CONFIRMED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
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The 6th National Australian & Family Community Strengths Conference |
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Combined Keynotes Speaker |
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The 2nd Asset Based Community Development Asia Pacific Conference |
| Ms Judy Jaeger | ||
| Mr Ted Smeaton | ||
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Callan Nickerson (details still to come) |
Replay Interactive Theatre - Garry Fry |
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A/Professor Jan Nicholson - Principal Research Fellow and Mental Health Research Stream Leader at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, and Adjunct A/Prof in the Centre for Learning Innovation, QUT, VIC
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A/Professor Jan Nicholson is a Principal Research Fellow and Mental Health Research Stream Leader at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, and Adjunct A/Prof in the Centre for Learning Innovation, QUT. |
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Dr Richard Fletcher - Leader, Fathers and Families Research Program, The University of Newcastle
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While serving his apprenticeship as a plumber Richard attended night school to gain entry to Sydney University to study science. He taught science in high schools in NSW, Kenya and the United States. After working for TAFE specialising in reaching marginalised groups, he was contracted to the Health Promotion Unit to examine domestic violence prevention. As a result he pioneered the development of Men's Health and Boys' Health areas of study. In 1992 he founded a community-based group, Fathers Against Rape, to conduct workshops with teenage boys in schools. As a lecturer in Health Studies in the Discipline of Paediatrics, University of Newcastle and Team Leader of The Engaging fathers Project, Family Action Centre, he has designed and delivered courses and seminars on Health Research, Boys’ development and Father involvement to teachers, nurses, occupational therapists, and medical students. His PhD thesis on fathers’ attachment to infants and children was accepted in 2008. |
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Prof. Marianne Berry - Australian Centre for Child Protection. formerly of University of Kansas School of Social Welfare
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Professor Marianne Berry, the recently appointed Director of Australian Centre for Child Protection is an international leader in child and family welfare. Professor Berry, who has visited Australia a number of times to give keynote addresses at major conferences, has extensive experience across the spectrum of child welfare policy, practice and research, with a particular interest in program and practice evaluation, family preservation and adoption. She began her career as a social worker, working in schools, child protection services and as a policy analyst before moving into research and teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, where she gained her PhD. As co-founder and Director of the Centre for Child Welfare at the University of Texas, Professor Berry led a major study of adoptive children and their families and developed a certification process for child welfare workers. Professor Berry has been based at the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare since 1998, spearheading a number of major research projects and training contracts to improve child and family welfare policy and practice in the United States. |
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Ms Carmel Devaney - Child and Family Research Centre, National University of Ireland, Ireland
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Carmel Devaney joined the Child and Family Research Centre in April 2007 as a Researcher and Course Co-ordinator of the Higher Diploma/ Master Degree in Family Support Studies. Carmel holds a BA in Social Studies (DIT) and MA in Family Support Studies (NUI, Galway). At a practice level Carmel has worked for many years in children and family services and as Manager of a Springboard Family Support Service. Carmel has researched in the area of children and families service provision and has published in the area of suicide prevention and family support. Carmel has a particular interest in the development of Family Support as an approach to working with children and families and on the impact of associated postgraduate training on practice. Carmel is currently undertaking a PhD on this area at NUI, Galway. |
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Ms Allyson Essex - Branch Manager, Family and Child Support Policy Branch in the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, ACT
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Allyson Essex is the Branch Manager Family and Child Support Policy Branch in the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. In her current position Allyson is responsible for a range of policies and programs dealing with supporting families, with a focus on policy development. Allyson has previously worked in State and Commonwealth government agencies and the community sector in both policy development and service delivery roles. |
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Dr Lyndal Strazdins - National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, the Australian National University, ACT
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Dr Strazdins is a Fellow (PhD psychology, M Clinical Psych) at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, the Australian National University. She is a national leader in the field of work, family and child wellbeing, especially the role played by the quality of parents’ jobs and the new pressures on families to combine work with caring. She is a member of the academic panel for the Federally funded Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, a study of 10,000 families, and a scientific advisor on intergenerational health for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Strazdins was recently awarded an ARC Linkage grant to investigate the health consequences of time and income scarcity in Australian families, viewing adequate time, like income, as another resource essential for good health. |
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Professor Alan Hayes - Director, Australian Institute of Family Studies, VIC
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Professor Alan Hayes is the Director of the Australian Institute of Family Studies, taking up his appointment in September 2004. He also holds a professorial appointment at Macquarie University, Sydney. |
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Prof. Stephen R Zubrick - Curtin University of Technology, Head, Division of Population Sciences Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, WA
