ACT Disability Advisory Council

What we do

The Disability Advisory Council keeps the ACT Government aware of the issues affecting people with disability and their supporters.

The council continues and expands the work of the ACT Disability Reference Group which ran from 2017 to June 2025.

If you have feedback or advice about issues affecting people with disability, let us know.

Our members

Members contribute their experience as people with disability, carers of people with disability and people who provide disability services.

The council has 5 to 12 members, including a Chair and Deputy Chair.

The members are appointed by the Minister within these conditions:

• the Chair is always a person with disability
• at least half the members are people with disability
• at least one member is an unpaid carer of a person with disability
• at least one is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person.

Current members are:

• Kelly Brown (Chair)
• Tess Yvanovich (Deputy Chair)
• Ben Zarew
• Betty Callow
• Cecelia Klein
• Deborah Eades
• Griffin Wright
• Henry Austin-Stone
• Jacob Clarke
• Iga Morzynska
• Jasmine Eldridge
• Lou Bannister
• Catherine Rule, Director-General of Health and Community Services  in the ACT Government
• Nick Stathis, Executive Branch Manager, Disability, Seniors and Veterans, Health and Community Services Directorate.

Meeting dates

The group meets 6 times a year.

Terms of reference

The terms of reference for the council are to advise the ACT Government about:

• the rights of people with disability, including under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability
• the National Disability Insurance Scheme
• building an inclusive community
• ways to foster cooperative relationships between people with disability, their families, their carers, relevant organisations, government and the community.

Read the  Disability Advisory Council terms of reference [PDF 418KB]

Documents

ACT Disability Reference Group

• ACT Disability Reference Group Communiques These are meeting notes from the ACT Disability Reference Group from 2017 to June 2025.

Contact us

Contact the ACT Disability Advisory Council through the ACT Office for Disability.