ALASTAIR MCEWIN AM

Alastair McEwin AM has had a long involvement in disability and human rights policy work, encompassing roles at both domestic and international levels and across the private, government and non government sectors. Born profoundly deaf, Alastair’s tertiary studies include humanities, law and business administration (MBA).

Alastair’s roles have included Associate to the Honourable Justice John von Doussa of the Federal Court, management consultant with Accenture, Manager of the Australian Centre for Disability Law, CEO of People with Disability Australia, and Executive Director of Community Legal Centres New South Wales. His two statutory appointments have been as Disability Discrimination Commissioner, based at the Australian Human Rights Commission, and most recently as a Commissioner with the Disability Royal Commission. He is currently working as a consultant in disability and human rights, including with the Grattan Institute as a Senior Fellow. He is also Adjunct Professor with the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM), UNSW Business School at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

In the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours list, Alastair was made a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to disabled people. In May 2022, he was awarded a Degree of Doctor of the University of Adelaide (honoris causa).

Inclusive education: what did we learn from the Disability Royal Commission?

In September 2023, the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (DRC) was released. Inclusive education for disabled children was a significant topic for the DRC, with the Final Report outlining a comprehensive list of recommendations on how to make mainstream settings more inclusive.

Alastair, one of the Commissioners on the DRC, will provide reflections on what disabled people, their families, advocates, academics and others told the DRC about inclusive education. Many people outlined their experiences of the failure of the mainstream education system to include disabled children in their schools and the structural and attitudinal barriers they faced. There were many accounts of disabled children experiencing severe neglect in their educational and social development, with low or no expectations of these children being a significant recurring theme. Alastair will talk about the systemic changes needed to achieve a vision of Australia having an inclusive education system where disabled children are learning alongside their non-disabled peers.