Natalie Graham

Natalie Graham is a committed disability advocate with a strong focus on ensuring that people with intellectual disability are given opportunities to have a say in the programs and services that are meant to support them. Natalie believes that everyone has the right to be listened to and it is only through listening to people with intellectual disabilities, that we can improve health and disability services in Australia.

Natalie’s work and life experiences inform all that she strives to achieve towards inclusion for people with Down syndrome and intellectual disability, especially in health. Natalie is a Registered Nurse of 35 years, holds a master’s degree in public health from Deakin University, majoring in Health Promotion and is a mother of 4 daughters. In 2004 Natalie and her husband welcomed their third daughter Henrietta into their family. Henrietta was born with Down syndrome which ignited Natalie’s involvement with the Down syndrome community in Australia and internationally. Driven by an awareness of the inequalities within society for people with disability and the belief that “if you want change to happen, you need to be a part of making it happen” Natalie joined the board of Down Syndrome Victoria (DSV) in 2005 and later sat as chair of DSV (2011-2016). 

In 2020 Natalie joined the team at Down Syndrome Australia as the Health Program Manager, a role which combines all her experiences. Natalie and her team of 10 self-advocate Health Ambassadors with Down syndrome, educate current and future health professionals towards inclusion in healthcare. Natalie supports and empowers her team to educate others through lived experience.  

Natalie’s Churchill Fellowship is to investigate programs that empower people with intellectual disability to improve health outcomes.