Each member of our team is passionate about the role we play in making a positive impact in the community. Learn more about the people behind the passion and what makes them proud to be part of the work we do.
Introducing Fraser
Hello, I’m Fraser. I was born in London and moved to Melbourne when I was a kid. I love the outdoors, all forms of creative expression and spending time with the people that are close to me. After school, while completing university, I spent a fair bit of time traveling around Europe. When I was fresh out of uni I moved to Amsterdam for a year, where I entered the workforce as a graphic designer.
I’ve always been fascinated with different countries, cultures and people and have enjoyed any chance to engage with anything and anyone I can learn from and grow from. Through relationships and exposure to the world, I believe I began to form my own concepts of morality, leading to my interest in human rights and social justice.
Stepping in various directions I have ended up here at the Information Access Group – somewhere I truly see and feel the impact I can have on people. For me, social enterprise is where I belong.
What is your role at the Information Access Group?
I am a Graphic Designer and Project Manager. I help oversee the quality of the Easy Read products we produce, as well as occasionally designing them myself. As a project manager, I work mainly with local councils and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, providing them with quotes and ongoing project management of Easy Reads and other accessible content.
Tell us about a project you’ve worked on that you are proud of
Collectively, I have been managing the Easy Read conversions of Disability Action Plans that we have produced as a business over the last couple of years. It’s a pleasure to be able to help councils, governments and other organisations distribute this information to their communities in ways that are accessible for as many people as possible. The feedback we have received for a lot of this work has been inspiring and really goes to show the importance of what we are doing here.
On a more personal level, I find it fascinating to see what different councils are doing around inclusion and representation and it’s made me more considerate and mindful about how I view the places I go. Actions as simple as making HTML webpages accessible for screen reader users, introducing ramps at beaches or starting employment assistance programs can have a significant impact on someone’s quality of life.
What do you find most rewarding about the work you do at the Information Access Group?
We often receive direct feedback from the community about how our work has impacted them. Statistics and numbers are great, but hearing anecdotes from people directly really makes you feel what you’re doing is worth something.
You became a father for the first time in late 2023 – what has that experience been like?
My amazing wife gave birth to our first baby girl in October. It has been without a doubt the most profound experience of my life. Not without its challenges of course. It has taught me how to be more present, more patient and more selfless. It’s so easy to get caught up in small, insignificant problems and stresses in life, but having a child has really grounded me and helped me focus in on what is important.
You enjoy the outdoors and adventuring when you get the chance – what are some of your favourite spots to visit?
I’ve been blessed enough to see – and travel through – some stunning places in this world. From scootering through the quiet, tropical roads of Siargao Island in the Philippines, to hiking around Yosemite National Park, to climbing mountains in the Swiss Alps, to racing around the Scottish Highlands. For me, any combination of the great outdoors, quality memories with family and friends and a touch of adrenaline/danger, I’m set.
You also spent some time traveling through Sri Lanka last year – what was the highlight of your trip?
Hard to put a finger on the best parts of Sri Lanka. Some of the highlights for me were seeing a leopard in the wild, visiting an elephant orphanage and seeing some of the work of Geoffrey Bawa, my favourite architect. High up there for me is also just the simplicity of sitting down with family for some quiet time and home-cooked meals. The freshness of the food there is unlike anything we get here. I am going back again in 2024 for another month and to introduce our daughter to my wife’s family.
Can you tell us about your exploration of woodworking and what you like to make?
Sure! As you can imagine I spend a lot of time in front of screens for my work, so I enjoy finding ways to express creativity with my hands outside of work, away from computers. Over the last few years I’ve become drawn to furniture and homeware design, especially using wood and other natural materials. I’ve made a desk, a dining table and a TV cabinet for my home and I have recently invested in some new equipment to explore more ideas. I love the idea of making things with my bare hands and the challenges and problem solving that comes with having zero idea what I am doing half the time.
You have been described as a ‘fierce advocate for justice’. How has this influenced your work at the Information Access Group?
I just tend to look at things critically. If I notice something that can be improved, I like to address it – this applies inside and outside of work. Through experiences in my life as well as working here at the Information Access Group for a while, I have gradually been developing an eye for noticing when something isn’t as accessible, inclusive or considered as it could be.
We hear you were part of the winning team at the Law Hack 2021: Disability Justice event. What was your team’s winning idea?
Absolutely, it was such an interesting day for me. The National Justice Project holds an event/workshop every year where they gather professionals and students from various fields. People are grouped into teams and given a prompt around justice, with an overarching theme each year. The team has to come up with an actionable legal strategy that addresses that prompt.
I took part in 2021. Our prompt was around achieving a rights-based approach in healthcare, disability support services and aged care, so that people with disability can receive the support they need.
People with disability are disproportionately involved in the justice system, so we wanted to divert people from interactions with police, where possible, to curb this reality. Our proposal was to establish a new branch of 000 to respond to calls involving people with disability in distress, where they may not need conventional emergency services.
This could be a person experiencing a mental health crisis, or someone affected by drugs or alcohol in a way that’s compounded by their disability. The idea was that the public can request a trained professional to attend or respond over the phone, to deescalate a situation and link that person to specialised support services. This would reduce the probability of adverse, dangerous outcomes, resulting in incarceration or harm. We drew from other similar programs offered in Scandinavia, tailored to the social and legal landscape here.
The team proposals were assessed by a panel of judges and our team actually ended up winning.
