March 11, 2025 • 19 mins
Andrew Radford lives in New South Wales and is a long-time advocate for people with intellectual disability and autism.
Andrew himself has autism and a mild intellectual disability and has recently taken his advocacy to the next level with his appointment to the board of The Disability Trust. The trust is not-for-profit registered NDIS provider of supports and services and last year it celebrated its 50 years!
The Disability Trust has been part of Andrew’s life for more than 20 years in many ways, including education and employment support.
Andrew was also a part of the ABC series The Assembly where one of Australia's most renowned interviewers, Leigh Sales, mentors Autistic journalism students as they learn their craft and interview well known Australian personalities.
Andrew is making history with The Disability Trust, which is the first major not-for-profit organisation in Australia to appoint a person with an intellectual disability to its Board.
More info:
VALID - the Victorian peak advocacy organisation for adults with intellectual disability.
The Assembly (ABC)
Andrew Radford Joins TDT Board
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
We recognise their strength, courage and unique
perspective as a vitalcontribution to this podcast so
we can learn, grow and achievebetter outcomes together.
Welcome to Get Real talkingmental health and disability.
I'm Emily Webb.
I'm really looking forward tothe conversation with our guest
(00:23):
for this episode.
I'm really looking forward tothe conversation with our guest
for this episode.
Andrew Bradford lives in NewSouth Wales and is a long-time
advocate for people withintellectual disability and
autism.
Andrew himself has autism and amild intellectual disability
(00:44):
and has recently taken hisadvocacy to the next level with
his appointment to the board ofthe Disability Trust.
The Trust is a not-for-profit,registered NDIS provider of
supports and services and lastyear it celebrated 50 years.
The Disability Trust has beenpart of Andrew's life for more
than 20 years in many ways,including education and
employment support.
Andrew is making history withthe Disability Trust, which is
(01:05):
the first major not-for-profitorganisation in Australia to
appoint a person with anintellectual disability to its
board.
Welcome, andrew.
Thank you for joining us on GetReal.
Thank you for having me, emily.
To start with, andrew,congratulations on all your
achievements which we are goingto be talking about, but I want
(01:27):
to go back to what yourexperience was like, I guess
growing up with autism and amild intellectual disability
because you are so involved inadvocacy in this space.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
So growing up, I grew up in Sydney and I moved to
Batemans Bay on the south coastin 2000.
Growing up was difficult.
I didn't have a lot of friendsand things like that, and it was
always like people sayingyou're broken and not being very
nice.
But I always look at thepositives in life and now that
(02:02):
I'm an advocate, I have a reallysupportive family behind me,
which is great, and I was alwaysupset with what people did and
I had some really supportiveteachers as well and I was like
always in the library doingthings.
So that's probably why I gotthe job at the library and they
always supported me and stoppedthe kids from being mean to me
(02:24):
and it wasn't a really niceexperience.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
How did the Disability Trust come into your
life?
What point were you at when youstarted to get some support
from them?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So when I moved to Batemans Bay I did a few TAFE
courses and they told me aboutthe Disability Trust.
And then the Disability Trustoffered all the supports like in
my daily life and on the job,support with support workers,
and they've given me the bestlife possible Since 2000,.
(02:58):
Being with the Disability Trust, my life really took off for
the best.
So some of the things that Igot to do was sort of help me
with my employment in thelibrary, do a lot of things
because of how good theDisability Trust and WorkAbility
is supporting me.
Like with the right support,that's right behind you.
Workability helped me get myjob and they supported me to
(03:22):
have my job, for where I am nowand to get all my things.
I was able to buy my own home,get a nice car.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Yeah, it sounds really good.
And now you mentioned you workin a library.
Now, I love libraries and Iwanted to be a librarian like
way back when.
So how did you come to get ajob in the library and what do
you do there?
So how did you come to get ajob in?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
the library and what do you do there?
So WorkAbility approached thelibrary and asked if I'd like to
have a job there.
I did a traineeship inCertificate 2 and 3.
What I do there is I put thebooks back on the shelves.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Sounds like a great job if you love books and you're
around books all the time.
