Aspect Advisory Council

The Board of Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) decided in June 2017 to develop the Aspect Advisory Council comprising up to nine Autistic people.

The purpose of the Council is:

To talk about things that are important to Autistic people
To make sure the voices of Autistic people are heard in decision making at Aspect

The Aspect Advisory Council, is an essential part of the governance of Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect). The Council provides independent advice to the Board and Aspect’s Executive team on governance issues, including the management of corporate strategy and risk, based on the Members’ own insights and experiences. The terms of reference for the Council are part of Aspect’s Regulations which can be found on Aspect’s website.

The framework for the Council was based on work done by Dimensions, a leading disability organisation in the United Kingdom. They had tried a range of approaches to engage with people with disabilities in their organisation’s governance and found this to be the most successful. Aspect acknowledges the assistance we have received from Dimensions to form our Advisory Council.

The current membership of the council is: Spencer Thew, Krishna Sadhana, Harrison Fischer, Jac den Houting, Elise Muller, Paul Micallef and Andrew Radcliff.

Paul Micallef is an autistic life coach, speaker, facilitator and trainer, with a passion for neurodiversity and emotional intelligence. Leveraging his own lived experience, as well as insights gained from many years working with the autistic community, Paul seeks to promote emotional and psychological safety by bridging the empathy gap between mainstream and neurodivergent culture.

Krishna Sadhana is a "not quite" retired autistic social worker who has primarily worked in the field of disability, coronial services and HIV/AIDS. She has over 20 years' experience working with autistic young people and their families. She is also a loving mother to five children, two of whom are also autistic. She was 2016 ACT Senior Woman of the Year for her ongoing support to vulnerable women and recipient of several "Pride" awards for her contributions to the LGBTIQ+ community. Currently Krishna is a member of Aspect's Advisory Council and also provides input into research projects and awareness training/advice to external organisations such as museums and workplaces. But her passion lies in the concept of "nothing about us without us", believing that services for autistic people need to be co-designed in partnership, based on establishing and maintaining meaningful and valued relationships. Krishna's special interests are sudden death and 1950s UK radio.

Elise Muller is a successful Indigenous elite athlete and Autism Advocate. Elise is an Autistic Specialist Lived Experience Consultant, CEO and Founder of Active Support Services Autism Consultancy. She engages in mentoring, and public speaking. Elise is also a Board Member of Australia and New Zealand Autistic Advocacy ASAN and is an elite athlete and AFL first ever Disability Ambassador player.