Jan Daisley, one of Australia’s leading disability advocates, particularly for the rights of people with disability to live in the community, and a founding member of PWDA has recently passed away.
Daisley lived in an institution for 30 years. In 1993, as soon as she could communicate, she clearly stated that she wanted to move out and into the community.
People With Disability ( PWD) said, “We are devastated to hear of the death of Jan Daisley, one of Australia’s leading disability advocates, particularly for the rights of people with disability to live in the community, and a founding member of PWDA.”
She was determined to make an independent life for herself, despite many people saying that was impossible. Daisley enrolled in TAFE and obtained certificates in disability and law. She then went on to university to do a Bachelors of Education in Habilitation, then a Masters in Communities in Social Justice. She wrote and published three books, her autobiography “I hear more than you see”, a sequel called “Rebels with a cause” and also a book about her experiences with disability support workers called “The Good, The Bad and The Unbelievable – Carers I have Known”.
“Since acquiring a disability I have worked very hard to assist other people to obtain their human rights, and their dignity of life, and I will continue to do this while ever I have breath in my body,” she wrote.
Daisley was a life member of PWDA, first elected to the Board in 2007 and the President from 2010 to 2012. She was a finalist in the 2008 National Disability Awards. She led PWDA during the campaign for the NDIS and was a tireless lobbyist for this change to the disability support system. Daisley worked hard to ensure that the voices of people with disability were central to the design and development of the NDIS.