People With Disability Australia
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People with Disability Australia Ltd (PWDA) is an Australian national peak disability rights and advocacy organisation. Founded in 1981 and based in
Surry Hills Surry Hills is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), inner-east suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local gover ...
, Sydney. PWDA is a Disabled Persons Organisation (DPO), with an elected board of people with disability, a national membership of people with disability and associate membership of people and organisations "committed to the disability rights movement". PWDA is one of the funded national disability representative organisations for people with disability in Australia. It's primary objective is represent the interests of Australian people with disability nationally and globally.


President

A list of former and current president(s) of the PWDA: *2002: Wendy Potter *2003–2006: Heidi Forrest *2007–2008: Robert Farley *2009: Vacant *2010–2011: Jan Daisley *2012–2015: Craig Wallace *2016–2017: Bonnie Millen *2018–2019: David Abello *2020–2022: Samantha Connor *2022–2024: Nicole Lee *2024–2024: Marayke Jonkers *2025-: Trinity Ford


History and mission

PWDA was founded in 1980 as the NSW Handicapped Persons' Union. In 1984, they merged with the New South Wales chapter of
Disabled Peoples' International Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) is a cross disability, consumer controlled international non-governmental organization (INGO) headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and with regional offices in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, Afri ...
, which was founded in 1981, and became Disabled Peoples International (NSW Branch) or DPINSW. In 1991, the organisations name was changed to People With Disability NSW Inc. (PWDNSW). In 2002, PWDA's membership approved a repositioning of PWDA as a national disability rights and advocacy organisation. The name was changed to its current name: People with Disability Australia to reflect this new positioning on 21 July 2003. The principal reasons for the change were to position PWDA to undertake work on national policy issues. Between 2003 to 2006, PWDA played a valuable role in the development of the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights instrument, international human rights multilateral treaty, treaty of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with Disabil ...
(CRPD). They organised consultations both nationally and with members, made submissions, hosted seminars, and supported delegates to attend sessions of the UN Ad Hoc Committee. Through this work PWDA gained Special Consultative Status with the
Economic and Social Council of the United Nations The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized ...
. From 2009 onwards, PWDA continues to participate in monitoring the implementation of the CRPD in Australia, and as a member of the NGO CRPD Shadow Report Project Group. Along with the organisation's national work, PWDA has undertaken international development work in the Pacific since 2004. This non-profit,
non-governmental A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
peak organisation A peak organisation or peak body is an Australian term for an advocacy group or trade association, an association of industries or groups with allied interests. They are generally established for the purposes of developing Standardization, standa ...
has been described as "the national cross disability rights and advocacy organisation run by and for people with disability... epresentingthe interests of people with all kinds of disability". PWDA appeared and gave evidence during the 2019–2020 Australian Disability Royal Commission.


Controversy

In 2020, an online feminist pressure group, '
Mad Fucking Witches Mad Fucking Witches (MFW) is an online based activist group who have organised campaigns against people and organisations spreading misogyny or racism. Named after a comment Peter Dutton made towards a journalist, Jennie Hill created the group in ...
' (MFW) were involved in a 'nasty' dispute involving a campaign to remove two sitting PWDA directors over claims of alleged abusive posts on social media. PWDA stated it was an internal matter, irrespective of the complaints under consideration submitted by MFW.''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' reported that "both women irectorsdeny they were abusive, but say they were highly critical of postings from the activist group FWinvolving disabled people". The attempt to remove them did not succeed.


Activities


Service provision

PWDA provides the following services: * Rights-related information, advice and referral services for people with disability and their associates * Short-term individual and group advocacy assistance to people with disability and their associates * Advocacy for reform around systemic issues that adversely affect people with disability and their associates * Representation of the sector of interest constituted by people with disability and their associates to government, industry and the non-government sector * Coordination of the sector of interest constituted by people with disability and their associates * Disability rights-related research and development around issues of concern to people with disability and their associates


Public Advocacy

Since its inception in 2013, The NDIS is a key focus of PWDA, with extensive government lobbying and constructive contributions from PWDA and its members. In 2013,
Wallace Wallace may refer to: People * Clan Wallace in Scotland * Wallace (given name) * Wallace (surname) * Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back * Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name Wa ...
the president at the time said "People with disabilities should be given more choice and control over their funding, so they can purchase the services that suit them". In 2025, the NDIS has public support, but a poor reputation. PWDA affirming "the community will fight tooth and nail to protect it" and Steph Travers, a 2025 PWDA board director commenting "recent discourse has made her and the community feel like a political football" They release a non-partisan federal election platform, featuring demands for election commitments related to people with disability from all parties and candidates.


See also

*
Disability in Australia Four million people in Australia (18.5%) reported having a disability in 2009, according to the results of the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers.Australian Bureau of Statistics 2009Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findin ...
*
Dignity Party (South Australia) The Dignity Party, previously known as Dignity for Disability or Dignity 4 Disability (D4D; known as Dignity for Disabled until 2010), was a political party in the Australian state of South Australia. The party had one parliamentary member, Kelly ...
*
National Disability Insurance Scheme The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a scheme of the Australian Government that funds reasonable and necessary supports associated with significant and permanent disability for people under 65 years old. The scheme was first int ...


