Sue Salthouse Death – A big advocate of the disability sisterhood, the ACT’s 2020 Senior Australian of the Year, 71-year-old Sue Salthouse, has died after being involved in a motorcycle accident on Monday, July 20, 2020.
Report says Sue was riding her wheelchair accessible motorcycle when it was involved in an accident with a car on Commonwealth Avenue Bridge Monday afternoon.
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According to ACT Policing “the motorcycle rider was treated at the scene by ACT Ambulance Service Paramedics, however died at hospital”.
Ms Salthouse was a former Italian school teacher, a well-known figure in the Canberra community and a long-time advocate for people — particularly women — with disabilities.
Ms Salthouse became a paraplegic since breaking her back in a horse fall in 1995. She was co-chair of the ACT Disability Expert Panel advising on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, influenced the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and between 2009-2012 was president of Women with Disabilities Australia.
In an interview at the National Library of Australia in 2011, Ms Salthouse told Nikki Henningham: “Arriving by surprise in the disability sector means that you’re on a very steep learning curve to understand what it is that affects the lives and mentality of people with disabilities.”
“The practicalities of ‘having a place at the table’ are difficult to confront for someone who needs two hours in the morning to get up.”
“Success in promoting the issues is one thing, another measure is seeing more women with disabilities in the workforce and more woman outside the ages of 40-60 involved in advocacy organisations.”
Ms Salthouse, was ‘A big part of the disability sisterhood’
Her demise is recorded as the third on ACT roads this year.
Investigation is still ongoing by ACT Policing who have spoken with the driver of the other vehicle.