Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to acknowledge a tremendous constituent in my electorate of Robertson, Roslyn Sackley, who has recently been awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Sydney. Roslyn is a proud First Nations woman. She lives with a disability and was diagnosed as being blind during her childhood. She's not let her disability get in the way of her living a vibrant and fulfilling life, especially when it comes to her work supporting her community. Roslyn was one of the first Indigenous Australians living with a disability to graduate from an Australian tertiary institution, taking out her first degree in the 1970s. She has subsequently dedicated her life to education, specialising in Aboriginal studies, and has supported the national Indigenous disability network, as well as the blind and deaf communities across Australia.

In 2019, she was awarded the Trevor Parmenter Award for Excellence in the category of Lifetime Achievement Advocacy. Based on the New South Wales Central Coast, Roslyn has established her own microbusiness called AccessAble Braille Enterprises, helping people live with blindness and low vision to better understand the world around them. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Roslyn for her lifetime of advocacy and education, supporting not only Australians only living with a disability but also those who are our First Nations people.