Ep 250- Dylan Alcott

[Music] you're listening to Errol Parker and Clancy overall editors of the Puda Advocate on desert rock FM welcome back to the Puda Advocate radio show you're with Clancy overall and Errol Parker here we are very excited today's guest is a recurring guest second time appearance Mr former arrain of the Year Dylan orot thank you for us I prefer washed up a strand of the year yeah washed up rather than former boys thank you having me back also very nice that you've got my name on your shirt today yep deal and friends yeah you know I I reckon a good title for you is the embattled former Australian of the year or the controversial former Australian of the year no washed up tennis player washed up australi of the year I'm looking for a job washed up athlete yeah washed up athlete so maybe I I could maybe I could join you boys unemployed what's this [ __ ] before we get into The Life and Times of Dylan what is this um thing I saw like are you're acting now I'm trying to yeah yeah you know I've always had a bit of a thirst to give it a crack and I don't want to be that you know athlete who can't act trying to act yeah so I've actually been proper doing some lessons and trying to do it properly which I'm really enjoying with a with a woman from New Zealand called Miranda hardcord and got a couple little opportunities I don't know if I'm any good but I'm trying to but one reason I've always had a thirst for it as well cuz I hate able-bodied people playing cuz I can't do the opposite I can't get up and stand up I want to give it a crack yeah you see I mean very rarely will you see an actor that good that they can do it right like I think a young Leo probably gets good raps for uh Eating Gilbert Grape yeah and then there was wary and Kath and Kim you know that's uh it's a tried path it works it works yeah if you can get it right let's let's hope we all go to the Oscar if I go to the Oscars you boys can come please please yeah now D what's going on ability Fest I want to talk about this last time we spoke you were very much still an athlete you know we were talking about how you prepare for a [ __ ] tennis match you weren't just an athlete at that point you were also a radio announcer you were very much a media identity but you were still very much an athlete the Victorian version of Wally Lewis yeah so you reading the weather playing sport now you're not that you've pulled the pin can I just say that was such a graceful retirement you know saying it's it's time for me to hand over the torch I I think you effectively said that you know no one wants to chase a good time and there's plenty of people to come through underneath me it became clear then that you were on to bigger and better things and and we we get that we interviewed mattye Rogers about this and he said the key to being an athlete for him was knowing that your best years are aheer and did you feel that the moment you kind of rolled off I did mate yeah and look it's a product of working your ass off so you know when when I was a par Olympian just say athletes didn't make [ __ ] yeah no one knew anything about us and that and so I you know went to UNI and started forging a bit of a way in in media just to you know get a job and things like that and and then I realized that I really enjoyed it but to be honest the main reason why I'm doing what I'm doing now is not is not me it's everybody else like the way that our country people have changed their own perception of disability to provide those opportunities even think about when remember when the three of us spoke last time it was like you know I was like begging to come on the podcast it was like massive you know I me like huge in in the sense that there wasn't that many disability voices out there and there need to be more and the reason I'm doing it now is all the people disability came before me so I can do it but it just feels normal now doesn't it yeah like when you turn on TV and you see representation it feels a lot more normal and and that's pretty cool and um mate I just get up every day and ask myself how can I live out my purpose my purpose is to change perception so people with disability can live the lives they deserve to live I'll ask you do I need to win one more strand open to do that no probably not probably not that's why I stopped and I have not hit one tennis ball since that day Zero could not pay me enough so uh yeah I'm enjoying it boys I really am and I'm just you know we'll get into it but the other stuff that we're doing now I'm loving it m and yeah I don't think I'll be don't think I'll be making a come back in a third sport put it that way yeah I mean personally aside from everything you've done and everything you're doing now and we can talk about ability Fest in a second and and all the other work the good work you're doing around the country just you know as Dylan orot you made sure that there was certain places that you were the first person in a wheelchair to visit I'm even thinking were you the first bloke in a wheelchair and revolver I reckon there was people before me but I definitely am the first person to get the name the staircase named after yeah uh it's I think they've still got the badge there the Dylan or cour Memorial staircase um but you know that's also why we did a ability Fest the reason that I have been able to do so many different things that might not have been accessible or inclusive is because I had bloody awesome mates like ripping mates and like the three of us have been to festivals before together and you know I know you guys don't like getting a g up but do you remember how much you had to help me around