Dr John Byrne AM

Western Australian Commissioner for Equal Opportunity

Dr John Byrne has been Commissioner for Equal Opportunity in Western Australia since 2016.  He has been profoundly deaf since he was eight years old, due to inheriting otosclerosis. Dr Byrne has been an advocate for people with disabilities for many years and in the 1980s, advocated for the WA Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to include the grounds for impairment. He was an inaugural member of the Ministerial Advisory Council for Disability Services in 1991 and served a second term in 1999.

In 2020, Dr Byrne was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for services to social justice.

Alan Kirkland

Chief Executive Officer, CHOICE

Alan has been CEO of consumer organisation CHOICE since 2012. He has a background in access to justice, having worked as CEO of Legal Aid New South Wales, Executive Director of the Australian Law Reform Commission and Chair of the National Legal Assistance Advisory Body. Alan has also been a part-time member of a number of state and federal tribunals, and was a member of the panel for the Ramsay Review, which led to the establishment of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

Priya Cooper OAM

World champion Paralympic swimmer; Deputy Chair, WA Disability Services Commission and President, WA Disabled Sporting Association.

Born with cerebral palsy, Priya is a world champion disabled swimmer who became one of Australia’s leading Paralympians. From her first appearance at the 1991 National Wheelchair Games where she won a staggering nine gold medals, she went on to win:

• three gold medals and break two world records at Barcelona Paralympics in 1992;
• five gold medals and set four world records at the World Swimming Championships in Malta in 1994;
• five gold medals at the 10th Paralympic Games in Atlanta in 1996; and
• a gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Paralympics – her last – while recovering from major shoulder surgery.

Since Priya retired from competitive swimming, she raises funding and awareness for people with disability to be involved in sport. She is currently Deputy Chair of WA Disability Services Commission and President of the WA Disabled Sporting Association. In 2015 she was inducted into the Sports Australia Hall of Fame and in 2022 was inducted into Paralympics Australia Hall of Fame.

Shelter WA

Building Tenancy Skills Lived Experience Team

Shelter WA, in a partnership with People with disabilities WA (PWdWA) has commenced a project to build resources to help tenants with a disability feel more confident about their rights and responsibilities as tenants.

Consumers of Mental Health WA

Consumers of Mental Health WA (CoMHWA) was incorporated in 2005 by a group of committed and passionate people with lived experience of mental health issues who came together with a shared vision. CoMHWA represents consumers by engaging in consumer consultation and participation across WA through systemic advocacy and reform; education and raising awareness; research; growing peer leadership and support and organisational management; governance and sustainability.

People With disabilities WA

People With disabilities WA (PWdWA) is the largest disability consumer organisation representing the rights, needs, and equity of all Western Australians with physical, intellectual, neurological, psychosocial, or sensory disability via individual and systemic advocacy.

PWdWA provides non-legal advocacy to people with disabilities. Advocacy is the process of standing alongside individuals to ensure that people are able to speak out, to express their views and uphold their rights.