People with disability need to be at every table where decisions are made about our lives.
Elly Desmarchelier is a sought after speaker, writer, event facilitator and disability rights advocate.
As a proud disabled woman, Elly was the national spokesperson for the Defend Our NDIS campaign during the 2022 Federal election. Her fierce advocacy has gained her access to rooms where decisions are made that impact the lives of Australians with disability, such as speaking at the Prime Minister’s 2022 Jobs and Skills Summit.
From appearing on national TV on shows such as The Project, The Drum, Q&A and 7:30, to speaking at the Sydney Opera House for the 2023 All About Women Festival, Elly shares her insights and experiences on being a disabled woman in modern society. Her writing has been featured in national publications such as Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian and the ABC.
Elly is featured in the National Archives of Australia exhibition: Disrupt, persist, invent: Australians in an ever-changing world for her advocacy work, particularly on the Defend Our NDIS campaign. She was also a finalist in the Marie Claire’s 2022 Women of the Year Awards.
Talking Points
Diversity and Inclusion
Elly can speak to the ways that our society can benefit from embracing diversity and inclusion. While also highlighting the reality facing people with disability in Australia and the barriers they face. Elly is motivated to provide real solutions and leave the audience feeling empowered to take action to make their communities more inclusive.
Diversity and Inclusion
Politics and Law
Elly worked in politics for almost a decade. She now uses the knowledge of how decisions are made to campaign for the rights of people with disability. Elly is passionate about more people understanding the democratic process in order to create tangible social change. People hold the power, they just don’t know it - yet!
Politics and Law
Leadership
Elly has seen leadership take many forms. Within the disability community, some of the most unlikely people rise to take on leadership roles because they have the courage, vision and persuasion to take people with them. Elly strongly believes that if we are going to change the horrific statistics facing people with disability in Australia, we need leaders at all levels to take action and move towards inclusion and equality.
Leadership
Video
Elly Desmarchelier | Future Women 2023
Elly Desmarchelier | Is the NDIS Broken? | Q+A
Elly Desmarchelier says the NDIS has transformed the lives of those who have accessed it, but some say the barriers to access are hard to overcome.Elly is an incredibly powerful, captivating and magnetic speaker. She has a unique authenticity with her hard-hitting, vulnerable lived experience married with measurable facts that reaches ... keep reading Grace Tame, 2021 Australian of the Year
Elly was part of an incredibly powerful panel discussion at DSC's 2023 Annual Conference and it was nothing short of brilliant. She's a very confident and polished public speaker with a real gift for talking about disability rights in a way that really lands. We've been told repeatedly at the event and since that her panel was not just a conference highlight, but one of the best panels some attendees have ever watched. In short, Elly doesn't just talk - she sparks real, important conversations and changes perspectives.
Elly is a brilliant communicator. It is a truly complex thing to help someone who hasn’t experienced something, take their mind to a place of meaningful imagining. Elly not only accomplishes this with aplomb but also brings a mastery of knowledge, policy and data to her exploration of disability and the experience of disabled people. She is remarkable.