like you literally were like holding my hands pulling me up hills and things like that and without that support man I'm not going there right and that's why I am so lucky that I've experienced so much because the people around me and I just want to provide that for more people with disability so they can have Bloody opportunities to get out there and enjoy it and yeah but um you know I've done some seriously dumb [ __ ] that's for sure and got carried in places I shouldn't have but I'm glad I came out the other side yeah but I do remember you you know you're a gold medal Olympian and there was it was still only a couple years ago you find yourself sitting on the plane they forgot to bring your wheel cheer back you know what I mean and those kind of gaaps are the ones you've you've had to tackle and you've had to [ __ ] I mean I say gffs it's probably it's a lot worse than that being left alone on on an airplane it's more than a gaff and and some would argue that it's discrimination are you finding those little things you know you seeing those things being ironed out in you know day-to-day life in Australia oh a long way to go I'm an optimist so obviously it is getting better I think the more perception change you have the more people care about it and understand it so they're less likely to sideline however I always remind myself this I gotta be careful still happens to me y if not weekly I try and get a some kind of car service they drive off cuz I'm in a wheelchair yep I try and get on a plane and they don't let me on because I'm in a wheelchair that happens to me and when they realize it's me what do they do give me wine and whatever um imagine what's happened to a 40-year-old lady with Ms girl with silver py or someone with someone who can't tweet up you know yeah and I remind myself that M all the time and and it really hurts when it happens to me still and I'm thinking [ __ ] this happens every day to people and that's why it's a constant Mission and things like that but in it it's not about calling people out it's about calling in cuz you don't I find it's hard to get things done if you're just abusing people online cuz you become radioactive and you know as well it's all about codesign getting people on the journey with you so they realize cuz they care about it there you know what I mean and that's the way that I go about it not everyone's the same other people love getting and we need a bit of everything we need different kinds of advocacy on the on the Spectrum and that's just the way that I go about it and it's a bit of a team effort and there's some awesome people doing some good [ __ ] out there tell us about the role of Australian of the year you know you you obviously came in the wake of the unsinkable Grace time yeah big shoes to fill and effectively you're coming in you're coming in as an advocate she was an advocate you're coming in as an advocate were you thinking there while you're preparing to you know take the title from her you're like oh I guess I also have to Scorch the Earth behind me because you know we've seen some big changes post Grace tame and we have seen some big changes post Dylan orot but were you thinking that like I've got to step up following tamy yeah metaphorically Step Up um I think um I uh firstly was really grateful that when I reached out to tamy we became mates right just to get a bit of VI and I've actually also caught up with the newr guaran same thing just to pass on you know that knowledge of what it was like she did an incredible job and she's an incredible person Tam really is and I was really lucky that you know that when I did reach out we caught up and had that chat we went about it in in in in different ways of different ways of of trying to get our our point across and I had no idea what I was doing I still didn't know what I did like I was just trying to be myself and it was a good you know lesson that I learned is there must be a bloody reason that you got it right and I had real imposter syndrome cuz I was like what the [ __ ] how did I win this like I I'm not like I was up against Patty Mills like one of my heroes and I was like Patty Mills is going to win and then I got to the australi of the Year Awards and I saw one of the best looking ramps I've ever seen in my life I and I went Ms doesn't need that yeah better better log on the sports bet now mate in the offseason maybe if he's getting his ham done yeah yeah unless he's done he hammy over in Brooklyn um so what I did realize is I was just going to go about it in my own way and my way is just being myself right talking about things that I'm passionate about trying to do my best and you know what I had no idea if I was going to get things done or not all I could do is just do my best and have a crack I think the biggest the biggest change in a positive way was every single person that I walked past in the street stopped and said congratulations and that's not an exaggeration everyone yeah was so humbling and incredible but that also came with everybody had an opinion of what you were doing so I'm really lucky that I came from a sporting place where and you guys know this you get abused on Twitter every day oh you know and it's you know it hurts originally but then you just laugh and you're like you I don't know these people whatever they can call me a [ __ ] or whatever they want to say and go it's the type of stuff that if they saw you at the pub they wouldn't look at you you know would say and if they did that's ballsy I'd be like f you must hate me let's have a chat that's visceral geez I've better I've better listen to this blog what have I done I promise you a