Name: Ade Djajamihardja, VIC
Occupation and/or artform: Director, producer and advocate
Ade Djajamihardja began his career at ABC TV as a studio floor manager before moving into assistant director roles on iconic programs such as Countdown Revolution, The Big Gig, and DAAS Kapital. He later held senior positions overseas, including CEO of Ten on Ten Pictures and Enfiniti Productions in Malaysia, where he co-produced Puteri Gunung Ledang—the country's biggest historical epic and the first Malaysian film shortlisted for consideration for Oscar nomination. He also trained emerging talent at Singapore's national broadcaster, helping establish its first English-language comedy and drama units.
Back in Australia, Ade co-produced Salam Café (SBS, 2008), the first Muslim entertainment program to air prime time in a Western country. In 2011, just three days before a life-changing stroke, he joined the board of Disability Media Australia.
After a six-year recovery, Ade graduated with a Master of Screen Arts & Business from AFTRS. Since then, he has re-established himself as a producer and advocate, with credits including AMAR (SBS), The Wheelhouse, and Tales from the Crips (SBS). He co-founded DisabilityJusticeLens.com.au and serves on both the Bayside Disability Access and Inclusion Advisory Committee and the board of Diversity Arts Australia.
Ade is committed to building an arts and screen industry that truly reflects Australia's richness. As he says, he carries with him the national motto of his birthplace, Indonesia: "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika"—Unity in Diversity.
Name: Adrian Jangala Robertson, NT
Occupation and/or artform: Visual Arts
Adrian Jangala Robertson is a Warlpiri man who now lives in Mparntwe (Alice Springs). Growing up in Papunya, Robertson witnessed the inception of the Western Desert painting movement. Since 2002, he has painted with Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists, a supported studio for First Nations artists.
In 2024, Robertson was one of only two artists to be named a finalist in the prestigious Archibald, Wynne, and Sulman Prizes. His success has continued into 2025, with another Archibald Prize finalist selection and inclusion in the Mosman Prize.
A defining moment in his career came with his first solo exhibition at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London. Adrian attended the exhibition's opening, and his journey was captured in a short documentary that was later screened as part of the Desert Mob symposium that same year.
Adrian's previous accolades include winning the NATSIAA Telstra Painting Award in 2020 and the Alice Prize in 2022, further solidifying his place among Australia's most exciting contemporary artists from the Central Desert region.
Name: Cara-Ann Simpson, QLD
Occupation and/or artform: Artist, curator, author, educator, and consultant
Cara-Ann Simpson's background encompasses the arts, culture, tourism, festival, and land management sectors. Simpson lives and works on the lands of the Wakka Wakka nation in southern Queensland. As a multidisciplinary artist, Simpson's practice engages with sensory perception, deep listening, and environmental interaction. Simpson often draws upon the sonic environment and its visualisation to create sensory connections to land, plants and place.
Simpson's lived experience of disability informs her practice, which is reflective in recent work. She has led organisations, provided leadership, and curatorial expertise in Queensland and Victoria. Simpson is committed to regional Australia, and supporting artists through professional development and mentoring. She received funding and recognition for her art and contribution to the arts and culture sector. Simpson has shown her work in Australia and internationally, including interactive installations produced with technical collaborators. Simpson's work is held in public and private collections in Australia and internationally including Hahndorf Academy, Darebin City Council, Toowoomba Regional Council, Albury City Council, and Alroe Solicitors. Simpson is represented by Onespace, Brisbane.
Name: Catherine Dunn, QLD
Occupation and/or artform: Poetry and Theatre (art practice) and Policy Advisor (professional practice)
Catherine Dunn is based in Meanjin (Brisbane) and works as both a creative and policy adviser. She enjoys utilising both mechanisms to directly empower deaf individuals and communities while influencing broader social transformation.
Artwork highlights include her Arts House Warehouse Residency where she examined sign language script development and storytelling that culminated in a public showcase titled 'More Than Words Can Say,' and panel production at Clin d'Oeil - the international Deaf arts festival in France. Catherine is also a co-founder of the Deaf Arts Residency Exhibition (DARE), a Deaf arts collective based in Naarm (Melbourne), which has self-funded three pop-up exhibitions featuring her poetry.
Name: Daniel Aylett, ACT
Occupation and/or artform: Writer and Director
Daniel Aylett is a Canberra-based emerging writer and director whose lived experience with disability informs and enriches his storytelling. He is committed to creating bold, imaginative screen narratives that explore strong social themes. Since earning a Bachelor's Degree in Film Production in 2012, Daniel has written and directed the acclaimed short found-footage film Captured, which garnered over 2.8 million views online. Alongside his creative work, Daniel is a proud advocate for greater representation and inclusion of disabled artists in the screen industry.
