The role of the Council
The National Disability Data Asset is co-governed by both people with disability and governments. This is an example of inclusive co-governance. The term inclusive co-governance means that governments and the wider disability community share responsibility and decision making for the National Disability Data Asset.
One way the National Disability Data Asset is inclusively co-governed is through the Council.
The role of the Council is to make sure the National Disability Data Asset is used appropriately. This means putting into place things that make sure the data is only used for purposes that meet community expectations.
The Council makes recommendations to Disability Ministers about:
- the strategic direction of the National Disability Data Asset
- how insights gained from the National Disability Data Asset could be used to improve outcomes for people with disability.
More information can be found in the Council factsheet.
The outcomes of Council meetings can be found in Messages from the Council on the News and Updates page.
Council members
Disability Ministers approved the current Council members in November 2023.
Two of the Council members have been chosen by disability ministers to be co-chairs. One co-chair is a disability community member, Catherine McAlpine and one is a senior government official with a deep knowledge of disability, Luke Mansfield.
Catherine McAlpine, Community co-chair
Catherine McAlpine is Chief Executive Officer of Inclusion Australia and has extensive experience in the disability sector. Her previous roles include Senior Manager at Australian Federation of Disability Organisations and Chief Executive Officer of Down Syndrome Australia.
Catherine was a member of the Pilot Disability Advisory Council.
Catherine’s other sector appointments include Supported Employment Services Award Transition Working Group (2023) and Intellectual Disability Health Roadmap Implementation Working Group (from 2021). Catherine holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Chemistry), Honours from the University of Melbourne.
Catherine is the carer and mother of a young man with an intellectual disability.
Luke Mansfield, Government co-chair
Luke Mansfield is a Group Manager in the Disability and Carers Stream at the Department of Social Services. In this role, he is responsible for central coordination of disability policy across the Australian Government, whole of government responses to the Disability Royal Commission and disability reform. Luke has over 13 years senior executive leadership experience in government roles in strategy, policy, program, corporate and service delivery. Luke holds an Executive Masters of Business Administration in International Leadership from Queensland University of Technology and a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle. He is the primary carer of a person with psychosocial disability.
Professor Bruce Bonyhady OAM, Disability and data expert member
Professor Bruce Bonyhady is Executive Chair and Director of the Melbourne Disability Institute. He was inaugural Chair of the National Disability Insurance Agency, Co-Chair of the NDIS Review and Co-Director of the National Disability Research Partnership Working Party. Bruce was also a member of the Pilot Disability Advisory Council.
Bruce is an economist and has a very long standing interest in disability data, data linkage, data enhancements and the use of data safely to improve the lives of people with disability and their families, practices, services, supports and public policy.
Bruce is a Member of the Order of Australia for services to people with disabilities, their families and carers. Bruce has lived experience as a carer. He is the father of three adult sons, two of whom have disabilities.
Giancarlo de Vera, Community member
Giancarlo de Vera is a LGBTQIA+ culturally and linguistically diverse person with invisible disability and is a carer of other people with disability.
Giancarlo is a lawyer and human rights advocate. Giancarlo’s experience spans politics, international affairs and diplomacy, including at the United Nations.
He is currently Senior Manager of Policy at People with Disability Australia, and is responsible for policy, research, advocacy, and law reform. Giancarlo is also Secretary of the Disabled Australian Lawyers Association, Treasurer of the Australian Centre for Disability Law, Non-Executive Director of the Tenants Union of NSW and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Giancarlo is a recognised emerging leader in the Australian disability community and was an Australian Government Ambassador for International Day of People with Disability in 2023 and named as one of the ’40 under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians’.
Marion Hailes-MacDonald, State government member
Marion is Western Australia’s first Executive Director of the Office of Disability.
She has worked in the disability sector with community sector organisations and governments to develop and improve services and supports for people with disability, their families and carers. She has led significant funding and policy direction and reform across both state and national agendas, including the initial design of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the Western Australian transition to the NDIS.