about blog let's have a beer you know what I yeah but that that was probably the biggest and and it's it's you know I said the same thing to the news TR just you know there's going to be a lot of noise just do the best that you can and I think it's it's also important not to sounds counterintuitive but not try too hard right just you don't have to go out there and like I didn't wake up and go how am I going to be a strand of the year every day I just got up there I'm going to be myself what what I didn't account for was I spent 245 days on airplanes wow which is a lot yeah and it was awesome and I'm so grateful for it but I did run out of juice at the end and a good lesson to anyone is I probably burnt the candle from both ends and I didn't I lied to myself that I was okay I ran out of gas at the end you weren't an athlete anymore either you were able to have a few skooners after after a ke no well we I remember we did the what did we do the G the GQ Awards and then I went home and two Keynotes in Melbourne and then I went back to the AR saw you again you're everywhere remember you saying 13 more days to go make 1 more days I was I was on the countdown no how quickly does being named Australian of the Year change your life I mean like you go to the ceremony in Melbourne and then you get named like do you go back to the QT afterwards and be like all right so I've got a whole new itinerary for this year I can't go on holidays in July I can't do this I can't do that like how much does it change your life look the initially when I won it I won my semifinal at the Strand open and then I tried to find out if I was going to win cuz otherwise I didn't want to go cuz I had the final the next day and they wouldn't tell me and then I'm like look if I win a strand of the year I can't do the winning speech with no pants on on zoom in bed like you know like it's a big moment so I actually flew up and then obviously won and flew back that night and then played the final the next day and yeah that's right got my ass kicked got ped right and I wouldn't change it I wouldn't change it because of what it meant hopefully for people disabil but you know it was a pretty cool thing I don't want to discredit it but you tell me otherwise but the day before and the day after I won a strin of the year I'm the same Dylan yeah I don't need to win some kind of award to you know live out my purpose and try and you know support people disability whatever in saying that what an incredible platform to be granded you know and that's why we were getting 200 requests every day for like speaking and appearances all around the country that that's so cool like Charities hospitals I went I went on country with some traditional owners and and met people with disability from like indigenous communities who do not get enough support right they get nothing and I was like why have I not been here like I I'm a [ __ ] like I need to do more and so many opportunities opened up and I've got so much more to do in so many but it's an award not a role you don't have to do anything but that's crap because a lot of things come you know and I just tried to make the most of it any way that I can and I still don't know if I did a good job but all I did was just try and do my best around you know education and employment and in representation and and you need people to support and like that's why I [ __ ] love you too cuz you've supported me back in hey days when to be honest all of us were nobodies really weren't we remember remember you had like 50,000 followers on these guys are funny on Instagram and we started doing this and and it's it's pretty cool to reflect but it's definitely a team effort to get there I remember hearing uh I can't remember who it was maybe it was Killer Mike or something and I'm I'm not at all comparing you know American Civil Rights to the work you do but I remember him saying our friends change our problems remain which I thought was interesting in a political sense you know he he was effectively saying doesn't matter who's in charge we're still going to come at them I feel like that's an interesting thing your ad is very different CU you work with all right there's some people that need to burn the place down you know and and and I feel like your strategy was working with you you saw a change in government and you've been effectively doing the same thing before and after a strain of the year but as a strain of the year you saw a change of government so what was your approach when it was time to start talking about accessibility and representation and employment how do you do that you know you've got potentially I mean we we saw Scott Morrison change replaced by albanesi you could have just said oh I'll just wait till this Block's done and we can start fresh but you you got to work with that government and what was your strategy there because you've obviously you've got to bring the same energy to both yeah look I work with anybody who's in in government as long as they give a [ __ ] about disability yeah you know like and what I will say is firstly get good people around you you know I've got a consulting firm called GSA where we educate governments and corporates and business around disability we hire over 50 consultants and like 90% of them have a have a disability the other % I like my brother and people that that have know about it but cuz people always say to me I'll give you an example like you know I want to make my Supermarket whatever more accessible for people that are neurodiverse so like with autism that what do I do and I said don't ask me that's what you should do ask someone who is right because