Growing up, Dylan never saw any role models like himself in the public domain. It means his driving force runs much deeper than success alone. His greatest ambition is to be that mainstream person who empowers Australians living with a disability. It’s what gives him such an inexhaustible work ethic.
Alongside his Paralympic gold medals and 12 tennis grand slams, Dylan made history in 2016. He became the first athlete with a disability to win Tennis Australia’s highest individual honour, the Newcombe Medal.
When he’s not working at GSA, Dylan runs his own foundation and Ability Fest, a charitable music festival that’s raised half a million dollars so far to support young Australians with a disability. He’s also a sports commentator and host on the Nine Network, a weekend breakfast presenter on the Hit Network, and a Logie winner for Best New Talent as host of ABCs ‘The Set’. The final frontier, according to Dylan, is a starring role in a wheelchair on Home and Away…
Martin is an entrepreneur who’s worked with global brands including L’Oreal, Adidas and Mizuno alongside his own businesses.
As Dylan’s father, over the past 30 years he’s witnessed the daily barriers people with disability face. He co-founded GSA with both his sons to change how governments and corporations interact and engage with accessibility and remedy the challenges people with disabilities face.
Dani is a consultation, leadership and organisational culture specialist and mother to a son with a rare chromosome condition. She retired as a PwC partner to join GSA, as she believes we’ll drive inclusion in Australia through leadership from people with disability.
She’s worked in both professional and voluntary positions in the disability sector for 28 years. As a consultant, she’s worked in Australia and internationally in sectors including Government, Health, Recruitment, Consumer Goods, Engineering, IT, Power, Construction, Financial and Professional Services.
Courtney works with clients to build inclusive cultures and practices and improve clients’ digital platform, product and service accessibility. Through close client partnerships, Courtney supports organisations in understanding the business opportunities of access and inclusion and being more effective when they recruit and retain employees and customers with a disability.
Before GSA, Zack worked for eight years executing marketing and sales strategies to grow some of the world’s largest FMCG brands, including Red Bull, Hendricks Gin and Glenfiddich. Now alongside GSA, he manages Australia’s first inclusive music festival, Ability Festival, which uses music as an inclusive platform to normalise disability.
Zack works at GSA with brother Dylan and father Martin to create generational social change. His innovative approach has seen him build understanding and confidence with government and corporations, as well as spearhead a national awareness campaign to address the unconscious bias and invisible barriers people with disability face. Alongside his impassioned commitment to football and basketball, he sits on the board for the Dylan Alcott Foundation and Australian Festivals Association.
After Lisa’s wheelchair basketball career peaked with a Paralympic silver medal in Athens 2004, she looked to take on new challenges. She used her training as an occupational therapist to run peer training for wheelchair users in Fiji and a wheelchair basketball clinic in East Timor. Then, she went a step further to become a Doctor of Clinical Science, studying the role of intuition in decision making.
Lisa is a member of the World Health Organisation, Standards Development Group, Development of global WHO standards for wheelchair provision. She is also the Vice President (Oceania Region) on the Board of the Asia Oceania Zone of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation.
At GSA, Lisa continues to combine her lifelong experience of being a wheelchair user with her research, program design and community development skills to change how people with disability are part of the world.
As an Occupational Therapist by background, Nicole has worked in mental health and community health services in Australia and the UK and owned and managed her own OT practice.
Nicole worked for several years at PwC Australia with a focus on D&I, accessibility, and preventative health and wellbeing. Most recently Nicole worked for global law firm DLA Piper as the Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing Lead for the Asia Pacific region with responsibility for strategy development and implementation to facilitate a culture of inclusion and belonging.
Melissa specialises in accessible communication by design and inclusive language. Her experience spans digital and print publications, social media platforms, and audio/visual mediums. She’s worked across a broad range of industries, for clients such as Medibank, Hydro Group and the Australia Institute of Teaching and School Leadership.
Melissa’s background in Industrial and Product Design provides her with an expert perspective on accessible and inclusive communications and products. She has a passion for connecting people with varying disabilities with the information and communications platforms to suit their individual needs.
