A new position has been created within the Department of Transport to provide advice and help improve accessibility for people living with a disability across the Victorian transport network.
Announcing the appointment of Tricia Malowney to the new Chief Accessibility Advocate role, Minister for Public Transport, Ben Carroll said the Advocate would support the Department’s coordinated, whole-of-transport approach to accessibility.
“Ms Malowney brings valuable experience to the role as a member on a number of boards including the Disability Leadership Institute, NDIS Independent Advisory Council, Fire Rescue Victoria Strategic Advisory Committee, Melba Services and the Urgent Action Fund for Women Asia Pacific,” Mr Carroll said.
“She is an inductee of the Victorian Honour Roll of Women and was awarded the Medal in the order of Australia in 2017 for her advocacy work for women with disabilities,” he said.
The Minister said Ms Malowney would also lead collaborative partnerships to amplify the voice of people with disability and be part of the Department’s decision-making process in its accessibility programs.
Ms Malowney commended the Minister, the Secretary and the Department for “taking this innovative decision to appoint a member of the disability community to advocate for transport accessibility solutions, which will improve the lives of all Victorians”.
“Accessible transport is essential to the social and economic inclusion of people with disabilities whether we live in the city or in the outer suburbs, or in rural communities,” she said.
“Knowing that work is being undertaken to make our end-to-end journey seamless will relieve the concerns of many,” Ms Malowney said.
