Rohan Symonds

Rohan Symonds believes that he has the ability to help others and is passionate about combining disability research with the lived experiences of others with disabilities. He lives with a disability himself and knows the challenges. He is also committed to upholding his beliefs that the lived experience lives of people with disabilities can be improved and that advocacy is a way of achieving this. Rohan exercises his vocation for advocacy in other areas including mental health, education and service access for young people.

Rohan works for CP-Achieve, where he is a Member of their young adult Advisory Group. His involvement helps guide mainstream research in relation to addressing the social inequities of young adults living with Cerebral Palsy. Rohan is also involved in other research projects affiliated with CP-Achieve, one of which is his Fellowship Project. Outside of his CP-Achieve role, Rohan also works at headspace, as a Member of their National Youth Reference Group. He is an active member of the Group which aims to guide and improve the quality and delivery of headspace mental health services across Australia.

In another capacity, Rohan works at Latrobe Youth Space, where he serves as a Member of their Youth Programs Committee and Board. As a Member of the Committee, he is tasked with advising on programming and areas for improvement in serving the young people of the Latrobe Valley. As a Member of the Board, he provides input into the Governance and transparency of the organisation’s operation. Rohan’s University studies are aiding his knowledge in these areas of Social Work.

Rohan is currently studying a Bachelor of Community and Human Services at Federation University Australia.

Project TEAM’s goal is to assist youth and young adults with disabilities to identify barriers to their community participation and teach them how to resolve them using an empowering, ground up approach. Rohan chose Project TEAM as his Fellowship Project as it combines his vocation of advocacy, research and has a firm belief it will make a difference. "