Ageing and Disability Advisory Board

Purpose of the Board

The purpose of the Ageing and Disability Advisory Board (Board) is to advise the Commissioner on issues relating to abuse, neglect and exploitation of older people and adults with disability, and can explore any topic that can improve the lives and outcomes of older people, adults with disability, their families and informal carers.

Members of the Board include the Commissioner and people appointed by the Commissioner who have knowledge and experience in relevant matters, and also reflect the diversity of the community.

Strategic Plan

The Board has endorsed a strategic plan that aims to shape their strategic thinking of the NSW Ageing and Disability Commission and engagement with contemporary social issues. The Board's strategic plan is available for review here. (PDF, 60.9 KB)

Statement of support for the Voice

Read the Ageing and Disability Advisory Board statement of support for the Voice to Parliament.

Board members

Eileen Baldry AO – Chair

  • Professor of Criminology, UNSW
  • Former Deputy Chair, Disability Council NSW
  • Awarded NSW Justice Medal for improving access to justice for vulnerable people.

Brian-John Attard

  • Solicitor with the Seniors Rights Service
  • Board member of Community Legal Centres NSW and the Law Society of NSW Indigenous Issues Committee
  • A proud Kamilaroi man, with extensive experience in both government and private legal sectors with a particular focus on indigenous rights.

Declan Lee

  • Student completing Juris Doctor at UNSW, and previously acquired Bachelor degree in Criminal Justice
  • Student champion for people with disability
  • Lived experience with multiple disabilities.

Elena Katrakis

  • CEO, Carers NSW
  • Member, NSW Carers Advisory Council
  • Previously a social worker with a particular focus on people with mental health and people experiencing homelessness.

Irene Gallagher

  • Member of Lifeline management team
  • Former CEO of Being, the NSW peak organisation speaking for people with lived experience of mental health issues
  • Board member of the Mental Health Coordinating Council (MHCC)
  • Irene is the founder of Peer Work Matters, a consumer-led organisation focusing on developing and expanding the peer workforce in NSW.

Jan Primrose

  • Head of Professional Standards and Safety, Australian Services Union, representing workers in the aged, disability and community services workforce
  • Former social worker with a particular focus on working with vulnerable people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, and domestic violence victims including children and adults with disability.

Joan Hughes - Deputy Chair

  • President, Council on the Ageing (COTA) NSW
  • Former CEO, Australian Veterans Children's Assistance Trust
  • Extensive experience in policy and research in the areas of ageing and for carers, including ageing parents of children with disabilities. Joan also volunteers for various community organisations.

Justine O'Neill

  • CEO, Council for Intellectual Disability
  • Previously the acting NSW Public Guardian helping people with dementia, intellectual disability, brain injury and mental illness, assisting individuals make significant decisions about their life.

Mark Grierson

  • CEO, Advocacy Law Alliance based in Newcastle
  • CEO, Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre and Disability Advocacy NSW.

Robert Fitzgerald AM

  • NSW Ageing and Disability Commissioner
  • Former Royal Commissioner of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
  • Previously NSW Community and Disability Services Commissioner and NSW Deputy Ombudsman.

Rosemary Kayess

  • Chairperson of the Australian Centre for Disability Law
  • Chair of the Australian UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
  • Awarded the Australian Human Rights medal in 2019
  • Senior Research Fellow at UNSW and human rights lawyer and disability rights activist
  • Lived experience with disability.

Russell Westacott

  • Founding member and co-chair of Elder Abuse Action Australia
  • Former CEO of NSW Seniors Rights Service
  • Board member of the National Council of National Seniors
  • Extensive history of working in HIV and LGBTIQ+ rights-based organisations in Australia and the United States.

Violet Roumeliotis AO

  • CEO of Settlement Services International, which supports multicultural, CALD and refugee communities
  • Community Fellow with Western Sydney University
  • Deputy President, Australian Council of Social Services
  • Deputy Chair, SBS Community Advisory Committee.

Wendy Morgan

  • Former member, Ministerial Advisory Committee on Ageing (MACA) for the NSW Government
  • Director, Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council
  • An Aboriginal woman from the Dyiringanj People of Wallaga Lake that forms part of the Yuin Nation on the Far South Coast of NSW.
Last updated:

11 Oct 2023

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We acknowledge Aboriginal people as the First Nations Peoples of NSW and pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future. 

Informed by lessons of the past, the Ageing and Disability Commission is improving how we work with Aboriginal people and communities. We listen and learn from the knowledge, strength and resilience of Stolen Generations Survivors, Aboriginal Elders and Aboriginal communities.

You can access our apology to the Stolen Generations.

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