Dinesh Palipana OAM

Doctor | Lawyer | Researcher | Disability Advocate | John Monash Scholar

Dr. Dinesh Palipana OAM is a distinguished figure known for being the first quadriplegic medical graduate in Queensland and the second in Australia. He suffered a spinal cord injury during medical school but continued his studies and became a strong advocate for inclusion and disability rights. Dr. Palipana works at the Gold Coast University Hospital and is involved in various roles including a senior lecturer, a research fellow, and a doctor for a physical disability rugby team. He has received numerous awards, including the Medal of the Order of Australia and the 2021 Queensland Australian of the Year, for his contributions to medicine and advocacy.

Experience:

Dr Dinesh Palipana is a doctor, lawyer, disability advocate, and researcher.
Dr Palipana was the first quadriplegic medical intern in Queensland and the second person to graduate medical school with quadriplegia in Australia.
He was involved in a motor vehicle accident halfway through medical school, which resulted in a cervical spinal cord injury.
As a result of his injury and experiences, Dinesh has been a strong advocate for inclusion. He is a founding member of Doctors with Disabilities Australia.
Dinesh works in the emergency department at the Gold Coast University Hospital; is a senior lecturer at the Griffith University and adjunct research fellow at the Menzies Health Institute of Queensland; a research fellow at the Jamieson Trauma Institute; a researcher in spinal cord injury; and a doctor for the Gold Coast Titans physical disability rugby team.
In 2023, Dinesh became a John Monash Scholar.
Dinesh joined the advisory board of healthylife in 2023.
Dinesh is a senior advisor to the Disability Royal Commission and an ambassador to the Human Rights Commission’s Includeability program. He was a 2021 International Day of People with Disability ambassador.
He was the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service’s Junior Doctor of the Year in 2018 and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2019. He was the third Australian to be awarded a Henry Viscardi Achievement Award and the 2021 Griffith University Young Alumnus of the Year.
Dr Dinesh Palipana is the 2021 Queensland Australian of the Year.

Sessions by Dinesh Palipana OAM

3rd Day

May 14, 2024

Keynote - Challenging The Limits Of Your Mindset & Beliefs

Be inspired to challenge your limiting beliefs and mindsets with Dr Dinesh's power story of challenges and resilience. A thought leader in the field of personal development or a renowned motivational speaker will delve into how changing one's mindset can lead to breakthroughs in professional and personal life. Midway through medical school, Dinesh Palipana sustained a spinal cord injury in a catastrophic car accident. Faced with the daunting prospect of physically and emotionally rebuilding, Dinesh never surrendered his ambition to practise medicine, instead viewing the profession through the prism of his experience. Dinesh went on to graduate and is now an emergency doctor at Gold Coast University Hospital. He is the first medical graduate in Queensland with quadriplegia. Dinesh is also a lawyer, a disability advocate, a researcher, and a lover of cars, chocolate and '90s hip-hop. In 2021 Dinesh was Queensland Australian of the Year. Dinesh's story is one of triumph over adversity, of seizing control over life in impossible circumstances.

9:25 - 10:10 AM Visionary Room