Libraries are places where it'snot just about books, is it's
like about a lot of thingsthat's right, you can.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
You can do a lot of things at life.
There's like activities to see,there's author talks and um.
They're not like places we haveto be quiet anymore yeah, I
know there's no shushing by thelibrarians.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
They're real hubs, aren't they?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Now you also have.
You're quite entrepreneurial.
Tell me about your otherbusiness.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
So the Disability Trust helped me with it.
So every Thursday I go to theBatemans Bay office and clean
the fleet cars down there forthem and I also.
It's called Spectrum Detailingand I also have a few clients as
well that I wash their cars for, but they have like a
background in disabilities, likethey've got children with
(04:54):
disabilities or support workersand things like that.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
So how important is it to you that you've been able
to do this, but also show otherpeople that they can do this too
.
Like, how does that?
Speaker 2 (05:06):
feel.
It feels amazing because if youput a goal or a mind to
something, you can do it, and Iwas lucky in 2011 to get my
first home.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
That's incredible.
And how did you go about doingthat?
Like did you sort of learnabout saving money?
Or like did you get somesupport with how to do those?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
so I got support from my family to help me with my
own home because they wereworried what would happen when?
Not here anymore and have yourown home is really good and and
then I can have like supports.
Come, come into my home and myday-to-day living skills and
learn all those sort of thingsand like be independent.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
And what are some of the things that you can now do
independent at home that you'rereally proud of?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
So last weekend one of my good friends came and
visited me and we made dinnertogether in my own home.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
That's awesome.
What did you cook?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
So we cooked tacos.
I love tacos.
That's awesome what?
Speaker 1 (06:06):
did you cook?
So we cooked tacos.
I love tacos.
That sounds awesome that soundsso good.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yeah, that was amazing.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Now you are a pretty active and passionate advocate
and you do take part in advocacyactivities and you advocate for
yourself.
So what does self-advocacy meanto you, like?
What does it look like whenyou're doing that for yourself?
So what does self-advocacy meanto you, like?
What does it look like whenyou're doing that for yourself?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
So self-advocacy means I'm standing up for myself
and having my voice heard.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
It sounds like there were times where you had to do
it when you were growing up.
What are some of the examplesin recent years or as an adult
where you've had to do that?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
So a situation like in a workplace where they'll
just dream against me, and Iwent and spoke to people about
it and got some help.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
What does that feel like when people don't see who
you are?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
They don't treat you with respect and then they
sometimes talk to you like atwo-year-old.
As soon as you tell them you'vegot an intellectual disability
and autism.
As soon as they hear theintellectual disability part,
then it just goes like atwo-year-old.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Tell me about some of the things that you've done.
Like I understand that you'vebeen going to like a conference
down in Victoria.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yes, that's correct.
Can you tell me?
Speaker 1 (07:25):
about what Valid is and how you got involved with
them.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah, so Valid Conference in Geelong I like to
go there every year and it'sabout talking about our rights
and it's the biggest conferencein Australia for people with an
intellectual disability and Ilike to go down there.
We all get together, we talkabout issues relating to what we
need to fix and things likethat, and when I was with the
(07:48):
Wollongong Self-Asset Group, wewent down every year.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
What are some of the things that really still need to
change for people withintellectual disability?
Speaker 2 (07:59):
So what I want to happen is I want them to treat
us with respect and make surethat our voices are heard and
like be equal as everyone else.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And have you found that, through you know the jobs
that you've done and youreducation, do you feel that
you're helping to break downsome of those barriers that
people might have?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yes, Just a few weeks ago I was speaking at an event
and everyone thought theycouldn't have jobs.
But they can and it was reallygood, and then I told them my
story and that was really goodand we got someone from the
library to speak as well therewhich was great and say
everyone's welcome at thelibrary and things like that.
It's a really welcoming placenow.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
How does it make you feel when you're able to show
people not just tell them, showthem that you can have a job,
you can like have a career, youcan really do things you want to
do.
It feels amazing.
