Conference Emcees

Trevor Allan

Trevor has been a leader in the disability, equity and education sectors for over 20 years. His roles in Higher Education have included Regional Disability Liaison Officer for the Hunter and North Coast regions, Manager of Disability Services at ANU, Head of Student Equity, Welfare and Disability Services at UWS until he was medically retired in 2013. He chaired the NSW DEAN Steering Committee to establish DEAN and was the DEAN Chair for its first 3 years.

Trevor has championed the cause of independent and universal access for people with disabilities. He written extensively, presented papers, including Keynotes, at many conferences, coordinated research projects and been a member of government advisory committees.

Trevor chaired the Steering Committee to establish the first NSW Professional Association of Disability Practitioners in Tertiary Education (Disability Education Association of NSW (DEAN) Inc. (now ATEND NSW) and was Chair of the DEAN Management Committee for its first 3 years.

He was a key contributor to the UWS Inherent Requirements projects and contributed to a range of innovative projects and initiatives such as the ANU Digital Lecture Delivery Project and Assistive Technology Integration Project.

Trevor was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Career Achievement at the 2006 ANU Staff Excellence Awards, a UWS Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Award in 2011 and a UWS Outstanding Contribution to Teaching & Learning Award in 2012. In 2014 he was became the first Honorary Life Member of the Australian Tertiary Education Network on Disability.

He has continued to be an active participant in the sector post retirement and regularly contributes to the ATEND List Server discussions as well as undertaking some Consultancy and Project work in the field.

Anthony Gartner

Anthony is a social worker by background and recently joined La Trobe as manager of the AccessAbility Hub after 14 years at Swinburne. Anthony is passionate about positive employment outcomes for people living with disability and imagines the day when Australia sits at the top of the OECD list for employment outcomes for people living with disability.

Elicia Ford

Elicia is a community development and education specialist with substantial experience developing inclusive practice to support social, educational and vocational outcomes for people with diverse learning needs. She values creativity, collaboration and connectedness and is particularly passionate about enabling people who are experiencing disadvantage to reach their unique potential through education. Through her current role as the National Disability Coordination Officer (NDCO) for Illawarra and South East NSW, Elicia has developed a strong understanding of the systemic gaps and barriers impacting the participation, retention and success of people with disability in tertiary education. This is enhanced by over 15 years’ experience spanning education and social justice roles focused on inclusion of people with diverse and often compounding equity characteristics.