In late December, Tony Jones Policy and Advocacy Manager, sadly left SCIA after over 13 years at the company.
Tony has been a fierce advocate for systemic change in New South Wales since he started when SCIA was called the Australian Quadriplegics Association (AQA), particularly around issues regarding better access to the NDIS and fairer inclusion and disability awareness for people with disabilities when it came to air travel.
In the last couple of years, Tony has expanded the Sydney systemic advocacy team to include representative advocacy so people in non-metropolitan areas could be better included in our Advcoacy work across New South Wales.
In an 1992 article for AQA’s publication Quad Wrangle, Tony wrote a fascinating account of how AQA began and a powerful story about its first 25 years of existence. One of the goals of AQA at the time was to “build on the Advocacy role… to influence and shape the agenda of government at all levels”. Tony should feel very proud that he has been able to support and grow the role that systemic advocacy has played and continues to play in SCIA for people with spinal cord injuries and neurological conditions across New South Wales.
Over the years, AQA’s advocacy role helped create awareness of the needs of people with physical disability and played a significant part in obtaining many of the services that exist today.
We know that Tony will continue to be passionate about raising awareness of the needs of people with physical disability no matter where he goes. His work has played a significant role in SCIA’s advocacy footprint, obtaining many of the services that exist today.
Thank you Tony, for your hard work, you will be greatly missed.