Now I really want to talk toyou about the Assembly, this
amazing program that the ABC ran, which was so cool.
(09:02):
A group of people were chosento basically train as
journalists and interview somereally famous people.
So was it?
People with autism?
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Yes, it was a group of autistic journalists and we
were mentored by Leigh Sales andLeigh Sales was always a hero
of mine and I got to meet herand it was just such an amazing
experience to be selected to beon this TV show and interview
some very high-profile people.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Well, you've learnt from the best.
I tell you You're very lucky.
I was yeah, so tell me when youwere trying like you were
applying to be on the assemblyand trying out, what did you
have to do?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
So what happened was there was an interview process,
so you apply for it and thenthere might be another meeting
after just to ask you a few morequestions.
I think it was about fourmeetings and on the last one you
had to do like a video and sortof interview and then they told
you in a few weeks if you wereselected.
And I got selected and I was soexcited.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I would have been too .
My gosh, it wasn't just beingselected, you actually had some
journalism training.
So what did you learn on thejournalism training?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Well with the Macquarie University.
So we learned on the radio, welearned how to ask questions and
then we also did TV parts andwe did like Vox Pops and those
sort of things.
And then Lee Sales would,before we did our big interview,
she'd look at our questions.
If we had to change them oranything, she was there to
mentor us, to help us, which waswonderful.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
I mean it's amazing, there was some of the most
famous people you can imaginelike that you interviewed.
Tell me who were some of thepeople you interviewed.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
So we interviewed the Prime Minister, Nancy Albanese,
Sam Neill, Hamish Blake, DeltaGoodrum.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
That's seriously pretty.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Quite a few yes.
Adam Goodes was another one.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
I love Adam Goodes Amazing.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Yes, he was absolutely amazing.
Yeah, he was great.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
So, for people who may not have seen the Assembly,
you're talking to the PrimeMinister, anthony Albanese.
What was the thing that youmost wanted to ask him and what
did you ask him?
Speaker 2 (11:18):
So one of the questions I got to ask him was
do you see having more peoplewith disabilities in politics?
And he said he'd look into it.
And then, after the assembly,we all offered an internship for
six weeks with the ABC and Idid mine in Canberra and I got
to meet the Prime Minister againwhen he was doing Insiders.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Wow, so you're kind of on pretty good terms with the
Prime Minister now.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yeah, yeah, wow, that's right.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
What did you ask Delta Goodrum?
I love Delta, she's amazing.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
I asked Delta what sort of car she had.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
And what was her answer?
Speaker 2 (11:54):
It was a Porsche.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Oh damn, have you got a Porsche, Andrew?
Speaker 2 (11:59):
No, I don't have a Porsche.
I've just got an S36 Commodorewagon because I've got a little
dog.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Okay, tell me about your little dog.
What kind of dog is it?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
She's a Tenterfield Terrier which looks like a mini
foxy and her name's Sadie afterMercedes-Benz, the car, and
she's my best friend.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Oh my gosh, I love it .
So I'm guessing that you'requite interested in cars.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yes, they're like one of my passions.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Okay, and so what does this passion look like?
Do you have a garage full ofcars, or do you just like to go
to car shows?
How does that look?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I love going to car shows and also love really nice
cars, like one of my favouritecars was Mercedes-Benz and
things like that, so that'sreally nice.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yeah.
So what did you say to Deltawhen she said she had a Porsche?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
I said it was a very nice car.
What sort?
Speaker 1 (12:47):
of car do you have, Emily?
Do you know what this is soembarrassing?
I've got like an old Camry.
It just keeps going and going.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
They'll go forever.
They'll go forever.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
It's got a second-hand transmission in it
now, but I think I'm going tofinally try and get a new car.
Now this is the big stuff.
This is big news, not that allthe other stuff isn't.
You have recently beenappointed as a director to the
board of the Disability Trust.
Now that is huge.
It's a very big achievement.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
It means a lot to me to be on the board of the
Disability Trust and to be oneof the very first in Australia
for this to happen.
