Parenting with Disability Group

The Parenting with Disability group has been established to identify and address the unique challenges and needs of new and expectant parents who either have a disability themselves or are parenting a child with a disability.

The term "disability" refers to visible or invisible disabilities, neurodivergence, or chronic illness. Gidget Foundation Australia will use the information and insights gained from the group to deliver appropriate support and advocacy, ensuring all parents have positive perinatal mental health outcomes.

The group will meet several times each year to advance its commitment to improving accessibility and availability of services by building awareness, advocating for inclusive policies, fostering collaboration among stakeholders, creating partnerships, and developing customised resources and programs where relevant.
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Our Mission

To ensure families who are Disabled, Deaf or Chronically ill have equitable access to resources, support and services, throughout their early parenting journey.

Resources

Factsheet

Parenting with Disability

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Factsheet

Parenting a child with Disability

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"I am delighted to be able to Chair the Parenting with Disability Group on behalf of Gidget Foundation Australia, and the volunteers that are generously contributing their insights. I am a strong advocate for inclusion and equality and have been distressed by the many stories from the disability community, from both parents who themselves have a disability, or are parenting a child with a disability, of the additional challenges and isolation they have faced as they navigate their parenting journey. This group will focus on ensuring that Gidget Foundation Australia provides equitable access to resources, support and services, helping to create a world where all parents can experience raising a family without unnecessary barriers."

Rachael Javes, Chair of the Gidget Foundation Australia Parenting with Disability Group

Group Members

Arabella

Gibson

Chief Executive Officer

For over 8 years, Arabella Gibson has been the CEO of Gidget Foundation Australia, a national not for profit mental health organisation supporting the emotional wellbeing of expectant and new parents and their families.

Briana

Blackett

Briana is a journalist and the mother of two children with autism, and she is passionate about changing the way the media includes and represents people with disabilities.

Cammi

Murrup-Stewart

Dr. Cammi Murrup-Stewart is an Aboriginal woman and the daughter of a Stolen Generations mother, born and raised on Wurundjeri Country.

Dr Lisa

Morgan

Clinical Psychologist

Lisa is a Clinical Psychologist based in Brisbane who has trained and worked in both the public and private mental health systems in Canada, the UK, and Australia.

Eliza

Hull

Eliza Hull is an award-winning musician, writer, and disability advocate. Eliza is a proud disabled woman with a physical disability called Charcot-Marie-Tooth.

Hollie

Swanton

Mental Health Occupational Therapist

Hollie Swanton (she/her) is an Endorsed Mental Health Occupational Therapist, Yoga Teacher, perinatal mental health practitioner, disability advocate, and mother of three (one in her heart and two in her arms). With nearly two decades of experience, she supports individuals and families through significant life transitions across mental health, rehabilitation, and women’s health. She works as a clinician and clinical supervisor at Gidget Foundation Australia and is a member of the Parenting with Disability Working Group, contributing to both direct client care and workforce capability in inclusive perinatal practice. Hollie is an embodied, relational, trauma-sensitive and identity-focused therapist. Her work is grounded in occupational therapy and informed by attachment theory, nervous system science and matrescence. Drawing on her background in yoga and somatic practice, she integrates trauma-informed care, sensory and body-based approaches, pelvic health knowledge, and evidence-based therapies including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). As a Circle of Security facilitator, she incorporates attachment-informed, dyadic and family systems perspectives to strengthen parent–infant relationships and support secure connection. She brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her work, fostering compassionate and neuroaffirming spaces for parents navigating disability, pregnancy loss, and the complexities of early parenting. Hollie is passionate about advocating for accessible, individualised and strengths-based support so parents feel empowered, connected and confident within the broader social systems in which they live and parent.