Resilient Families need Resilient Workers National Symposium 2009



John Adams John Adams has had 17 years working with Aboriginal Organisations and communities & years working in Remote Locations in various role as diverse as Arts Project and the development of CDEPs. John moved to Alice Springs to take up a position in the Central Australian Office of the Northern Territories Department of Family and Children's Services. In 2005 he became the Coordinator of Tangentyere Council's Safe Families Program. The Safe Families program employs Indigenous residential workers in a residential unit and Indigenous and non-Indigenous family workers who work with children at risk of becoming involved and in the child protection system. John is Currently the Manager of Tangentyere Council's Family and Youth Services Division which delivers not only the Safe Families Program by also Playgroup service to town Camps, Community Centers on Town Camps, Sport and Recreation Services on Town Camps, Family Well Being Courses and the CAYLIS Program which delvers Youth Programs in Remote Communities and Community development around Volatile Substance ranging from Supply Reduction to Demand reduction Initiatives. John has qualifications in both Welfare Studies and Adult Education. Dr Fiona Arney Dr Fiona Arney is the Deputy Director of the Australian Centre for Child Protection at the University of South Australia. Fiona has over twelve years experience as a researcher in the areas of parenting support, child protection and child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing. She has a special interest in the development of programs and policy which recognise the specific needs of children from Indigenous and refugee backgrounds. Fiona is a member of research teams examining the factors affecting the use of research in policy and practice and the organisational and individual preconditions required for the adoption and adaptation of promising practices. Aileen Ashford Aileen has a background in social work and teaching and has worked in the human services sector for over 25 years. She has held a range of direct practice, policy and senior management roles within the areas of disability, homelessness, family violence, community health and child and family services both within government and non government services. Her most recent past role was as CEO of Bethany Community Support Geelong for over 7 years. Aileen lead its growth into a highly regarded innovative community service organisation providing an integrated platform of services to vulnerable individuals, children and families. Aileen has been a Board Member and past President of the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare and was a Member of Victorian Government Children's Council. In August 2008 Aileen was appointed to the newly established position of Director Reform Implementation Unit within the Department of Health and Human Services Tasmania . Aileen's new role is the reform of disability, child protection and family services and out of home care services across the state. Muriel Bamblett Muriel Bamblett is a Yorta Yorta woman who has been employed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency since 1999. From 1997-99 Muriel was the Chairperson of VACCA and from 1998-2008 was the Chairperson of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care, the peak agency representing Indigenous Child and Family Services nationally. Muriel is active on many boards concerning children, families and the Indigenous community, including being a Member of the Victorian Children's Council; a Ministerial appointed representative on the Australian Families and Children Council; a Community Member on the Victorian Youth Parole Board; and a Board Member of the Aboriginal Community Elders Service. Muriel has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the 2003 Robin Clark Memorial Award for Inspirational Leadership in the Field of Child and Family Welfare; and was awarded an AM (Membership in the General Division) in the 2004 Australia Day Honours for her services to the community. In 2008 Muriel was a participant at the Prime Minister's 2020 Summit and in 2009 LaTrobe University appointed Muriel as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Work and Social Policy within the Faculty of Health Sciences. Howard Bath Howard Bath is the Children’s Commissioner for the Northern Territory. In this role he is responsible for ensuring the wellbeing of protected and otherwise vulnerable children. He has a specific responsibility for monitoring NT government decisions arising from the “Little Children are Sacred” report and the administration of the NT Care and Protection of Children 2007 Act. Trained as a Clinical Psychologist and with a long history working in child welfare settings, he has a particular interest in the contributions of recent neuroscience research to our understanding of the needs of vulnerable children and young people. Lynden Baxter Twenty four years experience in the community welfare sector in social housing, homelessness, family violence, women's and youth services. Julie Boffa Julie Boffa is the Project Manager for the nine community agencies that form the North East Metro Child and Family Services Alliance, responsible for delivering Child FIRST and Integrated Family Services in the north east suburbs of Melbourne . In a concurrent role, Julie has responsibility for statewide Family Services (IRIS) data