Community Involvement

The following brief biographies of the Deafness Forum’s current Board members and staff demonstrate the broad extent to which that group of people are involved with the specific deafness sector and the broader disability sector. It is these involvements, as well as the Deafness Forum’s own activities and consultative processes, that ensure the Deafness Forum is consumer-driven and well able to effectively represent the interests and concerns of the entire deafness sector, including:

• people who have a hearing impairment
• people who are oral deaf
• the signing Deaf community
• people who have a chronic ear disorder
• the deafblind community
• parents who have children from one of the above groups in their families

Board of Directors

Alex Jones (Chairperson)

Alex has been a Director of the Deafness Forum since November 2005. He lives in Sydney NSW and was appointed as a Director to represent Consumer members who are Deaf. Alex is a professional actor and educator. He was recruited to Australia by the Australian Theatre of the Deaf, and has continued to extend his string of theatre, TV and film credits while developing communication and education skills training for both Deaf and hearing students. Alex was the Festival Director for the critically acclaimed 2005 Deaflympic Games Cultural Festival in Melbourne - the first in the world. He is very active and committed to raising community awareness, and to achieving equal access, for Deaf and hearing impaired people, and others with a disability. He was the first Auslan-using Libby Harricks Memorial Orator, presenting his Oration in 2005. Alex is a principal of TAJ Productions, a specialist production and consulting company, that has been assisting FOXTEL and AUSTAR develop their rollout plans for closed captioning on Subscription TV.

Kate Locke (Deputy Chairperson)

Kate is passionate about ensuring that all Deaf and hearing impaired people experience equality and social inclusion – and have the opportunity to realise their full potential. Active as a lobbyist and as a mentor, Kate trained at the University of Technology, Sydney as a journalist, and specialised in online & broadcast news. She is experienced in dealing with the media, and in research and decision-making. She has worked in the publishing and media industry for eight years in several different roles, and is currently the Online Content Manager for Zurich Financial Services. Kate lives and works in Sydney and joined the Deafness Forum Board in 2008. Kate is also a Director of ACCAN and is a member of the Hearing Services Consultative Committee. 

Bill Hick

Bill has been a Director of the Deafness Forum since October 2003. He lives in Engadine, NSW and was appointed as a Director to represent Consumer members with Ear Disorders. He has had a long involvement in the building industry, initially as a tradesman, then as a sub contractor, TAFE teacher/Head teacher and finally as a self-employed workplace assessor. Bill retired from the workforce in November 2007. Since 2001 Bill has visited numerous TAFE colleges on behalf of the Australian Tinnitus Association NSW (ATA), talking to students and teachers about noise-induced hearing loss, noise-induced Tinnitus, and hyperacusis. He has spoken about these important issues at various country and metropolitan colleges in Queensland, Victoria, and NSW. The main aim of his program was to inform young people about the risks associated with exposure to excessive noise (especially music), how permanent physical damage can occur, and to discuss strategies about how they could protect their hearing. Bill has also spoken at Deafness Forum and Better Hearing Australia AGMs, in addition to guest speaking roles at other community organizations’ functions. He has also spoken about noise injury on community radio. Bill has a keen interest in hearing health issues within criminal justice systems and believes strongly in adopting a proactive approach to all hearing health issues. As an Ear Disorders representative on the Deafness Forum board, Bill ensures that tinnitus, Meniere’s, hyperacusis and noise injury are represented at every opportunity. He has written two articles for the Deafness Forum newsletter, the first about noise around the home and the second about depression. Bill regularly circulates hearing and ear disorder news items to the board, and through the Deafness Forum office, to the membership. He also keeps the ATA board and self-help groups informed of news items relating to ear disorder issues. On a personal note, Bill is an avid sportsperson – actively participating in running and kayaking activities – and is a frequent letter writer to newspapers.

Gary Kerridge

Gary has been involved in the deafness and disability sector for two decades, in both professional and social capacities. He has worked in a variety of areas that include case management, case work, advocacy, project management, community development and policy development. Gary lost his hearing between the ages of 8 and 10. In his teenage years he learnt Auslan and became involved in the Deaf community. His involvement in the deafness sector in terms of service delivery has encompassed employment, education, family support, mental health and day to day social support. He has been involved in a number of organisations as a director including a director of the Deafness Foundation (Victoria) and became a Director of Deafness Forum in 2008. Gary lives in Victoria. Gary is a member of the Digital Switchover Taskforce Community Expert Group. 

Naomi Higgs

Naomi joined the Board of Deafness Forum in October 2009. She has a teenage son who is deaf and has been involved with schooling, lobbying and access issues for many years for her son and other children who are deaf. She lives in SA and represents Parent Consumer members.

