**_As a deafblind woman and NDIS participant, Jane Britt knows what keeps her connected to the outside world. Now, she’s watching the system dismantle such connections for women trying to flee violence._** She has had enough. She is tired of being scared, of waiting for the next outburst. Where does she start? She needs an accessible home. She needs to begin legal proceedings. She needs to stay safe while she works out how to access help. Women with disability are being trapped in violent homes – and an unintended consequence of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) reform is making it worse, leaving fewer alternatives available to women trying to escape danger. In 2023, the Disability Royal Commission reported that women with disability are twice as likely as women without disability to experience sexual violence over their lifetime. And often, they must navigate justice and housing systems that were not built with them in mind. When there is nowhere accessible to go, the only home is often the one a woman is trying to leave. Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) research led by Professor JaneMaree Maher is clear: without secure housing and service support, responses to support a woman leaving violence have little chance of succeeding. In 2024-25, only 78 per cent of specialist homelessness services clients with disability who were experiencing family and domestic violence received accommodation assistance when they needed it, down from 87 per cent a decade earlier. Now, NDIS reforms are hitting an already strained system. Providers are closing at an accelerating rate. Independent disability advocacy has not kept pace with surging demand. These are the supports that allow a woman to navigate housing failure: to find an accessible bed, to make a legal referral, to hold her supports together while she tries to leave. At the same time, disability services often have limited capacity to respond to domestic and family violence, while family violence services often have limited capacity to address disability needs, according to ANROWS research led by Professor Sally Robinson. The architecture that helps women navigate that failure is being dismantled at the same moment access to safe, accessible housing is worsening. Social and community participation funding, which gets women out of the home and into contact with people outside her immediate environment, is also being cut. The NDIS Amendment Bill, tabled 14 May, legislates a 50 per cent reduction those supports from 1 October 2026. At a recent Press Club address, Mark Butler, the Minister for Health and Ageing, said justification for cutting this funding includes disability support workers not genuinely engaging with participants. But for a woman in a coercive control situation, a support worker may be the only point of contact to an outside world. The reform removes it on quality grounds, without considering its safety function. Personally, this is the reform point that has concerned me most. I am not isolated, and this is only because of the support I’ve been given as a NDIS participant. As a deafblind woman, I want the guarantee of that community connection in case I should ever be in a position of needing to seek safety. Therapist travel reimbursements have already been cut, by 50 per cent. For women with disability experiencing poverty, trauma or restricted mobility, attending a clinic is not feasible. Home visits may be the only point of contact with an allied health professional, the only person with consistent access to a woman’s home environment, and a potential lifeline. Butler defended the Level E Medicare consultation item (extended GP consultations of 60 minutes or more) on the grounds that domestic violence victims need extended time with a clinician to disclose. The minister demonstrated his understanding of the interface between healthcare access and domestic violence, but only applied it to one portfolio, not the other. He also confirmed that Supported Independent Living (SIL) participants can partially reallocate daily living budgets to offset participation cuts. Women living in private settings, including those living with perpetrators, have no equivalent reallocation pathway. This all assumes a woman with disability will continue to have Scheme access. A new ministerial determination power in the NDIS Amendment Bill allows the Minister to cut funding for groups of participants with no merits review and no obligation to consult. It tracks alongside Government modelling tabled this week, reveals 241,000 existing participants are projected to exit the Scheme; significantly higher than the publicly stated figure of 160,000. We cannot quantify how many women with disability have remained in violent situations because of these compounding failures, because nobody has built the evaluation measures. And by the time the case studies emerge, the policy window will have closed. The national discussion on NDIS reform has focused on budgetary cuts. Missing from it is any honest accounting of what happens when reform in one system collides with failures in another. A gendered and disability-informed safety impact assessment, applied to every current and proposed NDIS reform measure, is the minimum any responsible government should deliver. It requires no new legislation and costs relatively little. Its absence is now indefensible. Because the bill for invisibility is never paid in budget papers. It is paid in women who do not make it out. She is still at the door. She is still struggling to get out. And the people whose job it was to help her find the key are, one by one, no longer there. Share this domestic violenceNDISwomen with disability by Jane Britt 10 hours ago ## Stay Smart! Get Women's Agenda in your inbox * Email * Email This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Δ ## Latest news ### Natasha Stott Despoja leads a powerful list of women honoured for service and advocacy ### Japan wants babies. Now the first mayor to take maternity leave is testing whether the