National Awards for Disability Leadership

Recognising the achievements of disability leaders

The National Awards for Disability Leadership recognise and celebrate the extraordinary contribution and leadership shown by disabled people and our organisations in Australia today.

These Awards reflect what is important to disabled people and the ways that we are effecting change and pursuing equality for our community. They recognise outstanding achievements by individuals, or disabled people’s organisations, who have significantly contributed to advancing the status of disabled people.

The Awards are delivered across seven categories for outstanding achievement or outcomes by disabled people, reflecting the diversity of our community, and the intersectional nature of our lives.

#DisabilityAwards2025

Nominations for the 2025 National Awards for Disability Leadership are now open, and close at 5 pm on Friday 17 October 2025.

Step 1: read the Awards Categories before making a nomination.

Step 2: read the nomination instructions.

Step 3: use the Nomination Form to submit your nomination.

The Awards were first held in 2018 and featured an Awards Ceremony delivered via global webcast

#DisabilityAwards2025

The Awards archive lists all Recipients and Finalists for each year and includes links to The Recipients podcasts.

Award Categories

There are seven categories, reflecting what is important to disabled people.

The Awards were designed by disabled people and their representative organisations around the key areas of our work. The 2018 working group consisted of the Disability Leadership Institute (DLI), Disabled Peoples Organisations Australia (DPOA), and the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO).

Sponsorship?

Interested in supporting the Awards? Contact us about becoming a sponsor.

Sponsorship packages are available for as little as $1000 up to whole of Awards sponsorship arrangements.

Need more information?

Please email us with your question.