Dina loves live music. But the more festivals and events she attended, the more she realised something needed to change. So she started a business to change the live music landscape and open up gigs to everyone.
Dina was diagnosed with a form of Muscular Dystrophy at three months old. After attending a physiotherapy based school in New Zealand, she fell behind in her studies and spent school catching up with intensive tutoring.
Dina works with GSA because she loves being amongst such a diverse group of people. In life, she’s counted herself fortunate to have the confidence to speak up if she’s sidelined. But she recognises others may not have the same ability, and is devoted to being a disability advocate as a result.
Dina is also the GSA Access Liaison or accessibility concierge. As a seasoned event goer and person with lived disability experience, this game-changing role allows Dina to deliver unique and hands-on support at events. A dedicated Access Liaison can be available at every touchpoint of the event patron’s experience to provide extra support so they can have an enjoyable, barrier-free and equitable experience.
Mike is a resilience expert. As an experienced professional and educational speaker and author, Mike is committed to helping others stand tall, no matter what challenge or change they face.
In 2001, Meningococcal left Mike with internal and external injuries, including multiple amputations. He credits his ability to turn a major setback into success thanks to his positive outlook, adaptive mindset and conscious decision to embrace uncertainty.
Mike has represented Australia in Golf and is a passionate program founding volunteer of Amputee Charity Limbs 4 Life. Mike won the 2018 Victorian Golf Amputee Open and is the current president of Amputee Golf Victoria. He’s also a qualified counsellor, gym owner and Interplast ambassador.
You can get to know Mike in our videos and online learning, face to faces, immersive experiences and webinars.
With a background in real estate, training and public speaking Steph brings an open approach to her work. She speaks from the heart about her experiences to assist clients with their disability and inclusion goals.
Diagnosed at 19 with a degenerative eye condition, Steph is passionate about inclusion and changing dated misconceptions around disability. With her lived experience, she has a proven ability to provide practical and actionable disability advice.
Steph proudly navigates the world with her guide dog, Rocky. Her mantra is people with disability can do all things; they just do them differently.
Andrew has extensive experience in staffing and campaigning, working for multiple Federal politicians over the past decade including more than five years with the leader of a Federal political party.
Andrew works at a federal, state and local government level to implement and successfully deliver GSA’s accessibility and inclusion program.
Emily is a goal-driven educational leader. Her local and international experience spans curriculum design and implementation, online learning design, delivery and evaluation, global workshop facilitating and government and NGO program implementation. Along with her Masters in Social Science, Emily’s experience spans 25 years of teaching in diverse educational settings, 10 years as a school principal, Chairperson of the Loddon Mallee Region School Principal’s Committee, a disability advisor for CBM and a workshop facilitator and learning development specialist with a focus on international aid.
As a person with lived experience of a disability, Emily leads by example. She makes sure every learning environment is inclusive to provide every child the opportunity to succeed. As a person in a wheelchair, inclusion for Emily means living her life like everyone else she knows. Emily is proud to work for GSA to make inclusion normal, and life different for people with disability.
Emily collaborates with us in our videos and online learning, and resource development.
Carol’s gold medal dream came true aged 51. In Rio, she won two gold Paralympic medals after 35 years of training across two continents in three different sports. She firmly believes the greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
Carol looks after face to face training, videos and online learning, focus groups and program design for our Women with Disability in Leadership program.
Kate was born without her right hand. She has a master’s degree in Organisational & Industrial Psychology from Deakin University. Kate is a Para-triathlete having started her competition career as a Paraequestrian. In 2014 Kate made the move to becoming a Para-triathlete and had the goal of competing at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. She placed fifth in the Women’s PT4 event. In reflection on her event, she states “My the aim is to go out and do the best I can and to walk away knowing that I did everything I could do to execute my best on race day. Doughty also recalls “I’ve been wanting to come to the Paralympics and compete and I thought I’d be doing it on a horse. So doing it on my own legs was a shock. Kate is working with Get Skilled Access as a psychologist and management consultant. She is also patron of the Aussie Hands Foundation Inc.