lived experience is key and I don't have lived experience of being neurodiverse I've just got my lived experience so having good people to get around you is so important but all I do every day is try and make disability cool sexy Innovative productive use different terms to make people want to care about it right and I was just lucky that you know we came up with some good ideas that people wanted to get behind whether it's you know our new jobs platform the field where people disability can match with inclusive employers we did a a review around the ndis where we work with like 2,000 different stakeholders and did it in a different way CU everyone always [ __ ] cams ndis the first half of our report was talking about how awesome it is y like for example kids who are six years and under who have been on the NDS for more than four years have 2 and a half times more friends than kids who aren't yep yeah did you know that no no I know huge never hear about see how it's a different way of doing it and then people be like oh that's kind of and people do an incredible job in the space we're just trying to do it in our way and things like that but also I think you've got to also back yourself and understand that no matter who you are no matter if you're the host of vuda me prime minister we're all just people yeah and you can literally call on anybody and if you've got a good idea and come from a good place just go I need your support here and people will back you and you know what they might not good on them but you've at least got to put yourself out there and have a crack and and I think the most important thing is being a good person first yeah way more important than being a good Astron of the Year good Advocate whatever and I think if you are that you know you tend to gravitate towards people and I'm just trying to do the best you know that I can do now we're here talking to Mr Frankston line himself tell that remember hearing a fierce debate about that one night late night in [ __ ] Brunswick somewhere but um you're from Melbourne right and one thing I say we I will say about Melbourne is a queenslander is one thing I love about Melbourne is getting around you know able bodied of course but I can get anywhere in that City have you found that you're living in one of the more accessible cities in Australia I mean Sydney doesn't have that Sydney's Sydney's a Harbor City man like Sydney you've got Bridges full of traffic everywhere and Brisbane certainly does not have and brisbane's a River City you got these BS and [ __ ] they've never ad admittedly a few more walkable bridges in bris but you know Melbourne is a grid and it's a great place to live whether you're and it's flat and it's flat um is is that the vibe down there do you find it it's easier doing your work down there yeah before I talk about Melbourne I I got a city quite a bit I stay in Sor heels at the ace I was going that bad up for V Street an 80-year-old lady pushing a trolley asked if I needed help that's how much I was struggling and I was like am I that unfit at the moment what I will say is my family's all from Sydney and um they actually moved to Melbourne a couple of months before I was born I was born with a tumor I was born really sick so all my doctors were here so we end up staying in Melbourne and I'm very glad they did because I love it it is a beautiful city you're so funny yes it is very you're right it's a flat it's accessible obviously every place has got some work to do but yeah it really has tried to make tram stops you know trains all that kind of stuff accessible but there's there's two different things accessibility is one thing which is the hardware ramp whatever what it does well is the software which is inclusion unconscious bias discrimin right but what I feel like it is a city that is very very welcoming to people compared to some other cities potentially look all the cities in Australia are great go overseas it's very very different right and I feel lucky to be from Australia but yeah man I love Victoria I love mour obviously it's a home of um ability Fest and you know what I don't mind a few cold months where I can wear a jacket I don't want to wear t-shirt and shorts I get it it makes up for it In Summer with the heat but tell me ability Fest where is the venue this year yeah it's a b wrong M mate so we're very lucky that we got it smack bang on the city if you don't know what ability Fest is it's um a music festival just like any other like Beyond the Valley like Splender like Cella we just have some added accessibility features so people with disability can come with their a body mates and just have a good time things like platforms pathways osland on stage a sensory room for those neur divers got to recharge a guide dog relief area you know we try to think of absolutely everything and it's our what is it our fourth one mate we've raised over a million bucks and it's probably the thing I'm most proud of in in our lives what we've done at the foundation just to give that experience to people who might not normally have it in a normal cool way and then influence other people to get involved with other festivals and stuff like that and mate the fact that you know visit Vic Melbourne's backed us again to do it is is pretty awesome especially coming out of what's been a pretty crappy time for the industry yeah I mean I mean one thing that is true right now Melbourne's back you got the Comedy Festival about to start you got the Grand Prix you've got ability Fest and you know it's Distant Memories as you as we said pretty crappy time particularly for for musicians so not only are you giv everyone