2022 Board Nomination Statements

You can navigate to each candidate statement through the links below:

Crystal Bruton

1. Tell us about yourself. Who are you, what communities do you belong to and what are you passionate about?  

My name is Crystal Bruton. I am a woman with lived experience of disability, a neurological condition resulting in physical disability from the age of two years. My academic background is in the fields of criminology and psychology, including an honours degree in criminology and a Doctor of Philosophy focusing on women’s experiences of separating from an abusive, intimate male partner. I have extensive professional experience in the areas of family violence, violence against women and victims of crime in the context of health promotion, community development, advocacy, research and policy development at non-for-profit organisations, academic institutions, local government and state government. I have dedicated my professional career to driving equity and inclusion and advocating for and supporting reform to improve the safety and wellbeing of adults, young people and children in Victoria. I am passionate about social justice and ensuring an equitable society for all, namely people with disability. 

2. Why are you interested in being a Director on the WDV Board?  

I am interested in being a Director on the WDV Board because I want to contribute to improving the lives of Victorian women with disability, drawing upon my strong sense of social justice and human rights. My values align with those of WDV and I have always held the work of WDV in extremely high regard. I would be grateful for the opportunity to work with WDV through its Board and feel my skill set would significantly contribute to the strategic priorities of the organisation.  

On a personal note, I am interested in being a Director in order to develop a different set of leadership and advocacy skills outside of my professional roles. 

 3. What do you want to achieve as a Director of WDV?  

As a Director of WDV, I want to inform and contribute to setting the strategic priorities and goals for the organisation that will lead to sustainable and long-term change. I want to have a significant impact on organisational culture and infrastructure, contributing to an already strong organisation that can continue to represent and advocate for Victorian women with disability for many years to come. 

4. Please tell us about any interests which may conflict with or are relevant to your role as a potential Director of WDV?  

None identified. 

5. Tell us about any disability or community skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board.  

My lived experience of disability means that I bring a strong knowledge of the systemic barriers that women with disability experience in all areas of society. I have extensive experience in advocating for my own rights relating to access to transport, access to events/social participation, access to the built environment (e.g., buildings, infrastructure), and discriminatory attitudes/treatment in the provision of goods and services. Through my professional experience, I have a comprehensive understanding of disability from a social model and human rights, underpinned by an intersectional approach. I also have a comprehensive understanding of key policy areas where women with disability continue to experience systemic barriers to accessing support, including family violence and justice. This is reflected in my most recent roles where I have focused on informing responses to family violence from an intersectional approach and improving the outcomes for those who come into contact with the justice system including people with disability.   

6. Tell us about any professional skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board: 

I have sophisticated interpersonal, engagement and consultative skills including an ability to build relationships, seek input and negotiate across a range of stakeholders from the community, sector organisations and government. Through my experience in local and state government over the past 8 years, I have engaged with key stakeholders from community and sector to inform policies and programs.  

I have extensive research, writing and policy development skills that I can bring to the WDV board. In my roles in state government, I have provided strategic advice and guidance to inform policy across human services, justice and equality portfolios. I have also managed complex policy issues and project in the space of equality, inclusion, family violence and justice. I have advanced written communication skills including an ability to produce comprehensive papers, reports and resources tailored to the audience. 

7. What do you think are the most significant challenges and opportunities for women with disabilities in Victoria?  

I believe one of the most significant challenges relates to the safety and wellbeing of Victorian women with disability. We know that women with disability continue to experience violence at significantly high rates, for longer and by more perpetrators. A significant challenge remains in shifting societal attitudes that sit at the intersection of ableism and sexism that continue to underpin women’s experiences of violence and abuse. Ensuring women with disability receive appropriate, timely and responsive support also remains a challenging space.  

Opportunities to enhance the participation of Victorian women with disability in all areas of life will be afforded and can be leveraged through the broader reform and inquiries currently underway, such as Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. 

