Professor John Gilroy, a Yuin man from the New South Wales South Coast, serves as Professor of Indigenous Health and Disability in the Sydney School of Health Sciences within the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. He earned a BA (Hons) from the University of Wollongong in 2006 and a PhD in disability studies from the University of Sydney in 2012. Before entering academia, Gilroy worked as a policy worker, case worker, and disability advocate, drawing from personal and family experiences with discrimination and challenges in accessing disability support services for First Nations people. His career at the University of Sydney has progressed from lecturer to associate professor and now professor, where he is a member of the Charles Perkins Centre.

Gilroy's research focuses on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' experiences with disability, including high prevalence rates, National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) planning and access in regional, rural, and remote areas, workforce retention and recruitment in disability services, culturally safe mental health telehealth, cancer supportive care needs, and early childhood interventions. He has published extensively, with 36 works cited over 500 times, including 'A scoping review of early childhood support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living with a disability in regional, rural and remote settings' (Australian Journal of Rural Health, 2024), 'Systematic review of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ experiences and supportive care needs associated with cancer' (2024), 'Disability workforce and the NDIS planning process in regional, rural and remote regions of Australia: Scoping review' (Australian Journal of Rural Health, 2023), 'The experiences of people with disability and their families/carers navigating the NDIS planning process in regional, rural and remote regions of Australia: Scoping review' (2023), and 'Implementing an Indigenous Research Methodology to Develop a Culturally Appropriate Survey and Yarning Protocol: Challenges With Retention of the Aboriginal Health, Ageing and Disability Workforce' (2025). He leads a $2 million Australian Research Council Discovery Indigenous grant awarded in 2024 to study factors influencing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in the disability sector across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia, aiming to develop resources for culturally safe workplaces. In 2023, he hosted the first International Indigenous Disability Research Symposium at the University of Sydney and launched the touring art exhibition 'People’s experience of the NDIS' in collaboration with artist Jessica Gilroy and psychologist Associate Professor Paul Rhodes. Gilroy received the Dean Merit Award as a University of Wollongong alumnus and advocates for Indigenous-led research aligned with United Nations declarations on Indigenous rights and rights of persons with disabilities.

Professional Email: john.gilroy@sydney.edu.au