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Stephen Zubrick is currently holds a Professorial appointment in the Centre for Developmental Health, at Curtin University of Technology and is the Head of the Division of Population Sciences at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research. He is also Chairman of the Consortium Advisory Group for the National Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, a Member of the VicHealth Indigenous Advisory Committee and a member of the Longitudinal Studies Advisory Group of the Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. |
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Dr Tim Moore - Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Community Child Health (CCCH), VIC
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A trained teacher and psychologist, Dr Tim Moore conducts research and project work at CCCH aimed at improving early childhood services and regularly consults with state and federal governments and non-government organisations on best practice. |
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Ms Silina Tagagau - Engaging Women in Primary Education using Asset Based Approach, Papua New Guinea
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Silina Tagagau is currently employed by the Australian Government’s International Aid program (AusAID) through Coffey International as the Regional Capacity Building Adviser on the Basic Education Development Program in Papua New Guinea, a multi-year program to improve local management of all primary schools in the country. She introduced citizen-led strength-based school management into the program in her previous position as Community Engagement Advisor and has since used her position to influence government policy on how to work with local communities to improve basic education in more than 3000 primary schools in PNG. Her success and that of the program is recognised as best practice both in PNG and internationally. Prior to this Salina was Program Director for an Indigenous Environmental and Community Development NGO. She has worked at different levels within different community groups in PNG using different community approaches thus has had extensive experience in Community Development. In all her work she has been committed to empowering the community to be self reliant and to the engagement of women who are the main agent of change in the Papua New Guinea societies today. |
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Ms Jo Cavanagh - Chief Executive Officer, Family Life, VIC
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Jo Cavanagh has many years experience in the social sector, working with government, business and community organisations. Since 1996, Jo has been the Chief Executive Officer of Family Life, a community based agency serving families, children and young people in the southern region of Melbourne Victoria. Building on the community and volunteer foundations of the agency, a program of change has been implemented to promote community involvement for preventing child abuse and family violence, assisting vulnerable young people and strengthening families and communities. Jo is a Churchill Fellow and has held a range of leadership and advisory positions including national President of Family Services Australia from 2003-2005, Australian Government ministerial appointments to the Marriage and Family Council and the Australian Council for Children and Parenting, a board member of Family Relationships Services Australia, Council member for the Centre for Social Impact and Deputy Chair of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand. |
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Mr Brian Smith, Local Community Service Association (LSCA)
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Brian Smith was appointed executive officer of the Local Community Services Association (LCSA) in March 2006. He was attracted to this role by LCSA’s commitment to social justice and community development and because he passionately believes in the value and role of local, community based organisations. Brian migrated from the UK in 1971 as a recently qualified, civil engineer and worked on the construction of the coal railways in central Queensland. He has spent most of his working life within the Uniting Church where he served as a lay pastor in north-west Queensland, parish minister in Townsville, social justice officer for the Synod of South Australia (his happiest and most interesting work experience until he joined LCSA), National Director of Frontier Services (the church’s work in remote areas) and Superintendent of Parramatta Mission. In these roles, Brian was involved in a wide range of advocacy and service delivery and developed skills in organizational change, strategic planning and conflict resolution. In recent years he has worked closely with Mark Friedman to implement a Results Based Accountability framework in neighbourhood centres in NSW. Brian has served on the national boards of the Royal Flying Doctor Service and Lifeline. Brian is married to Sue, who teaches at Fairfield West Primary School, and has three adult sons, Stephen, David and Michael. Brian claims that all his best learning has come from his greatest mistakes. |
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Dr. Alison Mathie - Coady International Institute and St Francis Xavier University
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Alison Mathie has over 30 years experience in the international development field and has been teaching at the Coady International Institute and St. Francis Xavier University for the last twelve years. She worked for ten years in Papua New Guinea and Nigeria, primarily in the field of education, rural community development, and advancing women’s role in development. In recent years her main interest has been in promoting asset-based and citizen-led approaches to community development, and using monitoring and evaluation as a means to strengthening practice. This work has taken her to Ethiopia, South Africa, Kenya, India, the Philippines,. Alison has co-authored articles on these topics in various journals and co-edited (with Gord Cunningham) a collection of case studies: From Clients to Citizens: Communities changing the course of their own development. She has also published several manuals for development practitioners on qualitative research, poverty targeting, gender analysis, asset-based community development, and participatory monitoring and evaluation. She is currently researching innovations in formal member-based organizations that provide space and opportunity for communities to continue to drive their own development. She has an undergraduate degree in Geography from the University of Edinburgh, UK; a M.A. in Sociology from the University of Guelph, Canada; and a PhD in Program Evaluation and Planning from Cornell University, USA. |
