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Ainslee Hooper

Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Anthropologist supporting DEI, HR, P&C & Community Development folks to strengthen disability inclusion in culture, policies & committee structures across local gov, higher ed, TAFEs & NFPs. On Wadawurrung Country.

Ainslee Hooper Points
Academic 0
Author 23
Influencer 54
Speaker 0
Entrepreneur 0
Total 77

Points based upon Thinkers360 patented algorithm.

Thought Leader Profile

Portfolio Mix

Company Information

Areas of Expertise

Culture 30.40
Diversity and Inclusion 30.27
HR 30.80
Leadership 30.03
Legal and IP 35.19

Industry Experience

Publications & Experience

1 Article/Blog
Two and a Half Years Since My Diagnosis: What Neurodiversity Means to Me
Linkedin
March 21, 2025
Even now, I still find myself saying, "That makes so much sense..." as I continue to reflect on all the things that didn’t quite click growing up—the exhaustion, the confusion, the need for patterns, the discomfort with certain social dynamics, the love of deep focus, and the moments when the world just felt

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

22 Author Newsletters
Making FY 26-27 Different Part 4: Why Measuring, Escalating and Changing Are One Argument, Not Three
Linkedin
August 03, 2026
This closes out the four-part series on FY 26-27 inclusion planning. If you've been following along, you don't need a recap. If this is the first piece you've landed on, here's what you need to know: the last month has made one argument, in three parts. This is where it comes together.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

Why FY 26-27 Won't Be Different (Unless You Change Something Specific)
Linkedin
July 26, 2026
At the start of this series, I asked what three numbers your DIAP should have been able to produce for FY 25-26. Last week, the question moved to boards: what should they have asked before signing off on this year's plan?

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

What a Board Should Ask Before Signing Off FY 26-27 Inclusion Plans
Linkedin
July 19, 2026
A short apology first: this piece was meant to land the week after the Three Numbers piece. It didn't. Some weeks, the work in front of you wins over the writing about the work — this was one of them.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

Disability Pride Isn't a Post. It's a Test.
Linkedin
July 13, 2026
Disability Pride Month takes place every July, and every year the same thing happens: organisations post something. A flag graphic. A quote. Maybe a staff spotlight, if someone was willing to be visible for it. Then August arrives, and it's gone until next year.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

Three Numbers Your DIAP Should Have Tracked This Year
Linkedin
July 09, 2026
Last week, I asked what your disability inclusion spending actually delivered this year. Today's question is sharper: if your Disability Inclusion Action Plan has been operating across the last twelve months, you should be able to produce three specific numbers without scrambling for them.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

What Did Your Inclusion Spending Actually Deliver This Year?
Linkedin
June 28, 2026
Across organisations everywhere, this week will be spent sitting with two questions: what did we spend, and what did we deliver? Finance teams will reconcile the books. Executives will look at outcomes against KPIs. Boards will receive end-of-year reports. The cycle of accounting for the year that's been is in full swing.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

Inclusion in a Budget Downturn — What Survives, What Doesn't, and Why It Matters
Linkedin
June 22, 2026
The disability inclusion budget? The accessibility audit? The line item for paid lived experience contribution? The training program? The community partnership? Is it the accessible event format that costs slightly more than the standard one?

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

The Productivity Guilt Loop (And What It's Actually Telling You)
Linkedin
May 31, 2026
Not dramatically, not hospitalised — just genuinely unwell and unable to work. And yet, if I'm honest, I didn't fully stop. I checked emails. I drafted things in my head. I tracked what I was missing and quietly calculated how long it would take to catch up.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

Why Your Inclusion Work Isn’t Sticking (And What Maturity Has To Do With It)
Linkedin
May 17, 2026
It’s a fair question. And it’s almost always the wrong one.

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Tags: HR, Legal and IP, Diversity and Inclusion

You don't need to know who experiences RSD to design a workplace that works for them
Linkedin
May 10, 2026
Most organisations approach neurodivergence the same way they approach disability inclusion broadly — they wait for someone to disclose, and then try to accommodate the individual.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Leadership

Sitting with ableism as a disabled anthropologist
Linkedin
May 03, 2026
Anthropology built much of its early authority by observing people like me (folks who deviated from "the norm"). It's now the lens through which I observe the rooms I'm hired to change.

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Tags: Culture, Leadership, Legal and IP

Inclusion is easy until it asks something of you.
Linkedin
April 26, 2026
This weekend, Aboriginal Elders were booed while delivering Welcome to Country at Anzac Day dawn services in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

The A in DEIA Is the One We Keep Skipping. And It's the Only One You Can Verify Without Asking Anyone How They Feel.
Linkedin
April 12, 2026
The Darkness famously sang that "Love is only a feeling."

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Tags: Diversity and Inclusion

Who Gets to Decide What’s Ableist?
Linkedin
March 29, 2026
Over the weekend, I found myself in a conversation that hit on a growing cultural friction. Someone asked: “Who gets to decide what’s racist?” (or ableist, or sexist

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Tags: Culture, Diversity and Inclusion

Making Inclusion Work: Using the SDGs to Audit Systemic Ableism
Linkedin
March 15, 2026
If your organisation is serious about reducing the risk of ableism, awareness alone isn’t enough.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

When Inclusion Relies on a Good Person, It’s Not Sustainable
Linkedin
March 01, 2026
An organisation is doing “well” with disability inclusion.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

What Projects With Disabled People Ask of Organisations
Linkedin
February 22, 2026
Projects that involve disabled people are often talked about as if they’re simply “projects — but inclusive”.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

The Sustainable Development Goals: The North Star for Reducing the Risk of Ableism
Linkedin
February 08, 2026
It appears in systems that assume a “default” worker. In policies written for speed rather than equity. In decisions made without the people most affected in the room.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

Three Generations Away: Why Disability Inclusion in Australia Is Still Too Slow
Linkedin
December 02, 2025
As I said in my last newsletter, disability inclusion has always been a litmus test for social progress. Not the kind written into strategies, action plans, or public statements — but the type felt by people living inside systems every day.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

The Next Evolution of Disability Inclusion: From Actions to Outcomes
Linkedin
November 24, 2025
Over the past decade, disability inclusion has gained visibility. More plans. More committees. More events. More awareness days. More activity.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Legal and IP

Systems Don't Enforce Themselves: Reframing “the system” through responsibility and action.
Linkedin
November 16, 2025
We talk a lot about systems in inclusion work — the education system, the employment system, the healthcare system, “the system” in general.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Healthcare

When Disability Inclusion Moves Us All Forward
Linkedin
November 09, 2025
Every December, the International Day of People with Disability rolls around with a new theme — a phrase that’s meant to capture the spirit of inclusion and the collective responsibility that comes with it.

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Tags: Culture, HR, Diversity and Inclusion

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