Paul Henry Collier (4 February 1964 – 9 March 2010) was an Australian disability activist and the founder of the

Dignity for Disability Dignity Party previously known as Dignity for Disability or Dignity 4 Disability or D4D (known as Dignity for Disabled until 2010) is a political party in the Australian state of South Australia. The party had one parliamentary member, Kelly Vi ...

party. Collier was a

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or t ...

, due to serious spinal injuries in a car accident on the way to his twenty-first birthday celebrations. He held a

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, and held advisory roles with the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

and for the federal Minister for Disability. He founded the

party in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, standing as its candidate for the

South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly. It sits in Parli ...

in 2006 and 2010. He died after a

brain haemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

a few weeks before the 2010 election, in which his party gained enough votes for a seat in the council; this was taken by the second candidate on the ticket,

Kelly Vincent Kelly Leah Vincent (born 25 October 1988) is an Australian playwright, actress and former politician. She was elected at the 2010 state election for the Dignity Party to the eleventh and last seat for an eight-year term in the 22-member Legis ...

. In 2013, a scholarship in Collier's name was set up to assist potential leaders with disabilities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, Paul 1964 births 2010 deaths Australian disability rights activists Australian politicians with disabilities People with tetraplegia