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Peter Kenyon - Bank of I.D.E.A.S, Western Australia
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Peter Kenyon is a social capitalist and community enthusiast. Over the last decade he has worked with over 1000 communities throughout Australia and overseas seeking to facilitate fresh and creative ways that stimulate community and economic renewal. He is motivated by the desire to create healthy, caring, inclusive, sustainable and enterprising communities. Peter has had a background as a youth worker, teacher, youth education officer and tertiary lecturer. His employment experiences have also included Director of Employment in Western Australia, Manager of the Community Employment Development Unit in New Zealand and Coordinator of the Natal Kwazulu Job Creation and Enterprise Strategy in South Africa. Peter became convinced that one cannot develop communities from the top down or from the outside in. It required communities to build from the inside out, and for their residents to invest themselves, ideas, assets and resources in the process. Subsequently, he created the Bank of I.D.E.A.S. (Initiatives for the Development of Enterprising Action and Strategies) in 1991, to promote such a paradigm shift and assist with the necessary facilitation, ideas and skills. |
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Mr Cormac Russell – Managing Director, Nurture Development, Ireland
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Cormac Russell Managing Director of Nurture Development based in Ireland and is a faculty member of the Asset Based Community Development Institute, Northwestern University Chicago, as well as being an associate faculty member of the National College of Ireland. He is a qualified civil and commercial mediator accredited by Friarylaw and the ADR Group. He is also on the Friarylaw MCM Panel of Mediators. He is a highly skilled and qualified social researcher, evaluator, trainer, facilitator, mediator and consultant on a wide range of social policy issues. He holds degrees in Philosophy and Psychology, with post graduate qualifications in Applied Psychology, Communications Therapy and Community Development and Leadership |
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Mr Donnie Maclurcan - Ideas Guy, Project Australia, NSW
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Donnie's role oversees managing the PA team and its strategic direction. He founded PA back in 2006 and is one of Australia's forward thinkers in terms of Social Innovation and Social Justice. Outside of PA, Donnie works as a writer and researcher on issues relating to nanotechnology. |
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Ms Judy Jaeger, Newcastle City Council, NSW
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Judy Jaeger is currently the Director Future City for the City of Newcastle. This role forms part of Council’s Executive Leadership Team, reporting directly to the General Manager. Judy was raised in Northern New South Wales and entered the workforce in 1979. While her career history has been in Local Government, working for six separate councils, she has been exposed to private and public sector organisations including non-government, not-for-profit organisations, small and large businesses. In 1999, Judy relocated to the Hunter Valley to take up a senior management role with Maitland City Council. Since then, she has worked for Wyong Shire Council and the City of Newcastle. Judy has managed portfolios that have a direct service delivery focus as well as strategic and future planning. All of her senior management experience has involved the management of change, providing visionary leadership, striving for continuous improvement and best practice, focussing on outcomes and actively promoting a team based environment with an emphasis on consultation and participation. Judy holds a Bachelor of Arts (Library & Information Science) and a Master of Business Administration. |
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Mr Ted Smeaton, Inspiring Communities, NSW
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Ted has over twenty years experience in strength based community building, organisation and policy development. He works in Australia and internationally assisting communities, families and agencies to come up with innovative ways of stimulating community, social renewal and social inclusion. He lives in the little community of Jilliby Australia with his wife, two teenage daughters, horses, a dog, a cat and some fish. Ted has a background in community work, community education, senior management and as a tertiary lecturer. Ted has a strong belief that vibrant, healthy communities and nations need strong associations, that sustainable communities are built from the inside out and need the passion, ideas, skills, assets, culture, and energy of everyone in the community to create inclusive, vibrant, enterprising places. While based in Australia, Ted is an international faculty member of the ABCD Institute at the University of North Western Chicago USA, Chairperson of the ABCD Asia Pacific Network and principal of ABCD Global Consulting. “Ted is a master communicator, and facilitator. He brings a unique set of experience and skills in community building and ABCD related work which makes him an invaluable resource." Jodi Kretzman, co founder of the ABCD Institute "Ted has a great practical understanding of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) and has real gifts in assisting people to put ABCD into action. Ted has a heart for social inclusion that is at the center of all his work." Mike Green, Author of When People Care Enough to Act- Asset Based Community Development ABCD is Ted Smeaton’s special gift to inspire others to find the strengths within their Communities. I now go by my daily reminder that- we all have a gift of our mind, a gift of our hearts and a gift of our hands. We all have ability the difference is how we use it (Workshop Participant and community worker) |
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The Story of Brianna and Maree. Replay Interactive Theatre. Presentation lead by Garry Fry - YWCA Canberra,
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Garry Fry has worked in the community sector as counsellor, program director and manager. This involvement included implementing The Messengers Program that achieved the best health promotion program in the ACT in 2001. Prior to that, he undertook artistic and academic roles, including Dean of the School of Drama at LaSalle College of the Arts in Singapore where he devised the foundation curriculum and Deputy Head of Drama at the University of Adelaide. Flowing from his sociological study of group and individual positioning, Garry developed his PhD thesis: Position: the Command of Expressive Space. |
