About

For over twenty years, Women With Disabilities ACT (WWDACT) has been a strong, committed voice advocating on behalf of women* with disabilities in the ACT. Many of the women who helped to establish what started in 1995-6 as a flat-structured volunteer advocacy group remain involved twenty years later and helped guide its transformation into an incorporated association in 2016.

Regardless of the organisational structure under which they have operated, the women of WWDACT have adopted a human rights framework for their consistent and sustained advocacy, the impact of which has been recognised, locally, nationally and on an international stage. In 2015, WWDACT was awarded the ACT Chief Minister's Inclusion Award for Advancing Human Rights. You can read more about the history and achievements of WWDACT here.

Central to the effectiveness of WWDACT advocacy are the skills and talents of the women at its heart. Much is made of the dedication and hard work of people who give life to volunteer advocacy organisations and, indeed, the leaders of WWDACT are no exception in having devoted intense energies to making sure the voices of women with disabilities are heard. The WWDACT impact at a mainstream level has been achieved even whilst each individual is managing the many challenges which are the accompaniment to having a disability. The skills and talents of the women doing this hard work certainly warrant recognition!

This exhibition focuses on some of these skilled and talented women and, in so doing, acknowledges how they are creating a more inclusive Australia. The wisdom of the mantra 'nothing about us without us' has been adhered to as much as possible. Each woman has been intricately involved in every aspect of the process; from the interview to the final edits of the transcripts published in the exhibition. Short profiles of the leaders we feature are accompanied by longer summaries of interviews that communicate an understanding of the personal and professional contexts in which they operate as leaders.

All of these exceptional women do leadership differently, from each other but also from most other leaders, because disability perspective alters how and why they operate. As you read each story, you will be impressed by how much this has empowered them to fully embrace diversity and inclusion. The able-bodied community can learn much from adopting this wider perspective. Despite the frustrations of ableism, discrimination and exclusion that they all live with, these women's various experiences of disability have put them into worlds and situations that they would not otherwise have had. They have seized opportunities that have arisen through their disabilities and have created models of leadership that we would all do well to pay attention to.

We hope you enjoy Redefining Leadership.

* At WWDACT, advocacy for women with disabilities includes women, girls, feminine identifying and non-binary people.