London, Rio & Tokyo Paralympic Games.
I work with AQA as a Peer Support Coordinator, which I have been fortunate to be a part of since 2017.
On this page you will find a brief profile of each of the Peer Coaches who are available to be booked for co-facilitated sessions at Royal Talbot Rehab Centre. You can view the profiles to gain insight into who might be the best fit for your sessions with patients. The profiles provide information about each Peer Coach’s level of injury, their interests and the lived experiences and skills they are happy to share.
Peer Coaches will be available to book in 45 minute blocks with 15 minute buffer time. This will allow time for a pre-session briefing chat, the session itself, and the reflective debrief at the end of the session.
To book a Peer Coach for your session please click on this link.
I was involved in a car accident at the age of 18. After two years of rehab living at home with family in country Victoria, I decided to move to Melbourne. I then got involved in wheelchair rugby, which eventually led to me representing my country at the
London, Rio & Tokyo Paralympic Games.
I work with AQA as a Peer Support Coordinator, which I have been fortunate to be a part of since 2017.
An outdoor enthusiast and manual wheelchair user, I have a passion for snow skiing and water sports. After sustaining a spinal cord injury in a head-on collision between my motorbike and a car, I cherish spending quality time with my family,
including my two lively border collies.
My young daughter shares my love for the outdoors, making every adventure even more special.
I became a quadriplegic and sustained a spinal cord injury in 1990 after diving into shallow water and breaking my neck. I have played Wheelchair Rugby for Australia and taken part in 5 Paralympic Games (Sydney 2000; Athens 2004; Beijing 2008;
London 2012; Rio 2016), winning 2 gold and 2 silver medals. I have competed in 3 Targa Tasmania Rally events and was the first quadriplegic to paraglide solo .
I have worked intensively in the area of peer support with people with spinal cord injuries, motivating and encouraging those to reach their potential.
I have a past interest in travel, as I’ve travelled extensively previously. I like Brazilian jujitsu, all things Music, philosophy and psychology, movies and TV shows, Fantasy and contemporary books.
As well as english I speak Mandarin, and I’m currently living with my parents.
Outside of work, I schedule time for physical therapies like EP, Physio and PT. I go to the gym and do adaptive CrossFit and adaptive rock-climbing. I like to cook as much as I can at home in my modified kitchen and spend time with family and friends
at events/social gatherings where accessibility is taken into account.
I am single and live at home alone and work part-time from home as a mental health peer worker for the last 8 years. I use my lived experience of depression, anxiety and PTSD to support others.
I enjoy driving and like going to car shows. I have been playing wheelchair rugby for the last 13 years and have been to 3 Paralympics.
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I go out and socialise a lot, driving myself. I also care and cook for my family, do sewing, painting and singing in a choir. I’m the chairperson for an owner’s corporation, and I exercise 3 times a week. I live with my husband and my son.
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I’m interested in keeping fit – I’m a regular at the gym and physio, working on upper body strength, balance, transfers and weight management. I love rugby union (I’m a former player and current supporter), and I’m a regular at my kids sporting
activities. I travel back home to Fiji regularly to see my family. I’m married with two kids (son 15, daughter 13).
I recently started peer support work after a long absence from employment after my injury.
I sustained a T12 SCI and lower leg amputation in 2006 while on holiday in Egypt. My husband was killed in the accident. I’m ok talking about the accident and the many changes it caused in my life.
At the time of the accident I was a high school teacher but had also had positions of responsibility like level coordinator, timetabler an a short stint as acting assistant principal. I feel this put me in a good position to be able to talk to a wide range of people.
I spent nearly 15 years working as the Peer Support Worker at the Royal Talbot. More recently I’ve worked for AQA developing new skill and capacity courses, and as a wheelchair skills instructor.
AQA acknowledges that we live and work on lands stolen from the oldest continuous culture on earth. While our office is on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, we live and work on First Nations lands across Victoria. We acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded, and that this was, and always will be, Aboriginal land. We pay our deepest respect to Elders past and present, and we thank them for holding wisdom and caring for country. We also acknowledge that AQA’s work of building a more caring and inclusive society - where everyone has the resources they need to live well - follows in the footsteps of a long and ongoing struggle of First Nations peoples across the continent to be afforded the self determination, respect and resources they need to live well.
Disability doesn’t discriminate, so our community is as diverse as the richly diverse culture we exist in. Having the fullest version of ourselves on display, seen and appreciated, is a fundamental aspect of living a full and meaningful life. It is also the foundation from which the full benefit of our capacity building and empowering supports are accessed. Recognising this, we have developed an organisational culture where diversity is not just thoughtfully and respectfully accommodated, but truly celebrated - be it ethnicity, religion, ability, age, gender, sexuality or gender identity.
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