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2024 Recipients

National Awards for Disability Leadership

National Awards for Disability Leadership 2024 Finalists

The Recipients of 2024 National Awards for Disability Leadership are:

Summary

Lesley Hall Award for Lifetime Achievement – Emma Bennison

Rights Activism – Our Voice SA

Inclusion – Kaygan Lane

Innovation – Aaron Cotton

Social Impact – The Disabled Employee Podcast

Change Making – Ebe Ganon

Arts – Demon Derriere

 

Emma is wearing a coloured top and smiling, she has dark curly hair.
Emma Bennison – Lesley Hall Award for Lifetime Achievement

The Lesley Hall Award for Lifetime Achievement – awarded to an individual who has shown commitment to the disability rights movement and worked over time to achieve significant outcomes for disabled people.

Emma has been a leader across disability from arts to advocacy to service delivery. She has reformed and modernised organisations, like Blind Citizens Australia, to benefit members. And she has challenged power in large service providers, like Vision Australia. Emma now supports others to do same.

 


Our Voice SA – Rights Activism

Rights Activism – advancing the status of disabled people by using human rights mechanisms, including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Using the UNCRPD in workshops, peer networks, client reference groups and conferences, run across 5 regions, OVSA has empowered PWID to advocate for their rights and influence decisions that affect them and their peers. Led by a board of self-advocates & allies and employing 15 PWD, PWID have changed government policies and processes and created improvements to closed disability services systems.

 


Kaygan Lane – Inclusion

Inclusion – illustrating the intersectional diversity of disabled people by designing processes, systems or programs.

Kay’s work is grounded in disability justice principles, to advance the rights, wellbeing and success of people with disability. Their intersectional advocacy spans grassroots efforts, and work within government, non-profits, and higher education, amplifying disabled voices and fostering inclusion. Kay co-organised Perth’s 1st Disability Pride Festival and is a founding member & co-chair of Pride with Disability Network. Their advocacy includes shaping WA’s LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Strategy as a disability representative and facilitating state and national disability events & summits.

 

Aaron has swept back brown hair, a short beard and a check jacket. He is smiling.
Aaron Cotton – Innovation

Innovation – achieving outcomes to the status of disabled people by working outside the box, developing new systems, technology or tools.

Aaron Cotton has transformed disability housing by developing a platform that empowers NDIS participants to choose their housemates and providers, addressing the lack of autonomy in Supported Independent Living (SIL). His innovation promotes independence, inclusivity, and safety, significantly improving housing outcomes for people with disabilities across diverse needs and backgrounds.

 

3 images from left to right: A young woman with shoulder length dark hair, a pink top and a big smile is holding a white cane; a young woman with coloured shoulder length hair is wearing a gray top, she has a pierced lip; a young male appearing person has dark shoulder length hair, dark rimmed glasses and their hand with a heart image on it is holding their chin.
The Disabled Employee Podcast – Social Impact

Social Impact – achieve visibility of disabled people by using mainstream or social media, or other digital interfaces.

The Disabled Employee podcast was conceived, produced and presented by young people with disability speaking frankly about their experiences in and out of employment. It is a powerful critique of systemic discrimination with advice on workplace rights, radical self-care, and workplace accessibility.

 

Ebe is against a yellow background, with shoulder length coloured hair, wearing tortoise shell glasses and a patterned top. She is smiling and looking to the left.
Ebe Ganon – Change Making

Change Making – achieving greater equality for disabled people by changing policy, programs, or legislation.

Ebe Ganon is a young disability advocate, sessional academic, and community engagement practitioner who is passionate about improving the state of inclusion in education, employment, and fitness settings. Through media engagement, policy submissions, conference appearances, and directorship, Ebe has played an instrumental role in affecting the necessary cultural change for people with disability to be seen as a priority cohort in tertiary sector reforms.

 

Demon has heavy eye makeup, a nose ring and is wearing a fur coat. She has long dark hair.
Demon Derriere – Arts

The Arts – advancing the status of disabled people through artistic expression.

Demon Derriere is formidable activist and powerhouse on a mission to redefine societal norms on ableism, dismantle fatphobia, and liberate all bodies from oppressive stereotypes through cabaret, burlesque, and the award winning show and festival, Big Thick Energy.

 

National Awards for Disability Leadership 2024 Finalists

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