Dr Mhairi Cowden was appointed as the Department of Communities’ new Deputy Director General (DDG), Disability in January. She leads the division responsible for driving the Western Australian government’s vision that people with disability, and those who share their lives, are engaged and empowered in a community where everyone belongs.
A few months into the role, Mhairi sat down for a chat about her life, advocacy, and goals for the Disability division.
Born in Kambalda, Mhairi spent her early years in WA’s Goldfields before moving to Auckland in New Zealand, and then Perth with her Scottish parents. Childhood dreams of becoming a doctor or astronaut soon shifted to advocacy at university.
“I was studying political theory and philosophy when Amnesty International asked if I could write for their newsletter on why children have rights,” Mhairi said.
“I quickly realised it's incredibly complicated, and that led me to do a PhD and a lot of advocacy work.”
Mhairi’s interest in the intersection of children's rights and disability came later while working at the Department of the Premier and Cabinet (DPC).
“We were looking at what would become legislation when the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was introduced, and I discovered powerful concepts around choice and control and dignity in risk,” she said.
Over her 15-year career, Mhairi has written academic papers, articles and books. The one she is most proud of is the ‘The National Disability Insurance Scheme: An Australian Public Policy Experiment’, published in 2021.
“That was a collaboration with a DPC colleague, Claire McCullagh,” Mhairi said. “It is the first of its kind to describe what the scheme is and its history comprehensively. The book also highlights people’s lived experiences and has some wonderful contributions from people like Jody Barney, a Birri-Gubba, Urangan woman who identifies as a deaf.
Taking on the role of Deputy Director General, Disability has provided an opportunity to make a difference and shape goals for WA.
“My first goal for 2025 is getting the Disability Division’s foundations right in terms of having a clear shared vision of what we do, and clarity on the functions we undertake and the services we provide to the community,” Mhairi said.
“The second goal is to ramp up and do engagement well with people with disability, the broader sector and our stakeholders, because there's a lot of reform going on in the disability ecosystem.
“The third goal is to leverage opportunities from these big reform moments; to build what the system could look like into the future.
“How do we want to support people with disability, not just as Communities but other government departments as well?
“Whether it's child protection, emergency management, or homelessness, every single service we offer has a touch point with people with disability.”
Having a daughter who up until recently was an NDIS participant provided new insights as the work Mhairi was doing “became quite real”.
“Treating my daughter as being at the centre of decision making has been really important. So, I'm not coming at this work from a purely academic perspective – it’s about people and experiences,” she said.
When asked what the best piece of advice she’s received was, Mhairi replied, “The most important thing that you need to do is make a decision and then follow through and make that decision work.”