8. Is there anything else you want the Members and Board to know?  

Further to the experience, knowledge and skills already outlined, I have more recently engaged in strategic work across an organisation to improve outcomes for staff with disability. This work has taken an intersectional approach to recognise the importance of equitable pathways to career development and leadership for women with disability and LGBTIQ+ people with disability. I believe opportunities and pathways for women and non-binary people with disability to occupy leadership positions in the community and their workplaces is critical and aligns with the work WDV already undertakes in supporting leadership. 

Headshot Elyse Cox. a person looking at the camera directly wearing a white jacket with brown hair

Elyse Cox

1. Tell us about yourself. Who are you, what communities do you belong to and what are you passionate about?  

I am a queer disabled arts professional who is passionate about inclusive spaces and accessible design. I am passionate about accessible design that advocates for both physical and emotional experiences of inclusion. 

Currently I work and create in queer, disability, and arts communities. In 2022, I served on the WDV Board as a casual vacancy, and I now hope to apply for a full term. I bring to the Board skills in development, fundraising, grant writing, and marketing. 

2. Why are you interested in being a Director on the WDV Board?  

WDV is an organisation that is very dear to me. I have been a member now for going on five years; four of which I served as a staff of the organisation. In many ways, it was my first home here in Victoria. 

Serving as a Board Director would allow me the opportunity to give back to the organisation and support our mission in a new way. WDV will always be an organisation whose success I am in invested in. 

3. What do you want to achieve as a Director of WDV?  

As a Director, I would love to reconsider the way we consider membership growth in terms of engagement and reach. There is development to be done in the way we communicate our value and service to our members. What are our full, associate, or organisational members investing in when they sign up with us? 

Alongside this, I would love the opportunity to work with the Board and staff to strategically consider a more sustainable business model for the organisation’s future. Federal funding is so precarious and even state funding is reliant on the ever-changing pollical agenda. Leveraged through our current connections, relationships, and sector reputation, WDV is ripe to strategically consider how we service and advocate 

for our members and how we find the resources to do so. 

4. Please tell us about any interests which may conflict with or are relevant to your role as a potential Director of WDV?  

Not sure this is relevant, but I did work as WDV staff until December 2021. 

5. Tell us about any disability or community skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board.  

I am an active member of my local Queer communities and participate in various Queer advocacy exchanges. I also identify as a gender and neuro- diverse person with lived experience of living with a cognitive disability. 

6. Tell us about any professional skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board: 

I previously worked for WDV from 2018-2021 in the role of program support and board governance. I have insight into the current governance, funding, and program structure of our organisation and I am across many of our organisational compliance requirements. 

 I currently work as the Development Coordinator for Chunky Move in which I work with community partners, donors, trusts and foundations to build mutually beneficial relationships. Most of this work involves fundraising, grant writing, and marketing to increase our audience reach and deepen our engagement with stakeholders. 

7. What do you think are the most significant challenges and opportunities for women with disabilities in Victoria?  

I think one of the biggest challenges for women with disabilities in Victoria is the design, operation, and suitability of the NDIS. So many of us struggle to access and fully engage with the scheme; while some of 

us have yet to be even acknowledged at all within the NDIS system. There is a very real gap in how the scheme supports the multi-layered, and often invisible, nature of disability. Nor does the scheme adequately support women with disability over the age of 65. This leaves so many women with disabilities vulnerable- vulnerable in our homes and within the health, education, and justice systems that sustain the communities we live in. 

 As the NDIS review begins, there is opportunity for WDV to flex our power and further market our organisation as sector experts on women’s disability advocacy. 

8. Is there anything else you want the Members and Board to know?  

No. 

Samanta Lilly headshot. A person looking at the camera, smiling.

Samantha Lilly

1. Tell us about yourself. Who are you, what communities do you belong to and what are you passionate about? 

I wish to nominate to be on the Board of Women with Disabilities Victoria. I have just concluded by first term where I chaired the Governance committee and for the last year have had the privilege of co-chairing of the board of directors.  

I am a member of the Victorian Disability Advisory Council and recently elected to the Boroondara All Abilities Advisory Group where I am combining my lived experience, passion for equitable outcomes and skills in policy analysis and development. In addition to this, I am a researcher at Deakin University where I’m exploring community sport from a human rights perspective. 