Like to see the change has beenlike really amazing.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
So what did you think when you were approached, and
how did it happen that you wereapproached about being on the
board?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
So Carol Berry approached me last year and said
I'd like to have a meeting withyou, andrew, up in Wollongong.
So I went and saw her and shesaid that we're thinking of
appointing someone to the boardand she wasn't sure how it was
going to do it.
Then she said the board likedme and I did a big talk at one
of their big planning days lastyear it was last August and I
(14:08):
spoke about my life and what Ido and all that and they really
really liked me and I started inFebruary this year.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
So what was your first board meeting like?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
It was absolutely amazing.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
So tell me, from the start to the finish, did you
wear a suit?
Were you all?
A bit nervous Like tell me allabout it.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I was a little bit nervous at first and it went
really fast.
But I felt really amazed, likesome of the things we were
talking about.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
I know that you can't disclose what you were talking
about because it's top secret,but well, it's in confidence.
But what are the things thatyou're learning?
What did you learn from thatfirst board meeting?
I?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
thought it was like amazing, just talking about all
the different topics that comeup.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
How important is it for you, as a person with lived
experience, to actually besitting.
You're at the table, which isgood, because for a long time
things have been done withoutthe input of people with
disability or people with autism.
It's changing, but like why isthat so important to you?
Speaker 2 (15:12):
I think it's really important to hear our
perspective and our livedexperience at the board level.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Because I guess you've probably had experience,
have you maybe in your childhoodor over the years, where you
weren't asked?
You know?
No one asked you what youwanted or if this was right for
you.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yeah, everyone used to make decisions for you and it
was like no, you can't do thator you can't do this.
And now it's like, yes, we can.
We have the same rights aseveryone else.
And one thing I always like tosay is nothing about us without
us and our time to shine.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I love that.
This is an amazing opportunityand you know people will notice
this.
You know you've had some newscoverage.
You've got some stories on theTBT website.
I mean, what do you want toachieve?
People have come to you becauseyou've got that expertise in
self-advocacy.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
I would just like to make sure everyone, like with
lived experience, always getsinvolved with what matters to
them.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
So what have you learnt or discovered from being
with other people with livedexperience on that board?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
I feel it's very inclusive and very empowering
and things.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
What's most important to you at the moment?
What are some of the things youreally want to work on while
you're a board member and alsoin your daily life?
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Listen to us about what we say and make sure that
our voices are heard.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
And is there anything , in particular for people with
autism or people withintellectual disability, you
feel really needs to change?
What's something that you thinkyou can really try and make
happen?
Speaker 2 (16:50):
I try to make sure there's always people with
disabilities represented in alllevels of management and like
government would be amazing.
That's what I like to see.
No one makes decisions for us.
We make decisions about ourlives ourselves.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
That's awesome.
I feel like you're going toreally make some amazing inroads
into that.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Oh, thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
So since the assembly because it was very popular
have you been recognised inpublic after appearing in the
assembly?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I have yes, when I did my internship in Canberra,
everyone said, oh, you're Andrewfrom the assembly and things
like that, and like where I likein our local community everyone
seems to know assembly andthings like that and like where
I like in our local communityeveryone seems to know me and
things like that, and thank youso much for the representation.
And then they say, oh, we havea relative with autism.
Or they say, oh, we understandmore now and things like that,
(17:44):
so it was really good.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
And now you've had that amazing experience and
you've had some journalismtraining, you've done an
internship.
You know you've done things forthe radio.
Do you want to work as ajournalist?
Speaker 2 (17:55):
I'd like to be a journalist with the ABC, because
the ABC were really, reallyinclusive with us and I really
liked how they did things.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Is there anything, andrew, that I haven't asked,
that you'd like to say to peoplelistening?
Speaker 2 (18:11):
haven't asked that you'd like to say to people
listening.
One thing I'd like to say is Ithink people with disabilities
can always do anything anyoneelse can do, but we might need
more support and time to do itand nothing about us without us
and our time to shine.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Yes, I cannot hear that enough, andrew, I just want
to say a huge thank you forjoining me on Get Real and
talking about all your amazingexperiences, and I'm really
looking forward to seeing whatyou do with journalism and on
the Disability Trust Board.
