Emeritus Professor Trevor Parmenter AM

BA, PhD, FACE, FAAIDD, FIASSIDD, FASSID
Honorary Professor
Phone
+61 2 9752 7083
Fax
+61 2 93512606
Building/Room
A35 / 307
The University of Sydney

Trevor Parmenter holds appointments as Emeritus Professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Sydney and Adjunct Professor in the School of Rural Medicine at the University of New England.

Former appointments include Foundation Chair of Developmental Disability and Director of the Centre for Developmental Disability Studies (CDDS) at the University of Sydney (1997-2009).

For more than 20 years before accepting the directorship of the CDDS in 1997, Trevor had been Professorial Fellow in the School of Education Macquarie University and Director of the Unit for Community Integration Studies.

Trevor's former international appointments include Adjunct Research Associate to the Beach Center on Families and Disability at The University of Kansas and Visiting Lecturer at Lancaster University, UK. He was the President of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities from 1996-2000.

His curriculum vitae includes teaching and administrative positions with the NSW Department of Education (1953-1973), and his areas of research expertise include: behavioural and emotional problems of people with disabilities; quality-of-life assessment; program evaluation; community living and employment for people with disabilities; assessing cognitive processes; brain injury; family studies; transition from school to further study, work and adult living; attitude studies and disability policy development.

Trevor is a Life Member of the Australian College of Educators; Fellow of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities; Fellow of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities; and Fellow of the Australasian Society for the Study of Intellectual Disability.

He is noted for his ability to translate research outcomes into practice by the setting up model programs. Throughout his career he has maintained close contacts with people with disabilities, serving on several boards of service organisations, helping establish self-advocacy organisations, and serving on the Disability Council of New South Wales.

Although he retired on 4 December, 2009, Trevor has remained active in research, higher-degree research supervision and advocacy for people with disabilities.

He has published widely on disability issues including employment, supported living, classification of support needs, behaviour support, mental and physical health, quality of life, autism, family studies, ageing, policy development and program evaluation.

In 2005, Trevor was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his contributions to research, teaching and services to people with developmental disabilities. In 2010 The Senate of the University of Sydney conferred on him the title of Professor Emeritus in recognition of his distinguished research and teaching career.

Member, Order of Australia, Australian Government
Distinguished Service Citation, Australian Society for the Study of Intellectual Disability
President's Citation, American Association on Mental Retardation
Presidential Award, American Association on Mental Retardation
Outstanding International Contributor to the Field, The American Association of University Affiliated Programs
Distinguished Service Citation, International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities
Fellow, American Association on Mental Retardation  
Fellow, International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities
Fellow, Australasian Society for the Study of Intellectual Disability                               
Distinguished Alumnus, The University of New England                                                                
Distinguished Supporter Award, Self-Advocacy Sydney
Professor Emeritus, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney
Hall of Fame, Australian Competitive Employment (ACE)                                                         
Alumni Award, Distinguished Service- Profession, Macquarie University
J. Moss Trophy, Outstanding Work in the Field of Intellectual Disability                        

  • Emeritus Professor, Medicine, Centre for Disability Studies, The University of Sydney
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Intellectual Disability Research
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities
  • Editorial Board, International Journal of Disability, Development and Education
  • Editorial Board, Review of Disability Studies
  • Patron, Self-Advocacy Sydney, Inc.
  • Patron, Ability Options Ltd.

Selected book chapters
  • Reinders, J., Stainton, T., Parmenter, T. (2021). "Disposable lives: is ending the lives of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities for reasons of poor quality of life an emergence of a new eugenics movement?" In Vee P Prasher, Philip W Davidson, Flavia H Santos (Eds.), Mental Health, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and the Ageing Process, (pp. 351-377). Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland. [More Information]
  • Parmenter, T., Harman, A., Yazbeck, M., Riches, V. (2016). "Life skills training for adolescents with an intellectual disability." In Alan Carr, Christine Linehan, Gary OReilly, Patricia N. Walsh and John McEvoy (Eds.), The Handbook of Intellectual Disability and Clinical Psychology Practice: Second Edition, (pp. 605-636). Abingdon: Routledge. [More Information]
  • Wiese, M., Parmenter, T. (2009). "The evolution of person-centred planning in supporting people with a developmental disability." In Elizabeth Moore (Eds.), Case Management for Community Practice, (pp. 203-225). Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.

Selected journal articles
  • Hussain, R., Wark, S., Janicki, M., Parmenter, T., Knox, M., Tabatabaei-Jafari, H. (2021). "Mental health of older people with mild and moderate intellectual disability in Australia." Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 65(6), 535-547. [More Information]
  • Hussain, R., Wark, S., Janicki, M., Parmenter, T., Knox, M. (2020). "Multimorbidity in older people with intellectual disability." Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 33(6), 1234-1244. [More Information]
  • Hussain, R., Wark, S., Muller, A., Ryan, P., Parmenter, T. (2019). "Personal relationships during end-of-life care: support staff views of issues for individuals with intellectual disability." Research in Developmental Disabilities, 87, 21-30. [More Information]

Selected conference papers
  • Donelly, M., Hillman, A., Shelley, K., Knox, M., Stancliffe, R., Parmenter, T., Whittaker, L. (2014). "A good life: personal support networks and people with intellectual disability: Translational research." 16th International Congress of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists, Yokohama: 16th International Congress of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists.
  • Hillman, A., Donelly, M., Shelley, K., Whitaker, L., Stancliffe, R., Knox, M., Parmenter, T. (2013). "An ethnographic study of relationship dynamics in the personal networks of people with an intellectual disability." Occupational Therapy Australia, 25th National Conference and Exhibition, Adelaide, Australia: Adelaide Convention Centre.
  • Knox, M., Donelly, M., Hillman, A., Parmenter, T., Whitaker, L., Shelley, K., Stancliffe, R. (2013). "This is who I am: personal meanings, roles, and support networks of persons with intellectual disabilities." IASSIDD Asia conference, Tokyo: IASSIDD Asia.

Qualitative study of formal and informal networks established by families of people with disabilities

Longitudinal study of mental health of people with intellectual disabilities

Keeping my place in the community: achieving successful ageing-in-place for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

The NDIS: Rhetoric versus Reality?
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