I first met David Mehan MP when my son, Matty Blakemore, was honoured as Citizen of the Year for the Central Coast in the Australia Day Awards. The photo in this post is of both Matty and David. When we met again on 1st September, it was lovely that David remembered Matty and asked how he’s been progressing.
I had requested this meeting to discuss the domestic violence and sexual victimisation of Autistic people, to share insights from the speech I gave at the United Nations, and to ask what the New South Wales Government is doing to address these urgent issues.
David kindly offered to raise questions on my behalf, for which I am deeply appreciative. Today, I received the official response from David, that included correspondence from Jodie Harrison MP, Minister for Women, Minister for Seniors, and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.
Dear Mr Mehan,
NSW GOVERNMENT
Ref: 8th October 2025
OFFICIAL
Monique Blakemore – People living with autism experiencing sexual victimisation and domestic violence
Thank you for your correspondence dated 3 September 2025, forwarding the concerns and questions of your constituent Ms Monique Blakemore. Icommend Ms Blakemore for her advocacy and acknowledge the strength and commitment of those working to advance the rights and interests of Autistic people experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV).
The NSW Government continually reviews and reflects on its programs addressing domestic, family and sexual violence to assess their accessibility, appropriateness and effectiveness for al people who use them.
I would like to inform Ms Blakemore that the NSW Government is convening an advisory group comprising of individuals who have lived experience of domestic, family and/or sexual violence. The Lived Experience Advisory Group will ensure that the perspectives of victim-survivors are shared with government to improve responses to domestic, family and sexual violence. The Advisory Group includes neurodivergent people.
In addition to this, NSW is working with other states, territories and the Commonwealth to apply a disability lens to the First Action Plan under the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032 (National Plan). The National Plan acknowledges that the findings from the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitations of People with Disability (DRC) must guide future work to end violence against women and girls with disability. The National Plan’s First Action Plan 2023-2027 (First Action Plan) was launched ni August 2023, outlining 10 actions to address gendered violence against women and children. To provide further clarity and guidance on how these actions apply to women and children with disability, governments across Australia have collaborated to develop a disability lens for the plan.
Between September and November 2024, the Department of Social Services undertook extensive stakeholder engagement with state and territory governments, people with disability, and representatives from both the DFSV and disability sectors to inform the development of the disability lens.
The NSW Government also supports a range of initiatives to assist women and children with disability experiencing DFSV, including:
- Funding 7.6 new frontline workers specifically to respond to women with disability experiencing domestic and family violence.
- Funding People with Disability Australia’s Building Access project, which supports NSW domestic and family violence services to better meet the needs of women and children with disability.
- Developing Easy Read domestic violence awareness resources for people with intellectual disability.
- Creating resources to support people with intellectual disability who have experienced sexual violence, as wel as their families, support people and service providers.
- Funding projects under the NSW Sexual Violence Project Fund, including the Northcott Society’s Love Rights project.
- Supporting Responses Matter projects aimed at improving responses to disclosures of sexual violence by people with disability, including the Stepping Out Program’s Trauma-informed Reponses to Disclosures of Childhood Sexual Abuse within the Disability Sector project.
Ms Blakemore may also like to note that DCJ is currently reviewing its 2020-2024 Disability Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP), with the next iteration to be published in the coming months. DCJ’s DIAP process reaffirms its commitment to disability inclusion. Agovernance group comprising of senior executives and people with lived experience has been established to ensure accessibility and inclusion remains central to this work.
No level of domestic violence is acceptable. The work done by the NSW Government is significant but does not mark an end to the work that wil be done to address violence experienced by people with neurodivergence and disability. We wil continue to work alongside those dealing with domestic violence first-hand, including Autistic people, to ensure appropriate support for victim-survivors.
Thank you for taking the time to write about this matter. Sincerely,
Jodie Harrison MP
Minister for Women
Minister for Seniors
Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
