The DALA Story

The Disabled Australian Lawyers Association (DALA) is a national organisation advocating for the greater representation and inclusion of disabled people in the legal profession.
DALA was co-founded by three disabled women lawyers - Natalie Wade, Abbey Dalton and Ella Alexander.  The co-founders initially connected online during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Despite living in different states, having distinct professional backgrounds and different lived experiences of disability, their shared commitment to improving disability inclusion in the legal profession led to the creation of DALA in March 2021.
Since then, DALA has steadily grown and now has more than 200 members across Australia.  The enthusiastic reception that DALA received upon its creation - and the rapid growth that followed - highlight the great need for a representative body for disabled lawyers, barristers, legal academics, law students and other legal professionals.
DALA works to fulfil its mandate through awareness-raising and advocacy work, as well as providing opportunities for the disabled legal community to connect, share advice and support, and mentor the next generation of disabled lawyers.
With every step, DALA strives to challenge entrenched ableist attitudes, remove barriers to success, and promote the full participation and advancement of disabled people in the legal profession.

Both person-first ("person with a disability") and identity-first ("disabled person") language is appropriate to describe the disability community. As an association created by disabled people, for disabled people, DALA has chosen to use identity-first language in naming this organisation.
Whilst DALA chooses to emphasise disability as a trait that is a source of pride and an integral part of our identity as legal professionals, we respect and recognise everyone’s right to self-identify and support the use of whatever language others feel most comfortable with.