QDRN Advisory Group

We are excited to introduce our newly established 2025 Queensland Disability Research Network (QDRN) Advisory Group Committee.

Dr. Talitha Kingsmill (Chair, Queensland Disability Research Network)

Dr. Talitha Kingsmill is a Non-Executive Director, consultant, educator and solicitor with 25 years’ experience across the private, public and NFP sectors in law, education, educational leadership, research, digital citizenship, cybersecurity, regulatory compliance and policy development. With 18 years of experience working and raising a family while living with a vision disability, Talitha is a passionate advocate for equitable, accessible opportunities for all. Talitha believes that access in all its forms is fundamental to equitable opportunity so that individuals may live their best lives. Her lived and professional experiences provide rich insights to the confronting and very real challenges and obstacles for people living with disability and equip Talitha to be a powerful and articulate disability and inclusion advocate. Talitha’s doctoral research concerned the integration of digital citizenship (safe, responsible and respectful online engagement) in secondary school curriculum. She has published and presented within Australia and internationally in the field of building individual and collective digital citizenship capacity. In 2017, Talitha was awarded an Australian Council for Educational Leaders Research in Educational Leadership and Management Award for exceptional academic achievement in advanced studies in educational leadership. Talitha understands that a collective voice achieved through consultation and collaboration is powerful, and passionately advocates for this.

Prof. Kate Ames (Pro Vice Chancellor, Engagement and Access, Research and Innovation Office at Torrens University)

Professor Kate Ames is an experienced leader, educator, innovator, author, military officer, and advocate with more than 30 years of nationally and internationally recognised impact across multiple sectors. As President of the Australasian Council of Open and Digital Education (ACODE), she represents the interests of higher education institutions and their members in educational technology across Australia and New Zealand. A Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA) and an International Fellow of the National Institute for Digital Learning (INFTF), Professor Ames has an established record of success in strategic innovation, project development and implementation, change management, policy and process alignment, and meaningful stakeholder engagement. Among her signature achievements is the development of the BE DIFFERENT hyperflexibility model, a transformative approach to postgraduate delivery that redefined flexible learning for CQUniversity students. Driven by a mission to build high-performing teams and challenge traditional boundaries in process and practice, Professor Ames is committed to advancing performance, equity, inclusion, and innovation within organisational environments.

Prof. Ruth Barker (Principal Investigator, FNQ Connect at James Cook University)

Professor Ruth Barker is a researcher, educator, and physiotherapy clinician with a particular interest in neurological rehabilitation; innovative models of clinical service delivery for rural, remote and Indigenous communities; and building research capacity across Allied Health disciplines. Ruth supports, mentors and advises PhD students and clinician researchers in this field. Ruth has attracted over $20 million in funding over the last 15 years to design, pilot, implement and evaluate innovative community disability and rehabilitation services in Northern Queensland. Many of these services incorporate interprofessional, student-assisted service delivery models. Furthermore, Ruth has played a lead role in the development of the Rural Generalist Education Program, provided by JCU in partnership with the Allied Health Professionals Office of Queensland. She has also been instrumental in establishing and sustaining the Northern Australian Research Network in partnership with Indigenous Allied Health Australia." In her current role at JCU, Ruth is the Principal Investigator for FNQ Connect: Connecting People, Connecting Care. This place-based collective impact initiative is driving reform of disability, rehabilitation and lifestyle services across Far North Queensland. Ruth is also a Senior Research Advisor with Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA), on a part-time basis. IAHA is a national organisation that sets out to improve the health and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians by strengthening the Indigenous allied health workforce and promoting culturally safe and responsive services.

Prof. Charlotte Brownlow (Associate Dean of the Graduate Research School at the University of Southern Queensland)

Professor Charlotte Brownlow received her PhD from the University of Brighton, UK, in 2007, with a focus on the Construction of Autistic Identities Online. Following academic positions at the University of Bedfordshire, London Metropolitan University, and The Open University, UK, Charlotte joined the University of Southern Queensland in 2010. Her research remains within autism with a focus on the co-production of research with the Autistic and autism communities. She is a member of the British and Australian Psychological Societies and is currently co-Chair of the Australasian Autism Research Council (AARC).

Ms. Sasha Job (Lecturer in neurological physiotherapy and PhD candidate at CQUniversity)

Ms. Sasha Job holds bachelor’s degrees in Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, and a Graduate Certificate in Health Professional Education. She has extensive clinical experience in disability, neurological, paediatric, cardiorespiratory, and community physiotherapy. Sasha also has tertiary-level teaching experience and received an Australian Awards for University Teaching citation for outstanding contributions to student learning. Her PhD thesis, “Universal Beach Accessibility Hub (U‐BEACH),” focuses on increasing physical activity and wellbeing for people with disability. Sasha’s innovative healthcare contributions have earned her several awards, including the Best Community Program Disability Service Award 2023 and the Community Champion Shaping Australia Award 2024. She serves on the Board of Directors for Accessible Beaches Australia and advisory group for the Queensland Disability Research Network. Passionate about health, wellbeing, sustainability, and natural environments, Sasha is a strong advocate for accessibility and inclusion: “Be the change.”

