Ellie’s Team

We're walking for a world without type 1 diabetes in Rosebud!

In 2010 my life was flipped upside down, I was 13 years old, in year 8 at high school and was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. In 2012 I discovered the JDRF community and fell in love with the idea that maybe one day there would be a cure for this disease. The only way I could assist in making this come true would be to spread the word about this disease and this is exactly what the JDRF community does but to the people that can help us make the dream of a cure a potential reality.

I became a JDRF advocate in 2012 and developed a relationship with my MP Greg Hunt where I shared my story about being a Type 1 Diabetic and how it impacts my day-to-day life and how it has impacted the way I participated in the thing I love such as my sprinting and surf lifesaving.

In November 2012 I attended my first JDRF Kids in the House event where I had the pleasure of meeting multiple MP’s and even the prime minister, Julia Gillard, and got to have a meeting to discuss how important the research is towards helping find a cure for T1D with Greg Hunt in his office at government house. We were successful at this KITH event and were granted $35 million towards research.

In 2013 I became the lead advocate for JDRF Victoria and strengthened my relationship with Greg Hunt and ensured my story was heard. From 2013 through to 2021 I assisted in organising the annual JDRF one walk at Mt. Martha and the virtual walks throughout COVID. Greg Hunt participated with his family every year and discussed the importance of research towards T1D.

Over the years I built a great relationship with the lead advocate team for JDRF and made some lifelong friends and met some incredible people who share the same disease and are striving for the same outcome as me, a cure for T1D.

In 2017 I was lucky enough to attend Kirribilli House to say thank you to Malcom Turnbull, who was the prime minister at the time, for all of the support he and his government has shown for the T1D community.

In 2017 Greg Hunt, whom has been my local MP from the day of my diagnosis was elected as the Health Minister of Australia. With this title Greg had a voice that was heard when it came to funding for the T1D community. With this title in April 2017 the CGM technology was fully funded and made accessible for all T1D under the age of 21. This announcement was lifechanging for those eligible and was only the beginning.

In August 2018 I attended my second JDRF Kids in the house event and what a weekend this was. This was a challenging weekend but utterly successful and ended with a bipartisan $50 million agreement towards research for T1D.

Fast Forward to April 2022 Greg Hunt had one final announcement for the T1D community before Greg retired. Greg announced the CGM technology would be subsidised to all Australians living with T1D, this announcement led to a bipartisan agreement just prior to the 2022 election. This was announced on Good Friday to the rest of the country but whilst away camping I was called on the Thursday evening by Greg Hunt where he told me that this announcement was going to be made tomorrow. Greg wanted to tell me before the rest of the country knew as he knew that this announcement would mean the world to me. This defined how important a relationship with your local MP can be when it comes to money for research and having a voice to spread the awareness about something so important.

Bring us to now I am building my relationship with my new MP Zoe McKenzie, who shares the same passion in wanting to help us find a cure for T1D.

 November 2024 I travelled to Canberra and attended government house for the JDRF/Breakthrough T1D KITH event as Vic lead advocate where we achieved a bipartisan vote for the CRN 4. This was a huge step towards our end goal.

Our next goal is to get insulin pump technology subsidized and more accessible to a wider community of T1Ds as we know this technology is the best way to manage T1D. 

We will always be aiming to find a cure for T1D and will never give up that end goal. But until that day we will do everything we can to make living and managing this disease easier through fighting for funding for technologies and research.