Critical disability studies

Karen Soldatic is an international disability researcher and was recently awarded an Australian Research Council DECRA award to critically examine the impact of welfare reform in regional Australia for Indigenous Australians (2016 – 2019).  Karen has had extensive experience in conflict zones and post-conflict rebuilding spending several years in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (late 1993 – early 1998), and Sri Lanka (from late 1998) where she maintains strong relationships with local women’s disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) in the area of disability inclusive development and post-conflict inclusion.

Karen has extensive engagement with a range of civil society organisations and was a board member with the Ethnic Disability Advocacy Centre (EDAC), the lead agency in establishing the Kimberly Disability Advocacy (KDA) service, and continues providing pro bono research support on key policy advocacy issues of interest, such as migration, disability advocacy for effective service provision to migrant communities and Aboriginal disability service and advocacy in remote communities.