Speakers Profile - Dr Dinesh Palipana










Travels From:
Gold Coast

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Dinesh was the first quadriplegic medical intern in Queensland. Dinesh is a doctor lawyer disability advocate and researcher. Dinesh move to Australia after being born in Sri Lanka, at the time of civil war.

While in medical school he was involved in a car accident that caused a spinal cord injury.

Dinesh works in the emergency department at the Gold Coast University Hospital. He is a researcher and senior lecturer at the Griffith University. Dinesh is a researcher in spinal cord injury. He is a doctor for the Gold Coast Titans physical disability rugby team. Dinesh was a senior advisor to the Disability Royal Commission. He is an ambassador to the Human Rights Commission's IncludeAbility program. He is a founding member of Doctors with Disabilities Australia. He is an advisory board member to HealthyLife. Dinesh is a John Monash Scholar.

Dinesh was the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service's Junior Doctor of the Year in 2018. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2019. He was the third Australian to be awarded a Henry Viscardi Achievement Award. He was the 2021 Griffith University Young Alumnus of the Year. Dinesh was the Queensland Australian of the Year for 2021. In 2022 Dinesh was listed as number 33 in the Courier Mail's top 100 power list for Queensland's most influential in health and wellbeing. His autobiography Stronger was published by Pan Macmillan in 2022..