Our Team

Matt has a long history working within the Community Media sector, most recently as CEO of Melbourne’s Community TV Station, C31 and Secretary of the Australian Community Television Alliance. In his time in the Community Media sector Matt worked with communities to assist them develop content for broadcast with the aim of celebrating and sharing unique cultures, increasing representation of diversity on our screens and creating opportunities for emerging screen practitioners.

Matt led the Community TV sector’s transformation from traditional to digital broadcasting, supporting diverse communities to use online platforms to create content for their audiences. Matt is passionate about the power of media to increase social cohesion through authentic portrayals of diversity. He holds a Masters of Business Administration from Swinburne University.

Eliza Hull is an award-winning musician, writer, and disability advocate. She
created the ABC series ‘We’ve Got This’ about parenting with disability, which later became an international book of the same name. Eliza is a regular writer for ABC News and wrote and produced the ABC Kids show ‘And Then Something Changed’ about a child with a disability. She is also the co-writer of the award-winning children’s book ‘Come Over to My House’, which authentically represents various families with disabilities. Eliza has spoken at Parliament House, for the NDIS, DARU, and at the Human Rights Conference ‘Free and Equal.’ She is passionate about advocating for an accessible music industry and consults with organisations including Bigsound, The ARIAS, and APRA AMCOS.
Currently, Eliza is the Disability Arts Reporter for ABC Melbourne and the Program Coordinator at the Attitude Foundation.

Emily Dash is an emerging writer, actor, producer and speaker. She graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts (Sociology) (Gender Studies) in 2013, achieving First Class Honours in Sociology.

Her debut short film “I Am Not A Work of Art” was part of Metro Screen’s 2015 Screenability program. An early development of this piece was exhibited at the 2015 Adelaide Film Festival. Her second film was “The Cards I’m Dealt” (2015), shortlisted for Tropfest Short Film Festival 2016. Emily wrote and starred in both these works. Another film credit is Johanna Garvin’s short film “The Milky Pop Kid” (Highly Commended for Writing - Sydney Film Festival 2017), which she co-wrote and starred in.

Emily was the sole writer of “Groundhog Night” directed by Genevieve Clay-Smith for Bus Stop Films, which premiered at Sydney Film Festival 2020 and has since been screened at numerous Australian and international film festivals. Emily starred alongside Robyn Nevin, John Batchelor, Susan Prior, Genevieve Clay-Smith and Chris Haywood. It is Screenability’s most successful film having had both national and international success. Emily is Scriptwriter and Project Manager for Maitree House. She also articipated in AFTRS State Talent Camp 2019 with “Pearly Gates”, participated in AFTRS National Talent Camp 2020, and Screen Australia SBS Digital Originals 2020 with “Freewheelers”. Emily completed a writing and research internship with Matchbox Pictures in 2017, from which she was credited as a consultant on ABC drama "The Heights”.

Emily wrote the episode “Oliver” for the second season of our documentary mini-series Perspective Shift.

Emma Bennison has over twenty years’ experience as a CEO and non-executive Director. Passionate about finding innovative solutions to challenging problems, Emma creates collegial organisational cultures that attract great people, achieve great results and nurture tomorrow’s leaders.

Currently, Emma is Chief Innovation Officer with Life Without barriers, where she provides empowering, inspiring and collaborative leadership that drives the development and implementation of strategic change and engagement initiatives in relation to disability advocacy and community services delivery across Life Without Barriers and beyond-Prior to commencing her current role, Emma completed five years as CEO of Blind Citizens Australia, revitalising the national representative organisation of Australians who are blind or vision impaired. Emma also chairs the Attitude Foundation, which is shaping a new understanding of disability through the promotion and development of media content that provides realistic portrayals of people with disability. She also serves on Tasmania’s Ministerial Arts and Cultural Advisory Council.

In 2020, Emma won the national Aspire Award for community development and advocacy and was the recipient of a full MBA scholarship for outstanding not-for-profit leaders from the Australian Scholarships Foundation and Kaplan Business School.

A singer and song-writer, in 2015, Emma released her first solo album, Fine Line, which reflects on her experiences as a person with disability and as an advocate.