management through the Department of Human Services. Julie is a Social Worker with more than 20 years experience originally in Child Protection practice and policy, and more recently Family Services. Leah Bromfield Dr Leah Bromfield is the Manager of the National Child Protection Clearinghouse at the Australian Institute of Family Studies. She has completed a PhD on the topic of chronic maltreatment and cumulative harm in a child protection sample. Her areas of specialty are child protection systems, cumulative harm, and research into policy/practice. Bernadette Burchell Bernadette Burchell is chief executive officer of the Children’s Protection Society in Victoria, a child and family support service established 110 years ago as a first community response to the welfare of children in Victoria. CPS today provides therapeutic services at an individual and family level for children who have experienced abuse and neglect, and a range of prevention and early intervention initiatives. Bernadette is a social worker with a Master of Social Work in Human Service Management with more than 20 years of experience as a practitioner, manager, consultant and leader in child and family welfare, community health, and alcohol and drug treatment services. Bernadette has served from 2005 to 2008 as a Member of the Board of the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare, and is Chair of the North East Metro Child and Family Services Alliance, which is responsible for Child FIRST and Integrated Family Services delivery in north east Melbourne. She is a student, participant and architect of partnerships to improve community care systems for vulnerable children and families. Gill Callister Gill Callister holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Social Work with Honours from Monash University. Between 1981 and 1991, Gill worked in non-government services undertaking roles such as counselling and group work, management roles in foster care/residential care and early parenting support services. Since 1991, Gill has held a range of senior Department of Human Services (DHS) regional portfolios including Manager Child Protection Program, Manager Service Policy and Legislation, A/Manager Child Protection and Care Branch, Manager Child and Family Care, Manager Community Care and periods of A/Regional Director. In May 2001, Gill was appointed Director Portfolio Services in DHS head office. In March 2002, Gill was appointed Director, Child Protection and Juvenile Justice Branch. This role managed the State’s statutory Child Protection and Juvenile Justice Programs. From April 2004, Gill was appointed to Executive Director, Community Care, and on the establishment of the Office for Children in March 2005, became the Executive Director of this new division. In 2007 Gill was appointed Executive Director, Mental Health and Drugs Division which is a new division within the Department of Human Services. Coleen Clare Coleen Clare has been the chief executive officer of the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare since 1997. During Coleen’s time as chief executive, the Centre has tripled its membership, size and budget and is now operating as an advocacy, research and training centre out of its own premises in Melbourne’s CBD. Coleen has worked to develop a research partnership with The University of Melbourne with a Chair in Child and Family Welfare – currently Professor Cathy Humphreys. From 1991 to 1997 Coleen worked with the Attorney-General’s Department both in the Family Services Branch, and as principal psychologist in Family Law Services. She worked with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and in the Office for the Status of Women as Director of both the Stop Violence Against Women, and the Work and Family Balance programs. Coleen is active in the community service sector and is currently President of the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) where she has been on the Board of Directors from 2002 to 2008. Her role includes taking responsibility for the leadership and strategic direction of the agency, financial management, trust management, governance and supporting programs in 11 Asia Pacific locations and within Australia. Coleen has been responsible for a comprehensive folio of legislative, policy and program advice in all her senior roles as a Commonwealth and State public servant and currently as a CEO in the community sector. She has been responsible for national campaigns in work, family and domestic violence and the conceptualisation and oversight of a broad Monograph Publications Series for the Centre covering a full range of leadership, management and practice topics. David Clements David Clements is the Assistant Director, Service Improvement, in the Mental Health and Drugs Division of DHS. His Unit is responsible for developing and assisting in the implementation of policies and programs that improve the effectiveness of Victoria 's mental health and drug treatment services. A major focus for his unit is strengthening the understanding of the mental health system within other areas, and ensuring that opportunities for working in a more integrated and effective manner are seized. David's Previous experience includes 10 years in policy within the Child Protection, out of home care and family services area, including around 4 years as the Assistant Director, Placement and Support. David has also worked as a child protection worker in Victoria