My personal history of how I acquired my hearing loss is set
out in “How I got Aids” in SHHH News, Autumn 1994 and
“Adventures with Aids” in Spring 1995. Essentially suddenly I lost my hearing
from a mystery virus in 1986. My
life was pretty stressful for the first few years after that as I came
to grips with life as a HI person.
I joined SHHH soon afterwards and found the information and
support really helpful, particularly the use of the Rastronics
telecoil, which enabled me to keep using the telephone.
I joined the SHHH Board in 1993, on the invitation of the
charming Peggy Hull. Being on
the Board was a wonderful learning experience for me, both in relation
to hearing loss issues, and also running a community organisation.
In 1994, I became President of SHHH after the legendary Libby
Harricks moved on to become the first President of the Deafness
Forum. I had no aspirations of
doing what Libby had done, as she had worked pretty-much full-time for
SHHH and hearing issues and had a very inspirational personality.
In 1999 (I think) I joined the NSW
Attorney-General’s Disability Advisory Council as the rep for
hearing impairment and am still there.
I believe the NSW Attorney-General’s Disability Plan is
the best of any government department in New South Wales and possibly Australia thanks to the commitment of the
departmental head Laurie Glanfield, and brilliance of Julia Haraksin,
the project manager.
In 2000 I had the privilege of being a keynote speaker at the
International Federation of the Hard of Hearing Conference (in
Sydney).
Since 2001 I have been a member of the National Acoustics
Laboratory’s Ethics Committee.
In
2005 I took over as Editor of Hearing Matters, and have produced 4
issues each year since then.
Generally I have been involved in disability training, access
consultations and other activities as President of SHHH. I am currently chairman of a Deafness
Forum committee on Telecommunications issues.
In my other life, since 1994 I have been Principal Solicitor
of Wesley Community Legal Service, Sydney, which is a community legal
centre specialising in assisting people with gambling-related legal
issues. It is the only
gambling-specific legal centre in the world. I regularly write in Sharkwatch
magazine http://www.wesleymission.org.au/centres/creditline/sharkwatch.asp
and have co-authored Consumer Debt Recovery Law 2nd edition
with Bruce Kercher and Betty Weule.
I am currently writing a 2nd edition of the Bankruptcy Handbook
with Betty Weule.
I am married to Karen (since 1987) and have
3 daughters Melanie, Hannah and Jasmine.
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