Resources – violence and abuse

This is a collection of resources that promote safety from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation through teaching people about rights, responsibilities, relationships and where people can seek help.

Resources created by disability advocacy organisations:

Action on Disability within Ethnic Communities (ADEC)

• Ask for help! Safeguarding the rights of people with disabilities from CALD backgrounds  (Easy Read resource available in 10 different languages)
• Say No To Abuse videos explaining neglect and physical, emotional and financial abuse – translated versions in Hindi, Turkish, Mandarin and Karen

Action for More Independence & Dignity in Accommodation (AMIDA)

• Housing – Know Your Rights (12 minute video)

Advocacy for Inclusion

• I need help from the police (PDF) (Easy English resource)
• Staying Connected Podcast:  Episode 11 – Fixing the system: preventing violence, abuse and neglect of people with disability- with Bonnie Millen

Council on Intellectual Disability (CID)

• What is a restrictive practice? (Easy Read resource)
• Abuse, neglect and bullying of people with intellectual disability
• Your Service Your Rights cards
• What to do if you have been scammed – Info Guide
• Making a complaint about goods or services – Info Guide 

DACSSA Disability Advocacy

• Disability Abuse 

Down Syndrome Australia

• Healthy Relationships and Sexuality (Easy Read guide)
• Healthy Relationships and Sexuality: Information for people with Down syndrome and their families

(Check for upcoming workshops at Education and Training page)

People with Disability Australia & Domestic Violence NSW

• Building Access project, including video series and good practice guidelines and resources for the domestic and family violence sector:
  • Handbook on Supporting People with Intellectual Disability who have Experienced Domestic and Family Violence (This handbook was created in collaboration with WWILD (see below).)
  • Easy Read resources about abuse and reporting abuse or sexual violence to the police
  • Women with Disability and Domestic and Family Violence: Policy and Practice
  • 30 Ways to Make Your Service More Accessible: guidance on how to make your service as accessible to people with disability as possible, across the domains of physical, informational, attitudinal and procedural accessibility
  • Creating an Inclusion Action Plan: a document you can use as a starting point to develop an IAP tailored to your service.

People with Disabilities WA

• Disability Safe Week website, including factsheets

Queensland Advocacy Incorporated (QAI)

• Violence against people with disability in their homes (videos)
• Is Somebody Hurting you? – Understanding violence and your rights (brochure)
• Are they allowed to do this to me? – A guide to understanding restrictive practices and your rights (brochure)

South Australian Council on Intellectual Disability (SACID)

• Easy Read Resources including:
  • Sexuality and Relationships Education
  • Relationship Wise
  • Turning Someone Down
  • Uncomfortable Moments and Hard Conversations
  • Safety on a Date
  • 5 Basic rules about sexual behaviour

Victorian Advocacy League for Individuals with Disability Inc. (VALID)

• ‘Be friends not bullies’ poster  and video on YouTube
• Staying Safe flyer (and videos on YouTube)
• Complaints to NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (poster)
• My Home, my rights and my responsibilities (videos with Easy Read information for people with disability living in group homes)
• VALID Podcasts
• P.S. Project – Connecting with people who lived in institutions in Victoria (Tip sheets, Templates and Plain English Posters, including about Speaking up about about problems, Complaints and Rights and Responsibilities)

Women With Disabilities Australia

• Violence Against Women and Girls with Disability video
• Women with disability speak about the right to freedom from all forms of violence video (from WWDA’s human rights toolkit) 
• Your right to be safe from violence (Easy English)
• Sex and Your Body video
• Safety and Violence | Our Site (wwda.org.au)

• Out Site – Translations in Auslan, Indigenous Australian languages and languages other than English

Women with Disabilities Victoria

• Family Violence Response for Women with Disabilities Guide (Microsoft Word version); and,
• Family Violence Response for Women with Disabilities – A quick guide to safely managing disclosures (Microsoft Word version)
• Preventing and Responding to Violence Against Women with Disabilities: Family Violence and Disability Films
• Our Right to Safety and Respect (video and guidelines)
• Women’s Health Services Toolkit (including Needs Analysis and Disability Audit tools to make services more accessible and inclusive)
• AcceSex – Sexual and Reproductive Health for Women with Disabilities resources including stories, factsheets and videos, including:
  • How to Deliver Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare to Women with Disabilities (workshop)
• Changing the landscape resources (created in partnership with Our Watch)

Other useful resources:

1800RESPECT

• Disability Support Toolkit including Easy English booklets and information on working with people with disability

• Sunny App

ACT Human Rights Commission

• e-Learning packages on
  • Domestic Violence Awareness, Sexual Assault Education for the Disability Sector; and
  • Disability Awareness for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Workers.

Australasian Society of Intellectual Disability

• A Worker’s Guide to Safeguarding People Living with Disability from Abuse
• ASID Research to Practice Podcast:
  • Identity, Sexuality and LGBTIQA+ people with intellectual disability – Season 3, Episode 2 
  • What makes a good group home? – Season 2, Episode 4

Blue Knot Foundation

• fact sheets about trauma in Easy English and other languages, and videos in Auslan
• Guidelines for Trauma Informed Practice: Supporting People with Disability who have experienced Complex Trauma
• Plain English Guide: Supporting People with Disability who have experienced Complex Trauma

Disability Media Australia

• Tell Someone video series
  • Introduction and physical family violence
  • Emotional family violence
  • Social family violence
  • Financial family violence
  • Sexual family violence

Deakin University

• Sexual Lives and Respectful Relationships 
• Talking about Rights – SL&RR
• Talking about Relationships – SL&RR
• Talking about Violence and abuse – SL&RR

Better Health

• Talking to young people with cognitive disabilities about sex

Community Legal Centres Queensland

• Webinar recording: Assisting clients with disabilities in domestic violence matters