Marion holds a Bachelor of Science (Nursing), a Master of Commerce, Executive Master of Public Administration and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Rosemary Kayess, Disability and data expert member
Rosemary Kayess is the Disability Discrimination Commissioner.
Commissioner Kayess holds a Bachelor of Social Science, Bachelor of Laws and an Honorary Doctorate in Law. She is a Senior Lecturer with the Faculty of Law at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the Vice Chair of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ms Kayess also holds the roles of Senior Research Fellow, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW and Visiting Professor, Centre for Disability, Law and Policy, University of Galway.
Commissioner Kayess is a current member of a number of disability focused councils and committees including the Chair of the Australian Centre of the Disability Law; Expert Member, NSW Aging and Disability Commission Advisory Board and Member, Australian Discrimination Law Experts Group. She was a key member of the Strategic Engagement Reference Group for the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.
Professor Julian Trollor, Disability and data expert member
Professor Julian Trollor is the Chair of Intellectual Disability Mental Health, and Head of Department of Developmental Disability, Neuropsychiatry, Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of New South Wales.
Julian is a Senior Psychiatrist, Doctor of Medicine and a university academic who specialises in the health and wellbeing of people with intellectual or developmental disability.
He has extensive experience in using linked data to examine outcomes for people with disability.
Julian has worked on multiple Australian Government committees and was a member of the Pilot Disability Advisory Council.
Gemma Van Halderen PSM, Australian Government member
Gemma Van Halderen PSM is the Department of Social Services Chief Data Officer and Group Manager in the Social Security Stream. In this role, she is responsible for the department’s centralised data strategy and evaluation functions.
Gemma previously held a number of senior executive positions at the Australian Bureau of Statistics, including key roles in data, corporate support and strategy. She has represented the Australian Government internationally, including as a delegate to the United Nations.
Gemma holds a Bachelor of Statistics (Honours) from the Australian National University, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and elected member of the International Statistics Institute. She was awarded a 2024 Australia Day Public Service Medal for better use of data for public policy purposes.
Gemma’s brother has an intellectual disability and she is his carer, manager and guardian.
Duncan Young, Australian Government Member
Duncan Young is the Chief Data Officer and head of Health Economics and Research at the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care. This role focuses on a data-driven culture and data governance. Duncan has policy responsibility for Commonwealth health and medical research initiatives. Duncan previously worked for over 20 years with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). He has a mathematics and computer science background. Duncan led the 2016 Census, a significant transformation to a digital-first design. Duncan was the national program manager for the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey in 2017. He has also managed the ABS’ survey program and data acquisition services through COVID-19.
Zoe Dendle, State and territory government member
Zoe is the Executive Director, Homelessness, Disability and Seniors for the NSW Department of Communities and Justice.
Zoe is an experienced public sector leader who has held senior executive policy, program, strategy and operational positions in housing, homelessness and disability.
She previously worked on the client and funding transition of all NSW specialist disability services to the non-government sector as part of the NSW transition to the NDIS.
Carley Northcott, State and territory government member
Carley Northcott is Executive Director Disability Reform and Complex Needs at the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. In this role Carley is responsible for the policy and operational support for disability and complex needs programs for the Victorian Government. This includes overseeing Victoria’s responsibility in relation the National Disability Insurance Scheme and state disability services, including forensic services and complex client arrangements.
Carley has a background in the sector in the children and families’ sector before joining government. She has worked across multiple programs within social services before joining disability to support Victoria’s transition to the NDIS.
Carley holds an Executive Masters in Public Administration from the Australian and New Zealand School of Government.
Past members
These members and their contributions continue to shape the National Disability Data Asset.
Dr Scott Avery, former community Council member, Professor of Indigenous disability at the School of Public Health, University of Technology Sydney, and research partner of the First Peoples Disability Network.
Dr Phillip Gould, former Australian Government Council member, previously the Chief Data Officer and First Assistant Secretary for the Health Economics and Research Division at the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care.