Former Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Ben Gauntlett
Commission – General
Dr Ben Gauntlett
Disability Discrimination Commissioner: 2019 - 2023
Dr Ben Gauntlett was appointed for a five-year term as Disability Discrimination Commissioner on 7 May 2019. His term ended on 30 June 2023. During his term, Ben’s purpose was to increase access to meaningful employment opportunities for people with disability, notably through the IncludeAbility project, and increase access to accessible housing for people with disability.
Ben sat on a number of advisory committees, including as Chair of Australia’s Disability Strategy Advisory Council, and a member of the National Accessible Transport Taskforce and the Advisory Committee on Health Emergency Response to COVID-19 for People with Disability. Ben also led the Commission’s engagement with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability on issues of employment, inclusive education and criminal justice.
As Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Ben has travelled to Geneva to report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on Australia’s progress under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and attended the Conference of State Parties to the CRPD in New York in 2019 and 2023.
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.
He also holds a Master of Laws from New York University and a D.Phil. in Law from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.
From 1 July 2023 he commenced in the role of Deputy Commissioner for the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Photo credit: Francis Burt Chambers