Victorian Disability Advisory Council

Chris (he/him) is proudly autistic. He is the Founding Director and Chief Enabling Officer of I CAN Network. I CAN is Australia’s largest autistic-led organisation and employs 83 autistic adults. I CAN also mentors over 3,000 young people through 130 I CAN School programs and I CAN Online.

In 2017 Chris received the Supreme Court of Victoria’s Best Achievement in Human Rights Award. Chris is also a national patron of the Australian Association for Special Education and Co-Chair of the Australian Autism Alliance.

Chris is passionate about disability job creation and employment. He lives with his young family in Greater Geelong.

Disability community: autistic

Location: regional

Focus areas: inclusive education, inclusive workforces and job creation.

Mija (she/her) is Deaf and uses Auslan as her first language. She resides on Wadi Wadi and Muthi Muthi lands. Mija is the Head of Youth Disability Advocacy Service (YDAS). She has led and coordinated community development, film festivals and arts projects in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Mija is currently a member of the Royal Women’s Hospital Community Advisory Committee. She is also on the Disability Action Plan Advisory Committee. Previously she was the President for Deaf Victoria. She has a Bachelor of Arts from University of Melbourne, a Master of Communication from Griffith University and a Master of Public Policy and Management from the University of Melbourne.

Disability community: Deaf and hard of hearing community

Location: regional

Focus areas: Youth, intersectionality, NDIS, health, and regional and rural issues.

Akii (they/them) is an internationally awarded, multi-award-winning disability and gender equity advocate and activist. They are passionate about disability rights and non-tokenistic representation. Akii is a proud, young, neurodivergent (ADHD and Autistic), disabled, transgender non-binary and LGBTIQA+ Queer person of colour (POC) from a refugee and racially marginalised background.

Akii is a first generation Aussie who lives with multiple complex chronic illnesses, pain and disabilities. They are:

• an intimate partner and family violence survivor-advocate
• on several advisory committees across Australia within the health, LGBTIQA+, accessibility, disability and human rights sectors
• an experienced expert consultant dedicated to change.

Akii is also an agency-represented and internationally published model. They use this role to push for a positive change within the media, fashion, and beauty industries for appearance diversity (such as surgical scars), disability, mobility aids, gender-diverse, and POC communities.

Disability community: Neurodivergent – Autistic, severe ADHD and C-PTSD. Physically disabled – spinal injury and complex chronic illnesses including living with chronic disabling pain. Survivor-activist of sexual, domestic and family violence.

Location: metropolitan

Focus areas:

• LGBTIQA+ communities, transgender, gender diverse and gender non-confirming communities, People of Colour (POC), refugee and migrant backgrounds, neurodivergent communities
• intersectionality
• accessibility and access needs – DEI (employment, transport etc)
• disability employment
• disability leadership
• non-tokenistic, genuine diverse representation – embedded co-design, co-production and co-evaluation
• mental health and well-being
• disability justice
• violence prevention and gendered based violence
• accessible, inclusive and safe travel for disabled people.

Amir Brand-Abdi has a Diploma of Health Science and is studying a Bachelor of Psychological Science at Deakin University. He works part-time in the construction industry as a social procurement administrator and is Blind Football Coordinator at Football Victoria. Amir is Captain of Australia’s national blind soccer team and plays for the national goalball team.

He is a passionate disability advocate, particularly for people who seek asylum, people with disability who are newly arrived to Australia, and inclusive education. He is fluent in Braille, English, Kurdish and Persian. Amir’s achievements were recognised in 2018 with a Friends of Refugees award, presented by Professor Gillian Triggs, for his outstanding contribution to the Australian Community for All Abilities Sports and Community Service.

Amanda is a skilled access and inclusion consultant with Accessible Action. She works with both government and non-government sectors. Her field of expertise focuses on the social model of disability to:

• support organisations to improve outcomes and increase participation for people with disability
• provide the perspectives of people with disability through functional expertise and valuable lived experience
• shift mindsets to promote and embed access and inclusion in the organisations she works with.

Amanda is a leader who is committed to her community. She serves on several Boards, including as:

• Member of the Board of Arts Access Victoria
• Chair of the Board for Scleroderma Australia and President of Scleroderma Victoria.

Disability community: scleroderma and amputee

Location: metropolitan

Focus areas: employment, NDIS, Disability Inclusion Bill, health, co-design, emergency management, boards and leadership and transport.

Caitlin is a young woman living with intellectual disability and dyspraxia. She feels people with intellectual disability have limited opportunities, especially in areas of education and employment. This is something she is passionate to change to bring about a more inclusive Victoria.

Caitlin works at the Behavioural Insight division at Victorian Public Sector Commission. She also works at the Monash Aquatic and Recreation Centre and is the co-founder of Enable. Enable is an education platform for fitness and recreation instructors. Caitlin has published several articles in Australia and the UK. The articles have helped to create more inclusive fitness centres.

She is passionate about the inclusion of people with disabilities in sport. She is a proud football player for Mazenod Panthers all-abilities.

Disability community: dyspraxia and dysarthria

Location: metropolitan

Focus areas: companion cards, inclusive education, women and intellectual disability.

Diana has had over 15-years of experience working in risk and compliance roles in the finance industry. They finished their finance industry tenure seconding as National Manager of Wholesale Audits.

