Our Board

The voice of our members

The PWDA Board oversees the governance of the organisation and sets its strategic direction. Primarily, the Board’s role is to govern the organisation, and speak with and for all people with disability. 

All members of the PWDA Board have lived experience of disability.

Interim President | Jarrod Sandell-Hay

Member elected, November 2025 until November 2027.
arrod Sandell-Hay is a disability advocate based in Naarm/Melbourne. Executive Officer at STAR Victoria, which has advocated alongside people with intellectual disability and their families since 1970. He also leads a communication rights campaign at Disability Rights and Culture.

Jarrod’s work spans NDIS policy and self-management, communication rights, and self-advocacy, including involvement with SARU, DPOV and the NDIS Self-Advocacy Working Group. He has previously worked with Community Disability Alliance Hunter and Disability Media Australia, and has a background in radio and television presenting.

A wheelchair user and a graduate of Australia’s segregated special school system, Jarrod brings lived experience to governance, campaigning and policy work that pushes for disabled people to set the agenda.

Vice President | Tahlia-Rose Vanissum

Member elected, November 2025 until November 2027.
As a proud Woppaburra woman with a psychosocial disability and chronic illness, Tahlia-Rose brings lived experience, national policy expertise, and a deep commitment to First Nations gender and disability justice. She has led work across government, community and research sectors, including at the First Peoples Disability Network, the National Disability Research Partnership, and in shaping the outcomes of the Independent NDIS Review. Her leadership is grounded in community, guided by cultural obligations to care for her community, and driven by the trust placed in her by those who’ve shared their stories of harm and hope. Our voices matter, Tahlia-Rose wants to advance culturally responsive reform that centres those of us at the intersections of Indigeneity, race, gender, trauma and poverty. She will advocate for transparent, rights-based governance, build pathways for emerging disabled leaders, and support PWDA’s future as a truly representative, people-led organisation.

Director | Wildaliz De Jesús Arocho

Member elected, November 2025 until November 2027.
A Boricua currently in Whadjuk Noongar land with a Bachelor of Environmental Science from Universidad Metropolitana, a Master of Studies in Environmental Law, Juris Doctor, and a Climate Change & Health Certificate. Wildaliz is a member of the Women’s Climate Congress and brings expertise with a neurological disability to climate conversations. She advocates for disability inclusive climate and environmental teamwork. She is also a member of MSWA’s Client Codesign and Advisory Committee. Her writing portfolio includes disability experiences with MS in the heat. She has written articles on the impacts of extreme heat for the ABC and co-authored the recent research article ‘Embodied Experiences of Thermal Injustice: Truth-Telling Through Disabilities.’ Wildaliz also loves Salsa music and calls her inclusive dance routine ‘Everybody Salsa.’ You can access more about Wildaliz through her website www.treecharge.com.au.

Advisory groups

Our advisory groups give advice and support to our board of directors and executive staff in many important areas.

Find more information on PWDA’s advisory groups here.

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