Our people

Nominated by Down Syndrome Australia

Grant is married and has two children with his wife, Tammy. Their daughter, Alishia, has Down Syndrome and is 25 years of age. Grant is a strong advocate for people with intellectual disability, promoting inclusion and equality in all things. Grant is also a person with disability.

Grant was the Deputy Chair of Down Syndrome Australia for 12 years.  He was President of Down Syndrome Australia (NT) for thirteen years.  

Grant has been on the Board of Carpentaria Disability Services since 2005 and is currently the President and Board Chair.  He is also the Past President of the Rotary Club of Darwin, and is currently the Club’s International Service, National Projects and Rotary Foundation Director. He is the Global Grants Sub-Committee Chair for Rotary District 9560 (Northern Australia and Timor Leste).  Grant is a Director and Senior Consultant of Creative TEAMS, as well as a Director of Living Edge Enterprise P/L.

Nominated by Disability Justice  Australia

Trevor is passionate about protecting and enhancing the human rights of people with disabilities, having acquired an incomplete spinal cord injury in the mid-1990s and a bi-lateral sensorineural hearing loss and Meniere’s disease. He was recognised for his service to people with disability in the 2022 Queens Birthday Honours List with the award of the Order of Australia Medal (OAM).

He has been a member of the AFDO Board since 2012, serving as Treasurer, President, and Vice President respectively.

Trevor has been CEO at Disability Justice Australia (DJA) since 2009 and represents AFDO as:

• Elected Director and Information Officer on the Board of Disabled Peoples’ International (DPI)
• Chair of the DPI Asia-Pacific Region
• Member of the Pacific Disability Forum (PDF)
• Member of the Australian Electoral Commission Disability Advisory Committee
• Executive of the Australian Disability and Development Consortium (ADDC).

Nominated by Deafness Forum of Australia

Christine is an Adviser to Deafness Forum Australia (DFA) and its representative on the AFDO Board. Although she has lived with hearing loss since childhood, she pursued a successful and rewarding school-teaching career until her retirement in 2012.

Christine has since served as president of Hearing Matters Australia for six years and is an honorary Life Member of the organisation. She is a staunch advocate for people living with hearing loss and has made representations on their behalf to Australian federal and state government agencies and on consultation panels. She is also an active participant on the Transport for NSW Accessible Transport Committee (ATAC), again as DFA’s representative.

Christine collaborates with hearing care professionals, academic researchers, consumer representatives and international organisations, with the aim of having hearing loss recognised as a priority health issue. She advocates for a global best practice model focused on the needs of the individual and on strengthening the quality of hearing loss management.

Nominated by Deaf Australia

Debbie is an Auslan user and is a current board member at Deaf Australia. She was born Deaf into a Deaf family, which includes both parents being Deaf. She primarily uses Auslan (Australian Sign Language), the language of the Deaf community in Australia.

Debbie resides in Darwin and works for Deaf Services/the Deaf Society in connecting Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals to needed supports across the Northern Territory.

With an interest in raising disability issues, Debbie ensures that the needs of the Australian Deaf community is promoted and included in conversations elsewhere.

Independent Director

Richard was appointed by the Board for his governance and leadership expertise.

He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and has been active in the disability field for more than 25 years.

He contributed to the leadership of the NDIS campaign, and he has held CEO, Executive and Board member roles within UnitingCare, the E W Tipping Foundation (now Aruma), National Disability Services, and multiple other organisations.

Richard has been active in Australia’s civic life for almost three decades, including as Leadership Victoria’s Chief Executive Officer, where he implemented multiple programs and initiatives for equity in disability, gender, multiculturalism and LGBTIQA+. He is a specialist international consultant in leadership, strategy and NFP governance and has advised governments and contributed to public policy through VCOSS, NDS and other peak bodies.

Richard is active in a wide range of community organisations and academic institutions, and his contributions have included making progress on economic wellbeing, fostering social fairness, upholding animal welfare rights, fostering leadership in rural, regional and remote communities, building the relationship between Australia and Aotearoa, maintaining a sustainable global environment and upholding global human rights, particularly in multicultural communities and with a particular focus on rights of all people with disability.

Nominated by Women with Disabilities ACT (WWDACT)

Isabel is the chair of Women with Disability ACT and a young queer person with disability. Isabel has extensive experience in disability policy, serving as a member of the Executive Committee of Health Care Consumers ACT and having previously worked for Advocacy for Inclusion. She is currently the Disability Justice Liaison Officer at Canberra Community Law.

Isabel has completed degrees from the Australian National University in Cell and Molecular Biology and Genetics, and Sociology, and is passionate about the achievement of human rights for people with disability, especially in justice settings, health and medicine.

Independent Director

Tim Harte is a passionate advocate for disability rights, driven by his lived experience as a young rural person with disabilities. A graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Tim holds qualifications in performing arts and science and has a strong background in disability, social, and environmental justice activism. Currently pursuing a PhD in materials chemistry at Deakin University’s Institute for Frontier Materials, his research focuses on structural electrolytes.

Tim is the youngest Chair of a government disability advisory committee in Australia, leading the Surf Coast Shire’s All Abilities Advisory Committee. Tim is the elected Pacific Region Representative for the UN-affiliated Global Network of Young Persons with Disabilities. Tim is a former Co-Chair of the Commonwealth Children and Youth Disability Network. A staunch advocate of the human rights-based model of disability, Tim works to ensure equitable access and meaningful inclusion for people with disabilities in all aspects of society.

Nominated by Post Polio Victoria

Robyn is a 74-year-old single mother of two and grandmother of six.

Robyn has been disabled since the age of 3 due to poliomyelitis.

Robyn is a retired registered nurse/midwife/health manager and a committed advocate for the aged and disabled.

Nominated by South West Autism Network

Amy is a 38-year-old single parent with disabilities and multiple chronic health conditions.  Amy is diagnosed with PDA profile ASD & ADHD (combined) (late diagnosis at age 31); Type 1 diabetic since 2 years old; Epilepsy (diagnosed in 2011); and C-PTSD, Agoraphobia and GAD since childhood.  Amy’s three daughters are also PDA profile Autistic and ADHD (combined) with various co-occurring chronic health conditions.  Amy and her daughters are NDIS participants (since early 2020) and are in the Complex Stream.  Amy actively advocates on their behalf in all settings.

Amy is creative, artistic, musical and an “outside the box” problem solver.

Today, she serves as a Board Director for the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) and as Vice President on the Board for the South West Autism Network (SWAN).  Additionally, Amy actively contributes to two Systemic Advocacy Reference Groups, where she works to champion the rights and needs of individuals and carers with ASD.

Amy has extensive lived experience in self-advocating in the areas of:

• NDIS and ART (formerly AAT)
• Health
• Housing
• Legal settings 
• Education
• NDIS Safeguards Commission and Privacy breach complaints 
• DV

Amy is passionate about bringing awareness to the importance of “speaking up”, believing that:

“Those who have the privilege and platforms to instigate change must actively use their voices. Choosing silence or passive compliance essentially supports the continued violation of the human rights of people with disabilities.”