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, Genevieve Quilty.
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.
Genevieve Quilty, Australian Government co-chair
Genevieve has been working in and influencing Australian government public policy development for over 30 years.
From 2020 to 2023, she led the Social Policy Division of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet working alongside line agencies to brief the Prime Minister on key social policy portfolios in the Australian Public Service, including disability policy.
In late 2023, she joined the then Department of Health and Ageing. In this role, Genevieve helped establish the Australian Centre for Disease Control as an independent statutory agency. In addition, she led a diverse portfolio including public health surveillance, communicable disease policy and programs, health and climate change policy, environmental health and medical and scientific advice.
In January 2026, Genevieve joined the Disability and Carers Group to lead the Disability Strategy, Supports & Inclusion Division. Genevieve is one of the department’s Neurodiversity Network Champions and a member of the People Committee of the Department.
Prior to entering the Australian Public Service, Genevieve worked as the Chief Executive Officer of Optometry Australia. She also worked for more than a decade for three Ministers in the Australian Parliament, including as Chief of Staff to the Finance Minister and senior fiscal policy adviser to the Treasurer.
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.
Dr Simon Booth, Australian Government member
Dr Simon Booth is the Executive Director of Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA). JSA leads national efforts to provide data-driven insights and policy advice on workforce planning, skills development, and labour market trends. Simon’s role focuses on ensuring Australia’s skills system is responsive to current and future economic needs.
Simon has held senior leadership roles across the public sector, including First Assistant Secretary at the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and Chief Advisor on the National Skills Agreement Taskforce. He has held senior executive roles in the Victoria Government. He has worked across a wide range of fields, including tertiary education, human services, performance and evaluation, economic analysis, and budget and financial oversight.
Associate Professor Sheelagh Daniels-Mayes, Community member
Associate Professor Sheelagh Daniels-Mayes is a Gomeroi woman who has low vision. She lectures in Indigenous Studies, and is Deputy Associate Dean, Diversity and Inclusion – Disability, Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne. Sheelagh is the Chief Investigator of a Discovery Indigenous Australian Research Council grant titled, 'Improving Life Outcomes for Indigenous People Living with a Disability: Lessons from Australia's Universities'. This is a multidisciplinary team investigating the lived experiences of Indigenous staff and students with disability at Australian universities. She is developing a framework referred to as BlakAbility, a culturally safe and disability-confident approach to policy and practice.
Her research expertise includes sociology of racism, Critical Indigenous Studies, Critical Disability Studies, climate justice and intersectionality. Sheelagh’s scholarship draws on previous studies of education, psychology, sociology and criminology. Prior to entering into academia, Sheelagh worked for and with government and community agencies tackling a diversity of human rights issues.
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, public policy, international affairs and diplomacy, including at the United Nations.
Giancarlo is the CEO of BEING, the NSW peak body for mental health consumers and psychosocial disability. They are also currently the inaugural Secretary of the Disabled Australian Lawyers Association, Treasurer of the Australian Centre for Disability Law and is an IncludeAbility Ambassador with the Australian Human Rights Commission promoting inclusive employment.
Giancarlo also serves as a Non-Executive Director of the National Mental Health Consumer Alliance and the Tenants Union of NSW and sits on the Board of the NSW Government’s Ageing and Disability Commission.
Giancarlo previously led policy and advocacy at People with Disability Australia, and was one of the Australian Government's 2023 Ambassadors for the International Day of People with Disability, one of Pro Bono Australia’s Impact 25 2022, a list recognising the social sector’s most influential people for their significant and positive impact in Australia and overseas, and named as one of the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians of 2021.
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.
Dr Jessica Stewart, state and territory government member
Dr Jessica Stewart is the Executive Director of Insights, Analysis and Research in the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ). Jessica’s role supports major reforms and programs in disability, early intervention, child protection, homelessness, and social housing - leading research, evaluation, statistical and economic analysis, and performance reporting.
Jessica also has responsibility for multiple large, linked data assets including the NSW Human Services Linked Dataset, Housing and Homelessness linked data asset and Pathways of Care Longitudinal Study of children in out of home care linked data asset.
Dr Stewart has 20 years’ experience in both federal and state governments, and Aboriginal health research. Dr Stewart has managed evaluations of health programs for NSW Health and led public reporting on the performance of hospitals and primary health care at the National Health Performance Authority. Dr Stewart holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Law, a Masters of Public Policy and a PhD in Aboriginal community-controlled health services research.
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.
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, Disability and Ageing. 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.
Joe Young, state and territory government member
With over twenty-five years of experience in disability, aged and social services, Joe has dedicated his career to supporting an inclusion of all people in communities.
As Executive Director of Ageing, Disability Policy and Safeguarding within the Department of Human Services, Government of South Australia. He has policy and strategy oversight for ageing well and for people with a disability, as well as the Adult Safeguarding and Restrictive Practices Units.
Previously, Joe led direct service delivery for disability and aged care and has also held senior policy, management, and executive positions across education, human services, and the First Minister departments.
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.
Zoe Dendle, former state and territory government member, and Executive Directory, Homelessness Disability and Seniors, NSW Department of Communities and Justice.
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.
Marion Hailes-MacDonald, former state and territory government member and former first executive Director of the Office of Disability, Western Australia.
Luke Mansfield PSM, former Australian Government co-chair, former Group Manager in the Disability and Carers Stream at the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.
Carley Northcott, former state and territory government member, and Executive Director Disability Reform and Complex Needs at the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
Gemma Van Halderen PSM, former Australian Government Council member, previously the Department of Social Services Chief Data Officer and Group Manager in the Social Security Stream.