Sharan Westcott

Sharan has been a Director of the Deafness Forum since November 2006. She lives in Sydney, NSW. Sharan currently works with SCIC (Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre). She is an Audiologist and has been working in hearing health care for more than thirty years. In the early 1970s she joined the National Acoustic Laboratories, now Australian Hearing, where she worked in various roles: clinical specialist both paediatric and adult, clinical manager, staff development and training, quality assurance, and policy development. Sharan retired as Principal Audiologist from Australian Hearing in 2004 to take up the position of Clinical Manager at SCIC (Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre). Throughout her career Sharan has been a member of the professional body for audiologists, Audiology Australia (formerly Audiological Society of Australia). Sharan was Federal President of Audiology Australia 2000-2004, and is the current Past President and also served for 8 years as a Director of the Allied Health Professions of Australia (AHPA) council. Sharan has professional expertise in the policy and programming of clinical services for hearing impaired populations, training and development of clinical staff and students in re/habilitation of hearing impairment, clinical service models and the management of children and adults with hearing impairment particularly those with severe to profound hearing loss. During her career Sharan has had significant involvement with the consumer support groups. Apart from many presentations, workshops and in-services, Sharan has been a member of the SHHH Management Board and a member of the organising committee for International Federation for the Hard of Hearing (IFHOH) conference, Sydney 2000.

Roz Keenan

Roz was elected to the Board of Deafness Forum in November 2007. She has a diploma of Teaching (early childhood) from the University Melbourne. After working in a variety of positions within Deaf Children Australia she is currently a Parent Services Coordinator within that organisation which involves the implementation, facilitation and supervision of Parent Skills program – “Cool Kids Cool Parents” and also the National Parent Council (an advisory group to the Board of Deaf Children Australia). Roz undertakes a number of other tasks relating to support of parents of Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children. She has an active personal interest in following world wide trends in education and services for deaf children. She is the mother of three children, one of whom is deaf.

Lynden Beaumont (Deputy Chairperson)

Lyn was elected to the Board of Deafness Forum in November 2007. He has a Primary Teaching Diploma and a Bachelor of Education. He has taught in a number of schools and his final position prior to retirement was as the Principal of the Hills Christian Community School in the Adelaide Hills. He has been active in church activities and leadership most of his life and has been able to set up a program to have all services, community seminars and courses captioned in his local church which resulted in being awarded the Roma Wood AM Captioning Award from Deafness Forum in 2006. Lyn is also a member of Deafness Forum’s Telecommunications Issues Advisory Panel and has been a board member of DeafSA. He is totally deaf in both ears having lost his hearing in 2000 / 2001 after a mystery illness. Lyn is a member of ACCAN's Standing Advisory Committee on Disability Issues. 

Dr Jill Duncan

Jill Duncan, PhD, was elected to the Board of Deafness Forum in November 2007. Jill is Head of Graduate Studies at RIDBC Renwick Centre for Research and professional Education at the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children and Conjoint Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, University of Newcastle. She has held senior administrative positions in oral deaf education programs in both Australia and the United States. Her research interests include defining teaching behaviours of practitioners in deaf education.

Staff

Nicole Lawder, CEO

Nicole has been the CEO of Deafness Forum since April 2006. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, and a Master of Business (eBusiness and Communication). Prior to taking up her position with Deafness Forum, Nicole worked in a range of private and public sector organisations including Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Medicare Australia, Deloitte Consulting, the Australian Department of Workplace Relations and Small Business, and the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex. Nicole is a member of the National People with Disabiity and Carer Council and has strong public sector, consulting, and management experience. She has undertaken community work for the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the Cancer Council, and was on the Board of Management of ACT Volunteering for two years. Nicole has immediate family members who are hearing impaired. During 2007-08 Nicole studied Auslan at TAFE.

Kirsten Preece (Policy & Project Officer)

Kirsten has worked at Deafness Forum as Policy and Project Officer for a number of years and has broad experience in the community sector. She has a strong interest in the political process and social advocacy.

Amanda Sullivan (Policy and Project Officer)

Amanda shares the role of Policy and Project Officer with Kirsten. Amanda has been an advocate for the Deaf community for many years. She has worked in the public service and as a volunteer including with the Australian Deaf Games organising committee. 

Christine Dervaric (Part time Adminstration Officer)

Christine started work at Deafness Forum as an administration officer in January 2007. She is profoundly deaf and has been using Australian sign language most of her life. She has had a cochlear implant since 2004. Christine is currently studying an advanced diploma of accounting at CIT (Canberra Institute of Technology),and would one day like to become an accountant.

Jim McDougall (Part time Administration Officer)

Jim has a Graduate Diploma in IT and he was a Project Manager (IT) for the Department of Foreign Affairs prior to retirement in 2004. He belongs to the Legacy club of Canberra and does volunteer work as an advisor for war widows and their children. He has had a variety of positions in a number of Government Departments, primarily as a team leader for groups. He has severe to profound sensorineural deafness. Jim is a member of the ACT Disability Advisory Council.