Director, Disabled People’s Organisations Australia (DPO Australia),

Therese Sands has recently been seconded from her Co-CEO role at People with Disability Australia (PWDA) to take on the role of Director of Disabled People’s Organisations Australia (DPO Australia), formerly the Australian Cross Disability Alliance.

She has worked for 25 years in education, policy development, capacity building and advocacy in the area of disability and human rights.  Through her work, she has gained extensive theoretical and practical experience of United Nations (UN) human rights mechanisms, and how to use UN mechanisms to further domestic advocacy for the rights of people with disability.  A major focus of her work is on violence and abuse, in all its forms, and advocacy projects to prevent and respond to this violence.

Therese has a Master of Human Rights Law and Policy, and won the University of NSW Law School Public Defender’s Prize in 2012.  She has a strong commitment to organisations constituted and led by people with disability, and is a Life Member of People with Disability Australia (PWDA) and a member of Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA).