Help disability advisory group grow

People with lived experience of disability are invited to join Council’s Disability Advisory Network (DAN) to help guide access and inclusion across all Council programs and services.

DAN is a joint initiative of the cities of Holdfast Bay, Marion, and Mitcham, supported by Mission Australia. It brings together local voices to shape more inclusive communities informed by direct lived experience.

Current members include Glenelg and Brighton locals Gai Dawe and Emma Barrett, who both work in the disability sector and are passionate about growing the group’s diversity - particularly encouraging people with intellectual disability or who are neurodiverse to get involved.

“We need to get more diverse people in the group, and I would encourage people to consider joining the group to make a difference and have their voice heard,” said Gai, who works in the disability industry and is also a parent of an adult child with a profound disability.

“I joined the group when it was first established around five years ago because I wanted to help create positive change”.

The DAN’s role is not just to advocate for rights but to advise councils on going beyond the minimum standards set by the Disability Discrimination Act. The group champions change through lived experience, shared knowledge and honest conversations.

Emma Barret joined the DAN about a year ago. Inspired by her grandmother, who had an intellectual disability, and shaped by her own diagnosis, Emma brings both personal and professional insights to the group.

“I learned that people need to be able to have a voice instead of other people deciding what’s best for them,” she said.

“I’ve been involved in developing Disability Inclusion and Action plans, and I understand how all the levels of government and advocacy interact with each other.

“And I wanted to understand quite specifically what was happening in Holdfast Bay because I live and work here.”

Emma said that she has seen some “fabulous initiatives and activities in Holdfast Bay” and that South Australia is “trailblazing in a lot of ways in particular with neurodiversity”.

“I’m excited to see where this (group) will go because I’ve not been involved for so long, but I’ve seen it change already, and I think it’d be great to get some new ideas into a conversation,” Emma said.

“I think that by holding space for conversations about personal experience, it paves the way for greater compassion, greater acceptance and greater thought towards that lived experience.”

The DAN meets monthly at the Mitchell Park Sports and Community Centre.

If you are interested in joining this voluntary group of community members, please complete this Expression of Interest form.

Or contact Tara at the City of Mitcham at twright@mitchamcouncil.sa.gov.au or calll 8372 8167