. EXPENDITURE...... 30
11. CONCLUSION...... 30
Executive Summary
Background
Women with disabilities number approximately 2 million and comprise just over ten per cent of the population of Australia. They continue to be one of the most marginalised groups in the population, with a low participation rate in the workforce and over representation in the lowest income strata of our society. Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA), commenced in 1995 and is a human rights, feminist, disability organisation run by women with disabilities for women with disabilities. It also has a primary role in advocacy, supporting its constituents both individually and at a systemic level. WWDA is one of the peak disability bodies in Australia, and one of very few of its kind in the world.
Project Aim & Objectives
The long term goal of the Project is to improve the status of women with disabilities in all aspects of life. In the short term the Project aimed to: develop systems to recruit women with disabilities for systemic advocacy work; develop tools to support them in their representative/advocacy roles; develop systems to maintain capacity building mechanisms for WWDA’s representative work. This included identifying a range of systemic advocacy opportunities. The three primary Project objectives were to build a database Register of WWDA constituents capable of representative work; build a database of potential representative positions, and develop the guidelines which would promote and support high standards of representative work. Particular focus was on areas identified in the WWDA Strategic Plan 2004-2009.
Project Rationale
Over the last 11 years, WWDA’s extensive and successful systemic advocacy work has helped to focus widespread recognition of the low status of women. One consequence is a constant inflow of requests for WWDA constituents to undertake representative work on a wide range of government and non-government bodies. These demands have overstretched WWDA’s capacity. An urgent need to expand the core group of experienced Representatives has become evident. This Capacity Building Project, funded under the Office for Women’s (OfW), Department of Family, Community Services & Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) Women’s Leadership & Development Program, provided a means of addressing this need.
Project Outcomes
The stated Project Outcomes were a practical iteration of the Project Aims & Objectives. In essence two Databases were built, and a Representatives Manual written. Underpinning these précis-ed outcomes are a wealth of research activities, coupled with intensive liaison with officers in State/Territory/Commonwealth Government departments as well as non government (NGO) personnel to set up the systems and processes necessary to achieve successful placement of Representatives. Although initially envisaged as sequential actions, all major Project activities were progressed simultaneously. In this Report the term ‘Advisory Body’ was used to describe a number of entities including Advisory Boards, Reference Groups, Management Committees, Boards of Directors, etc. A Registrant is a person whose name and details are held on a Register Database.
Project Milestones
In early January 2006, WWDA was notified of its successful Grant Application, with funding approved by March, and Project activities officially commenced in April. In fact, the required Project Plan was developed in the interim period between January and March. The Plan identified the Project Milestones and the Timeframe in which they were to be achieved.
(1, 2, 3)Develop Project Plan, Appoint Project Officer and Reference Group
The Project Plan was developed as outlined above, with Sue Salthouse provisionally appointed as Project Officer in March. The need for a Reference Group (RG) was canvassed with WWDA Management Committee and a number of other women with disabilities who had indicated interest. The 6-member group thus formed had a wide range of expertise with excellent backgrounds in systemic advocacy, community development and leadership. Geographically widespread, they were located in Perth, Alice Springs, Noosa, Melbourne and Canberra. The RG ‘conversed’ electronically. Additional liaison was established with the Project Officers of the NSW Network of Women With Disability.
(4)Publicise the Project widely
Two Project flyers were developed, one with graphics and one suitable for screen reader programs. These, and information about the Project were circulated widely through electronic networks, with the WWDA Update Bulletins, through hardcopy mail out and distribution at conferences, service provider offices, educational institutions and government departments. Publicity articles were written for a range of magazines and newsletters. Success of the initial phase became obvious when enquiries and expressions of interest were received from all over Australia including far north Queensland (Cairns), the far north of WA (Broome), the NT and western Tasmania. The publicity elicited responses from a large number of organisations with specific interest in disability and/or systemic advocacy. An operational database with a total of about 100 addresses was built from these enquirers. In addition more than 50 responses from prospective Registrants were received.