2. Why are you interested in being a Director on the WDV Board?  

I would love a further three years on the Board of Women with Disabilities Victoria. So far, it has been the most fulfilling journey where us, as a board, have been able to influence, negotiate and challenge to make the world a better place for women with disabilities. I feel privileged to have been a director alongside a wonderfully talented and passionate group of people who are not afraid of tearing down the status quo or making those who have traditionally been comfortable, uncomfortable.   

3. What do you want to achieve as a Director of WDV?  

I want to continue to grow the work of WDV in advancing progress in all aspects of the lives of women with disabilities. I want to provide an informed and evidenced-based voice to various bodies on the issues which currently affect women with disabilities in Victoria.   

4. Please tell us about any interests which may conflict with or are relevant to your role as a potential Director of WDV?  

I am a member of the Victorian Disability Advisory Council and recently elected to the Boroondara All Abilities Advisory Group where I am combining my lived experience, passion for equitable outcomes and skills in policy analysis and development. In addition to this, I am a researcher and casual academic at Deakin University where I’m exploring community sport from a human rights perspective.   

5. Tell us about any disability or community skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board.  

Due to my lived experience and roles in advocacy and inclusion, I am able to offer advice to disability & human rights (my area of research) as well as extensive employment experience in the diversity and inclusion sector.   

6. Tell us about any professional skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board: 

Previous WDV Board experience as well as being a member on the Victorian Disability Advisory Council.   

7. What do you think are the most significant challenges and opportunities for women with disabilities in Victoria?  

Ensuring the NDIS (although a federal instrument) is fit for purpose, economically viable and functioning as intended. I think WDV will be able to apply pressure to the Victorian government (regardless of election outcome) as a peak body for women with disabilities in Victoria.  

There will be upcoming discussions on the broadening of the term ‘women’ which may present some significant challenges to membership and the broader community, however, WDV aims to be inclusive and representative of the community. 

8. Is there anything else you want the Members and Board to know?  

No 

Julia Manning Headshot. a black and white headshot of a person smiling

Julia Manning

1. Tell us about yourself. Who are you, what communities do you belong to and what are you passionate about?  

My name is Julia Manning and I am a queer woman with disability living in Victoria. 

I am employed at the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (the Commission) where I ‘wear a few hats’. Firstly, I assist people in resolving instances of discrimination, sexual harassment, victimization and vilification in my role as a conciliator. I am also the Chair of the Commission’s Disability Enablers’ Network (the DEN) and represent the Commission in the broader VPS disability networks. 

Outside of employment, I am fortunate that one of my ‘special interests’ as a neurodivergent person is disability theory and human rights, so I spend as much of my time educating myself on disability as possible. I am currently finishing my Masters in Disability and Inclusion at Deakin University, where I focus on access to services for people with communication disabilities and may continue my research through PhD. 

2. Why are you interested in being a Director on the WDV Board?  

I have been a long-term admirer of the work done by WDV while I lived abroad and interstate. I have become a full WDV member soon after relocating to Victoria and wish to contribute to the invaluable work done by WDV through a board position. 

WDV is an incredible organisation that provides necessary advocacy for women with disabilities. My personal, professional and academic experience mean that I am deeply attuned to the barriers experienced by women with disabilities. I help individuals and organisations to overcome and proactively eliminate disability discrimination and would like to support WDV in doing so. 

Like WDV, I would like to live in a world where all women are respected and can fully experience life. I wish to join the board where I can apply my lived experience of disability and my skills in reducing barriers for the member base and service users across Victoria. 

3. What do you want to achieve as a Director of WDV?  

I am passionate about improving employment for women with disability. I would like to apply my skills in reviewing and reporting on disability employment initiatives at WDV, to help ensure they are a leading provider of employment for women with disabilities in Victoria. 

I am particularly keen to contribute my experience in governance and strategic planning as a Director of WDV. I am a very ‘macro’ thinker and have an aptitude for broad, strategic work, particularly focused on inclusion. 