So thank you so much for yourtime.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Thank you so much for having me, emily.
It's been great You've beenlistening to Get Real talking
mental health and disability,brought to you by the team at
Irma 365.
Get Real is produced andpresented by Emily Webb with
Corenza Louis-Smith and specialguests.
Thanks for listening and we'llsee you next time.
We recognise their strength, courage and unique
perspective as a vitalcontribution to this podcast so
we can learn, grow and achievebetter outcomes together.
Welcome to Get Real talkingmental health and disability.
I'm Emily Webb.
I'm really looking forward tothe conversation with our guest
(00:23):
for this episode.
I'm really looking forward tothe conversation with our guest
for this episode.
Andrew Bradford lives in NewSouth Wales and is a long-time
advocate for people withintellectual disability and
autism.
Andrew himself has autism and amild intellectual disability
(00:44):
and has recently taken hisadvocacy to the next level with
his appointment to the board ofthe Disability Trust.
The Trust is a not-for-profit,registered NDIS provider of
supports and services and lastyear it celebrated 50 years.
The Disability Trust has beenpart of Andrew's life for more
than 20 years in many ways,including education and
employment support.
Andrew is making history withthe Disability Trust, which is
(01:05):
the first major not-for-profitorganisation in Australia to
appoint a person with anintellectual disability to its
board.
Welcome, andrew.
Thank you for joining us on GetReal.
Thank you for having me, emily.
To start with, andrew,congratulations on all your
achievements which we are goingto be talking about, but I want
(01:27):
to go back to what yourexperience was like, I guess
growing up with autism and amild intellectual disability
because you are so involved inadvocacy in this space.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
So growing up, I grew up in Sydney and I moved to
Batemans Bay on the south coastin 2000.
Growing up was difficult.
I didn't have a lot of friendsand things like that, and it was
always like people sayingyou're broken and not being very
nice.
But I always look at thepositives in life and now that
(02:02):
I'm an advocate, I have a reallysupportive family behind me,
which is great, and I was alwaysupset with what people did and
I had some really supportiveteachers as well and I was like
always in the library doingthings.
So that's probably why I gotthe job at the library and they
always supported me and stoppedthe kids from being mean to me
(02:24):
and it wasn't a really niceexperience.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
How did the Disability Trust come into your
life?
What point were you at when youstarted to get some support
from them?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So when I moved to Batemans Bay I did a few TAFE
courses and they told me aboutthe Disability Trust.
And then the Disability Trustoffered all the supports like in
my daily life and on the job,support with support workers,
and they've given me the bestlife possible Since 2000,.
(02:58):
Being with the Disability Trust, my life really took off for
the best.
So some of the things that Igot to do was sort of help me
with my employment in thelibrary, do a lot of things
because of how good theDisability Trust and WorkAbility
is supporting me.
Like with the right support,that's right behind you.
Workability helped me get myjob and they supported me to
(03:22):
have my job, for where I am nowand to get all my things.
I was able to buy my own home,get a nice car.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Yeah, it sounds really good.
And now you mentioned you workin a library.
Now, I love libraries and Iwanted to be a librarian like
way back when.
So how did you come to get ajob in the library and what do
you do there?
So how did you come to get ajob in?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
the library and what do you do there?
So WorkAbility approached thelibrary and asked if I'd like to
have a job there.
I did a traineeship inCertificate 2 and 3.
What I do there is I put thebooks back on the shelves.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Sounds like a great job if you love books and you're
around books all the time.
Libraries are places where it'snot just about books, is it's
like about a lot of thingsthat's right, you can.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
You can do a lot of things at life.
There's like activities to see,there's author talks and um.
They're not like places we haveto be quiet anymore yeah, I
know there's no shushing by thelibrarians.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
They're real hubs, aren't they?
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Now you also have.
You're quite entrepreneurial.
Tell me about your otherbusiness.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
So the Disability Trust helped me with it.
