Executive Officer, AMIDA

Pauline Williams is a disability advocate at Action for More Independence and Dignity in Accommodation (AMIDA) where she has been employed for 20 years. As well as providing individual advocacy, her role has included systemic advocacy to achieve such goals as the closure of institutions and community supported accommodation for all. This goal is now in sight.

Another goal, partially achieved, has been the inclusion in law of residential rights for people with a disability living in shared supported accommodation and the separation of support services from housing provision. This will finally become national policy under the NDIS.

AMIDA has piloted outreach to people in institutions and group homes informing and discussing these rights to residents as one strategy to tackle abuse in residential services. Pauline has coordinated the creation of training resources for this purpose.

Self-Advocacy support is also provided by AMIDA and Pauline supports people with a disability to produce and present the Raising Our Voices radio show on housing and related issues facing people with a disability. AMIDA has a close working relationship with Reinforce, Brain Injury Matters and the stArt community Art collective and together we manage the Self Advocacy Resource Unit and other successful projects all of which Pauline has been passionately involved in.

Prior to her role at AMIDA Pauline taught at Broadmeadows TAFE in the Associate Diploma of Community Development for 4 years and worked in the housing field for 6 years before that.