Access and Inclusion Advisory Group (AIAG)

Romm is the father of a special needs child, works in West Perth and is a regular visitor of the city. He works with many charities and is very interested in inclusion and acceptance on every level of society. He enjoys his volunteer work with the city and is proud of how much the city has done.

 

Ben works on several Cahoots’ community inclusion projects, and represents Cahoots on access and inclusion working groups such as City of Perth’s. Now coordinated by Cahoots, Ability Idol is Ben’s major yearly project. In 2017, it evolved to become an all-inclusive singing competition for children aged 5-17 years living in WA. 

 

Ben and Cahoots managed to establish a partnership with Town of Victoria Park, and scheduled Ability Idol 2017 to be held alongside the Town’s major Music By Moonlight event.

 

Nobuo is a young man who is living with a hearing impairment. Nobuo moved to Australia from Japan over 7 years ago and now works for the WA Deaf Society. Having experience of living with a disability, he is interested in sharing ideas that ensure that the City of Perth is accessible and equitable to everyone. Nobuo is a volunteer for the Auslan Professional Network and also advocates via the Perth Stadium and New Museum access groups.

Pam Barras

Pam is living with a vision impairment having less than 10% vision. Pam has a Seeing Eye Dog called Whisper. Whisper assists Pam with navigating around the City. Pam has been an advocate for access and inclusion for several years and previously sat on the AIAG before it reconvened in April 2017. Pam is a member of the Access and Inclusion panel for the New Museum and works at DADAA as a consultant for their Access to Arts Program. 

David Vosnacos 

David works for VisAbility, an organisation that works to enable people with vision impairment. David has experience working as an Access Consultant and an Occupational Therapist. David is passionate about identifying the impacts of barriers in the physical and digital environment for people with disability and working to eliminate these issues. 
David is also a member of several Access and Inclusion working groups around WA including National Disability Services, Public Transport Authority, Perth Airport and City of Melville.

Melissa Northcott

Melissa has physical and sensory disability. She is passionate and keen to have a voice for all and about representing the whole community including older people and disability to ensure that Perth is an accessible, inclusive city for all who live, work and visit the City. Melissa is member of Co-Design for State Disability Strategy, board member with Disability Services Commission and Ability Centre, Elected member with a metropolitan local government and advocates on a number of other committees. Melissa was recognised for her work with disability as a Western Australian of the Year Finalist 2017.

Glennys Marsdon

Glennys is delighted to be part of the Access and Inclusion Advisory Group. Glennys is an immensely proud City of Perth resident, with a passion for helping people (particularly people with disability and older people) get out and about to make the most of their lives. 

Glennys has lived with a disability for over 20 years and moved to East Perth three years ago where she also runs a business. Glennys has experience in past and present advisory positions on the Consumer Protection Advisory Council, the Carers Advisory Council and the Board of MSWA. Glennys has professional experience in the areas of consumer psychology, marketing and freelance writing. Glennys navigates around the city using her adult tricycle which has given her the freedom to explore and gain a greater appreciation for all that is available.

Gareth Goodway

Gareth is passionate about Inclusion and Access. He sits on various local government Access and Inclusion Committees and he is currently the Chair of National Disability Services Access and Inclusion Sub-Committee. He has also been with Ability Centre for over 13 years and has been in the industry for over 20 years.

Gareth believes that feedback from the community and disability sector is vital in identifying barriers and developing strategies for positive change. Regular consultation with the City of Perth leads the way for transparent, participatory and co-designed process.

Maria Coate

Maria is an Australian born first generation Greek who has lived and worked in Perth all her life. Maria and her family have cared for her younger brother who has a disability. Maria has worked as an educator throughout her career and is passionate about human rights, universal access and inclusion. As a child, Maria felt stigmatised at times due to having a foreign surname, speaking a different language and coming from a different culture. While she believes things have improved, there is still some work to be done to become an inclusive and egalitarian community and she would like to help make a difference.

Holly Gretton
 
Holly is a young professional who lives with fibromyalgia and hip dysplasia. She has always been passionate about advocating for universal access and inclusion particularly for people with 'invisible illnesses’. Holly wishes to become a voice for people with invisible illnesses as a subset of disability more broadly.  

Hasmukh Dave

Hasmukh works for Vision Australia that supports people with blindness and Low vision throughout Australia. He has worked in the field of vision loss for 14 years mostly in the UK. He is a Rehabilitation Worker/Orientation & mobility specialist for people with blindness and low vision. Hasmukh is passionate about raising awareness of physical and social barriers faced by people with blindness and low vision in accessing community and public places and advocate to remove barriers in accessing community.  
His day to day work involves training people to access community safely and independently and teaching how to use white cane safely in outdoor environment. Hasmukh has been a member of access groups in London which were involved in the restructure of the famous exhibition road in Kensington.

Rachel Spinks

Rachel is passionate about accessibility and universal design, particularly in higher education. She lives in Subiaco, is a regular visitor of City of Perth, and is undertaking a doctoral degree in a nearby university. She is a team member of Chronically Academic, which is an international support network for academics with disability, and sits on university committees to advocate for students with disability. Rachel lives with neurological and intermittent physical disabilities and grew up around family members with disability. 

Conrad Liveris
Cara Philpott
Eleana Bredemeyer
Danielle Meecham
Emma Kenton
Julia Syzmanski
Stuart Jenkinson
Adam Kinnest

How to become a member

The City of Perth is now seeking new members for its Access and Inclusion Advisory Group (AIAG). If you live with a disability, care for someone with disability or are passionate about universal access, then we invite you to submit a nomination form. 

The AIAG meets bi-monthly for a maximum of two hours on each occasion. These meetings are generally held during normal business hours and lunch will be provided. Members are reimbursed for their travel costs through taxi vouchers or reimbursement of parking costs. 

It is not necessary to have previous meeting experience or representation on other committees to be a part of the AIAG. If you are passionate about advising the City about your experiences with universal access, or feel that you have what it takes to be a champion for universal access in the City, we would love to hear from you.

Nominations for 2020 closed on Wednesday, 13 May 2020. Thank you for showing your interest in becoming a member. Our next nomination round will take place in 2021. 

More information and contact

Please contact the Community Development Officer (Access and Inclusion) on 9461 3333 or at info@cityofperth.wa.gov.au to ensure the meeting dates align with your project time-frames. If you have a hearing or speech impairment you can use the National Relay Service to contact the City of Perth at no charge. Call 133 677 or visit the National Relay website.

See also

Disability Access and Inclusion Plan

Accessibility Services in the City of Perth and getting around