Name: Debra Keenahan, NSW
Occupation and/or artform: Artist, writer, psychologist and disability advocate.
Debra Keenahan has 2 PhDs - the first in psychology on Dehumanization, the second in visual arts on Critical Disability Aesthetics. As a psychologist and artist Debra focusses upon personal and social impacts of disability. Having achondroplasia dwarfism, Debra brings lived experience to understanding the dynamics of interpersonal interactions that include/exclude the visibly different from social relations.
She is a multi-discipline artist and has exhibited in group and solo exhibitions, her sculpture work has been exhibited at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (2017), Western Sydney University (WSU) (2018), Gallery One88 (2019) and Casula Powerhouse (2022-23). Her VR work was exhibited at Art Gallery of NSW (2019), UNSW (2019) and Casula (2022-23). The video/film 'Smashing' was selected for the Cannes Short Film Festival 2022 and her recent one-woman theatre work 'Othering', featured in the Sydney Festival 2023.
Debra has sole- and co-authored a book, book chapters and articles and has acted as a consultant on disability access to the National Gallery of Australia, NAVA (National Association of Visual Artists) and Force Majeur. Debra has been the recipient of grants from ArtScreen-Accessible Arts, Create NSW and Creative Australia (formerly the Australia Council for the Arts). For Debra's current project she is writing a theatre script that is an insider perspective on disability and sexuality applying principles of creative access.
Name: Elise Romaszko, TAS
Occupation and/or artform: Artist, performer, poet and emerging director
Elise Romaszko is a disabled artist, performer, poet, and emerging director based in Hobart. I have been a core member of Second Echo Ensemble (SEE) for a long time performing in major works such as Book Branch Bench, The Rite of Spring, On Display Global, and most recently Relâche: The Last Dance on Earth, where I also contributed poetry and visual design.
In 2021, I directed The BEAUTY Project, a community work exploring performance, sound, and environment. This was a turning point in my practice as a leader and storyteller. Since then, I have created poetic installations, mentored emerging artists, and continued to develop my voice as a poet, performer, and maker.
My practice brings together sound, voice, movement, visual art, and story. I'm passionate about creating work that invites people to think, feel, and imagine, and I have shared my poetry at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, with ABC Radio Hobart, and in live performances with SEE.
Beyond my creative work, I contribute to arts advocacy. I participate in local, state and federal Arts and Access panels and advisory groups. I have worked with Speak Out Tasmania and the Down Syndrome Advisory Network. I strive to improve visibility and opportunities for disabled people in the arts.
Name: Gemma (Gia) Hilditch, WA
Occupation and/or artform: Arts worker, musician, dancer and advocate.
Boorloo-based Gia Hilditch (she/her) is a passionate access and inclusion advocate, board director at People with Disabilities WA, Chairperson of the City of Cockburn Disability Reference Group, co-founder of WAMA Inc, arts worker, musician, and dancer who has been involved in disability justice and rights since 2012 across Government and non-government organisations.
Alongside lived experience of disability, she holds a Bachelor of Science from Curtin University, a Graduate Certificate of Creative Arts, and a Graduate Certificate of Museum Studies. The experiences Gia has had as both an artist, arts worker and advocate have driven her passion for creating an accessible arts industry.
Gia brings access and inclusion policy development, systemic advocacy, project management and arts production, lived expertise and more to the Implementation Advisory Group and is eager to utilise these skills to guarantee that the stories and work of artists, workers and patrons with disability become an integral part of Australia's cultural landscape into the future.
Name: Geoffrey Lim, VIC
Occupation and/or artform: Arts leader, street dancer, and community advocate
Geoffrey Lim is a deafblind arts leader, street dancer, and community advocate based in Naarm/Melbourne. He is the Executive Director and co-founder of Cypher Culture, a non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering grassroots street dance communities through events, workshops, advocacy, and partnerships with major cultural institutions.
Geoffrey's practice centres on accessibility, cultural representation, and equity for underrepresented communities. He has extensive governance and advocacy experience, serving on the boards of Arts Access Victoria, the City of Melbourne Disability Advisory Committee, and Deakin University's Arts and Cultural Management Advisory Board.
He is a participant in the Creative Australia Creative Leadership Program, a peer assessor for Creative Australia and City of Melbourne, and a Community Fellow with the Melbourne Social Equity Institute, where his research focuses on equitable public infrastructure for grassroots creative communities.
Through his lived experience of disability and cultural identity, Geoffrey champions more inclusive arts practice and infrastructure. His work is driven by the belief that the arts should be accessible to all.
Name: Georgia Scott, NSW
Occupation and/or artform: Composer, musician, access consultant and curator.
