2022 Australian of the Year, Dylan Alcott AO, is one of worlds most successful and well recognised Paralympians, media personalities and disability advocates. In 2021 he became the only male in any form of tennis to win the 'Golden Slam', winning the Australian, French, Wimbledon and US Open Championships and the Paralympic Gold Medal, and he is a Paralympic Gold Medallist in two different sports, wheelchair tennis and wheelchair basketball. He is a 23-time Grand Slam champion in Quad Wheelchair Tennis.
Born with a tumor wrapped around his spinal cord, Dylan survived a 3.5 year battle to live and has been achieving ever since. Since retiring from professional tennis Dylan has not slowed down, continuing his work as a global keynote speaker as well as pursuing a career in acting - already being cast in australia cult-classic BUMP and world renowned theater show The Rocky Horror Show. His drive is stronger than even when it comes to his purpose and mission: ‘to change perceptions so people with disability all over the world can live the lives they deserve to live’.
In 2017, Dylan launched the Dylan Alcott Foundation, providing grants, scholarships and mentoring to young Australians with disability to eliminate the barriers of entry to get involved in sports, study, training, employment and business ownership. In the same year, he co-founded consultancy firm Get Skilled Access with a purpose to create a new generation of disability inclusion that is equitable for all. More recently, he has founded and launched The Field Jobs – a dedicated platform to establish pathways between job seekers with a Disability and employers of all types in the marketplace and through his Foundation developed and launched the Shift 20 Initiative with the objective of significantly increasing inclusion and participation for people with disability in mainstream advertising all around the world. He is also the founder of the worlds only fully disability inclusive music festival called Ability Fest.
