Meet our Executive Committee

Sally has exposure to and understanding of the work of DFAT and other key stakeholders in international development, and has worked closely with the disability movement to advocate for and enhance disability equity in international development efforts. 

Representing UNIFEM Pacific (now UN Women) as part of the 2007 Roundtable in Fiji on the Situation of Women and Girls with Disabilities in the Pacific, informing the Pacific Sisters with Disabilities: At the Intersection of Discrimination Report, exposed her to the diverse experiences of women and girls with disabilities in the Pacific region. As part of AusAID’s (now DFAT) Disability Inclusive Development Team integral to implementation of the first Development for All Strategy 2009-2014, she worked closely with Organisations of People with Disabilities (OPDs), including the Pacific Disability Forum, as well as with Australian government leaders to enhance disability inclusion within and through the Australian aid program.  

As a Senior Technical Adviser – Inclusive Development with CBM Australia (2017-2018), Sally provided technical advice and capacity support to further support Australian Government commitments under the second Development for All Strategy 2015-2020. She continued to work closely with the disability movement and a range of OPDs throughout the region to co-design and co-deliver training programs to enhance inclusive development efforts in-country (Timor Leste, Myanmar, Nauru, Solomon Islands).  

As an independent consultant since 2017, Sally provides ongoing support to DFAT-funded programs including as an Inclusion Adviser (e.g. DiD4All Help Desk) and Gender Equality Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) Adviser (e.g. Vanuatu-Australia Policing and Justice Program (VAPJP)). She also undertakes targeted roles on the rights of persons with disabilities specifically and brings a strong focus and interest in access to justice and legislative compliance with the Convention for Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Some examples include working together with the national OPD and Vanuatu government disability focal point to conduct research and desk review on access to justice for persons with disabilities in Vanuatu; working with psychiatric survivors in Fiji to conduct a legislative review on mental health law and compliance with the CRPD; and working with the national OPD and UNICEF in PNG to review the draft national disability law for compliance with international human rights law including the CRPD. 

Sally’s experience in social justice and international development is grounded in formal training as a Lawyer and post-graduate legal education. 

Tim is the youngest Chair of a government disability advisory committee in Australia, leading the Surf Coast Shire’s All Abilities Advisory Committee (AAAC). In 2024, as former President of PDA, Tim became Australia’s youngest Chair of a Disabled People’s Organisation. Tim is a materials chemistry PhD candidate at Deakin University’s Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

Tim is the elected Pacific Regional Representative for the UN-affiliated Global Network of Young Persons with Disabilities (GNYPWD) and has written key international documents, including the ‘Commonwealth Youth Code of Practice: Working with Youth Networks and Youth Representatives’ and submissions to the UK parliament on the ‘UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO’s) Approach to Sexual and Reproductive Health’ in his former roles as Policy & Research advisor and Co-Chair of the Commonwealth Children and Youth Disability Network (CCYDN).

Tim is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and is a member of the Science-Policy Expert Advisory Group (ExAG) for the Children and Youth Major Group (CYMG) to the United Nations Environment Department (UNEP).

Lisa has led PWDA’s policy work on the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its Optional Protocol. Lisa also leads PWDA’s domestic and international modern slavery policy work. In 2024, she will represent PWDA at the United Nations Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in New York.

Prior to PWDA, Lisa worked on numerous justice research and policy projects, including at the Australian Centre for Justice Innovation (Monash University), the Centre for Innovative Justice (RMIT) and the Victorian Commission for Children and Young People.

Lisa is a qualified Australian lawyer and holds a Master of Public and International Law from the University of Melbourne. 

Working widely across the Asia region, Wes has provided technical advice to establish or evaluate health-related rehabilitation services, supporting national counterparts to ensure national disability guidelines and standards are applied and accessible to service delivery partners in both emergency and development settings. Wes is an expert and thought leader on applications on standards of practice in rehabilitation and on the intersection between rehabilitation, disability and health systems.

Wesley has a Bachelor of Prosthetics and Orthotics and a PhD (Amputee Rehabilitation).

Jayshree is the Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) Adviser at ChildFund Australia, a child rights-focused international NGO working across health, education, child protection and disaster risk management.

With more than 25 years’ experience in human rights and international development, Jayshree has worked across the Pacific, South Asia and Southeast Asia, specialising in social equity and inclusion and intersectional approaches to development.

At ChildFund Australia, she provides technical support on integrating GEDSI into development and humanitarian programs, supporting partners and colleagues across multiple countries to strengthen disability-equitable programming with children and young people. Her work includes fostering engagement with OPDs and promoting cross-organisational learning on disability equity. She is also a co-convener of the ACFID Disability Equity Community of Practice.

Jayshree has worked closely with the Pacific disability movement and supported Pacific Island governments and civil society in advancing disability rights in her previous role at the Human Rights and Social Development Division of the Pacific Community (SPC). As an independent consultant, she has also led the development of disability and social inclusion strategies and supported Pacific church and civil society partners to strengthen their disability-inclusive programming.

Jayshree’s experience is grounded in formal training in law, human rights and international development policy. She holds a PhD in law and development from the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands. Throughout her career, Jayshree has championed intersectional approaches that challenge siloed thinking and advance equitable development. She is committed to allyship with people with disabilities and to fostering inclusive, rights-based practice.

Kerryn is a community development professional with extensive experience working within the domestic and international sectors in a cross section of advocacy, policy and program management roles.

Kerryn has applied her skills across a range of sectors – including, disability inclusion, seniors rights and aged care, health, water and sanitation, organisational development and disaster risk management and response – and in various geographic regions, including Southeast Asia and the Pacific as well as within Australia.

Ben, who is blind, has volunteered for over 10 years across the Pacific through the Australian Volunteers for International Development (AVID) program. His volunteer assignments have focused on improving teacher capacity in inclusive education and information technology, working with Organisations of People with Disabilities (OPDs) and disability service providers in many countries including PNG, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and Kiribati.   
  
Ben has also worked with key international NGO’s including UNICEF and CBM, as well as with local and regional government on inclusive education policy development and implementation.  
  
He currently holds positions in South Pacific Educators in Vision Impairment (Vice President, the International Development Contractors Community (IDDC) and Blind Citizens Australia. He is currently working closely with the World Blind Union.