Keynote speaker Dougie Herd

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Dougie has used a wheelchair since a swimming accident in 1984.

He migrated to Australia in 1999 to take up the position of Executive Officer of the Physical Disability Council of New South Wales, the state’s peak body for people with a physical disability, before beginning his current role as the Director of the Office of the Disability Council of New South Wales in 2005.

Dougie is now an Australian citizen after being given Permanent Residency status in 2004 on the basis of being a “distinguished talent”, with an international standing of excellence in the field of social justice and the rights of people with a disability. Elsewhere, Dougie has observed this actually means he has been a  right royal pain to governments on two continents!