Happy New Year from all of us at Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA)!
As we welcome 2025, I want to extend heartfelt gratitude to our incredible community. Your resilience, strength, and support have been at the heart of everything we achieved in 2024—a year filled with milestones, advocacy wins, and ongoingmember engagement.
Reflecting on 2024
Despite the challenges faced across the disability sector, WWDA has continued to lead with purpose, ensuring that the voices of women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities are not only heard but drive meaningful change. Together, we achieved the following highlights:
- Launch of the Neve Website
This new resource hub provides accessible information to empower our community, making critical knowledge and tools more reachable than ever. - Expansion of WWDA LEAD
Through this initiative, we supported and encouraged more women and gender-diverse people with disabilities to step into leadership roles, building a stronger and more representative leadership pipeline. - Advocacy Strengthened Across Key Areas
From influencing NDIS reforms and responses to the Disability Royal Commission recommendations, to driving conversations on health, human rights, and systemic barriers, we amplified your voices in spaces that matter. - Deepening Engagement
2024 marked a year of unprecedented connection with our members, broadening participation in advocacy, projects, and events.
Looking Forward to 2025
As we step into 2025, WWDA remains steadfast in our mission to champion the rights of women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities. Building on nearly 30 years of advocacy experience, we aim to:
- Deepen Policy Influence and Advocacy
We will focus on addressing key recommendations from the Disability Royal Commission and continue to push for reforms in the NDIS and other critical areas impacting our community. - Foster Leadership and Inclusion
Continuing to share our resources like the WWDA Leadership and Mentoring Toolkit will remain a priority as we nurture leaders within our community and advocate for inclusive practices across all sectors. - Strengthen Partnerships and Networks
Collaboration is key to driving change, and we are committed to working with diverse stakeholders to create impactful, lasting solutions.
Welcoming Our New Board Members
This year, we are delighted to welcome several talented new members to the WWDA Management Committee. Their expertise and lived experience will further enrich our work. Please visit our website for their full bios and insights into their unique contributions.
Jodie Haigh
Jodie is a trained scientist, communications professional, and experienced board director committed to advocating for the rights of women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities. Living with a chronic condition and neurodiversity, she draws on her personal experiences of overcoming socioeconomic disadvantage, surviving a tumultuous childhood, and navigating systemic barriers to bring invaluable insights.
Jodie’s professional background spans communications, policy development, research, and governance in not-for-profit, corporate, and intergovernmental sectors. As Communications Manager at Science & Technology Australia and Treasurer of the Australian Science Communicators, she has championed accessible communication and led impactful strategies to inspire change. With strong governance expertise in fiduciary responsibility, strategic planning, and risk management, Jodie is dedicated to fostering inclusive decision-making. She is passionate about advancing human rights and creating equitable opportunities for women and girls with disabilities.
Dr Samantha Neylon
Dr Samantha Neylon has worked across the private, not for profit, charitable and public sectors supporting older Australians and those living with disability. Sam has skills and experience in developing and growing services, change management, governance, strategy, risk, finance and leadership along with a passion to ensure clients, families and teams are supported to enable individuals to live the lives they choose their way. Her person-centred approach celebrates each person uniquely and is underpinned by a drive to contribute to a society which promotes inclusivity and eliminates disadvantage. Sam’s values and lived experience of disability fuel her desire to empower others and make a difference one step and one day at a time.
Sam’s qualifications include PhD, BSci (Occupational Therapy), DipProjMgmt and DipBus and she lives in Perth which is home to the Whadjuk Noongar people.
Tess Marota
Tess is a passionate advocate for disability rights and healthcare innovation. Over the past decade, she has focused on advancing mental health services, suicide prevention, and inclusive healthcare. Her work includes co-designing transformative mental health units and services in Victoria.
As a consumer researcher, Tess amplifies lived experiences to drive systemic improvements and policy changes. Her collaboration on the Neve website for WWDA demonstrates her commitment to empowering women with disabilities and advancing WWDA’s mission.
With a background in social science and expertise in consumer engagement, Tess excels in peer counseling, strategic planning, and community development. She has served on advisory committees, reflecting her belief in diverse perspectives to create meaningful change.
