Tag: 2025
-
Submission: ACT Public School System Resourcing Review
AFI, Women with Disabilities ACT (WWDACT) and ACT Down Syndrome & Intellectual Disability (DSID) have made a joint submission to the ACT Public School System Resourcing Review. Our submission argues that inclusive education cannot succeed without structural investment and sustained resourcing to close the gap between policy intent and lived experience.
Inclusive education is fundamental to safety, participation and long-term social and economic outcomes for students with disability. While the ACT Government has committed to inclusion, families, teachers and students are reporting a system under significant strain. Students continue to experience inadequate staffing, inconsistent adjustments, inaccessible environments, informal “reset days” that function as undocumented suspensions, and a growing drift toward segregation through small group programs and specialist settings.
These are system-level resourcing failures, not failures of individual teachers. Schools are being asked to deliver increasingly complex supports without the staffing, specialist capability or administrative infrastructure required to do so. The result is exclusion in practice — including students missing excursions, assemblies and mainstream learning opportunities due to insufficient support.
The ACT Disability Caucus calls for substantial reform to the resourcing model, including:
- A significant increase in disability loading for ACT public schools
- Adequate numbers of trained Learning Support Assistants across all settings
- Dedicated administrative and coordination roles to relieve pressure on teachers
- Investment in physical and digital accessibility and universal design
- Improved access to allied health and specialist supports
- Transparent annual reporting on disability funding, enrolment, exclusion patterns and workforce capacity
- Stronger cross-system coordination between Education, NDIS, Health and Child & Youth Protection
We also emphasise that funding reform must account for intersecting needs, including autistic students, students with intellectual disability, First Nations children, culturally and linguistically diverse families, and students with co-occurring mental health conditions.
The ACT Disability Caucus supports an education system where every child can attend, participate and thrive on an equal basis with their peers. Achieving this requires structural investment, sustained funding and system-wide capability — not reliance on goodwill alone.
You can read the full submission below.
-
Apply for the Lived Experience Panel – Sexual Health Project
WWDACT is looking for 5 women and gender diverse people with disabilities to join a new Lived Experience Panel. The Panel is part of a new project WWDACT is doing with Women’s Health Matters to scope sexual health, information and education services available to women with disabilities in the ACT.
Who is eligible to be on the panel?
To be on the Panel you must be:
- A woman, non-binary and/or gender diverse person
- A person with disabilities / disabled person
- Living, studying, working or accessing health services in the ACT
- 18 years or older
The Panel is open to anyone who identifies as a person with disabilities or disabled person. You do not need a diagnosis in order to be eligible for the Panel.
We try to ensure our Panel represents a diverse range of experiences. Everybody is welcome to apply! However, we especially encourage applications from the following groups:
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- Older person
- Person with an intellectual disability
- LGBTQIA+
- Transgender, non-binary and/or gender diverse
- Culturally and linguistically diverse and/or a Person of Colour
- Detainee
- Unpaid carer
- Temporary visa / asylum seeker
What does the Panel do?
The Lived Experience Panel will give accountability and advice to the project team that is conducting the project. The Panel will ensure that oversight of the project has input from people with disabilities.
If you are on the panel we may ask you to share your experience of:
- Attempting to access sexual health services in the ACT
- Attempting to access sexual health information and/or education in the ACT
Members of the Lived Experience Panel may be asked to:
- Review our proposed consultation and scoping approach
- Give feedback on our approach to consultation to ensure we are reflecting the diverse needs and priorities of the disability community
- Give feedback on our consultation findings and the themes we identified
- Give feedback on the draft report and recommendations
You don’t have to have experience or extensive knowledge in order to apply! We will support you to give feedback on the project.
How do we choose our members?
We will aim to maintain a diverse range of lived experience on the Panel. This includes people with different disabilities or disability types, and different intersecting identities.
In the application, we will ask you about your knowledge of and experience accessing sexual health information and services. You don’t need to have any specific experience to be eligible to apply.
Administration information
The Panel will meet 2-3 times, once in March 2026, once in July 2026, and possibly in August 2026. These timeframes are subject to change.
We meet online over Zoom. Automatic closed captioning and transcripts are provided. A meeting agenda and papers will be provided at least a week before each meeting, and minutes will be shared within 2 weeks after the meetings.
We will do our best to meet other access needs – please let us know what would help you participate.
Panel members are remunerated $250 per session, in the form of an invoice or gift card.
The full terms of reference for the Panel are available below as a PDF.
How to apply
You can find a link to the application form below.
We accept video or audio submissions, as well as written application forms. Let us know if we can make the form more accessible for you.
