Leah Van Poppel

Ms Leah van Poppel is a member of the NDIA Board, Chair of the Victorian NDIS Community Advisory and a member of the NDIS Independent Advisory Council (IAC). A highly-respected leader and disability rights advocate, Ms van Poppel was CEO of Women with Disabilities Victoria from 2018-2021. In this position, she worked to empower marginalised women in the community through education and mentoring, as well as research, policy advice and government advocacy. Previously, Ms van Poppel was CEO of Blind Citizens Australia, Manager at Youth Disability Advocacy Service and NDIS Readiness Project Officer at Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO).

Session

Keynote: Stuck in the doldrums 

Time: 11:40am - 12:10pm

Location: The Hall

Facilitated by: Melissa Hale, Manager, Disability Advocacy Resource Unit (DARU)

Why aren’t the rights of people with disability embedded effectively in our universal service systems and mainstream policies?  What needs to happen for full inclusion to be real and ensure that the lives of people with disability are free from abuse and exploitation?  We need a fresh, strong wind to blow us out of these doldrums!