Jeffrey Heath (Australian disability advocate)

Jeffrey Stewart Heath AM (15 October 1955 – 7 March 2004) was an Australian Paralympic archer and a disability publisher and advocate.

Personal

Heath was born on 15 October 1955 at Glenelg, South Australia.[1] From the age of seven he used a wheelchair due to bone cancer. In 1979, Heath completed an Associate Diploma (Recreation), Salisbury CAE and in 1983 he completed a Bachelor of Arts (Recreation), University of South Australia.[2] He was married to Yvonne Baillie and they have a daughter.[3] He died of mesothelioma on 7 March 2004.[4]

Sporting career

Heath competed in archery and dartchery at the 1976 Summer Paralympic Games in Toronto, Canada. He finished eleventh in the Men's Novice Round Open, ninth in the Men's Pairs Open and eighth in the Mixed Novice and Tetraplegics Round Team A-C.[5]

Employment

Heath's employment involved working on disability and inclusion issues for organisations based in Adelaide. He was the editor of Link, a leasing Australian disability magazine.[6] He was the founder of the Disability Information Resource Centre in Adelaide.[6] From 1988 to 1993, he was Executive Director of Disabled Peoples International (DPI) South Australia.[6]

Politics

Heath was a member of the Australian Democrats, representative for South Australia on the national executive and national journal editor.[4] He unsuccessfully stood for the electorate of Norwood at the 1982 South Australian state election.[4] At the 2001 Australian Federal Election, he was number two on the South Australian Senate ticket and was not elected.[4]

Recognition
  • 1972 - Queen Scout Award, a Rotary youth leadership award [4]
  • 1981 - Selected to lead Australia's first street march for people with disabilities in Sydney in 1981.[4]
  • 1996 - Churchill Fellowship to study the production and exhibition of goods and services for the disabled - Germany, United Kingdom and United States.[4]
  • 2000 - Torch bearer Sydney 2000 Paralympics.[4]
  • 2003 - Member of the Order of Australia for service to people with disabilities as an advocate for improved services and through the publication of Link magazine.[7]

References
  1. "Paralympian never let a chance go by". The Australian: 16. 20 March 2004.
  2. "Resume". Jeff Heath website. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  3. "Link turns 30" (PDF). Link Disability Magazine. August 2010: 10.
  4. "Address by Senator Bartlett". Australian Parliament Senate Hansard. 8 March 2004. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  5. "J. Heath". International Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  6. Encyclopedia of Disability, Volume 1. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. 2006. p. 850.
  7. "Jeffrey Stewart Heath". It's An Honour Website. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
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