About

About us

Fact Sheet

Date Published 8 September 2021

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Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA) is the award winning, national Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO) and National Women’s Alliance (NWA) for women, girls, feminine identifying and non-binary people with disabilities in Australia.

Feminine Identifying is a term that refers to a gender identity or expression that describes someone with a gender that is or leans towards feminine. Some feminine identifying people also identify as women, while many others don’t.

Non-Binary is an umbrella term for someone who does not identify as exclusively a man or a woman – identities that are outside the gender binary. Someone who is non-binary might feel like a mix of genders, or like they have no gender at all.

We use the term women and girls with disabilities on the understanding that this is inclusive of women, girls, feminine identifying and non-binary people with disabilities in Australia.

Learn more about these terms in WWDA’s Easy English Fact Sheet: What is LGBTIQA+.

WWDA represents more than two million individuals in Australia. We have affiliate organisations and networks in most States and Territories of Australia and we are internationally recognised.

All of our work is grounded in a human rights-based framework that links gender and disability issues to civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

To promote the rights of women and girls with disability, WWDA takes part in a range of system advocacy activities. WWDA’s work seeks to support and empower individuals, while also creating greater awareness among governments and other relevant institutions about their obligations to do so.

To learn more about WWDA and how it has evolved over the years, read Our History.

Awards

  • Winner, National Human Rights Award 2001
  • Winner, National Violence Prevention Award 1999
  • Winner, Tasmanian Women’s Safety Award 2008
  • Certificate of Merit, Australian Crime & Violence Prevention Awards 2008
  • Nominee, French Republic’s Human Rights Prize 2003
  • Nominee, UN Millennium Peace Prize for Women 2000
  • Nominee, National Disability Awards 2017
Image: black silhouette of 5 different women, one in a wheelchair on a pink background.

Aims and Objectives

The aim of WWDA is to promote, protect and advance the human rights and freedoms of women and girls with disabilities in Australia.

The objectives of WWDA are to:

  • Promote the participation of women and girls with disabilities in all aspects of social, economic, political and cultural life;
  • Advocate on issues of concern women and girls with disabilities in Australia and internationally; and
  • Be the national representative organisation women and girls with disabilities in Australia.

To learn more about the aims, objectives and governance structure of WWDA, you can download:


Image above: Balloons spelling WWDA at one of WWDA’s events.

Disabled Peoples Organisation Australia (DPOA)

We are a founding member of Disabled People’s Organisations Australia (DPO Australia). Disabled People’s Organisations Australia (DPO Australia) is an alliance of four national Disabled Peoples Organisations (DPOs) in Australia. DPOs are organisations that are led by and made up of people with disability. The other members of DPO Australia are First Peoples Disability NetworkNational Ethnic Disability Alliance and People with Disability Australia.


National Women’s Alliances (NWA’s)

In 2021, WWDA was funded for the first time as a National Women’s Alliance for women and girls with disability. The National Women’s Alliances (NWA) are a group of national women’s organisations funded by the Australian Government Office for Women (OFW) that make the views, voices and issues of Australian women heard by the government and the community. There are currently six National Women’s Alliances in Australia, including Equality Rights Alliance (ERA), the National Women’s Safety Alliance (NWSA), Harmony Alliance, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Alliance (NATSIWA), the National Rural Women’s Coalition (NRWC) and Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA).


Women With Disability State Organisations

Women With Disability organisations and networks exist in some of the states in Australia, including Women With Disabilities ACT, Women With Disabilities VIC, Women With Disabilities WA and Women With Disabilities SA.


Join WWDA

There are a number of ways you can join and support Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA). Find out more on the Join WWDA page.


Explore

WWDA has created or helped to create some great resources for women, girls, feminine identifying and non-binary people with disability. Find out more on the Explore page.