Download our Easy Read registration and consent form here.

Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA), Harmony Alliance – Migrant & Refugee Women for Change (Harmony Alliance), and National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) are conducting three focus groups for culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) women, girls, woman-identifying and non-binary people with disability living in Australia. We use the term ‘CaLD’ to include any person who belongs or identifies as being from a different cultural and/or linguistic background, including differences in cultural/ethnic identity, language, country of birth, religion, heritage/ancestry, national origin, and/or race and colour. This term does not include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and does not aim to provide an absolute definition to what CaLD.

To participate, you must be aged 15 years or over. If you are under 18, you will need the permission of your parent or guardian to participate.

We are running these focus groups because we want to hear your stories, experiences, and ideas about what can be done to improve access to disability supports and services. You can share anything that is important to you, for example, you can talk about issues or challenges you have faced; any barriers that have stopped you from accessing supports and services; your experiences with accessing and using supports and services; or any thoughts or ideas you have to improve these systems. We really want to hear honest opinions and for you to share openly in this forum.

The focus groups will be held via Zoom on:

WWDA – Monday, 9 May 2022 3:00pm – 5:00 pm AEST
Harmony Alliance – Tuesday, 28 June 2022 12:30pm - 2:30pm AEST
NEDA – Friday, 15 July 2022 10:00am - 12:00pm AEST

Support

We acknowledge that sharing your stories may be hard and we will have a wellbeing officer at the forum to provide support if needed and make referrals for you to receive extra support if required.

Each focus group will have staff facilitators from WWDA, Harmony Alliance, or NEDA present. Each focus group will also have a facilitator from the CaLD disability community available throughout the consultation. Each focus group will also be captioned. If you need an Auslan interpreter, an interpreter for another language or have any other accessibility requirements or support needs to join, you can let us know when you register.

Privacy

What you tell us will help WWDA, Harmony Alliance and NEDA know what’s important to speak up on for CaLD women and non-binary people with disability. We won’t tell anybody your name and will always ask for permission if we would like to share your story. It is always your right to decide what you share and how you share it.

During the focus groups we will be taking notes and making an audio and visual recording of the sessions. The notes and recordings will only be used by WWDA, Harmony Alliance and NEDA to help us remember what you say and to make sure we correctly record all of your stories, experiences and ideas in our research.

The information that you share will be used as part of a final report by WWDA, Harmony Alliance and NEDA. The report will not include your personal name, except in the list of participants (only if you agree). We will send you a copy of the report before we make it publicly available on the WWDA, Harmony Alliance, and NEDA websites. We may also use some of the information you provide us for promotional purposes, including on social media and in newsletters. The recordings themselves will not be shared. We will not share your story without your permission. If you consent to us using your quotes or story, all details that could be used to identify you will be removed.

Participation in this research project is entirely voluntary. If you do not wish to take part in this project, you do not have to. If you choose to participate and, at any stage during the project, change your mind, you are free to withdraw from the project.

When you register, we will email you a consent form you must fill in to participate in a focus group.

Payment

We acknowledge the time, energy and expertise community members are often asked to share with organisations like WWDA, Harmony Alliance and NEDA. To show our appreciation for your participation in this focus group, you will receive $50 in the form of a gift card to a supermarket likes Coles or Woolworths after the consultation.

If you have any questions, you can contact NEDA's National Manager of Systemic Advocacy & Policy, Blanca Ramirez at blanca@neda.org.au or on 0407 423 773.

Thank you for participating!

The WWDA/Harmony Alliance/NEDA project team