Diana is a disability advocate and researcher, interested in methodologies where lived experience is valued. They serve as Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for WDV. As a sociology PhD candidate at La Trobe University, their work examines disability and relationality through technologies of care.

As an Associate Research Fellow at Deakin University, Diana is working on an NDRP project to support positive identities for LGBTQ people with intellectual disability. Diana also volunteers for MS Plus, facilitating peer support groups for queer and gender diverse people living with Multiple Sclerosis.

Gabrielle has a professional background in mental health, research and community nursing. She trained in integrative health.

Gabrielle has also:

• completed the Autism Collaborative Research Centre Sylvia Rodger Academy Research program
• been a research consultant for autism academic research and private research organisations
• published co-authored articles and reports addressing autistic diagnosis, financial wellbeing, education, employment
• authored peer-reviewed co-produced published articles, as well as articles focusing on co-produced research.

She is now undertaking a PhD that looks at Autistic cultural safety in disability, physical and mental health supports.

This is proudly her second term as a VDAC member.

Gabrielle is an Autistic parent with two Autistic children.

Disability community: Autistic

Location: metropolitan

Focus areas: Victorian autism plan, health, education, and employment.

James Griffiths is a proud Wangaaypuwan man. Born in Cobar, NSW, James moved to Victoria in 2000. In 2004, following complications from diabetes James became legally blind and lost all usable site shortly after. In 2007 James developed renal failure and was placed on dialysis. He received a multiple organ transplant in 2008. From that day, James has made it his mission to make a positive difference for all people, especially those with disability.

Current achievements and roles include:

• Member, Wellington Access Inclusion Advisory Group
• Chairman, Sale to Sea
• Board Member, Ramahyuck District Aboriginal Corporation
• Board Member, Gippsland Disability Advocacy Inc
• Graduate , Gippsland Community Leadership Program
• Indigenous Peer, Vision Australia
• Peer Mentor, Blind Citizens Australia
• Finalist, 2018 Victorian Disability Awards (Emerging Leader category).

Jen has extensive experience promoting disability rights and women’s rights. Her previous roles include:

• working in University Disability Liaison Units
• volunteering on the Women’s Information and Referral Exchange help line
• doing systemic advocacy as senior policy officer at Women with Disabilities Victoria
• investigating women’s safety in disability services with the Victorian Government’s Ethel Temby scholarship
• researching recovery from violence with Sexual Assault Services Victoria.

In University research teams, Jen studies violence prevalence, prevention, response, recovery and fair access to services (including the NDIS, health, family violence and emergency responses).

Disability community: disability pride

Location: metropolitan

Focus areas: gender equality, family violence prevention and response, safeguarding, housing accessibility, information access and accessible transport.

Laura (she/her) is a writer and bibliophile living on Wurundjeri country. She is a woman with cerebral palsy and psychosocial disability. She is passionate about all forms of accessibility and inclusion.

Laura has worked in local government advocating for the disability community. She currently works with Youth Disability Advocacy Service to create plain language and Easy English content. Laura has worked on several co-design projects. These include the co-production of the Carer Gateway with Wellways Australia.

Laura has a Master of Professional Psychology from Monash University. Her writing is published in various places, including The Age.

Disability community: cerebral palsy, psychosocial disability

Location: metropolitan

Focus areas: accessible communication, advocacy for the arts and disability, ensuring the safety of disabled people during the ongoing pandemic, NDIS, the climate crisis.

Martin has a BA and MA in English literature from Cambridge University. He also has an MA in Communications from RMIT University. He left England in 1987 and lived, worked and travelled around the world before coming to Australia in 1997.

He worked for Lonely Planet from 1999 to 2020 in many roles. This included 7 years as editorial manager.

A road accident in 2010 left Martin a quadriplegic. He was Lonely Planet’s accessible travel manager and editorial adviser from 2013 to 2020. In this role he published several accessible travel titles. This included the world’s largest collection of accessible travel online resources.

Since 2014 Martin has become a regular speaker at travel conferences and events at home and around the world. These included several United Nations Tourism events.

Martin is now a freelance consultant, writer and editor. He recently organised a series of inclusive tourism workshops for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). He also authored an accompanying set of best practice guidelines. He has developed and delivered training for Tourism Australia and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.

For the last 6 years he has served as chair of the board of IDEAS, a NSW-based nonprofit. IDEAS provides information to, and advocacy services, for disability communities throughout Australia.

Disability community: spinal-cord injury (C4 incomplete quadriplegic)

Location: metropolitan

Focus areas: inclusion and accessibility (both physical and social), accessible travel, tourism and transport, accessible communications and employment, justice and discrimination, health and well-being, and universal design.

Samantha (Sam) (she/her) lives with short stature (dwarfism). Sam is a PhD Candidate at Deakin University and is researching intellectual disability and obesity. She has employment experience spanning both the government and private sector. Sam is a Board Director at Women with Disabilities Victoria, Boroondara All Abilities Advisory Group and Kooyong NDIS Advisory Committee.

Sam’s research interest is exploring chronic health conditions for people with intellectual disability and the various supports required for this population. Sam is an advocate for disability inclusion in all aspects of life. She can apply both an academic lens and lived experience to complex policy.

Sam has a Bachelor of Food Science and Nutrition and a Master of Disability and Inclusion and is a PhD Candidate at Deakin University.

Disability community: short statured person

Location: metropolitan

Focus areas: non-communicable disease, sport and recreation, women’s health, gender equity, participation in civic and cultural life.