Coinciding with International Women’s Day,  People with Disability Australia (PWDA) has launched ‘Advancing Women with Disability in the Workplace’ (Advancing Women). The project aims to improve outcomes for women, girls, feminine-identifying and non-binary people with disability across leadership representation and workforce participation and safety.

“As Australia makes great strides to improve the safety and representation of women and other minorities in the workplace, we cannot leave women with disability behind. We need equity not cupcakes,” PWDA president Nicole Lee said.

The  project has been developed in recognition of the underrepresentation of women with disability in leadership and decision-making roles across the Australian workforce, PWDA director of strategic projects, Lizzy Fowler said.

“The project will seek to develop an understanding of the barriers and enablers to leadership representation for women with disability, informed by those with lived experience across regional and metropolitan Australia,” she said.

PWDA aims to build a critical mass of allies who together, will create workplaces where employing, retaining and developing women with disability is business as usual.  

The project will deliver an educational program targeting organisations nationally designed to promote leadership, meaningful workforce participation and workplace safety for women with disability, alongside a leadership mentoring program for women with disability.

Click here to find out more about the Advancing Women project and to get involved.