So every Thursday I go to theBatemans Bay office and clean
the fleet cars down there forthem and I also.
It's called Spectrum Detailingand I also have a few clients as
well that I wash their cars for, but they have like a
background in disabilities, likethey've got children with
(04:54):
disabilities or support workersand things like that.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
So how important is it to you that you've been able
to do this, but also show otherpeople that they can do this too
.
Like, how does that?
Speaker 2 (05:06):
feel.
It feels amazing because if youput a goal or a mind to
something, you can do it, and Iwas lucky in 2011 to get my
first home.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
That's incredible.
And how did you go about doingthat?
Like did you sort of learnabout saving money?
Or like did you get somesupport with how to do those?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
so I got support from my family to help me with my
own home because they wereworried what would happen when?
Not here anymore and have yourown home is really good and and
then I can have like supports.
Come, come into my home and myday-to-day living skills and
learn all those sort of thingsand like be independent.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
And what are some of the things that you can now do
independent at home that you'rereally proud of?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
So last weekend one of my good friends came and
visited me and we made dinnertogether in my own home.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
That's awesome.
What did you cook?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
So we cooked tacos.
I love tacos.
That's awesome what?
Speaker 1 (06:06):
did you cook?
So we cooked tacos.
I love tacos.
That sounds awesome that soundsso good.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yeah, that was amazing.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Now you are a pretty active and passionate advocate
and you do take part in advocacyactivities and you advocate for
yourself.
So what does self-advocacy meanto you, like?
What does it look like whenyou're doing that for yourself?
So what does self-advocacy meanto you, like?
What does it look like whenyou're doing that for yourself?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
So self-advocacy means I'm standing up for myself
and having my voice heard.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
It sounds like there were times where you had to do
it when you were growing up.
What are some of the examplesin recent years or as an adult
where you've had to do that?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
So a situation like in a workplace where they'll
just dream against me, and Iwent and spoke to people about
it and got some help.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
What does that feel like when people don't see who
you are?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
They don't treat you with respect and then they
sometimes talk to you like atwo-year-old.
As soon as you tell them you'vegot an intellectual disability
and autism.
As soon as they hear theintellectual disability part,
then it just goes like atwo-year-old.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Tell me about some of the things that you've done.
Like I understand that you'vebeen going to like a conference
down in Victoria.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yes, that's correct.
Can you tell me?
Speaker 1 (07:25):
about what Valid is and how you got involved with
them.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah, so Valid Conference in Geelong I like to
go there every year and it'sabout talking about our rights
and it's the biggest conferencein Australia for people with an
intellectual disability and Ilike to go down there.
We all get together, we talkabout issues relating to what we
need to fix and things likethat, and when I was with the
(07:48):
Wollongong Self-Asset Group, wewent down every year.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
What are some of the things that really still need to
change for people withintellectual disability?
Speaker 2 (07:59):
So what I want to happen is I want them to treat
us with respect and make surethat our voices are heard and
like be equal as everyone else.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And have you found that, through you know the jobs
that you've done and youreducation, do you feel that
you're helping to break downsome of those barriers that
people might have?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yes, Just a few weeks ago I was speaking at an event
and everyone thought theycouldn't have jobs.
But they can and it was reallygood, and then I told them my
story and that was really goodand we got someone from the
library to speak as well therewhich was great and say
everyone's welcome at thelibrary and things like that.
It's a really welcoming placenow.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
How does it make you feel when you're able to show
people not just tell them, showthem that you can have a job,
you can like have a career, youcan really do things you want to
do.
It feels amazing.
Now I really want to talk toyou about the Assembly, this
amazing program that the ABC ran, which was so cool.
(09:02):
A group of people were chosento basically train as
journalists and interview somereally famous people.
So was it?
People with autism?
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Yes, it was a group of autistic journalists and we
were mentored by Leigh Sales andLeigh Sales was always a hero
of mine and I got to meet herand it was just such an amazing
experience to be selected to beon this TV show and interview
some very high-profile people.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Well, you've learnt from the best.
I tell you You're very lucky.