Georgia Scott's music aims to explore identity and lived experience. Georgia studied a BMus (Hons) at the Royal College of Music, and MMus at the Sydney Conservatorium, participating in the 2018-2019 Composing Women Program.
Georgia has a passion for large forces having worked with the Sydney, Tasmanian and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, Australian World Orchestra, SSO Fellows, WA Youth Orchestras, Orchestra Victoria and Australian Ballet. Georgia has also written choral works for Moorambilla Voices, Gondwana Junior and Sydney Chamber Opera.
Alongside composing, Georgia has shared her research into the representation of disability in music at Harvard and Columbia universities, worked as an access facilitator and curator for BackStage Music and as a guest presenter on ABC Radio.
In 2021, Georgia's Chamber Opera 'Her Dark Marauder' was a finalist for 'Work of the Year: Dramatic' in the APRA AMC Art Music Awards and Georgia received Creative Australia's Young Artist Award at the 2021 National Arts and Disability Awards.
In 2025 Georgia has undertaken a residency at All That We Are in Tasmania as part of the Prelude Residency Program, had her work released by New Focus Recordings and will work with with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Find Your Voice Collective, BackStage Music and Play Outdoors Productions.
Name: Hannah Lee Tungate, WA
Occupation and/or artform: Classical musician, creative producer and advocate.
Hannah Lee Tungate is a soprano, creative producer, and changemaker dedicated to championing marginalised composers through performance, research, and advocacy. As the founder of Tenth Muse Initiative (TMI), she curates innovative projects the bring lesser-known voices to light and provide a platform for emerging creatives. TMI's debut opera The Priestess of Morphine was recognised with the Operabox Emerging Arts Leadership Award and multiple PAWA nominations.
Beyond performance and producing, Hannah's advocacy is reflected in her WomenComposersProject, where she researches and promotes forgotten composers. The research includes analysing gender and cultural representation statistics from major Australian symphony orchestras to highlight trends and gaps within the industry. She provides consulting services to ensembles and individuals seeking to diversify their repertoire and adopt more inclusive programming practices.
Alongside her creative work, Hannah is currently Acting WA State Manager for Musica Viva Australia and co-chairs the organisation's Access, Equity & Inclusion Internal Working Group.
As a queer, neurodivergent artist with a dynamic disability, Hannah brings lived experience to her practice and leadership. She is dedicated to building safe, sustainable, and inclusive creative environments. Her work continues to challenge the traditional landscape of classical music, striving for meaningful and lasting change in the industry.
Name: Meg Riley, SA
Occupation and/or artform: Artist, audio describer and access consultant
Meg Riley is a disabled artist, audio describer and access consultant, who aims to make museums and galleries more accessible. They have piloted successful museum programs for Deaf and neurodivergent audiences, and collaborated on programs for people with dementia, blind and low-vision audiences, and has created access resources for many of the popular arts venues on Kaurna Country.
With previous roles as Community Programs Coordinator at the South Australian Museum and Access Coordinator at Nexus Arts and Access2Arts, they now work as an independent access consultant, creating more accessible events and spaces for festivals, arts organisations and independent artists. They also have a consulting role with Co-creating Cultures of Inclusion: Redefining Access to Cultural Heritage, a national research project on access and co-design in museums and galleries.
Their podcast, Describe Everything, publishes audio descriptions of visual artworks and exhibitions, and they also present audio description for theatre, live events and festivals as a way to make the arts more accessible for everyone.
Name: Stephanie Dower, QLD
Occupation and/or artform: Screen producer, Writer and Access Coordinator.
Stephanie Dower is a Screen Producer, Writer, and Access Coordinator based in Queensland. In 2023, Stephanie produced the AACTA-nominated short film And The Ocean Stephanie Dower Agreed alongside Luisa Martiri and Writer/Director Tanya Modini. Prior to that, Stephanie produced and edited the short film Sunshine, a Bus Stop Films and Taste Creative project funded through Screen Queensland's RIDE Shorts program. In 2024, Stephanie also served as Access Coordinator for feature films Spit and Amazon Studios' The Bluff, both releasing in 2025.
As founder and director of production company Dower Productions, a recipient of Screen Queensland's Business Enterprise Fund, Stephanie is developing a slate of exciting and bold projects that aim to authentically portray under-represented communities .
A strong advocate for disability inclusion on and off the screen, Stephanie served as an inaugural member of Screen Queensland's Equity and Diversity Taskforce, and has served as an appointed advisor to the Screen Producers' Australia Council. Stephanie is also a founding member of the Disabled Creative Collective, a group formed to deliver the 'EquiArts' program, a series of disability and arts focused forums and gatherings with the support of Creative Australia, Screen Australia, and the Office of the Arts.