I am also highly proficient in disability rights and anti-discrimination legislation. If successful in my application, I would act to promote the rights of women with disability under the CRPD, the DDA, as well as the positive duty under the EOA to eliminate disability based on sex, gender identity and disability. 

4. Please tell us about any interests which may conflict with or are relevant to your role as a potential Director of WDV?  

I am a member of the Disability and Inclusion Advisory Board at Deakin University with the CEO of WDV, Nadia Mattiazzo. 

I act in an advisory capacity at the Victorian State Public Service Enablers’ Network on discrimination issues, and act as a conduit to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. Both form part of the Department of Justice and Community Services, who are included in the list of funders, partners and supporters in the 2020/2021 WDV Annual Report. 

5. Tell us about any disability or community skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board.  

I am a queer woman with lived experience of disability. I identify as neurodivergent and have a history of intermittent and chronic health conditions. As a person with invisible disability, I have a long history of advocating for my needs and navigating barriers to inclusion. I am under 30 years old and have experienced difficulty accessing appropriate disability services for my needs, which helps to inform my position on inclusion. 

While I have permanently relocated to Victoria, I have lived in NSW, the United Kingdom, Europe and was raised in far North Queensland. This has provided me with a wealth of experience navigating services, legal and healthcare systems in a number of jurisdictions. 

6. Tell us about any professional skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board: 

As well as my board experience at Deakin University, I am the Chair of the Disability Enablers’ Network at the Commission. In this role, I manage the network’s governance, collaboration, projects and events. I have overseen the development of the Commission’s disability action plan and have reviewed external services to ensure their alignment with state and national initiatives on disability inclusion. I also represent the Commission in the broader Victorian Public Service disability networks. 

I have a diverse volunteering history, including policy development under the UK Equality Act, the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child and Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

I have recently conducted an inclusive employment audit at a large disability housing provider. I have also undertaken service reviews for inclusion of people with disability and managed the implementation of suggested service improvements. I consider this a particular strength and passion of mine. 

7. What do you think are the most significant challenges and opportunities for women with disabilities in Victoria?  

I think the most commonly reported challenges for women with disability relate to barriers in employment. These may be barriers in recruitment practises, a lack of reasonable adjustments during employment or social inclusion issues in the workplace. 

More broadly, I believe people with disability who live in regional areas experience disproportionate disadvantage in access to services. This may be due to transport or infrastructure issues, for example, which are key determinants of health for people with disability. 

Women also experience compounding forms of discrimination related to their gender identity, indigeneity, sexual identity, mental health, race, age and carers’ needs, among others. I take an intersectional approach to my understandings of disability, as I believe this more holistically represents the intersecting ways in which we experience privilege or disadvantage. 

8. Is there anything else you want the Members and Board to know?  

I am so looking forward to getting to know the WDV members, employees, board and collaborators more. I appreciate the level of advocacy that people with lived experience are tasked with, and very much hope that I can assist in representing the needs of the diverse communities who exist within the member base. 

Nadine McMaster. A photo of a person smiling with grey coloured hair and wearing a black top

Nadine McMaster

1. Tell us about yourself. Who are you, what communities do you belong to and what are you passionate about?  

My name is Nadine McMaster and I am a retired primary school teacher. I live in Port Melbourne with my husband, we have a 26-year-old daughter. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1994 and until my retirement in 2018, I was unencumbered by the symptoms of MS. My hobbies include having visitors at my home, I enjoy fine dining and listening to music, and attending the races with my family. I am passionate about keeping up to date with politics and current affairs, particularly surrounding legislative changes and social justice issues. 

2. Why are you interested in being a Director on the WDV Board?  

I want to be on the WDV Board because I believe I have a lot to offer. I am articulate, and open-minded and have a strong understanding of diversity in our community, especially those with disabilities. I am no longer mobile but intellectually I am fully functioning. Having been a deputy principal on two occasions and I am au fait with compliance issues. I have a comprehensive understanding of the not-for-profit sector, ACNC VRQA (Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority), and AITSL (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership) Teacher and Principal standard requirements.  