I was yeah, so tell me when youwere trying like you were
applying to be on the assemblyand trying out, what did you
have to do?
Speaker 2 (09:43):
So what happened was there was an interview process,
so you apply for it and thenthere might be another meeting
after just to ask you a few morequestions.
I think it was about fourmeetings and on the last one you
had to do like a video and sortof interview and then they told
you in a few weeks if you wereselected.
And I got selected and I was soexcited.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I would have been too .
My gosh, it wasn't just beingselected, you actually had some
journalism training.
So what did you learn on thejournalism training?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Well with the Macquarie University.
So we learned on the radio, welearned how to ask questions and
then we also did TV parts andwe did like Vox Pops and those
sort of things.
And then Lee Sales would,before we did our big interview,
she'd look at our questions.
If we had to change them oranything, she was there to
mentor us, to help us, which waswonderful.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
I mean it's amazing, there was some of the most
famous people you can imaginelike that you interviewed.
Tell me who were some of thepeople you interviewed.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
So we interviewed the Prime Minister, Nancy Albanese,
Sam Neill, Hamish Blake, DeltaGoodrum.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
That's seriously pretty.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Quite a few yes.
Adam Goodes was another one.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
I love Adam Goodes Amazing.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Yes, he was absolutely amazing.
Yeah, he was great.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
So, for people who may not have seen the Assembly,
you're talking to the PrimeMinister, anthony Albanese.
What was the thing that youmost wanted to ask him and what
did you ask him?
Speaker 2 (11:18):
So one of the questions I got to ask him was
do you see having more peoplewith disabilities in politics?
And he said he'd look into it.
And then, after the assembly,we all offered an internship for
six weeks with the ABC and Idid mine in Canberra and I got
to meet the Prime Minister againwhen he was doing Insiders.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Wow, so you're kind of on pretty good terms with the
Prime Minister now.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yeah, yeah, wow, that's right.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
What did you ask Delta Goodrum?
I love Delta, she's amazing.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
I asked Delta what sort of car she had.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
And what was her answer?
Speaker 2 (11:54):
It was a Porsche.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Oh damn, have you got a Porsche, Andrew?
Speaker 2 (11:59):
No, I don't have a Porsche.
I've just got an S36 Commodorewagon because I've got a little
dog.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Okay, tell me about your little dog.
What kind of dog is it?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
She's a Tenterfield Terrier which looks like a mini
foxy and her name's Sadie afterMercedes-Benz, the car, and
she's my best friend.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Oh my gosh, I love it .
So I'm guessing that you'requite interested in cars.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yes, they're like one of my passions.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Okay, and so what does this passion look like?
Do you have a garage full ofcars, or do you just like to go
to car shows?
How does that look?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I love going to car shows and also love really nice
cars, like one of my favouritecars was Mercedes-Benz and
things like that, so that'sreally nice.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yeah.
So what did you say to Deltawhen she said she had a Porsche?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
I said it was a very nice car.
What sort?
Speaker 1 (12:47):
of car do you have, Emily?
Do you know what this is soembarrassing?
I've got like an old Camry.
It just keeps going and going.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
They'll go forever.
They'll go forever.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
It's got a second-hand transmission in it
now, but I think I'm going tofinally try and get a new car.
Now this is the big stuff.
This is big news, not that allthe other stuff isn't.
You have recently beenappointed as a director to the
board of the Disability Trust.
Now that is huge.
It's a very big achievement.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
It means a lot to me to be on the board of the
Disability Trust and to be oneof the very first in Australia
for this to happen.
Like to see the change has beenlike really amazing.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
So what did you think when you were approached, and
how did it happen that you wereapproached about being on the
board?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
So Carol Berry approached me last year and said
I'd like to have a meeting withyou, andrew, up in Wollongong.
So I went and saw her and shesaid that we're thinking of
appointing someone to the boardand she wasn't sure how it was
going to do it.
Then she said the board likedme and I did a big talk at one
of their big planning days lastyear it was last August and I
(14:08):
spoke about my life and what Ido and all that and they really
really liked me and I started inFebruary this year.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
So what was your first board meeting like?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
It was absolutely amazing.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
So tell me, from the start to the finish, did you
wear a suit?
