Memorandum by the Chief Executive Officer
To Council:
Background
The Inclusion (Disability) Advisory Panel was
established in November 2012 to provide expert advice to the City regarding
inclusion and access for people with disability.
The aim of the Inclusion (Disability)
Advisory Panel is to provide strategic, expert and impartial advice on how we
develop, implement, monitor and review our policies, strategies and plans to
advance the inclusion of people with disability.
The current Panel is comprised of 12 members,
four members that have served a six-year term (2017-2023) and eight members
that have served a two year term (2021-2023).
Under the current Terms of Reference, revised
and endorsed by Council in 2021, Panel members cannot serve longer than a
six-year term. Therefore, four Panel members: Nidhi Shekaran, Max Burt, Tara
Elliffe and Sabrina Houssami, will stand down in December 2023.
In 2024, the Panel will be comprised of eight
reappointed members and four new members selected through a recruitment process
to replace the outgoing members. These new panel members are now to be ratified
by Council.
Reappointment and recruitment of Panel
members
In accordance with the Panel Terms of
Reference, the terms of four Panel members will end in December 2023. The
recruitment of new Panel members and reappointment of existing Panel members
ensures the continuity of feedback on ongoing projects, while bringing new
perspectives on key issues impacting people with disability.
To replace the outgoing panel members,
recruitment from shortlisted applicants from the 2021 panel recruitment was
undertaken in October 2023. Applicants were interviewed by a suitably qualified
panel of City staff and the Panel Chair against the Panel selection criteria.
Recommended new Panel members are as follows:
·
George Saliba;
·
Sharon Xabregas;
·
Annemaree Watharow; and
·
Dwayne Fernandes.
New panellists are recommended based on the
skills and experience brought by each person, and the value their expertise
adds to the Panel. Appointments are recommended to ensure that, as far as
possible, the overall membership of the Panel reflects the diversity of lived
experience in the disability community.
All four recommended applicants live, work or
study in the City of Sydney local government area. Each has experience of
living with or caring for a person with disability and/or demonstrate
knowledge, skills or experience in providing independent and strategic advice
on disability access and inclusion issues.
All are prepared to join the Panel.
The recommended panel for 2024 comprises 12
people, all with diverse lived experience of disability and/or mental health
conditions. The recommended Panel includes people from various age groups,
including a young person, people of diverse cultural and linguistic
backgrounds, an Aboriginal person and people of diverse genders and
sexualities.
In accordance with the requirements of the
Terms of Reference, all members are appointed in an individual capacity and
more than 50 per cent of the members are people with a direct experience of
disability, either personally or developed through a caring and support role.
MONICA BARONE
Chief Executive Officer
Moved by the Chair (the Lord Mayor), seconded
by Councillor Kok –
It is resolved that Council:
(A) ratify the reappointment of eight existing
Inclusion (Disability) Advisory Panel members being: Stephen Adei (Chair),
Charles Hung, Giancarlo de Vera, Matthew Hall, Max Burt, Mim Smith, Nanushka
TamTam and Paul Nunnari for a further one-year term, until December 2024; with
an option to extend for an additional three years; and
(B) ratify the appointment of four new Inclusion
(Disability) Advisory Panel members being: George Saliba, Sharon Xabregas,
Annemaree Watharow and Dwayne Fernandes for an initial three-year term, with an
option to extend for an additional three years.
Carried unanimously.
X094707