My Place (WA) Pty Ltd was incorporated in 1996 in response to a growing need for more personalised and flexible approaches to providing support for people with disabilities in Western Australia.

At least 85% of all funds that My Place (WA) Pty Ltd receives to provide disability support services are used solely to provide direct support to people with disabilities for whom funding has been provided. The remaining 15% percent covers management and administration salaries, office overheads, staff training, insurances, non-consumer related vehicles, information technology and telecommunications.

My Place Foundation Inc. was established in 2000 to hold and manage all of the direct consumer support funds that My Place (WA) Pty Ltd receives from various sources to support people with disabilities. My Place Foundation is a non-profit organisation managed by its own Board of Directors. Because My Place Foundation is a Public Benevolent Institution, people with disabilities who use services through the Foundation can receive a greater level of support. This is because the Foundation can use its charitable tax status to employ carers for more hours for the same amount of funds.

All unspent direct consumer support funds are retained by the Foundation to further its own service objectives. The Board of My Place Foundation includes an independent Chair drawn from the community and a consumer representative, who chairs My Place’s Consumer Advisory Committee.
Dr Tony Ryan
B.A., Dip.Ed., M.S., Ph.D.
CHAIRMAN (COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVE)
For most of his career Tony Ryan has worked as lecturer and researcher at Curtin University and The University of Notre Dame Australia. While at Curtin he directed the Centre for the Study of Teaching, was Head of the School of Foundation Studies in Education and, later, was Associate Professor and Dean of Education. Subsequently, he was appointed Professor and Dean of Notre Dame’s College of Education. Other senior administrative experience has been through appointments as Executive Director at Curtin and, at Notre Dame, as Director of the University’s Broome Campus and Director of Quality Management on the Fremantle Campus. Born in Perth and educated in WA and Florida, Tony enjoys a close family life with his wife Philippa and their three daughters, Rachel, Jennifer and Alexandra. Rachel and Jennifer are medical doctors practicing in Melbourne, and Alexandra is a teacher at St Mary’s Catholic primary School in Kalgoorlie. Tony joined the My Place Foundation Board in 2005.
Dr Greg Lewis
B.Psych., M.App.Psych., Ph.D.,
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Greg is a clinical psychologist who has worked in the disability field for more than 25 years. From 1987 to 1996 he was Director of Country Services and a member of the Corporate Executive of the Disability Services Commission. During this time he established Local Area Co-ordination, now operating throughout Western Australia and in a number of other Australian states and countries. Greg is a Board Member of ACROD (the national industry association for disability services), serving as National President from 2003 - 2005. He was formerly National President of the Australian Society for the Study of Intellectual Disability. Greg is also Executive Director of EDGE Employment Solutions, a disability employment agency he founded in 1984.
Dr Phil Deschamp
B.A., B.Ed. (Hons.), Ph.D.,
DIRECTOR
Phil was formerly Superintendent of Research with the Education Department of Western Australia before establishing his own research company. He has served on the Boards of Royal Perth Hospital, the Authority for Intellectually Handicapped Persons and the Disability Services Commission. He has served also as Chairman of the Board of the Quadriplegic Centre, Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Council for Disability Services and President of the Paraplegic/Quadriplegic Association of Western Australia. At present he chairs the Disability Services Commission’s Standards Monitoring Committee.
Mr Peter Dunn
B. Ed., Grad. Dip. Spec. Ed.,
DIRECTOR
Peter has a Bachelor of Education and a Graduate Diploma of Special Education. He has had nearly 25 years experience in the disability field, including 10 years as a teacher, lecturer and school principal. In 1987 he became the first Local Area Co-ordinator to be appointed in Western Australia, later becoming Manager of Local Area Co-ordination services in Perth. He has had extensive experience in developing, costing, implementing and co-ordinating community-based accommodation services for people with disabilities.
Mr Patrick Hughes
LL.B (Hons)(London), Barrister and Solicitor
DIRECTOR (CONSUMER REPRESENTATIVE)
Patrick has a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of London and also studied at the University of Western Australia before qualifying as a lawyer in 1985. He now works as Special Counsel with Jackson McDonald in the area of Succession Law. Patrick is a member of the Removing Barriers Advocacy Working Group set up with the assistance of the Disability Services Commission. The Group was actively involved in the lead up to the passing of the legislation allowing the establishment of Special Disability Trusts and continues to be actively involved in that area. Patrick is also a member of ASeTTS, the Association for Services to Torture and Trauma Survivors and served on the Board of that association for nine years. Patrick's involvement with My Place Foundation began some three years ago through his former foster son, Adam, who has autism and whose care needs are met with the help of the Foundation.
Mr Peter Dunn, Managing Director
Dr Phil Deschamp, Director
Dr Greg Lewis, Director