University of Sydney professor honoured for a career spent changing lives

Professor Trevor Parmenter, a University of Sydney alumnus and one of the architects of Australia's Disability Services Act, will be inducted into the ACE National Network's Hall of Fame today, Friday 18 June. ACE is the national peak body for Australia's disability employment services network, and is bestowing this honour on upon the Professor in recognition of a lifetime's work in the area of disability.

Professor Parmenter, who established Australia's first innovative work experience programs for people with a development disability back in the early 1970s, is a graduate of the University of Sydney and a Member of the Order of Australia.

He started Australia's first groundbreaking research programs into vocational options for people with developmental and intellectual disability and is noted for his ability to translate research outcomes into practice by the setting up model programs.

Throughout his career, Professor Parmenter has maintained close contacts with people with disabilities, serving on several boards of service organisations, helping establish self-advocacy organisations and serving on the Disability Council of New South Wales.

Professor Parmenter now works with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to encourage countries in the developing world to set up integrated supported employment for people with an intellectual disability.

His induction into the Hall of Fame at the National Conference of the ACE National Network today is the latest in a long list of honours received by Professor Parmenter. He is also a Fellow and Life Member of the Australian College of Educators, a Fellow of the American Association on Mental Retardation, a Fellow of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities and a Fellow of the Australasian Society for the Study of Intellectual Disability.

Professor Emeritus Trevor R. Parmenter AM PhD is the Foundation Chair of Developmental Disability at the Sydney Medical School; the former Director of the Centre for Disabilities Studies, and an Honourary Professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work and the Faculty of Health Sciences.

The ACE Network - an organisation established in 2003 to provide advice, support, training and to promote disability awareness and networking on disability in the statewide Adult Community Education sector - rewards Professor Parmenter for his significant contribution to integrating those with disabilities into the community.

Media enquiries: Stephanie Whitelock, 9351 2261, 0401 711 361, stephanie.whitelock@sydney.edu.au