PWDA was founded in 1980, in the lead up to the International Year of Disabled Persons (1981), to provide people with disability with a voice of our own. Our organisation has been through several evolutions and name changes that reflect the changing nature of disability organisations.
- International Year of Disabled Persons 1981 and the First Handicapped Persons Conference
- The Handicapped Persons Alliance and Disabled Peoples International
- Disability Australia Ltd
- People with Disability Australia

Back Row Left to Right: man with light hair standing (unknown), man with dark hair (unknown), Joe Mannix, Effie Zagorides (Executive Officer of the then Handicapped Person’s Alliance), Alisa Coleman, woman with dark hair (unknown), Faye Druett, Chris Walters.
Front Row Left to Right: Robert Wood, Joan Hume, Ross Soutar, John (later known as Jacob) Baldwin, John Roarty