Nathan Despott

Nathan Despott is a survivor of conversion practices and the co-founder of survivor advocacy groups Brave Network and SOGICE Survivors. He worked closely with governments and other organisations to see conversion prohibition legislation passed in several jurisdictions. He worked as an Honorary Research Fellow at La Trobe University on a national conversion ideology and practices research project from 2020-2024, with the project several publications focusing on the impacts of religious based conversion practices and the recovery journey of survivors.

Nathan is also Head of Policy, Research and Advocacy at Inclusion Melbourne. He is passionate about self-advocacy and the application of evidence based practices to wicked problems faced by people with intellectual and cognitive disability. He has led or co-led several large projects including the I Can Vote political inclusion project, the Your Dental Health project, and the Rainbow Inclusion and Accessible Pride LGBTQA+ intellectual disability projects. He also consults and delivers training in integrated support practice, compliance with the NDIS Practice Standards, and participatory project design. He was named Outstanding Leader of the Year at the 2023 National Disability Awards.