Were you all?
A bit nervous Like tell me allabout it.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I was a little bit nervous at first and it went
really fast.
But I felt really amazed, likesome of the things we were
talking about.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
I know that you can't disclose what you were talking
about because it's top secret,but well, it's in confidence.
But what are the things thatyou're learning?
What did you learn from thatfirst board meeting?
I?
Speaker 2 (14:47):
thought it was like amazing, just talking about all
the different topics that comeup.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
How important is it for you, as a person with lived
experience, to actually besitting.
You're at the table, which isgood, because for a long time
things have been done withoutthe input of people with
disability or people with autism.
It's changing, but like why isthat so important to you?
Speaker 2 (15:12):
I think it's really important to hear our
perspective and our livedexperience at the board level.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Because I guess you've probably had experience,
have you maybe in your childhoodor over the years, where you
weren't asked?
You know?
No one asked you what youwanted or if this was right for
you.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yeah, everyone used to make decisions for you and it
was like no, you can't do thator you can't do this.
And now it's like, yes, we can.
We have the same rights aseveryone else.
And one thing I always like tosay is nothing about us without
us and our time to shine.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I love that.
This is an amazing opportunityand you know people will notice
this.
You know you've had some newscoverage.
You've got some stories on theTBT website.
I mean, what do you want toachieve?
People have come to you becauseyou've got that expertise in
self-advocacy.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
I would just like to make sure everyone, like with
lived experience, always getsinvolved with what matters to
them.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
So what have you learnt or discovered from being
with other people with livedexperience on that board?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
I feel it's very inclusive and very empowering
and things.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
What's most important to you at the moment?
What are some of the things youreally want to work on while
you're a board member and alsoin your daily life?
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Listen to us about what we say and make sure that
our voices are heard.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
And is there anything , in particular for people with
autism or people withintellectual disability, you
feel really needs to change?
What's something that you thinkyou can really try and make
happen?
Speaker 2 (16:50):
I try to make sure there's always people with
disabilities represented in alllevels of management and like
government would be amazing.
That's what I like to see.
No one makes decisions for us.
We make decisions about ourlives ourselves.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
That's awesome.
I feel like you're going toreally make some amazing inroads
into that.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Oh, thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
So since the assembly because it was very popular
have you been recognised inpublic after appearing in the
assembly?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
I have yes, when I did my internship in Canberra,
everyone said, oh, you're Andrewfrom the assembly and things
like that, and like where I likein our local community everyone
seems to know assembly andthings like that and like where
I like in our local communityeveryone seems to know me and
things like that, and thank youso much for the representation.
And then they say, oh, we havea relative with autism.
Or they say, oh, we understandmore now and things like that,
(17:44):
so it was really good.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
And now you've had that amazing experience and
you've had some journalismtraining, you've done an
internship.
You know you've done things forthe radio.
Do you want to work as ajournalist?
Speaker 2 (17:55):
I'd like to be a journalist with the ABC, because
the ABC were really, reallyinclusive with us and I really
liked how they did things.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Is there anything, andrew, that I haven't asked,
that you'd like to say to peoplelistening?
Speaker 2 (18:11):
haven't asked that you'd like to say to people
listening.
One thing I'd like to say is Ithink people with disabilities
can always do anything anyoneelse can do, but we might need
more support and time to do itand nothing about us without us
and our time to shine.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Yes, I cannot hear that enough, andrew, I just want
to say a huge thank you forjoining me on Get Real and
talking about all your amazingexperiences, and I'm really
looking forward to seeing whatyou do with journalism and on
the Disability Trust Board.
So thank you so much for yourtime.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Thank you so much for having me, emily.
It's been great You've beenlistening to Get Real talking
mental health and disability,brought to you by the team at
Irma 365.
Get Real is produced andpresented by Emily Webb with
Corenza Louis-Smith and specialguests.
Thanks for listening and we'llsee you next time.
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