(5)Develop information management capacity building systems
These responses were used to begin development of the information management systems. A prototype Register database was begun using all available contact details supplied by the initial Registrants. In addition a separate softcopy folder for each Registrant was opened. These folders contain e-copies of all correspondence with the woman, and a copy of any relevant documents such as CV. Parameters for the WWDA Register Database were drawn up. To develop a uniform set of Registrant details a Registration proforma and curriculum vitaeproforma were written. These were sent to respondents by email (plus hardcopy where required). Responses to the publicity campaign continued to flow in with the Register growing to 80 by August, and a December total of 108. High numbers of responses came from the ACT (21%), Victoria (22%) and Queensland (18%). The Project Officer researched all women’s registers at State/Territory/Commonwealth levels and made personal contact with register administrators. All Registrants were urged to enlist on the appropriate government registers. Getting Registrants to update their initial responses by returning proformas required intensive work which will be ongoing. Details supplied thus far allow some analysis of the characteristics of respondents. There is a wide spectrum of ability and experience levels, with those at the already-skilled end having limited availability for additional advocacy work, in contrast to those at the other end of the spectrum who lack confidence and expertise to undertake work. There is a need for mentoring support, peer support networks, and formal leadership/representative training. This needs to be coupled with awareness training of secretariat/Advocacy Body personnel/government Ministers. Register administration is a time intensive task which could be partially alleviated by establishing online registration facilities. Both measures require funding.
(6)Research and Develop tools which can be adapted to support women with disabilities in their representative and advocacy roles
By early May, work had commenced to develop the ‘Guide for Representatives’ outlining roles and responsibilities of WWDA and its representatives, as well as those of the Advocacy Body. There was no need to reinvent the wheel, excellent exemplars were sought from different sources, including Consumers Health Forum (CHF) & Health Care Consumers Association (HCCA) (ACT branch, and attribution of material directly used is given in the Guide. Coincidental comments from Registrants about consigning voluminous manuals to the ‘round file’ directed the work so that a concise, chatty style booklet was produced. The Guide contains a comprehensive reading list for those interested to pursue this, and indications of where to find the WWDA ‘Guide Extras’ which includes the Representatives’ Code of Ethics, Policies on Confidentiality and Conflict of Interest, Privacy Statement, and Consultants’ Contract proforma. Graphic layout is in the WWDA house style. Initial distribution, along with loose sheet Report proformas, will be to all current representatives. In keeping with WWDA policy for publications, the Guide will be made available in alternative formats as required.
(7)Research and identify opportunities for representation of women with disabilities on relevant committees, Advisory Bodies and other relevant forums[1] at State, Territory and national levels
(8)Develop WWDA Representation Opportunities Database
There is overlap in the above 2 Project Milestones. Two databases of Advisory Bodies have been built – one using the Access program, and the other Excel program. Diverse sources were used to build each. Work on the Access Database has been held in abeyance from October, when it became obvious from contact with register administrators that information about vacancies arising would not be immediately forthcoming from governments. At this stage the Access Database had 84 entries, with 49% from Queensland, 17% from SA, and 11% from Tasmania. This skewed response was dependent how personnel contacted gave feedback. A WWDA volunteer working on the Access Database is a HerveyBay (Q’ld) resident. The types of Advisory Bodies include disability related (31%), community (19%), and education (17%) with 13% being from NGO organisations. This reflects the requests for information about Advisory Bodies in areas of strategic interest to WWDA.
Contact was made with the secretariats of Women’s Advisory Councils, Disability Advisory Councils, directors of State/Territory/Commonwealth Offices for Women and Disability Services as well as register administrators. Discussion is ongoing about workable systems for WWDA to make nominations in response to notification of vacancies. WWDA holds detailed information about Advisory Bodies in State/Territory/Commonwealth government departments except NSW. WWDA now routinely receives notification of vacancies from the Office for Women’s Policy in Victoria. However all other searches for government representative vacancies are conducted internally by the register administrators. Again, this highlights the need for women with disabilities to register at the appropriate government level (including Commonwealth). Obviously it is beyond the scope of the Project to build Databases comparable to those held by governments across Australia.