Kate has worked with both the private and government sectors, across several areas including organisational culture, leadership and team dynamics, psychological assessments, transition and career development, as well as recruitment. As a disability advocate, Kate works alongside Get Skilled Access to break down barriers to normalise disability.
Paul is a former Paralympic athlete, and has been a disability policy advisor for over 20 years. He’s advised local, state and federal government on key policies such as the NSW Disability Inclusion Act (2014), the Disability Inclusion Action Plan Guidelines and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
A wheelchair user, Paul has proudly identified as a person with disability since age 11. This lived experience of disability gives Paul an informed perspective in all his work. He’s passionate about creating small but significant changes to impact dignity, equity and inclusion.
Paul’s advice has improved visitor and employee experience for clients including the Sydney Opera House, Australian Museum, ANZAC Memorial (NSW), Barangaroo, and Sydney Olympic Park.
Paul’s expertise guides our DIAPs, face to faces, online learning, or universal design and policy research.
Ned is huge sports lover. He spends a lot of his time either watching or preferably playing lots of different sports. Ned’s sporting career spans playing AFL Blind for Hawthorn, representing Australia in Blind soccer, and completing two-world cups in Blind cricket for Australia – He even has his very own ‘baggy green’. Ned now works full-time at Hawthorn Football Club in the Community Department in social inclusion.
Ned has run blind sports workshops in Launceston and Katherine. He is passionate about spreading the word about Blind sports and getting young people who are blind or have low vision to play. Ned believes disability shouldn’t be a deterrent.
Ned has an eye condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa. Being diagnosed was by far, the toughest period of Ned’s life. The greatest challenge was trying to deal with the adjustment of having perfect vision, to suddenly becoming legally blind after 5 days.
Ned collaborates with us in our videos and focus groups.
Zander is a member of the Kyneton Tigers FIDA League. He’s a real team player, known for his spirit and sharing the football around. When he’s not playing sport, he’s pursuing his other love – coffee. Zander works in a cafe as a barista and in customer service. He also feeds and cares for horses as an integral member of Blonde Rock Farm, a horse breeding enterprise.
Zander’s role with us allows him to share his lived experience of having an Intellectual Disability. He loves starring in our videos, and was the inspiration behind our Sport4All Program.
Zander works with us on our videos and online learning, and as a mystery shopper.
Andrew is a Special Olympian and competes in Basketball, Giant Slalom, Tennis, Lawn Bowls and Tenpin Bowling. He represented the athletes of Special Olympics Australia in the 2017 Law Enforcement Torch Run in Austria, running the torch into the opening ceremony.
Andrew worked for 10 years as a client services assistant at Melbourne Polytechnic, and currently works at the Endeavour Foundation in packaging and reception.
As well as being an athlete and GSA Associate, Andrew prides himself in being a role model for other athletes. He encourages others to participate in sport regardless of their age, to become leaders and pursue their goals. He believes anything can happen when you try hard and feel encouraged to be your best.
Andrew is involved with our videos and online learning, face to faces and immersive experiences.
Prue is an artist who explores Autistic pleasures, necessities and culture. Her tactile art creates sensory play experiences alongside opportunity for space and downtime. Prue advocates for the identity, empowerment and sensory awareness of the Autistic community.
Prue collides against stigmas and resultant systematic oppression. She aims to celebrate and progress Autistic culture for Autistic people like herself. She works with GSA to create change from top down. And believes better access for the disabled community means better access for everybody.
A practicing fine artist, working with oil, ceramics, textiles, sculpture, installation and performance, Prue completed her Fine Art Bachelors and Masters at RMIT. She’s exhibited and performed artworks nationally, including at the Australian Museum of Contemporary Art in 2018 and 2019. She’s also an ensemble member of Rawcus Theatre Group, and a 3rd Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo.
Prue is involved with our online learning and videos.
Oliver works as a disability advocate and stand-up comedian. His work breaks down barriers and creates positive change, as seen in GSA’s Remove the Barrier campaign.
