Our people

Master in Business Administration, Post Graduate Certificate in Public Sector Management and Chartered Manager

Amelia Condi is the Summer Foundation’s Head of Government Relations and Policy. She leads the organisation’s policy and strategic influence and works alongside all levels of government to enable better outcomes for younger people with disability.

In leading the Government Relations and Policy Team, Amelia focuses on shaping policy reform, developing policy solutions and influencing future opportunities for younger people with disability.

Amelia is an experienced leader in social policy, strategy, policy implementation, transformation and analysis. She joined the Summer Foundation at the beginning of 2020 after a 15-year career in federal and state government. Amelia has worked on several significant social policy reforms across disability, housing and homelessness, mental health, family policy and welfare reform. She has worked closely with Aboriginal elders and communities to shape and deliver policy initiatives towards self-determination.

Amelia has a passion for social policy issues and is driven to make an impact.

Bachelor of Laws,
Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice

Julie-Anne holds the role of Policy Manager and is responsible for developing policy positions and government submissions, and coordinating the Summer Foundation’s stakeholder and government engagement. She also contributes to innovative initiatives that help Summer Foundation achieve their strategic goals. Projects Julie-Anne has recently been involved with include co-authoring a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS on current Scheme implementation and forecasting for the NDIS.

Julie-Anne commenced her professional career as a practising lawyer. After 2 years in the legal profession, she joined the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) where she worked in a variety of policy-related roles, including managing the Pre-Fellowship education policy framework, investigating appeals, complaints, and academic and professional misconduct reports.

Master of Public Policy and Management

Jessie supports the Government Relations and Policy team to shape policy reform and develop strategic policy solutions to improve outcomes for people with disability. She is responsible for developing policy position papers, government submissions and engaging and collaborating with stakeholders. She brings together the organisation’s expertise and lived experience to work towards Summer Foundation’s strategic goals.

Jessie is working on policy position statements on Supported Independent Living (SIL) budget growth and impacts, the robust Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) model and other emerging policy issues. She is also building relationships with Federal government and other stakeholders.

Jessie has a background in health policy and budgeting within government roles, both locally and overseas. She has also worked in operations at an NDIS provider, and as a support worker in an employment training program for people with disability. Jessie is strong advocate for the rights of people with disability.

Bachelor of Social Science

Terry Priest joins the Summer Foundation as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Government Relations and Policy team. Her portfolio of work will help stop young people with disability entering aged care and improve housing options more broadly. Government relations is a key focus in her role.

Terry has worked in policy and research for more than 20 years and seeks to bring about change through delivering better programs and systems for participants. She brings extensive experience to the Summer Foundation, working at all tiers of government designing and implementing programs and reform in a range of portfolios. Most recently she has spent 3 years at the Disability Royal Commission focusing on housing and homelessness.

She has worked on funded research in the tertiary sector, reporting and making recommendations on key government policies, including conditions for women and children in immigration detention, welfare reform and First Nations self-determination. She is a keen collaborator with a passion for working on projects and with organisations that prioritise lived experience and person-centred approaches to solutions.

Master of Social Policy, Bachelor of Arts; Honours in Philosophy and Political Science

Matthew Welwood is responsible for research and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, policy reports and case studies related to disability, health and housing.

He also works with stakeholders to collect data to inform and identify policy; drafting a variety of documents including policy submissions, briefing papers and presentations.

Matthew began his career as a Research Officer at RMIT. Since then, he has worked at the Brotherhood of St Laurence within the Disability Division of the Inclusive Communities team. Matthew then moved to the Aged Care division, engaging with emerging policy around COVID-19 and conducted another literature review around the state of aged care within Australia.

Bachelor of Social Work (108 units), Diploma of Project Management, AICD Governance Foundations for NFP Directors

Trish Spargo is a Senior Policy and Engagement Advisor in the Government Relations and Policy Team. Trish is committed to bringing a strong evidence base and the lived experience of people with disability to government to shape policy solutions that will stop young people with disability being forced to live in residential aged care and enable them to choose how, where and with whom they live.

Trish comes to the Summer Foundation as a skilled disability policy and strategy specialist with over 20 years of experience in various disability service delivery, project, planning and policy roles across state government and statutory organisations in South Australia. She also lives with disability.

Before joining the Summer Foundation, Trish worked at the SA Attorney General’s Department as the Senior Policy Advisor in the SA Government Disability Royal Commission Response Unit.

Trish is based in Adelaide and has a focus on government relations in South Australia and the Northern Territory.