Ambassadors 2009
The Don’t DIS my ABILITY ambassadors are chosen each year from the arts, sports and business fields. Throughout the campaign these ambassadors will attend a variety of events across NSW to promote the key messages of the campaign. In representing the campaign they help in changing misconceptions surrounding disability by creating an environment that encourages participation in careers, leisure pursuits and social activities.
Alex Jones
Alex is a co-founder of Access Innovation Media. He was the Director of the critically acclaimed 2005 Deaflympic Games Cultural Festival in Melbourne and is currently the Chairperson of the Deafness Forum of Australia. Alex is the proud father of Tobian, who is currently teething (and signing). |
Amethyst Barnbrook
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Camilla Connolly
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David Gwilliam
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Fiona McKenzie
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Janel Manns
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Jeremy Doyle
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John Foster
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Krystel Keller
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Kurt Fearnley OAM
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Dr Mark Bagshaw
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Michael Bartels
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Professor Ronald McCallum AO
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Susie Maroney
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Tony Purkiss
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Tracy Barrell
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Amethyst travelled to Japan to play with the Yamaha Youth Orchestra. A competitive sailor, she won the Go Getter Award in 2008, awarded to a young person who has made a significant contribution to improving the lives of people with disability. In 2007 she received a sports scholarship from Wollongong University. Amethyst was born without arms and only the lower half of her left leg, resulting from the condition known as phocoamelia.
Camilla is a passionate and successful artist and the winner of the 2008 Waverley Art Prize. She was a very bright child but found relating to people an awkward and confusing business. In the last year she has discovered she has Asperger's syndrome. Camilla is also an ambassador for the rehabilitation centre, The Buttery.
David is a student at Ultimo TAFE where he is completing a Diploma of library and Information Services. He loves going for walks in the Blue Mountains, watching DVDs and videos, gardening and going to the South Coast. David is an employee of Woolworths and in the Library at the University of Western Sydney. He has Asperger’s Syndrome.
Fiona is a member of the Board of Directors at NSW Council for Intellectual Disability and is also committed to completing the annual City2Surf. She is a baker’s assistant, rising every day at 4.30am to start work. Fiona is involved with a new group called 
Janel is a teacher at the North Coast Institute of TAFE, Port Macquarie and Kempsey campuses. She teaches Certificate IV in Community Services Health Work and Certificate III in Disability Work. Janel has paraplegia and passionately believes in social justice for all minority groups. She is a member of the National Women's Wheelchair Tennis Squad.
Jeremy Doyle has risen to the highest ranks of wheelchair basketball in a very short time. He debuted for Australia in May at the Paralympic World Cup in England where the Rollers won gold. Jeremy has represented Australia internationally at the World Cyber Games and was also a member of the Australian wheelchair hockey team. He now works at ING and lives in Dulwich Hill. Jeremy has paraplegia.
John is a Tharawal man and was a founding member of the Aboriginal Disability Network. In 2005 he represented Aboriginal people with a disability at the Pacific Disabled Forum in Fiji and in 2007 John attended the United Nations Economic Social Council Regional Forum on Disability. He is an Elder within his community in the southern suburbs of Sydney. John has a hearing impairment and manages depression and anxiety.
Krystel is a singer songwriter, accomplished on guitar and piano, who performs regularly at festivals across Australia. At the age of six months, she was diagnosed with Bilateral Retinoblastoma (cancer of the eyes) and by two years of age she was completely blind. Krystel says that music is an important part of her life as “it is a tool for communication and expression”.
Kurt is a teacher and current holder of nine individual marathon titles on five continents. Kurt won gold medals in Athens in 2004 and in 2007 he won gold in the South African, Osaka, Paris, Rome and Los Angeles marathons. In the Beijing 2008 Paralympics he won a gold medal in the marathon, two silver medals in the 500 and 800 metre races and a bronze medal in the 1500 metre race. 
Mark is the Managing Director of Innov8 Consulting Group and was formerly Business Development Executive for IBM. His primary focus is to demonstrate to the world business community that addressing the issues faced by people who are economically disadvantaged is right for our society and makes good business and economic sense. Mark has paraplegia
Michael is the Deputy Chairperson of the NSW Council for Intellectual Disability. He has played cricket for NSW in the Lord’s Taverners Shield for people with an intellectual disability for the last nine years and has represented Australia in the Australian Allstars Team. Michael is dedicated to giving people with intellectual disability better rights and services.
Ron is the foundation Blake Dawson Waldron Professor in Industrial Law at the University of Sydney. He is the first blind person to have been appointed to a full professorship at any university in Australia. In 2008 Ron was appointed member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. He is a music enthusiast and loves to meditate.
Susie is an Australian marathon swimmer. In 1990 she became the first person to swim from Manly to Darling Harbour and back in seven hours and in that same year she broke the speed record for swimming the English Channel. At age 22 Susie was the first person to swim the 180km from Cuba to the United States. She went on to swim a record 197km from Mexico to Cuba. Susie was born with cerebral palsy.
Tony is a committed yachtsman, competing in nine Sydney to Hobart yacht races. In 2005 Tony became legally blind as a result of the Bali bombings. He is now a motivational speaker, still enjoys sailing and also pilots a plane.
Tracy works at Sutherland Shire Council and is a mother of two. She won a gold medal in swimming at the Barcelona Paralympics in 1992, and was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 1993 for outstanding contribution to sport. Tracy represented Australia last year at the Shanghai Women’s Sitting Volleyball Tournament. Tracy is a triple congenital amputee.