Laura has been involved in disability advocacy for over two years and as a young person with a disability, Laura is excited to have more of a say in her local community.

She recently worked on a co-design which allowed her to look into the world of community based advocacy and how important it is to look at all the different areas of advocacy in government providing greater perspective as someone who mostly deals with state based issues.

Laura currently works for the Youth Disability Advocacy Network (YDAN), the peak body of youth disability advocacy in the state, as a committee member/secretary and has experience with decision making, the creation of minutes and agendas, social media engagement and reviewing submissions made by the organisation to effect change.

She has worked with the CJU (Climate Justice Union) and PWDWA (People With Disabilities WA) in two different co-designs for community empowerment and for climate disaster and preparedness for people with disability including making easy-to-read materials for the event of a climate disaster.

Laura has also offered feedback on the young persons mental health paper created by the mental health commission as a part of a summit, where she advocated for the importance of including support for students with a chronic illness as most students with a chronic illness have a higher risk of developing a mental illness. This was a great opportunity to share her lived experience and have discussions with relevant stakeholders in the WA government about making schools more accessible for the students with a disability and chronic illness.

Laura looks forward to sharing this experience with our growing Shire.