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Building Access project

Building Access report showing on a tablet

Managed by PWDA, the Building Access project is an innovative initiative enabling domestic and family violence (DFV) services to better meet the needs of women and children with disability. The project is not only unique in addressing and increasing the accessibility of DFV services across NSW but is also of national significance

Building Access seeks not only to improve the accessibility of frontline DFV services but also to advance the fundamental human rights of women with disability (WWD).The two phases of the project have now concluded and PWDA has released the Building Access End Of Project Report.

The report clearly indicates that inclusive policies and practices produce better outcomes for women with disability, both as staff and clients of domestic and family violence services.

PWDA is calling for additional funding for the Building Access project to ensure its national rollout in response to the report.

Read the full report

Resources

A Handbook on Supporting People with Intellectual Disability who have Experienced Domestic and Family Violence

The handbook and video were created in collaboration with the Queensland–based WWILD Sexual Violence Prevention Association. The handbook is targeted at the NSW sexual, domestic and family violence sector and aims to develop skills and knowledge on how to support people with intellectual or learning disability who have experienced domestic and family violence.

Additional resources

These resources were produced by PWDA and DVNSW:

30 Ways to Make Your Service More Accessible – PDF and Word
Creating an Inclusion Action Plan – PDF and Word
Women with Disability and Domestic and Family Violence: A guide for policy and practice – PDF and Word

You can also watch our videos on YouTube.

Easy Read resources

This project is funded by Women NSW.

About domestic and family violence for women and children with disability

Women with disability are approximately 40 per cent more likely to experience Domestic and Family Violence (or DFV), an alarming statistic when considered in the context of Australia’s DFV epidemic.

Many women find it harder to escape violence because DFV services are inaccessible for women with disability. PWDA’s Building Access project aims to increase the accessibility of DFV services for women with disability in New South Wales.

PWDA is working with Domestic Violence NSW and Women’s Community Shelters to improve responses for women with disability experiencing violence.

DFV services include but are not limited to: Women’s health centres, counselling services, accommodation and homelessness services, family support services, legal services, women’s resource centres, and organisations tackling these issues on a sector-wide systemic level.

Women with disability may experience barriers to accessing services, including:

Physical barriers that mean they can’t access services
Information about the services may be inaccessible
The staff who work at the services may not feel confident supporting women with disability
Policies or practices in these services might exclude women with disability.

We can do the following to support DFV services in becoming more accessible:

Perform an access review of the service to assess barriers for women with disability to the service
Provide a detailed report on physical, information and attitudinal barriers and advice on implementing greater procedural access
Provide guidance on how to develop a Disability Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP) for DFV services
Connect the service to a Community of Practice
Provide Disability Awareness and NDIS training

The Building Access project’s Expert Advisory Group is made up of disability advocates, women with disability, violence organisations, government representatives and other people who are interested in the project.