If you need more information about the Lived Experience Panel and the application process, you can email Pippa, WWDACT Senior Policy Officer (policy@wwdact.org.au)
Applications close March 11th at 5pm.
-
Submission to the ACT Budget Consultation 2026-27
WWDACT has made a submission to the ACT budget process. We are calling for:
- Increased funding for violence prevention
- Support for parents with disabilities
- Support for sexual and reproductive health
- Inclusion of women and non-binary people with disabilities in policy consultation processes
You can read our submission below.
-
Submission to the Inquiry into ACT Health system data, demand and processes
WWDACT made a submission to the independent Inquiry into ACT Health system data, demand and processes.
As part of preparation for this submission, WWDACT surveyed our members.
We received 22 survey responses from women and non-binary people with disabilities. They talked about their experiences in the public healthcare system.
WWDACT also consulted with our Policy Advisory Committee, consisting of 6 women and non-binary people with lived experience of disabilities.
You can read our submission below.
-
Policy Advisory Committee nominated for an Inclusion Award!
WWDACT is thrilled to announce that our Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) has been nominated for a Chief Minister’s Inclusion Award – Excellence in Collaborating with people with Disability.
Over the past 3 years the PAC have been involved in all elements of WWDACT’s advocacy. The issues they have advocated on range from access to healthcare, voluntary assisted dying, sexual health and reproductive rights, inclusion of LGBTQIA+ Canberrans with disability, violence prevention, leadership, workplace rights and more.
Advocacy from the PAC has resulted in a push for the ACT Government to fund a Perinatal Mental Health Centre. The PAC have increased awareness around the reproductive rights of people with disabilities, including in the media. They also collaborated with other community organisations, for example collaborating with Women’s Health Matters on survey wording in Women’s Health Matters Survey of Women’s Health in the ACT, to ensure it includes the experiences of people with disabilities.
A special mention to PAC member Robyn Davis who has worked with WWDACT to design and implement ‘Silver Collage Club’ addressing isolation of older women with disabilities. Robyn has been nominated for a ‘Leader in Inclusion’ award for her work. PAC member Taryn Lee has also been nominated for a ‘Leader in Inclusion’ award for their leadership in the disability community.
Congratulations to the PAC for this recognition, and we look forward to celebrating their nomination at the inclusion awards on the 10th December.
-
Workshop Resource: Budgeting 101 and Disability
Event Details
An empowering workshop to identify existing skills and build knowledge to assist with budgeting for life.
Living with disabilities creates extra financial challenges.
This empowering workshop helped people identify their existing skills to assist with budgeting for life.
This workshop included:
- Feelings around finances and budgeting
- How to track income and expenses
- Budgeting apps
- Essential budgeting skills
- Share neuroaffirming success tips
Slides:
Resources:
-
Workshop Resource: Living well and thriving as a neurodivergent person
This was a neuro-affirming workshop on physical activity, mental wellbeing, sleep and nutrition for those with differences in communication, habits,
It was for all neurodivergent people: including anyone who experiences differences in memory, motivation, habit formation, energy, focus, circadian cycles, social communication, and sensory processing.
Ebe shared neuro-affirming and tailored information about:
- physical activity and exercise
- mental wellbeing, and
- sleep
Margo from Whole Body Nutrition is a neuro-affirming Practicing Nutritionist and shared information on cultivating a healthy relationship with food and sensory feeding differences.
Slides:
Resources:
-
2025 Annual General Meeting
The Women with Disabilities ACT (WWDACT) (ABN 74 908 530 982) Annual General Meeting for 2025 will be held on Thursday 6 November from 5:30pm-7pm, via Zoom. Please register for the AGM here.
AGM Documents
The AGM agenda, financial statements & auditor’s report, proposed constitutional changes, and 2024 AGM minutes can all be downloaded via the Eventbrite event page after you register.Board Nominations and Elections
We have received 2 nominations to fill 4 positions for the WWDACT Board to serve a 2 year term. Our nominations are:- Suzanne Gearing
- Diana Malik
This means we will have no contested elections this year and all nominees will be confirmed to the Board at the AGM. If you would like to know more about the nominees, they have provided some short bios that are included in the agenda document.
Constitutional Changes
This year we have a number of constitution changes to pass. These are to allow organisations to join and support WWDACT as organisational members, and to bring our meeting notice periods inline with the law. The specific details are included in the AGM documents; a summary of the changes and an explanation are in the Agenda, along with a copy of the complete revised constitution. If you would like to read the current constitution, it can be downloaded from our website at https://wwdact.org.au/constitution/.Membership
You must be a member to vote at the AGM. New members are welcome to sign up here, now and on the night.We look forward to seeing you there on the 6th November!
