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Tag: Parenting

  • Submission to the Legislative Assembly Inquiry into Raising Children in the ACT

    Women with Disabilities ACT has made a submission to the Inquiry into Raising Children in the ACT. Parents with disabilities in the ACT (in particular women*) have unique experiences, barriers and
    challenges and are too often left out of policies and programs. Our submission highlights these unique experiences, and points to policy considerations and actions to address issues faced by parents with disabilities in the ACT.

    We address a range of issues in our submission: including cost of living pressures, availability of affordable housing, support networks, access to health services, support for prospective parents, access to fertility treatments, the increased risk of interaction with the child protection system for parents with disabilities, and gendered violence.

    We were invited to give evidence at the public hearing for this inquiry, and recordings are available through the Legislative Assembly website.

    You can read our submission below.

    WWDACT-Raising-Children-in-the-ACT-SubmissionDownload

  • Submission to the Changing the Children and Young People Act 2008 – Stage 2 Consultation

    Women with Disabilities ACT has made a submission to the consultation process around the Changing the Children and Young People Act 2008 (Stage 2).

    In the submission we have highlighted the following recommendations:

    • Consider the proposed legislation reforms through the lens of family and domestic violence, considering how existing frameworks could be exploited by perpetrators, and strengthening or clarifying definitions of violence if required.
    • Recognise that there are societal and institutional biases against parents with disabilities, and consider how principles such as the ‘best interests principle’ might be misapplied due to assumptions about capacity of parents with disabilities. Include safeguarding policies that work against these biases.
    • Fund disability violence awareness training for child protection workers in the ACT.
    • Consider how the child protection system can help parents to access resources to care for children with disabilities.
    • Develop and fund accessible tools for children with disabilities to report experiences of abuse and neglect.
    • Consider how supported decision making can be implemented as part of the child and youth participation principle.
    • Review the updated processes such as the mandatory reporting threshold and restrictions on information sharing between institutions, and consider how they may impact children with disabilities.
    • Fund individual advocates and disability liaison officers in the child protection system, and ensure that disability-informed advice is available to parents who are in contact with the system.
    • Develop and fund support groups and information about parenting with a disability.
    • Consider how increases in funding for income support, disability support and housing can prevent parents from being in contact with child protection in the first place.

    The full submission is below.

    CYP Act SubmissionDownload

  • Report: Parenting Peer Support Group

    Report: Parenting Peer Support Group

    Women with disabilities who are pregnant, parenting or planning to become parents face a range of
    barriers to successful parenting. They experience higher rates of domestic violence, poverty, social
    isolation and reproductive coercion than their non-disabled peers. Women with disabilities who are
    pregnant are less likely to breastfeed and less likely to have control over decisions during their labour
    than their non-disabled peers. Women with disabilities are significantly more likely to be involved
    with the child protection system and have their parenting capacity questioned. This is a big fear for
    parents and may reduce their likelihood of engaging with a mainstream parents group. Though rates
    of breastfeeding are low for parents with disabilities, disability specific parenting peer support groups
    may increase rates of breastfeeding. Knowing these issues, it must be acknowledged that women*
    with disabilities who are pregnant, parenting or planning to become parents may be more likely to
    experience structural oppression that intersects, or overlaps, creating greater levels of disadvantage.
    Although the Women with Disabilities ACT Parenting Peer Support Group aimed to focus on the
    strengths of participants, it is important to acknowledge these experiences of oppression and work
    towards reducing them through our work at WWDACT.

    You can read our report from this project below.

    REPORT FOR PARENTS GROUP JULY 2021 – FOR PUBLISHING – FINAL EDITDownload

  • Submission to the Inquiry into Maternity Services in the ACT

    People with disabilities are increasingly exercising their right to become parents, and
    maternity services in the ACT need to ensure that models of care are appropriate to
    facilitate this. Current models of care are likely to be reactive to the medicalised
    disabilities presented to the health care professionals, rather than pro-active and
    collaborative with the mother. Current models of care must update to respect the
    authority of mothers in their own needs, reflect the diversity of disabilities, and include
    respectful support for parents with cognitive impairment to reduce the rates of child
    removal.

    You can read our submission below.

    27012019_WWDACT_Maternity_Services_FINALDownload submission