Canterbury-Bankstown Disability Abuse Prevention Collaborative (NSW)

• Disability Abuse Prevention animated video (also available in Arabic)
• Resource card of local contacts in Canterbury Bankstown

Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria

• Information for women with disabilities
• Working with victim survivors with disability (for family violence workers)

Equality Lawyers & Picture Human Rights

• Disability Rights in Real Life – a law handbook for people with disabilities, their families and supporters. (To save and share images, see Picture for Human Rights website)

Office of the eSafety Commissioner

• Being Safe Online (Easy Read guide for children and adults)
• Image-based abuse (Easy Read)
• What you can do about abuse through technology (Easy Read) 
• Online safety for young people with intellectual disability
• Training for frontline workers including Resources for disability workers

Family Planning NSW

• All About Sex easy to read factsheets including
  • Sexual Assault
  • Where to go for help or advice
• Being a Healthy Woman resources including
  • Close relationships and sex 
• Info on training – Courses for disability workers
• Resources about Relationships on the “Planet Puberty” website that aims to provide parents and carers of children with intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder with the latest information, strategies and resources

Family Planning Tasmania

• Info on training – Sexuality and Disability and/or Additional Needs

Family Planning Victoria

• Working with victim/survivors with an intellectual disability (secasa.com.au)
• Talking to Children with Cognitive Disabilities
• Easy English Factsheets including ‘Sex and the Law’
• Other relevant Fact Sheets
• Info on training – Cognitive disability education and support 
• Doing ‘IT’ podcast – Episode #9: Cognitive Disability and Puberty

National Disability Services

• Zero Tolerance resources for the disability sector
• NDIS Quality and Safeguards resources
• NDS Podcast episode: Zero Tolerance – Support for people from diverse cultural backgrounds

NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

• Fact sheets
• Easy Read Information
• Worker Orientation Module

NSW Ageing & Disability Commission

• Training resources to improve detection and response
• Downloadable toolkits and flyers, including
  • Easy Read guide to Protecting your rights
  • My Wellbeing Checklist graphic
  • Brochure defining types of abuse, neglect and exploitation

Legal Services Commission of South Australia

• Abuse prevention Accessible Videos (in English and Auslan) on:
  • domestic and family violence
  • elder abuse
• Legal education resources for people with disability, including Easy Read resources
• Rights on Show resources about rights with police

Lifeline

• Working with Women with disabilities eLearning  (dvalert.org.au)

Murray Mallee Community Legal Service

• Resources for teens with intellectual disability or autism, about consent and “sexting”

Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre

• Women, Disability and Violence: Knowledge Translation and Exchange Workshop, (stories videos and workbooks)
• Identifying economic abuse for women with disability in Victoria: A toolkit

NSW Health (State Government)

• Being a Healthy Woman – booklet for women with intellectual disability  (including a section on Close Relationships and Sex) – This resource is also available in translated versions in:
  • Arabic
  • Dinka
  • Chinese Traditional)
  • Korean
  • Vietnamese

Ombudsman NSW

• Resource guide for disability services – Initial and early response to abuse or neglect in disability services

Our Watch

• Changing the landscape: A national resource to prevent violence against women and girls with disabilities, including:
  • Changing the landscape: Summary
  • Stopping violence against women and girls with disabilities: Easy read report
  • Prevention of violence against women and girls with disabilities: Background paper

Queensland Government

• Domestic and family violence is real for people with disability (campaign page with videos)
  • Recognise the signs
  • How you can help
  • Support and resources including DFV information for women with a disability

Scope’s Communication and Inclusion Resource Centre

• Speak Up and Be Safe (Communication Toolkit and Resources)

Sexual Health and Family Planning ACT

• SoSafe! Program resources for purchase and licensing
• Info on training – SHFPACT workshops 

Sexual Health Quarters (WA)

• Disability resources
• Info on training – Sexuality, disability and safety eLearning programme

Sexuality, Education, Counselling and Consultancy Agency

• Gender Diversity Brochure 
• Safe Sex Brochure 
• Internet Safety Cards
• Sexting Brochure
• Sexuality, Relationships and Your Rights
• SECCA App
• Questions and answers that can help when using the app with students with a disability
• Specialised workshops
• Other SECCA resources and library

Shine SA

• Teaching It Like It Is – Inclusive Education: Relationships & Sexual Health Education for Students with a Disability
• More resources and info on training for workers
• ‘Friendships and dating’ booklet (for parents, carers and young people with disability)

South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence (SECASA)

• Making rights reality for Sexual Assault victims with a disability
• Dealing with Danger: Staying safer with online technology

Thorne Harbour and Inclusion Designlab

• Knowing Your Rights: Disability and LGBTIQA+ Australians
• Other disability resources

True QLD

• Disability resources 
• Info on training – Looking after me education packages

Unified Lawyers

• Infographic about AVOs (Apprehended Violence Orders) in NSW 

Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission

• Reporting crime: your rights (Easy English)

Women’s Community Health Network WA

• Easy Read Family and Domestic Violence Factsheet.

Women’s Legal Centre ACT

• Easy English Factsheets on Family Violence

WorkUP Queensland

• Disability Workforce training and resources

WWILD Sexual Violence Prevention Association

• You Deserve to Be Safe (Easy read booklet about sexual assault)
• You deserve to be safe– a simple English booklet about Domestic and Family Violence.
• What is counselling?
• Online Modules – Responding to Disclosures of Sexual Violence and Supporting Recovery from Trauma
• ‘And You Think You’re the Expert?’ podcast and accompanying booklet that discusses disability, violence and accessibility

If you know of any useful resources, email Siobhan at policy@dana.org.au with your suggestions.