He currently is the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) Wheelchair Track and Road head coach.

[5] In the 1998 IPC World Track and Field Championships, Dawes was named as the national team coach.

[6] He has gone on to coach several successful athletes including Louise Sauvage, Greg Smith and Fabian Blattman.

[7][8][9] In the 2004 Summer Paralympics Dawes coached Kurt Fearnley to success where he won gold.

[15] In 2014 Dawes was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to athletics as a wheelchair track and road coach.