system can change to make it happen ### South Korea set to get first female Prime Minister in two decades ### I walked into court alone and vulnerable. This is the brutal reality for victims of sexual violence in Australia ### Unacceptable misogyny: A ‘Ditch the Witch’ billboard targeting Jacinta Allan is all too familiar ### How an International Court judge thinks about hope

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Surgical abortion is legal across Australia, yet access to timely, equitable care remains uneven. For too many women, the gap between legality and lived reality continues to shape whether they can receive appropriate treatment when they need it most. While this disconnect defines much of the current reproductive healthcare landscape, Chief Executive Officer of MSI Australia Adurty Rao tells _Women’s Agenda_ that their not-for-profit provider of reproductive healthcare exists to bridge that gap. MSI Australia’s mission is “about ensuring safe, respectful healthcare for people from all walks of life”,” Rao explains, noting that reproductive choice should be accessible regardless of geography, circumstance or personal background. This includes telehealth, contraception, medical and surgical abortion and miscarriage care. “It’s absolutely essential that people are supported with clear information, timely access, genuine choice, and dignity within their care, especially during what is often the most vulnerable moment of a person’s life,” says Rao. Adurty Rao, Chief Executive Officer of MSI Australia Women can access surgical abortion from six weeks onward, and this option is not limited to those who cannot take abortion pills or who have complex medical needs. Surgical abortion is also an appropriate procedure for patients managing a miscarriage. Rao says there’s a close clinical overlap between abortion and miscarriage management, which often involve the same clinicians, techniques and care environments. The difference lies in the circumstance and not in the need for dignity, compassion and speed of access. While surgical abortion is a safe and common procedure, access to this care can require many patients to travel long-distances, which adds up to compound other stressors, such as having to take time away from work or arrange childcare. It’s this lived reality in Australia that Rao describes as a “postcode lottery”, where access to surgical abortion depends more on location than on clinical need. The main issue, Rao says, lies in whether healthcare systems are designed to deliver care when it’s actually required. Clinical excellence alone, however, is not enough, with Rao emphasising that surgical abortion and miscarriage care demand both technical expertise and deep emotional sensitivity. “[Surgical abortion] is not a fringe procedure, nor is it the last resort, or inherently traumatic. For many people, it offers clarity, it offers safety, it offers a timely resolution in one single episode of care.” ## Evidence-based healthcare While misinformation and stigma can be powerful drivers of anxiety, access to clear and unbiased information is fundamental to helping patients make informed decisions. MSI Australia’s Director of Nursing Jackie Bunt says this is why her team makes sure they take the time to explain to every patient what each of their options involves, what to expect physically and emotionally, as well as any potential risks or considerations to take into account. “Our role as clinicians is not to direct decisions, but to support informed choice in a respectful and non-judgemental environment,” says Bunt. When it comes to the decision to undergo surgical abortion, Bunt says a common misconception many patients hold is that the procedure is unsafe. “In reality, it is a very safe procedure when provided by trained clinicians in appropriate settings, and complications are uncommon,” she says, adding that “another fear is around pain or recovery. While everyone’s experience is different, surgical abortion is usually a brief procedure with a short, predictable recovery.” Following any of the procedures, MSI Australia also provides pain management options and support, with Bunt saying that follow-up care is “an essential part of the patient journey”. After a surgical abortion or miscarriage procedure, patients receive clear written and verbal information about recovery, warning signs to watch for, and when to seek further medical advice. Patients can also choose to access a free aftercare nurse support phone service, where they can get any questions or concerns answered. “I wish more patients knew that they are not alone, and that it’s okay to ask questions, express concerns, or take the time they need to feel comfortable with their decision,” says Bunt “Our aim is for patients to leave our care feeling informed, supported and confident about what comes next.” **_Looking to access safe sexual and reproductive health services and information? MSI Australia is a fiercely pro-choice, non-judgmental, holistic health provider, with specially trained clinicians ready to support._** **_An independent, non-profit organisation, it is Australia’s only national accredited provider of abortion, contraception and vasectomy services, and the country’s longest running provider of abortion by telehealth. Find more information_**** _here_**** _._** Share this MSI Australiareproductive healthsurgical abortion by Brianna Boecker 2 days ago ## Stay Smart! Get Women's Agenda in your inbox * Email * Email This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Δ ## Latest news ### Ann Sherry on achieving impact, power and being the only woman in the room ### Parents challenge social media giants in pivotal US lawsuit over youth harm ### The women helping Australia achieve its most successful Winter Olympics ever ### Why Australia needs a plan to repatriate citizens detained in Syria ### The world celebrates new mums. Many still feel alone in the experience. ### How an International Court judge thinks about hope

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