After a Cerebral Palsy diagnosis aged 18 months old, Oliver has faced many challenges throughout his life. But with determination and support, he’s thrived. Whether playing sport, living independently, studying at university, travelling solo overseas or enjoying live music festivals, Oliver has never let his disability hold him back.
Oliver is involved in our videos and online learning, face to faces and mystery shopping.
Michael is a consultant having recently joined the team from Headspace. Michael has had a career that spans from theatre to Social Work giving him an unusual mix of skills that have been brought to the fore at GSA. He is currently leading the design, development, and delivery of programs of work that increase skill and capability in the disability and inclusion space in organisations across Australia.
His ability to connect with a broad range of individuals has proven invaluable in his work. Michael will distil information gained in focus groups and interviews with people with disability and craft this information into video and digital learning resources. Michael’s understanding of the disability sector combined with his eye for making learning interesting and enjoyable is critical in adult learning methodologies. Michael is a part of the GSA teams working with Government and Corporate clients.
Heath is a Paralympic gold medallist who won Men’s Quad Doubles gold in partnership with Dylan at Rio in 2016. He went on to be awarded with a Medal of the Order of Australia and share Tennis Australia’s Most Outstanding Athlete with a Disability with Dylan too.
Heath contracted viral transverse myelitis at five months, leading to paraplegia. He started playing wheelchair tennis aged 14. Ten years later, he retired from the sport, but came out of retirement to win the prestigious BNP Paribas World Team Cup in Tokyo 2016. He’s also won an international quad singles title at the Korea Open in 2017.
With GSA, Heath wants to educate people about disability and create a diverse community, where people with and without disability are included.
You’ll meet Heath in our videos and online learning, mystery shopper experiences, face to face deliveries and immersive experiences.
With Jono’s steadfast focus, he’s got the Paralympics firmly in his sights. And he’s working hard to get there, one paratriathlon at a time. He’s got three World Paratriathlon Series victories under his belt along with seven ITU World Championships appearances.
At 15 Jono was diagnosed with Usher Syndrome Type II – a degeneration of hearing and vision loss. But his first question after diagnosis was, ‘will I still be able to play sport?’. Jono’s proud to make a difference with GSA and inspire others, particularly youth with disability. His message is about the ability he’s found as a result of his disability.
Jono gets stuck in with GSA in our videos and online learning, immersive experiences and face to faces and as a mystery shopper.
Elvin strapped on his first pair of dancing shoes as a teenager, and he’s barely taken them off since. As a Deaf dancer, he learnt to dance to vibrations. He thinks of music as much more than just sound waves. Music is a feeling and if he feels, he can dance. Elvin shares his dance experience by teaching Latin, Jazz, Hip Hop, contemporary dance and ballet.
Elvin was born profoundly Deaf in Hong Kong. When he moved to Australia, he had to learn both English and Auslan. As an Australian Ballet graduate, he joined Deaf Can Dance (currently the Delta Project) in 2006 and more recently has toured as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival, performed with The Wiggles and the Midsumma Pride March.
Along with Elvin’s extensive dance career he has a Diploma of Set and Costume Design, a Diploma of Building Design and Drafting, a Certification of Interior Design and currently works for the Commonwealth Government.
Elvin works with GSA to raise awareness about people with disability, and show there’s nothing they can’t do. You’ll meet him in our videos and online learning, immersive experiences and customer experience audits.
Bryce is an inclusion advocate with quite the trophy cabinet. In 2017, he won the Emerging Leader Award at the 2017 Victorian Disability Awards, adding to his Warrnambool Youth Achiever Award, a recipient for the John King Citizenship Award and position on the Victorian Student Representative Council.
Noah discovered YouTube early, and in 2007 created his own channel. He used it as a platform to show people how to do tech stuff, play games and create special effects. One of the things he enjoyed doing most was making karaoke videos where he would lip-sync songs. This was the beginning of him reaching out to people via technology.
