(Photo: ABC)

The ABC’s Nas Campanella has been named Disability Confident Changemaker of the year at the inaugural Australian Network on Disability (AND) Disability Confidence Awards.

The AND is an employer-led national not-for-profit that helps organisations engage with people with disability. Its awards, announced in Melbourne on 8 June, celebrated the organisations and individuals who have shown commitment to disability confidence in 2022.

Ms Campanella, who is visually impaired, started her career at the ABC as a cadet journalist in Sydney in 2011 before working as a regional reporter in Bega, New South Wales. She then spent seven years working as a newsreader, reporter and senior producer for triple j and other ABC platforms.

In 2020 she was named the ABC’s first disability affairs reporter, covering issues relevant to the disability community. She has also undertaken projects with ABC International Development, running initiatives for people living with disability across the Pacific.

Accepting her award, Nas said: “When I started at the ABC, I was one of the only people with a disability working, not only in news but across the broadcaster. And, although I was incredibly proud to be there, I knew that there was change that needed to occur.

I’m incredibly proud that now we not only have an (Employee Network Group), we have (employee representation targets) for people with disability.”

“My role is all about changing perception and making the lives of the 4.4 million with disability better. And that’s what drives me every day of my life.”