I know and believe that opportunities and access for women with disabilities are changing for the better; however, there are societal views and systems which are entrenched and require education of decision-makers and fair representation of marginalised parties i.e. In our councils, in our parliament, and our local communities. 

3. What do you want to achieve as a Director of WDV?  

I would like to advocate for women with a disability and liaise with agencies and individuals that have standing to effect change. I have good governance and pride myself on ethical behaviour and principles. I am not afraid nor inexperienced in having difficult conversations and finding sound resolutions. My main purpose would be to achieve a sense of acceptance and inclusion for all women and those who identify as women and provide a strong forum for these communities. As a director, I would want to see a growth in members who represent all who access the service in providing greater diversity. 

4. Please tell us about any interests which may conflict with or are relevant to your role as a potential Director of WDV?  

To my knowledge, I have no conflicting interests. 

5. Tell us about any disability or community skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board.  

In my role as deputy principal, DSP (Disadvantaged Schools Program) coordinator, and Classroom teacher I spent a significant amount of time advocating for children with special needs. I primarily taught in low socioeconomic areas, as I felt connected to the families and children of these groups and felt that my work went beyond a job description and contributed to the growth and livelihood of these children and families. As a person with MS, I have lived experience advocating for myself. I manage my NDIS plan so I am very familiar with the NDIA. 

6. Tell us about any professional skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board: 

In my school roles, I was ex officio, and staff nominated member of School Boards, In the mid-90s, together with the Principal at Sacred Heart School Newport, I established the School Advisory Board. In my capacity as Deputy Principal, I wrote the Constitution for the Board. As coordinator, I regularly led staff in the development, review, and ratification of policy. As DSP coordinator, I wrote the annual submission and secured funding ten years in a row to provide earning experiences for disadvantaged students. I also have a graduate diploma in Educational Administration. 

7. What do you think are the most significant challenges and opportunities for women with disabilities in Victoria?  

Each day is a challenge. I have to call places every time I go out to ensure they are accessible including disabled amenities for me that are not being used for storage. I observe heavy doors, steps, and areas that are hard to manoeuvre around. I think it is outdated not to be able to attend one’s favourite restaurants, museums, art centres, and mainly heritage-listed properties due to having to live differently. I view able-bodied people using facilities equipped for disabilities, giving a lack of access and a loss of independence. I live in a modern area in port Melbourne and witness this daily, so I can’t bare to imagine the struggle that women in the rural community face in terms of accessibility. Opportunities have improved, I recall the joy I felt when port Melbourne beach installed a walkway for wheelchair access down to the water and a bar that had a portable disabled toilet. Since the introduction of NDIS, opportunities have increased but accessibility to NDIS can be difficult and there’s still a long way to go. 

8. Is there anything else you want the Members and Board to know?  

I have lost the ability to do many things, but I have not lost my ability to gain knowledge, have courage and show my passion for the issues I believe need to change. I will not lose my voice, nor should any other woman with a disability. We have the opportunity to change a path, for women who walk beside us and women who walk behind us, no matter how they may travel to get there. My MS does not define me, it does not weaken me, but it gives me the strength to make a better future. 

Marlena Raymond. A photo of a person standing outside with trees behind them. Person is smiling, standing and wearing green shirt and black skirt

Marlena Raymond

1. Tell us about yourself. Who are you, what communities do you belong to and what are you passionate about?  

My name is Marlena Raymond. I am a 33-year-old Sri Lankan-Australian queer woman, and I have long lived-experience of mental illness. My passion for equality prompted me to study law, including equality and discrimination law and disability human rights law, as a mature-aged student at Melbourne University. I am a new lawyer and have worked in legal policy, research and advocacy, including at the Office of the Public advocate (June 2021-June 2022) where I sought to promote and protect the rights and interests of people with disability, and work to eliminate abuse, neglect and exploitation via legislative reform. I currently work at the Commission for Gender Equality for the Public Sector in its regulation and reform team, progressing gender equality in Victoria, informed by intersectional feminism.  