an opportunity who might not have you know been to a music festival before or never been to a music festival that was very easy to get around but you're also bringing live music back who have you got who have you got on stage at ability Fest 2023 well rumor as you two are going to be in town so I don't know we'll see what happens there but M we're excited we got big acts like hilltops playing we the G we' got Broods U we've got Sher we got me ma but what heckles this the last year's so we have acts with disability as well Y and all the money raise goes to the very crappy named Dylan orot Foundation uh can't we can't change it now and last year on stage we gave a young kid called Cooper Smith DJ Cooper Smith a grant we gave him a full DJ setup and some lessons right he's been getting some support from guys like Benson the journey and what is Ping duck uh get around him now as well and he has played every day on that kit and he as a result he's playing the main stage this year all right that but like every single dollar raise at ail Fest goes to the foundation and um you know please buy a ticket even if you can't make it buy a ticket cuz it's going to a good home but the reason we started the foundation is you know when I was a kid I wanted to play sport and my brother Zach Legend you know your boys have met him and he played sport as well he got a $100 pair of footy boots he started playing I needed a $7,000 wheelchair and if you if you don't get that you can't do it right and that as a result you know indirectly alienates you as a person with disability because you just can't get involved and we want to eliminate those barriers through education uni and T scholarships through employment opportunities we pay for people startups we buy them equipment we try to do whatever we can and we we're just trying to do our bit to support and whatever it is but the reason you should come to Ability it's just a [ __ ] cool day it's a great day it's going to be fun I check the weather it's going to be Primo I know I looked at the 14 day forecast we're on baby it's funny you you talk about how as a strain of the year you know you were burning the candle but I think you know things are on the up and up not only for Dylan orot but for Melbourne like you I cannot imagine how flat out you're going to be over the next couple weeks but um it sounds like I mean you certainly haven't blown out you've done well you've kept your Fitness up mate that's uh I I just went for a run I call it a run by the way I'm not good I know I can't but that's what I call it um and man I I I didn't I let myself go and it was a good lesson because I trained for 14 years every day and then I was like I'm just going to let myself go like this is fun and then I was like what's wrong with me what's wrong with me and because I wasn't training I found my mental health was getting affected yeah right I'm telling you listen to everyone the reason you should do a little bit exercise you know a couple times a week it's more up here in your brain physically and I realized that halfway to the year so I got back into it m and and uh yeah I'm looking a bit trimmer but I feel better and that's probably the main reason well it's good it's good that you recharged because you got a big couple weeks ability Fest and then are you going to get down there to the Grand Prix mate I'm gonna be hanging on the back of Max V sten's car like AER it's it's one of my uh one of my favorite events I'll be there yeah Melbourne's killing it mate so make sure everyone gets down it's a massive month and I know you boys have been town so when you call me I'm going to screen you what was the pub you took us to yeah no so for all those people who are listening at home the last time we had Dylan on the podcast we recorded it out at Adam briggs' Studio out on the west side somewhere and um at the end of it Dylan was like oh do you want to go into town and have a couple of beers we like oh that sounds great so we go out to Dylan's car and he drives us into the city to this lovely Pub and we just had these beers and there were people there who were like what the [ __ ] is going on why are these people why are these three people in this pub at 11:30 in the morning on a Thursday having some cold pints he was it was locals only remember and and they were like who are these dudes get like these guys would suck and we were like get a guys 11 in the morning truly is locals only but you can do that in Melbourne mate it's an international City it's a 24-hour City that's that's it uh well mate thanks for jumping on good to hear from you and um it's great to catch up on all the good work you're doing but yeah obviously we'll um we'll have to blow out down there I know you boys like talking to other people but let me say it very proud of you both you're killing oh thanks mate we're very proud of you too I mean the the wraps have only kept coming for Dylan orot did I see a checky little one mlie onet yeah yeah we hit the one mil yeah I like that if only you got a dollar per follower but for all the people out there you don't you don't definitely don't no boys proud of you and you've always supported me and my missions so look forward to and I'll see you been easy to support D what what do we call it juel code par Olympic gold medalist and and um a strin of the year and now I guess you're moving into gadinsky areas with these uh with ability Fest that's yeah I just got to get Ed Che in there so I get 100,000 then I'm SED then I'm sorted hey um check out ability Fest website ticket still available can't wait to see you there Beauty see you man see you boys love you thanks [Music] d