Coral Rizzalli OAM QLD
Coral lives in Ingham in North Queensland
and was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia
for her voluntary work in disability, advocating
on behalf of her son, John, and others in
similar situations. She is a leading consumer
advocate for health reform and the introduction
of a person-controlled electronic health record. |
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Fim Jucha SA Fim is a
volunteer support worker and advocate with families who have a family
member with disabilities. She is a longtime advocate and carer for her
sister with a disability. She coordinated volunteers for the successful
election of the late Paul Collier to the Legislative Council in South
Australia in March 2010. |
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Lorraine Pestell WA Lorraine is an advocate for children and
parents in fractured families, and has a strong
interest in ways of using the taxation and
benefit system to recognise the value of unpaid
work, such as caring for family members or
volunteering, to encourage many more people into
caring roles and to provide carers with a
sustainable lifestyle. |
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Libby
Hartman VIC
Libby is mother of 7 year old Anthony who has autism. Her
journey of advocating for the rights of her son has exposed her
to a minefield of inequality and prejudice within the education
system and beyond. She pens a blog 'Life is Wonderful -
despite everything' exploring many of the issues of
disability, carers and families. |
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Terry Ryan NSW Terry is the father of a son who has an
intellectual disability, two daughters and two grand-daughters. He has
been President of ACTION for People with Disability, and Chairperson of
Manly-Warringah Family and Friends of People with Disability.
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Georgina
McAuliffe SA Georgina is a part-time anaesthetist and full-time parent, carer and
educator for a daughter with autism.
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Paul Oglesby NSW
Paul was diagnosed with
multiple schlerosis (MS) 22 years ago. His
illness forced his medical retirement from the
ABC when he was an executive in ABC TV Program
Development. In 1995 he was elected to the North
Sydney City Council, was re-elected twice, and retired from Council in 2008. Paul
currently works as a brokerage assistant in a carers program, organising respite care for
carers of people with a mental illness.
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Pamella Maram QLD Pam lives in Maryborough and is a fulltime
carer for two teenage sons with disabilities,
and mother of two daughters without disabilities.
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Kathleen Lemonis NSW Kathleen has dedicated the last 10 years to
making a difference to families facing
challenges with limited supports. She currently
works in providing in-home supports for families
where children have an at risk factor
(harm/abuse/neglect) inclusive of parents with
mental health issues or disabilities.
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Michiko Parnell WA
Michiko is a teacher, and parent of three
children, one of whom has high level disabilities as a result of
cerebral palsy. She has a strong interest in the development of
policies that enhance the ability of new mothers to nurture
small children instead of having to return prematurely to paid
work, and decreasing the gap between early intervention and
intervention past the age of five.
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Jane Bett QLD Jane is a counsellor in drug and alcohol
dependence and mental health, with personal experience of mental
illness. |
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Jessica Revill NSW Jessica is a Sydney psychologist with a
strong commitment to person-centred reform in
education and disability.
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David
Ayliffe VIC David is a writer and former journalist,
a parent of four children, and currently works as a fundraiser for an
international not-for-profit organisation.
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Sherran Mitchell VIC
Sherran lives in Mytleford in rural
Victoria, her son, born in 1979 has Mowat Wilson syndrome. She
is a diabetic and brought awareness to the community which
helped form a support group. Because of her son, she advocates
for people with intellectually disabilities living in SSA homes.
She has also advocated for the rights of people in aged care
facilities and people with mental health issues.
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Deborah Charlton TAS
Deborah is coordinator of the Family
Inclusion Network in Tasmania, and a foster carer of a young boy who has
sustained severe trauma. She is passionate about families and children
in the child protection process getting a fair go, and is a keen
advocate for early intervention to support and empower families in
staying together rather than waiting until it is too late and having to remove children from their parents.
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Leane Leggo VIC
Leane is a parent of a child with a disability, and president of a
communication therapy and support centre in Melbourne for people who
cannot speak. |
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Lori Crompton NSW Lori is a program manager in a primary
health care organisation, and is passionate about new models of
preventative and holistic care.
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Mandy Miles NSW
Mandy has been a carer for the last 15 years, and works
as a program manager in mental health. She founded a children's
charity (Make a Difference) in 2000, which supports families and
children as a charity of last resort. [photo:
Mandy, right] |
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Vern Hughes VIC
Vern is a parent of three sons, two with
autism. He lives in Melbourne. He is Director of the Centre for Civil
Society.
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Sam Mauchline QLD
Sam lives on the Gold Coast with his wife Anne and has two
children, Jill the eldest and Paul who is severely disabled
suffering from cerebral palsy. Sam very passionate about
achieving immediate changes for those with disabilities, their
families and carers.
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Joanne Stuart VIC
Joanne Stuart is a parent of a son with autism. She lives in Ivanhoe in Melbourne and has been active in
local communities affairs for 25 years.
Joanne is completing a law degree, in
between battling government departments and service providers in
search of better supports for her son with autism.
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