DAVID BRADY

Country Born and Raised

Born with a profound hearing loss, David was raised in Armidale in New England, NSW.  He is a proud Father of a baby girl, partner to Maria a proud Uncle of two nephews and retains strong country values from a strong family unit and upbringing.   

 

Connections with Communities 

For six years David played and trained almost every weekday morning on Manly Beach with the Northern Beaches Volleyball Association and Beach Volleyball Manly.  This a large young vibrant local community which consists of 75 %of new Australians, all who chose us to live, work, and grow Australian families. They chose us. 

David's partner Maria, moved to Australia and lived for 7 years in the Warringah area.  They now are planning to raise their young family in the area.  Like any new expanding family, David and Maria are looking for the right place, (at the right price!) for them and their daughter. 

 

Hearing Loss 

Since birth, David has lived with a severe to profound hearing loss of 90 decibels (90% loss) in both ears.  At ten months old, David first heard sound through the assistance of two hearing aids, which enabled his determined parents (both teachers), to teach him to hear and speak and learned Auslan (sign language) as a communication backup.   

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Barrier Breaker 

David is the first-ever deaf student to finish year 12 in Armidale, then going on to complete University, graduating with a Master of Science. Achieved despite many (well meaning) people informing David and his family that no deaf person will ever achieve these feats.  In 2019 he became a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).   In short, David is a fighting ground breaker and knows no task is impossible or insurmountable.

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Leader of 3.5 million Australians

As a volunteer, David is the current and longest serving Chairperson of the Deafness Forum of Australia, an organisation representing 3.5 million Australians with a hearing loss or a deaf (the majority do not class hearing loss as a disability but a health issue).  In 2021, Deafness Forum of Australia achieved National Health Peak status, a goal set out by David as one of his key priorities under a decade ago.   Regarded as one of the most successful leaders in the disability sector with liberal values.

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Diversity and Disability 

He believes the Morrison Government will be complemented with his valuable and unique insights and will deliver a successful National Disability Insurance Scheme and deliver the National Disability Strategy, impacting 5 million Australians, their families, and their communities.  David acknowledges there are areas of improvement in the NDIS, and he will be advocating our Government and the NDIA to look at possible changes to improve the efficiency and impact of the scheme for millions.  When elected David will be the advocate for people with a disability (ABS , their families, and services so they are not left behind in the National Disability strategy at local, state, and federal level. 

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Championing our Youth 

David was the Chief Executive of Hear For You, which now has been integrated into The Shepherd Centre continuing the work of  providing mentoring programs for deaf teenagers and inspiring young adult Australians to share their gift of entrepreneurship and ways to achieve in life overcoming challenges.   David is now Director of Community Engagement, tasked with designing the first full disability support pathway from birth to completing school for deaf children and their families.   For over 20 years he has interacted and worked as a professional and volunteer with young Australians from all backgrounds and demographics through the community, sports, disability, the deafness sectors.  Once elected, David will be committed to ensuring youth access the opportunities provided from our Government to realise their potential in life. 

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National Sports Representative, Passion for Community Sports

Represented Australia at the 2005 Deaflympic Games in water polo and was selected to represent Australia again in Beach Volleyball at the 2019 Asia Pacific Deaf Games in Hong Kong, and again for the 2021 Deaflympic Games in Brazil, both of which was cancelled due to the ongoing unrest. David is also a successful state representative Water Polo coach of youth and adult teams.   David is a qualified Water Polo and Hockey coach, having coached community to representative teams at all levels. 

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A leader who brings people together

A natural leader, agile change-maker, strategic and, lateral thinker, that places value and significance on people and the way both individuals and groups collaborate.  

A successful revenue generator, cost saver, embraces innovation, and a cultural change maker. Proven skills in connecting and engaging with members, clients, corporate, industry leaders, and governments. Highly adept at creating positive successful outcomes as a result of his passion for innovation and entrepreneurial mindset.

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Liberal Party runs through Family 

Following in the footsteps of his late Great Uncle Sir Nigel Bowen QC, a former Minister of the Commonwealth, David became a member of the Liberal Party in 2011.  David is currently the branch president of the Waverton-Wollstonecraft branch of the Liberal Party and is the founder and President of the inaugural Disability Policy Branch of the NSW Liberal Party, a first branch focused on disability policy of any political party in Australia.  

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Natural Advocate 

David has a proven record of successful advocacy from local, state, federal, and international level.   The successes were made in both his Chairperson and CEO roles, as well as from his Sport Executive days.  His record includes working and understanding at the first approach from his community and members, to working through the problem or situation, then identifying the relevant Minister, Government Department, and other decision makers to deliver.  His biggest wins to date is achieving National Health Peak status for the deafness sector, in 2022, and putting Australia's case of hearing health to the World Health Organisation in 2019. 

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Inspiration to run for public office

Inspired by Australia's 25th Prime Minister John Howard AC, a Waverton-Wollstonecraft branch member, who has a hearing loss and is the patron of Deafness Forum of Australia and Hear For You, David ran for Local Council at the 2017 North Sydney Council elections. 

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History Maker for the Party

David is the first severe-profoundly deaf Australian and NDIS participant to contest a major political party pre-selection for a Federal seat in Australia.   He ensured both of our NSW and Commonwealth Governments took the lead in creating the first Parliamentary Friends of Hearing Health and deafness groups 2017, bringing industry, providers, consumers, and our elected representatives together.    David led and initiated the inaugural Disability Policy Branch 2020 with 48 members, developing it from a local branch formal policy motion, securing multi-branch and our MP’s support, to a formal submission to the NSW Liberal Party State Executive.   

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In short, David delivers.