 I am passionate about kindness and care fiercely about dignity and respect for all people, in all areas of life, all of the time. 

2. Why are you interested in being a Director on the WDV Board?  

Being a Director on the WDV Board would grant me the opportunity to use my skills to contribute to ensuring the voices of women with disabilities in Victoria are heard. I would like to show my gratitude and respect to WDV by giving my time and energy to its members and its Board.  

I consider my values of respect, inclusion, empathy and integrity to be fitting attributes of a Director on the Board of WDV. I would relish the opportunity to use my collaborative ‘can do’ attitude to undertake all responsibilities of a Director with an eye for detail and our legal obligations. I will serve the Victorian community in a way that is strategic, holistic and centres the voice of the Victorian disability community. I am exceptionally motivated to drive good governance of WDV. 

3. What do you want to achieve as a Director of WDV?  

As a Director of WDV, I want to achieve the following: 

  • Continue good governance, making sure WDV complies with its legal, constitutional, and contractual obligations and ensure all responsibilities of Director/Board are met accurately, efficiently, and communicated via the Annual Report. 
  • Ensure voices of WDV’s membership are heard by the Board, and heard by the wider Victorian community. 
  • Contribute my governance experience, developed in the Community Music sector over the past 5+ years.  
  • Contribute my knowledge of inter-jurisdictional issues to the Board, in particular –  the interface between Commonwealth-funded NDIS supports and Victorian-funded community-based mental health services; and 
  •  the intersection between Commonwealth-funded NDIS supports and the Victorian-funded justice system, where often times NDIS supports do not follow offenders into an incarceration setting and/or access to parole is tied to behaviour change and the person is not receiving behavioural supports. 

4. Please tell us about any interests which may conflict with or are relevant to your role as a potential Director of WDV?  

I do not have interests that will conflict with my role as a potential Director of WDV. 

 Interests relevant to my role as a potential Director of WDV include: 

  • Employment in the Victorian Public Service in social and legal policy in areas of interest to WDV. My work takes as intersectional feminist approach towards understanding and ameliorating systemic disadvantage on the basis of gender and other attributes including disability, Aboriginality, age, ethnicity, gender identity, race, religion and sexual orientation. 

5. Tell us about any disability or community skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board.  

Skills, experience and expertise I will bring include: 

  • Lived experience of mental illness; 
  • Personal understanding of risks of mental illness, having lost a parent to suicide following severe mental illness; 
  • Diversity of perspective, being a queer person of CALD heritage; 
  • Persuasive negotiating and deep listening skills developed in PwC’s Re-imagine Disability Employment advisory group; 
  • Accredited mental health first aider; 
  • Thorough understanding of disability and human rights and equality and discrimination law, and legal policy experience; 
  • Thorough understanding of the intersection of NDIS and justice system, and NDIS and state-funded community based mental health care; and
  • Professional advocacy skills developed through my employment in the systemic advocacy team of the Office of the Public Advocate and at the Commission for Gender Equality for the Public Sector initially in its reporting and insights team, and now in its regulation and reform team. 

6. Tell us about any professional skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board: 

Research: 

  • Researcher at Centre for Workplace Leadership, University of Melbourne exploring best practice in implementation of adjustments on the basis of disability in the workplace, developed working relationships with Australian Network on Disability and other stakeholders; 
  • Researcher for Professor Anna Arstein-Kerslake, convener of Disability Research Initiative Research project: ‘Rights based participatory and emancipatory research in the disability space.’ This paper is published in the Journal of Human Rights Practice, Volume 11, Issue 3, November 2019, Pages 589–606; and 
  • 1 year as senior research and policy officer at the Office of the Public Advocate. 

Committee/governance experience: 

  • Co-chair of Turramurra Folk Music Camp (2015-2020), including a time during which ‘Turra’ and a second camp merged to become an incorporated entity and subsequent experience with Really Good Music Camps Inc.’s governance committee. 

