Dr Ben Gauntlett - new Disability Discrimination Commissioner
Dr Ben Gauntlett commenced his term as Disability Discrimination Commissioner on May 7, 2019. Dr Gauntlett replaces Mr Alastair McEwin who was the Disability Discrimination Commissioner since 2016.
Ben is a quadriplegic following a schoolboy rugby union accident aged 16 in Perth, Western Australia. He has the experience of a person living with a disability and accessing care in Australia (Western Australia, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory), the United Kingdom and the United States of America. He will be a participant in the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Prior to commencing as Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Ben worked as a barrister in Western Australia and Victoria with a broad ranging practice. He has also worked as an associate to the Honourable Justice Kenneth Hayne AC at the High Court of Australia, as Counsel Assisting the Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth and taught law in Australia and the United Kingdom.
Ben holds undergraduate degrees in Law (Hons) and Commerce from the University of Western Australia, and was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for Western Australia in 2003. He also holds a Master of Laws from New York University and a D.Phil. in Law from the University of Oxford.
In 2015, Ben completed the Perth to Rottnest swim in a team with three friends.