NSW Government appoints Professor Ron McCallum AM as interim Chair of the Disability Council
27 July 2010
Prof Ron McCallum
The NSW Minister for Disability Services, Peter Primrose, recently announced that Professor Ron McCallum AM has been appointed as interim Chair of the NSW Disability Council.
Professor McCallum is Deputy Chair of Vision Australia and currently serves as the Chair of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. He was one of 12 people elected to its inaugural Committee of Experts.
He is also a prominent labour law academic who has written extensively on labour law matters and was the first totally blind person to have been appointed to a full professorship in any field at any university in Australia or New Zealand.
Mr Primrose said Professor McCallum would hold the position until 31 October 2010, during which time nominations for this and other positions would be called.
"Professor McCallum is eminently qualified to act as chair of the Disability Council,"
Mr Primrose said.
Before becoming the foundation Blake Dawson Waldron Professor in Industrial Law in the Faculty of Law of the University of Sydney in 1993, Professor McCallum taught at York University in Ontario, at Duke University in North Carolina and at Monash University.
He now teaches Administrative Law, Public Law and Labour Law at the University of Sydney at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
In 2006 he was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to tertiary education, for industrial relations advice to governments, for assistance to people with visual impairment and for social justice.
Mr Primrose said that the position of Chair and the other Disability Council vacancies would be advertised shortly as the terms of all current Disability Council members would expire on 31 October 2010 or 21 October 2011.
About the Disability Council NSW
The Disability Council of NSW is the official advisory body to the State Government on disability matters. They also provide advice to the Commonwealth on the effect of national policy at a State level.
The Council seek to provide best quality advice to Government and promote a positive vision of the future for all people with disability.
This means working with others to achieve a socially just community in which Government policy and practice reflect the lives and experiences of people with disability as individuals, family members and participants with many roles in a broad range of diverse settings. At all times the council strive to remain mindful of the rights of people with disability, respecting their choices, celebrating their diversity and valuing their contributions.
