Carly Findlay OAM is an award-winning writer, speaker and appearance activist.
She also works part-time as Access and Disability Lead at Melbourne Fringe.
Her first book, a memoir called Say Hello, was released in Australia in January 2019. She also edited Growing Up Disabled in Australia with Black Inc Books, released in February 2021.
She received an Order of Australia Medal for her work in disability advocacy and writing in 2020.
Carly works part time as Melbourne Fringe's Access and Disability Lead. She writes on disability and appearance diversity issues for news outlets including the CNN, ABC, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, and SBS. She was a finalist in Marie Claire’s Women of the Year Awards in 2023, and named as one of Australia's most influential women in the 2014 Australian Financial Review and Westpac 100 Women of Influence Awards.
She has appeared on You Can’t Ask That, The Project and The Cook Up, and has been a regular on various ABC radio programs.
She has spoken at the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Writers Festival, the University of Western England and Melbourne University – to name a few. She organised the history-making Access to Fashion – a Melbourne Fashion Week event featuring disabled models.
Carly has a Masters of Communication and Bachelor of eCommerce. Carly identifies as a proud disabled woman - she has Ichthyosis and has survived Ovarian and Endometrial Cancer. She lives in Melbourne, Australia.
Talking Points
Keynotes & Workshops
Carly Findlay can present on disability and appearance diversity topics including access and inclusion training, disability training for the media, and also keynote speeches based on her own lived experience, plus workshops on social media, writing online, disability in literature, and memoir. She has more than 10 years experience working in the media and building her own brand on social media.Keynotes & Workshops
She can also speak on lived experience of women’s cancer and menopause.
She is passionate about the arts sector.
Video
Carly Findlay | Interview with Imani Barbadian| Saxton Speakers
Carly Findlay | ABC News Breakfast | Saxton Speakers
Thank you for arranging Carly to speak to our PerkinElmer team today. She was AMAZING. The feedback is coming through now on my email from our colleagues in Singapore, Japan and Malaysia as ... keep reading PerkinElmer
VCOSS engaged Carly Findlay to deliver a how to' presentation on using online platforms as a vehicle for disability advocacy. The presentation was to an audience with varied levels of social media and advocacy expertise, and from an array of disability advocacy and community sector organisations. Carly's presentation was not only informative (completely meeting our brief) but it was also bursting with engaging content and Carly's own personal experiences that showcased her personality and meant people could learn from her real-life examples. This really helped our audience connect with Carly and feel comfortable asking questions during Q&A. Carly obviously put a lot of time and consideration into her presentation, which included insights into appropriate language, how and when to engage, how to maintain safety and self-care when dealing with the online world and more. Hearing about disability advocacy through the lens of someone with lived experience was incredibly valuable something we heard repeated in audience survey feedback and we hope to work with Carly again at future events.
Carly was a pleasure to work with from start to finish. We had a great initial discussion about the purpose of the event and on the day Carly delivered right on brief. Her speech was thought provoking, informative, challenging and humorous a very hard combination to strike. Carly responded to questions from the audience thoughtfully and was generous with her time after the event, making herself available for photos and discussions with audience members. Carly jokingly asked me a couple times during the event, have you got your money's worth?, and I definitely did! I would highly recommend Carly to anybody looking to book an engaging and entertaining speaker for their event
The session was amazing, we received some beautiful feedback from people who attended saying it was one of the best sessions that we’ve ever had at the TAC. Carly did a brilliant job, she’s such a professional. It was super engaging and refreshing to hear such an open and honest conversation. We would definitely have Carly back to speak again if an opportunity arose.
We would highly recommend Carly as a speaker. She considered and understood the theme of our event and pitched her talk to the audience well. Carly also included a wonderful balance of personal insights, professional expertise and a human story line that kept the audience engaged.