 Legal: 

  • Admitted to practise as an Australian Lawyer on 31 March 2020 and eligible to obtain a Victorian practising certificate. 

7. What do you think are the most significant challenges and opportunities for women with disabilities in Victoria?  

Attitudinal barriers compounded by gender inequality remain a significant challenge. Such attitudes serve to silence women’s voices on all other issues, including housing, mental health care, the NDIS, accessible public transport etc. Having a voice and a platform, and adequate representation in the mainstream public discourse will be important in shifting exclusionary attitudes that serve to reduce participation of women with disabilities in all areas of life. A further challenge is how to have our voices heard as a unified collective, given our diversity.  

Hard won developments in the political landscape render public consciousness ripe for change, and more responsive to diverse voices than ever before. We have Jordan Steele-John, a person with disabilities, in our Senate! I feel that in this political landscape, there will be appetite to accept ideas such as relational personhood and the full realisation of human rights, including reproductive rights, for women with disabilities. 

8. Is there anything else you want the Members and Board to know?  

No. Thank you for considering my application. 

Shelley Spencer. Close up headshot of a person smiling with brown hair.

Shelley Spencer

1. Tell us about yourself. Who are you, what communities do you belong to and what are you passionate about?  

I believe that women with a disability need to have the same rights as everyone else. I feel that we have been given a double disadvantage as we are women who have a disability. I believe that WDV needs to work at helping to level the playing field for its members and other women in society living with a disability. If I am appointed to the board, I would work hard to help achieve more equality for women with a disability in all areas of life. 

I am part of the Cerebral Palsy Support Network community, Knox Disability Advisory community and WDV outer east hub. 

2. Why are you interested in being a Director on the WDV Board?  

I would like to be a Board member of WDV to make a difference in women with disability.  I would like to use my life experience of having mild cerebral palsy to help others.  I would like to make sure that WDV kept up their good work, with programs that empower women to be the best that they can be. 

3. What do you want to achieve as a Director of WDV?  

As I said above, I would like to make sure that WDV keeps up their programs to empower women.  I believe the hubs in local communities encourage women to share their experience and also to find out more information on WDV.  I believe this is a good service and would like to see that continue and expand. 

4. Please tell us about any interests which may conflict with or are relevant to your role as a potential Director of WDV?  

I am on the Knox Council Disability Advisory Committee. However, I do not feel this is a conflict of interest to me being a WDV board member. If anything, it will give me some more insight into the difficulties women with a disability face. 

5. Tell us about any disability or community skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board.  

As I was born with cerebral palsy, I have had to advocate for myself in different times in my life.  I am involved with Brain Trust, a group run through the Cerebral Palsy Support Network. This is teaching me about human rights and the policies of the disabled. 

As a person who has had cerebral palsy all my life, I have had to educate people about my disability. As a child my family and I fought and worked with the education department to understand my needs and give me support and help with the education I required. 

During my adult life I have struggled to find employment. I am in a financial bracket due to my husband’s income that the employment services for people with a disability have done little if anything at all for me. This is an area I am passionate about and would like to make changes to, if on the WDV board I can work at trying to resolve this inequality. 

6. Tell us about any professional skills, experience and/or expertise you can offer the WDV Board: 

I have just completed my diploma in accounting.  At the start of the year, I also completed a course in Governance Training with Helga Svendsen.  When my children were in kindergarten, I was on the committee overlooking enrolments. 

7. What do you think are the most significant challenges and opportunities for women with disabilities in Victoria? 

 

I feel that WDV have the opportunity to enrich women with the ability and knowledge to self-advocate.  In doing this, we are decreasing the challenges that women with a disability will face by giving them the tools to fight for education, employment and stop abuse.  This will give women a better life experience. 

8. Is there anything else you want the Members and Board to know?  

I am mother with 2 adult sons and a wonderful husband.  When my boys were growing up, I used to find that I was team manager for their teams.  Here I would need to communicate with the boys’ families to inform them where they were playing.  I also needed to collect funds from the boys’ families to pay for the team sheet.