Recently, Noah started a petition via the change.org website to raise awareness around accessibility on airplanes. The process now is arduous and lacks dignity. Noah believes that accessibility needs to be introduced as part of the design and engineering stage of building an airplane, better understood as ‘inclusive design’.
Noah doesn’t focus on his disability which is CP. He knows how lucky he is, even though he has some physical challenges. He will continue to be a voice for people with disabilities, to promote a more inclusive society. And therefore, being part of GSA is such a great fit for him.
Noah is involved in our videos, online learning and focus groups.
Jamal is an award winning stand-up comedian based out of Wollongong, NSW. With an undeniable funny bone, Jamal knows how to win over audiences with his authentic, honest comedic style.
Jamal is legally blind and his material is largely centred around his personal experiences. He’s been a winner in Sydney’s Stand Up and Be Counted, as well as a Raw Comedy state finalist. His performances have taken him to the Sydney Comedy Store, Enmore Theatre and Sydney Comedy Lounge.
Jamal gets involved in our videos and online learning.
Elise is widely regarded as one of Australia’s leading change-makers in Autism. With lived experience of Autism and mental health, a proud First Nation Australian, part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and an elite athlete in mainstream sport, Elise’s unique, multifaceted insight is an authentic lens on inclusion, diversity, and awareness.
Elise is inspiring and enabling the world to better understand, and embrace people who think, and are different. Elise is a well sought International Speaker and Consultant for creating inclusion, awareness, and accessibility. Elise is also a dual elite athlete and has used her platform as a player for the Western Bulldogs and more recently Essendon FC to become AFL’s First Disability Ambassador.
Elise gets involved in our training videos and focus groups.
Joel has experience working in the Australia Defence Force, he is also a professional facilitator and has presented both national and internationally.
His audiences comprise of the Royal Military College in Duntroon, AFL & AFLW clubs, multiple community sporting clubs, schools and corporates around the country. Whilst he was serving in the ADF he deployed to Afghanistan on “Operation Slipper” in 2013. Post injury Joel worked in the recruitment space assisting Defence personnel transitioning into civilian employment.
Joel sustained his spinal cord injury in his early 20’s. Having lived most of his life without disability this has provided him a unique perspective on life. This is the protagonist behind Joel’s purpose and drive, to improve the world for the generation of tomorrow living with disability, congenital or acquired.Joel has experience working in the Australia Defence Force, he is also a professional facilitator and has presented both national and internationally.
Rhys has worked in a wide range of roles through corporate, higher education, public speaking, hospitality and the NGO sector, using his lived experience with a disability to compliment his professional skills in every role.
At the age of 19, Rhys was involved in a high speed motor vehicle accident, surviving with a spinal cord injury that caused him to become a wheelchair user. Following his rehabilitation, he quickly realised that despite the obvious physical barriers caused by a lack of physical access, an even greater challenge was overcoming the non-physical barriers that prevent people with disability from being active members of society – primarily caused by a lack of education.
As a consultant at GSA, Rhys brings his lived experience along with his passion for education to help bring about positive change for all.
Shelley was one of the youngest players selected for the Athens 2004 Paralympic Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team. This team went on to win a silver medal.
After completing her degree in Recreation, Sport and Tourism Shelley returned to Australia from the USA to captain the Australian women’s wheelchair basketball team, the Gliders.
Having competed in five World Championships and three Paralympic Games Shelley was just three games shy of playing 250 games for Australia when she retired from the sport, with the news that she and her husband Kieran were pregnant with their first child, Ruby.
Alongside her corporate career in insurance, Shelley is also an associate for Get Skilled Access and is passionate about representation in the workforce.
Joel has graduated with a Bachelor of Communication Design. With Joel’s lived experience of being short statured along with his passion for design. He found a great opportunity at GSA as a Junior Graphic Designer where he could combine both his lived experience and design work to improve how people with disabilities can interact with digital and printed content.
Outside of work, Joel enjoys being active wherever he can. He enjoys playing sports and running, and has run the Great Ocean Road Marathon back in 2019. Joel has also represented Australia at the 2017 World Dwarf games held in Canada, competing in Basketball and Badminton.