Belle brings valuable experience as an industry researcher in the disability sector, drawing on her background in government inquiries and commissions. She served as Assistant Director at the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation of People with Disability and contributed to developing the National Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Strategy for the National Mental Health Commission. She holds a degree in Political Economy from the University of Sydney. Currently, Belle leads a project at The Achieve Foundation to promote inclusive attitudes about disability in Australia. Outside of her professional endeavours, Belle is an artist who reimagines the stories we tell and how we communicate them. She explores innovative ways of communication, primarily through printmaking and painting.

Johanna Garvin completed a Bachelor of Communications and Media at the University of Notre Dame Australia in 2016. She majored in Film and Social Justice.

In 2015 she completed a Diploma of Screen and Media at Metro Screen, which enhanced her understanding of telling stories though film and developed her understanding of important skills, including producing, directing, writing, editing and working collaboratively with a team. In 2016 Johanna interned at Screen NSW with the Production Attraction Incentives Team.

In 2017 Johanna’s short film, The Milky Pop Kid - made with funding from Information and Cultural Exchange, Accessible Arts and Screen NSW – was selected to be screened at the Sydney Film Festival, it was Highly Commended and was shown as part of Screenability. The comedic film, made as a ‘mockumentary’ was also selected for the ReelAbilities program in New York City and the Other Film Festival in Melbourne. That same year Johanna started working as the Communications Officer at Create NSW.

Film has been a passion for Johanna since she was a small child. At an early age she discovered the black and white movies of Shirley Temple. This passion continued when she discovered the movies of Elvis Presley – her favorite star. She is still an avid film goer.

Johanna sees filmmaking as a vehicle to share stories. Her commitment to Social Justice strongly influences the themes of her films. Johanna’s goal is to share unique and interesting stories about the human condition, the differences and similarities; the challenges and successes; the good, the bad and the ugly. With this passion she hopes to give audiences films which provide a more compassionate lens through which to see the world.

Danielle is the Head of Legal, Group Procurement at ANZ where she has worked for over a decade. Danielle has also spent time working as a Senior Lawyer at iSelect Ltd and Allens Arthur Robinson. Prior to joining the Board of Directors Danielle worked as General Manager of Attitude Foundation (on secondment from ANZ), assisting with the design and implementation of the first Emerging Voices program with Channel 31 in 2022, as well as other Attitude Foundation initiatives.

Danielle is a mother of two young children and is passionate about education and community, and a champion of equality of opportunity, diversity and inclusion. This drive has seen Danielle involved with other initiatives within ANZ including the ‘ANZ Spectrum Work Experience Program’, the Brotherhood of St Laurence ‘Given the Chance’ program providing employment opportunities to refugees, and the recruitment of legal interns from the Australian Network on Disability. In 2021 Danielle was a recipient of one of ANZ’s Abilities Network Star Awards. In 2022 Danielle travelled to the East Kimberley with ANZ and a leading international law firm to deliver a series of workshops with local Aboriginal corporation Binarri-binyja yarrawoo and community on building strong partnerships and contract law/negotiation skills.

Danielle has a Bachelor of Arts (Politics and Sociology) and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from Monash University and has completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors ‘Foundations of Directorship’ course.

With 19 years journalism experience investigating and reporting compelling stories to local and international audiences at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Rebecca brings a wealth of knowledge to the team. Presently she crafts communications and advocacy campaigns for organisations wanting to connect with communities, governments and stakeholders, generating momentum for change and reform. Highly experienced in public and media relations, advisory roles and journalism.

Frank has been in business since 1980. His specialities include risk management, risk assessment, enterprise risk management, mediation of intra-company conflicts, mentoring, corporate governance, behavioural finance, neuroeconomics, historical and philosophical cultural effects on business practices, high level quantitative skills, statistics, mathematics.

Frank is an Honorary Associate Professor at Macquarie University's Applied Finance Centre.

A campaigner for people with disabilities since he was 3. He started by fundraising for what was then the Royal Blind Society (now Vision Australia) and spun the chocolate wheel with Sir Robert Helpmann at a fundraiser for the Victor Maxwell Kindergarten.

Graeme was Australia’s Disability Discrimination Commissioner from 2005 to July 2014. He helped to draft the Disability Discrimination Act in 1991. He was Australia’s delegate to the United Nations and drafted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. A lawyer by profession, graduating from the University of Sydney and the College of Law, Graeme has been a board member since he was 21. He was previously chair of Vision Australia and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Graeme's passion for promoting and upholding the rights of people with disability is at the core of Attitude Foundations work.