With over 30 years of lived experience living with Cerebral Palsy, Aaron brings a strong passion for, and commitment to promoting social justice, raising awareness and advocating for a more equitable society where the rights of people with disability are upheld.

As well as his own personal experience, Aaron has a professional background as a social worker and researcher in disability specialising in social isolation and engagement.

Aaron is currently pursuing a doctorate that utilises narrative inquiry to explore the hurdles hindering the participation of young adults with physical disability across New South Wales. With this he brings strong analytical and communication skills to drive tangible positive change for individuals with disability residing across the Central Coast region.

Anjie is a neurodivergent artist, living with a disability and recently adapting to life as a disabled and ambulatory wheelchair and mobility aids user. She has first-hand lived experience of what it is like to grieve the loss of some of the things in life she no longer has access to.

With previous experience in the communications industry, design and event planning, Anjie is also deeply passionate about LGBTQIA+ and Indigenous communities and where disability intersects across these groups.

Caitlin is a local veterinarian and wheelchair user. She was formally a member of the Australian Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team, the Gliders and was heavily involved in wheelchair sport. During this time she was a member of Wheelchair Sports NSW and has given talks in relation to her life story at various Wheelchair NSW events.

Caitlin is also an avid traveller and in 2016 backpacked solo in a wheelchair around Europe for several months and has written several articles on the experience.

Having stopped competitive sport, Caitlin now resides on the Central Coast with her young kids and husband. When she is not spending time with family or looking after the Central Coast’s pets, she loves kayaking the local waterways and is a member of the Toukley Kayaking group.

Disability Advocacy NSW are the largest individual advocacy disability organisation in the state with offices in Sydney, regional, rural and remote areas in NSW. The organisation will be represented by Belinda Randell and Johny Row from the Central Coast office. 

Disability Advocacy NSW advocate freely for individuals with disability responding to issues like parliamentary inquiries and commissions, lobbying policy makers and decision-makers, campaigning and raising public awareness of disability, research and education with the aim to help create society-wide change to make systems and communities more fair, respectful and inclusive for people with disability.

Prior to being medically retired, Leah enjoyed a thirteen-career working with Not-for-Profit peak bodies with a focus on advocating for marginalised young people across NSW. She also worked as a youth worker for drop-in services and a young women’s refuge.

Leah has been a volunteer for numerous committees and boards focused on improving outcomes for women and the LGBTQI+ community. She brings her own lived experience of disability living with chronic illness (fibromyalgia) which she uses to represent the views of people with invisible disabilities and ambulant wheelchair users as well as being able speak to mental health as a disability also living with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other associated mental health conditions. Leah has a passion for research and representative input to create positive change for the disability community on the Coast.

A part time TAFE teacher for Cert III and Cert IV in Disability Services, Kerry has worked with people with a disability for many years and has a strong background advocating for accessibility for people with a disability. Many of her students either work in the disability sector, have lived experience of disability or are a carer or family member with a disability.

She is involved in work placements of her students who have to complete 120 hours as part of their course and through this work, Kerry has established strong links to the disability sector on the Central Coast.

Elizabeth joins the group with lived experience as a carer of her 12-year-old child with disability as well as with an extensive background in Midwifery and Nursing which has given her an understanding of the diverse range of disabilities that individuals can experience.

Elizabeth is committed to best practice in her professional capacity as a Midwife and has an active role in her workplace. She is very passionate in the area of disability and her commitment for inclusion for all individuals.

Maree is an active member of the Central Coast Community advocating for access and inclusion which is a key priority both personally and professionally for her. She currently works for the NDIS partner in the community, Social Futures where she facilitates inclusion awareness programs in schools and workplaces across the Coast and other regional areas. She also has a particular interest in increasing inclusive employment opportunities for people with disability.

With her own lived experience of disability as a person of short stature/dwarfism, Maree meets daily challenges in regard to people’s attitudes and perceptions and having to physically adapt to living in a world built for average height people.

Maree is an access advisor with Accessible Arts NSW and a regular gallery and theatre patron. She is also the Vice President of the Short Stature People of Australia (SSPA).

Mark joins the Access and Inclusion Reference Group representing the Deaf community. He works as a Local Area Co-ordinator for Social Futures who are the NDIS partner on the Central Coast.

Mark joined the group to advocate for improved access and inclusion for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people.

Robyn joins the group representing the Dementia community and has her own lived experience being diagnosed with dementia 6 years ago and was also a carer for mother who had dementia.

Robyn has worked in adult education, was a volunteer at Hammond Care Erina and has completed the ‘Dementia Friend’ training with Dementia Australia. She has also participated in numerous research programs including 3 years with Sydney University’s Frontier Brain and Mind Centre.

Self-Advocacy Sydney-Central Coast will be represented by two individuals with their own lived experience as young people with a disability (Cerebral Palsy) to educate and bring awareness to the community as well as their strong sector links.

Andie Poetschka and Ben Brown are excellent communicators with a passion for people and networking. Their goal is to make a difference for those living with disabilities and those to come in future generations through contributing ideas and solutions to issues facing our community.

Their main occupations focus on developing and empowering people living with an intellectual disability to become effective leaders and advocate for themselves.

Saranna is a trained social worker, which has given her a grounding in frameworks for connecting and supporting marginalised groups including people with disability. She has a keen interest in advocating for improved access and inclusion for everyone. Saranna has worked with several organisations across the disability and mental health sectors, including Central Coast Disability Network and Coast & Country Primary Care.