Disability and Inclusion Advisory Board

Dan Stubbs is Victoria’s Public Advocate and Australia’s first Public Advocate with a declared disability.

He is strongly committed to the rights, safety and independence of people with disability. As a person with vision impairment who uses a screen reader, he understands how important accessible information and support are for full participation in community life. Since November 2025, Dan has led the Office of the Public Advocate (OPA), an independent Victorian organisation that works to protect people with disability from abuse, neglect and exploitation. As well as providing, guardianship, investigations, medical treatment decision support, advice and education, OPA also advocates for systemic changes, and recently made a Submission to the Disability Safeguards Consultation, highlighting important reforms to strengthen safety and rights. OPA also trains and supports more than 500 volunteers who deliver key safeguarding programs across Victoria. Dan has a long history of leadership in Australian systemic advocacy organisations of people with disability. Before becoming Public Advocate, Dan was the Victorian Disability Workers Commissioner and has long experience in disability rights, health‑related decision making and community law.  He holds degrees in Law and Commerce and postgraduate qualifications in Development Economics and Legal Practice.

Jacqui McKim has extensive experience in the community services sector, having spent close to a decade working in client engagement and diversity and inclusion in not-for-profit organisations. Jacqui has a lived experience of cerebral palsy, and strongly believes in the value of people with disability sharing their lived experience to inform and influence the systems and services they engage with.

Jacqui is currently the Diversity and Inclusion Advisor at genU, and a non-Executive Director of the Kids Plus Foundation.

Before joining Deaf Victoria, Philip Waters was a Senior Consultant at the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, and a Senior Policy Officer in the Office for Disability in the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. Philip also has extensive experience in disability inclusive programming and evaluation across developing countries and in Australia. Philip has supported many organisations over the last 15 years in a voluntary capacity. He served on boards and advised various Disabled People’s Organisations (DPO’s), both in Australia and internationally. He brings with him a passion to make a difference in the lives of Deaf people and their families. Preferred pronouns: he/him. 

Dr Melinda Smith has over 30 years of experience in disability and education. In 2008, Melinda began promoting the health and wellbeing outcomes of dance for people with disabilities. Melinda mentors young people with cerebral palsy and complex communication needs around the world. In 2018, Melinda created her first solo work, Spasmotive. The next phase of her work sees her creating a series of audio-visual expressions of life in social isolation. Melinda lives with cerebral palsy and is an advocate of disability inclusion. In 2019 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Deakin University for her contribution to the arts and disability sectors. Melinda is a member of the Deakin University Disability and Inclusion team as a lecturer in inclusive arts. Melinda has held a position as a Director of the Board of the Women's Circus, based in Melbourne, since 2020. Melinda’s most recent work, Conduit Bodies, was featured in the Melbourne Fringe Festival and the Alter State Festival.

Jeremy joined the advisory board in 2021 and has nearly a decade of experience in the disability field as a support worker, foster carer and previously at Inclusion Melbourne as their Head of Systems, Operations and Communications. Jeremy is now the program lead at Keystone Incorporated, a not-for-profit he started in 2025 that blends lived experience with practical coaching to help young people and adults develop social skills, independent living capacity and early employment experience. Jeremy has a lived experience of autism, which has given him a unique perspective that he has applied to the work he does, shaping how he problem-solves, connects with people and designs innovative services for people around Melbourne.

Julia Manning (she/her) is an experienced researcher and human rights advocate at the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. With a keen focus on disability and inclusion, she blends her expertise in policy analysis and organisational change to drive meaningful reform through the Commission’s independent review function. Julia’s academic work spans both domestic and international settings, with a focus on promoting the rights of people with disability in accessing human rights advocacy services. Julia is an experienced board director and consultant, with recent work to promote the diversity and inclusivity of the Australian dispute resolution standards. Her strategic insights and hands-on experience in project management and stakeholder engagement have made her a trusted advisor in disability inclusion and human rights.

Working from Kaurna Country, Gen knows the challenges facing the disability community from parent, carer, advocate and lived experience viewpoints. They are an LGBTIQA+ Autistic with ADHD and manage chronic disease while parenting multiple Neurodivergent young people and adults with co-occurring disabilities. Gen has actively supported families living with disabilities for over 20 years. She has served as treasurer and secretary on non-profit boards representing PWD, as a member of the Australian Autism Alliance and the National Roadmap to Improve the Health and Mental Health of Autistic People. In her free time, they can be found moonlighting in disability policy and dancing or propagating plants. Gen is completing a masters research project at Deakin, exploring food security in the Autistic population.