Prof. Bryon Keating (Professor of Services Marketing at the QUT Business School)

Professor Byron Keating is a Director of the Service Innovation Lab, a service-focused management and research consultancy based in Canberra and Brisbane. His research interests are concerned with the transformative role of technology in supporting the design and delivery of complex services. This interest began with his PhD research which examined the impact of the Internet on service delivery and consumption, and continues today in the areas of artificial intelligence, location-based services, and big data. This research has been acknowledged by numerous awards including two international dissertation awards, an Endeavour Fellowship to work with the National University of Singapore examining the impact of ethics within service supply chains, and most recently, an ARC Linkage Industry Fellowship to further his work on service experience within Australian cultural institutions.

Prof. Elizabeth Kendall OAM (Pro Vice Chancellor of Health at Griffith University)

Professor Elizabeth Kendall completed her PhD in 1997 on the topic of adjustment following traumatic- injury, for which she won the Dean's Commendation for Outstanding PhD Thesis in 1998 (UQ). She has continued to build a research agenda in rehabilitation and service systems for people who are managing the consequences of serious injuries, disabilities or chronic conditions. She was an invited visiting Professor at the University of Manchester National Primary Care Research and Development Centre. She has designed and directed complex community-based evaluations and randomised controlled trials of major health reform projects over the last decade, including the Ambulatory Care demonstration projects the Queensland Self-Management Alliance, the Chronic Disease Place-based Initiative and the Logan-Beaudesert Health Coalition, the Qld Health Self-Management Working Party, the Coordinated Care Trials, the Sharing Healthcare Demonstration project, the Community Rehabilitation Workforce Reform Project, the Chronic Disease Smart State Working Party, the Spinal Injury Response Project on Integrated Services and the Youngcare Alternative Service Model trial. Elizabeth runs a collaborative research program with several significant partners including Queensland Health, General Practice Queensland, and Motor Accident Insurance Commission. She manages an interdisciplinary research centre and has attracted over $50 million in research grants and consultancies, including 9 large Australian Research Council grants.

Prof. Sean Tweedy (Para Sport and Adapted Physical Activity Research Group in the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at the University of Queensland)

Professor Sean Tweedy has had a career-long commitment to working with people with disabilities. Since he graduated from Human Movement Studies in 1984 he has aimed to assist people with disabilities to lead physically active lives in order to improve health, fitness, functioning and quality of life. In his current role Sean has 3 main areas of activity: 1. Research, which he conducts in two main areas: (a) evaluating physical activity promotion interventions for people with disabilities who live in community settings; and (b) Classification in Paralympic Sport; 2. Community service: Sean is Director of the Adapted Physical Activity Program, a physical activity promotion service delivered to people with disabilities in their own home / community setting; 3.Teaching: Sean teaches courses on physical activity and disability to undergraduate and postgraduate students of clinical exercise physiology at the University of Queensland.

Adjunct Prof. Denise Wood AM (Pro Vice-Chancellor of Students University of Sunshine Coast)

Professor Denise Wood AM is responsible for the overall vision and effectiveness of initiatives that enable students to realise their fullest academic and personal potential. She also provides leadership in fostering excellence across the portfolios of Student Services and Engagement, Indigenous Services and chairs the University’s Learning and Teaching Committee. Denise’s research focuses on strategies for improving educational access and participation, particularly for under-represented groups including those in regional and remote locations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people with disabilities. She is a member of the Commonwealth Equity Research and Innovation Panel, the Queensland Statewide NDIS Workability Advisory Group and Deputy Chair of the Australasian Congress of Undergraduate Research. She is a reviewer for the Australian Awards for University Teaching, the Australian Research Council, the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation, the South African National Research Foundation and the United States National Science Foundation. Denise received a Member of the Order of Australia Award (AM) in 2017 for significant service to education as an academic, researcher and practitioner in the field of participation, inclusion and access, and she was awarded an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning in 2010.

The Queensland Disability Research Network (QDRN) Advisory Group was established in 2024 with a commitment to ensuring comprehensive representation across Queensland's diverse regions. Led by senior professors and staff from Griffith University, the University of Southern Queensland, Torrens University, James Cook University, The University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, University of the Sunshine Coast, and Central Queensland University this group brings together a strong collective of researchers dedicated to advancing disability research through cross-sectoral collaboration.

Our goal is to work in partnership with industry stakeholders and Queensland peak disability organisations to ensure that our research remains relevant and responsive to the needs of the disability community. We emphasise the use of effective, meaningful co-design methods to engage with those directly impacted by our research.

The QDRN enjoys key partnerships with the Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety (DFSDS&CS), the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and the Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN).

The QDRN aims to showcase the outstanding and impactful disability research taking place across Queensland. By collaborating with the National Disability Research Partnership and other national bodies, we strive to represent and advocate for the unique interests and contributions of Queensland’s disability sector on a broader stage.