References

{{Reflist, 30em, refs= {{cite web, date=2018-09-05, title=National disability representative organisations, url=https://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/disability-and-carers/program-services/consultation-and-advocacy/national-disability-peak-bodies, url-status=live, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190319133153/https://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/disability-and-carers/program-services/consultation-and-advocacy/national-disability-peak-bodies, archive-date=2019-03-19, website=Disability and Carers, publisher=Department of Social Services, location=Australia {{Cite web, title=(Archive of) Who's Who, url=http://www.pwd.org.au/whoswho.html, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021209004446/http://www.pwd.org.au/whoswho.html, archive-date=2002-12-09, website=PWDA {{Cite web, title=(Archive of) Our Staff and Board, url=http://pwd.org.au/staff.html, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101120023455/http://pwd.org.au/staff.html, archive-date=2010-11-20, website=PWDA {{Cite web, title=(Archive of) Board Directors, url=http://pwd.org.au/about-us/our-board-and-staff.html, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021032122/http://pwd.org.au/about-us/our-board-and-staff.html, archive-date=2013-10-21, website=PWDA {{Cite web, title=(Archive of) Our Board, url=https://pwd.org.au/about-us/our-board/, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227095748/http://pwd.org.au/about-us/our-board/, archive-date=2019-02-27, website=PWDA {{Cite web, date=2020-11-13, title=PWDA Board Elections, url=https://us2.campaign-archive.com/?u=9b4dc5c4cde2d6162dcb52396&id=e8a9197c9a, url-status=live, archive-url=https://archive.today/20201117085947/https://us2.campaign-archive.com/?u=9b4dc5c4cde2d6162dcb52396&id=e8a9197c9a, archive-date=2020-11-17, website=Members Email Campaign Archive {{cite web, date=2018-05-04, title=PWDA – Our History, url=http://www.pwd.org.au/about-us/our-history.html, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504064247/http://www.pwd.org.au/about-us/our-history.html, archive-date=2018-05-04, website=PWDA {{cite web, url=https://abr.business.gov.au/AbnHistory/View?id=98879981198, title=Historical details for ABN 98 879 981 198, date=2019-11-01, website=abr.business.gov.au, publisher=Australian Business Register, url-status=live, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103114738/https://abr.business.gov.au/AbnHistory/View?id=98879981198, archive-date=2019-11-03 {{Cite news, last2=Brook, first2=Stephen, last1=Kruger, first1=Colin, date=2020-08-26, title=Disability group split by activist battle, work=The Sydney Morning Herald, publisher=Nine Entertainment Co, url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/sydney-cbd-disability-group-split-by-activist-battle-20200826-p55pe5.html, url-status=live, archive-url=https://archive.today/20200826223341/https://www.smh.com.au/national/sydney-cbd-disability-group-split-by-activist-battle-20200826-p55pe5.html, archive-date=2020-08-26 {{Cite news, last=Barro, first=Christiane, date=2020-10-15, title=Story of Hope: How an AFLW star has to learn how to explain the unexplainable, url=https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/10/15/moana-hope-carers-coronavirus/, url-status=live, archive-url=https://archive.today/20201018040416/https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/10/15/moana-hope-carers-coronavirus/, archive-date=2020-10-18, work=
The New Daily ''The New Daily'' is an online Australian newspaper founded in 2013, and owned by Industry Super Holdings, which represents industry superannuation funds. History ''The New Daily'' was started by AustralianSuper, Cbus and Industry Super Ho ...
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The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
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{{Cite news, last2=Hutchinson, first2=Samantha, last1=Brook, first1=Stephen, date=2020-08-11, title=Disability Dispute, url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/cbd-melbourne-tea-party-over-for-ley-20200811-p55kqw.html, url-status=live, archive-url=https://archive.today/20200814000053/https://www.theage.com.au/national/cbd-melbourne-tea-party-over-for-ley-20200811-p55kqw.html, archive-date=2020-08-14, work=The Age, publisher=Nine Entertainment Co. {{Cite news, last1=Hutchinson, first1=Samantha, last2=Brook, first2=Stephen, date=2020-09-08, title=From swear word to acronym: feminist group tones it down, url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/from-swear-word-to-acronym-feminist-group-tones-it-down-20200908-p55tnm.html, url-status=live, archive-url=https://archive.today/20200909024503/https://www.smh.com.au/national/from-swear-word-to-acronym-feminist-group-tones-it-down-20200908-p55tnm.html, archive-date=2020-09-09, work=The Sydney Morning Herald, publisher=Nine Entertainment Co {{Cite web, url=https://www.intuitbenefits.com/au/family-support/special-needs/community-resources, title=Community Resources: People with Disability Australia, date=2019, website=Intuit Benefits (Australia), url-status=live, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031092021/https://www.intuitbenefits.com/au/family-support/special-needs/community-resources, archive-date=2019-10-31 {{cite web, publisher=Economic and Social Council, date=2017-07-18, title=List of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council as of 1 September 2016 (E/2016/INF/5), url=http://undocs.org/E/2016/INF/5, url-status=live, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102031027/https://undocs.org/E/2016/INF/5, archive-date=2019-11-02, website=United Nations, page=88


External links


People with Disability Australia Ltd

Disability Health Support Australia

UN-Enable Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
Disability organisations based in Australia Disability rights organizations Organizations established in 1980