Information about NGO Advisory Bodies continues to be built. Organisations accredited with the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace (EOWA) continue to be contacted. This is time consuming work, and often does not elicit any response. There are a large number of individual organisations which have responded to WWDA’s request for Registrants. Not all have been personally contacted and only a small percentage will notify WWDA of vacancies. The administrative task of contacting NGOs for vacancy information is onerous.
An increase in the size of all databases is anticipated once the final Project Report is distributed nationally and internationally. Maintaining all databases will require ongoing administrative work.
(9, 10,
11, 12)Develop Progress Performance Report to OFW, Develop Final Report for the funding body (OFW), Distribute Project Report widely, Undertake Audit of the Project
Required Project Reports were delivered to OfW on time. Both the RG members and 3 Project participants contributed to evaluating the Project in January 2007. The final Report will be disseminated widely in hardcopy, including government ministers and departmental personnel at all levels. Softcopies of this Executive Summary will be distributed in the same manner as that used for the initial dissemination of information about the Project. The distribution network will be expanded to include contacts made during the Project. The complete Report will be supplied in hard or soft copy on request, with versions for screen reader programs made available. The last official Project activity will be completed by 28 February 2007. The systems set up during the life of the Project need to continue to operate into the future.
During the course of the Project, a number of additional activities were undertaken.
Matching
As increasing contact was made with the administrators of State/Territory registers, the Project Officer began to receive information about positions where a WWDA Representative was needed. These included invitations to participate in workshops/forums; join Boards/Management Committees; apply for employment positions; or nominate for achievement awards. An increasing amount of time was taken up with trying to make successful matches. A total of 60 attempted matches were made. These included 36% Victorian positions, 21% national and 14% from Queensland. Forty-four percent of the positions offered were with NGO organisations. The types of positions for which matches were sought included 47% Advisory Body members, 25% forum participation, and 9% Management Committee membership.
Overall there was a relatively low uptake of invitations to apply for any of these positions, with only 25% of the invitations eliciting any response from Registrants. Nevertheless in 5 cases, Registrants applied for employment positions advertised (no successful appointments have been made to date); there were 2 successful applications to Advisory Board positions, 7 successful nominations of Registrants to participate in conferences or forums, and 2 occasions of Registrants acting as ad hoc advisors to government personnel in response to enquiry.
Matching is intensive work even where there are internal government notification systems in place. WWDA has to rely on goodwill and personal contact to ‘piggy back’ on these mechanisms. An added complication is that WWDA is trying to also coordinate NGO positions. In addition constant updating of all databases is needed and there is a high turnover of staff at all government levels so that personal contacts can be lost.
Mentoring & Training
Many WWDA Registrants expressed a need for mentoring. Irrespective of confidence or experience levels, both mentor and mentee benefit from such a partnership. The Project Officer sought opportunities for mentoring partnerships to be set up, although this was not done with any formality. Two successful partnerships were achieved, one of which virtually operated for only one meeting. The second partnership is ongoing. Although face-to-face mentoring would be ideal, WWDA Register members are likely to be in different locations, and mentoring will have to be done via phone, internet and correspondence. These can still be very effective and empowering partnerships.
Advocacy training will be essential to enable many of the Registrants to confidently take up representative positions for WWDA. Lack of confidence and lack of experience make many women, whether having disabilities or able-bodies, reticent to even take the initial step of putting in an application to be on the WWDA Register. It was beyond the scope of the Project to organise and/or conduct training for Registrants or prospective Registrants. Opportunities for training have been identified and a database set up. However, funding to locate appropriate training courses and then support Registrants’ participation will be necessary. Considerable time was spent investigating the possibility of a Community Business Partnership between a workplace training business and WWDA. No partnership has been forged as yet.