and Northern Ireland , and in harm prevention within the non-government sector. Dr Marie Connolly Dr Marie Connolly is the chief social worker within the New Zealand government. Previously she was Associate Professor and Director of the Te Awatea Violence Research Centre at the University of Canterbury. She has published extensively in her area of scholarship, including eight related books, most recently 'Child Death by Maltreatment' (2007), 'Morals, Rights and Practice in the Human Services' (2008) and'social Work: Contexts and Practice' (2009). Sue Couper Sue has a background in midwifery and community based child and family health nursing and joined the staff of QEC in 2000 to coordinate QEC's Home Based Parenting Assessment and Skills Development program in the Southern Region. She has been a member of the QEC management team since 2003 and was appointed Director of Nursing in June 2006. Sue has a special interest in developing collaborative partnerships to improve access to early parenting services for vulnerable families, innovation in practice and service development and supporting staff in their work with families. Sandie de Wolf Sandie’s career in the child and family welfare field sector commenced in the early 1970s with the Department of Human Services, where she worked as a case worker and then in senior positions in management and policy development, both in regional areas and the DHS’s head office. Since 1989, Sandie has worked in the community sector, in both policy and management roles. In 1994, Sandie was appointed chief executive of Berry Street and has led its growth and expansion to be the largest independent child and family welfare organisation in Victoria. Berry Street works right across rural, regional and metropolitan Victoria, providing services to vulnerable children, young people and families, employing over 600 staff and with an annual turnover of over $42 million. Berry Street aims to ensure that all children have a good childhood, growing up in families and communities where they feel safe, nurtured and have hope for the future. Sandie currently chairs Families Australia, a national body set up to advise the Federal Government on family policy. She is a member of the Victorian Child Death Review Committee, the Victorian Government’s Children’s Council, the DHS/VCOSS Human Services Partnership Implementation Committee and Secretary of CAFWAA. Sandie has been recognised for her leadership and commitment with an award of Member (AM) through the Order of Australia (2009) and the Robin Clark Memorial Award for Inspirational Leadership (2008). Nancy Dickinson PhD Nancy Dickinson, MSSW, PhD, is the Executive Director of the Jordan Institute for Families and Clinical Professor at the School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has over 35 years experience in child welfare work, administration, training and research. Since 2003, Nancy has been Principal Investigator on a five-year Child Welfare Staff Recruitment and Retention project, funded by the U.S. Children’s Bureau. Since 1 October 2008 she has been the Project Director of the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute, a five-year collaborative effort among eight universities, the National Indian Child Welfare Association and the U.S. Children’s Bureau. Pauline Dixon Pauline Dixon is the Manager of Family Services at Wanslea Family Services in Western Australia. She has 20 years experience working with children and families. She started her work as a social worker in child protection in Victoria and then moved to the non-government sector in Western Australia. Her primary areas of work have been in foster care and vulnerable families. She currently manages a team that work across a range of programs including parenting, prevention of children entering care, support to grandparents raising grandchildren, support to children of parents with mental illness and community development. She was a state leader and continues to be a hub convenor of the Healthy Start strategy in Western Australia. Annette Kelly-Egerton Annette has worked in the welfare arena for the past 20 years in both government and non government, across both the disability and out of home care areas. For the past 10 years, she has been responsible for the Childrens Family Centre of Barnardos Australia in Canberra Dr Elizabeth Fernandez Dr Elizabeth Fernandez is Associate Professor, School of Social Work , University of New South Wales , Australia , and teaches courses in Human Behaviour, Child and Family Welfare and Professional Supervision. Her current research focuses on (1) the outcomes of family based interventions on the prevention of child abuse and neglect and (2) the assessment of outcomes for children in care through a ten year longitudinal study. As a research affiliate of the UNSW Social Policy Research Centre she has collaborated with the centre on a range of Child Welfare Research. She has also collaborated with Barnardos Australia in the research and implementation of the Looking After Children framework in Australian child welfare through the LAC Project, and the implementation of the UK Framework for The Assessment of Families of Children in Need . She is author of a research-based book, Significant Harm: Unraveling Child Protection Decisions and Substitute Care Careers , Ashgate , England . As a founding member of the International Association for Outcome-Based Evaluation in Family and Children's Services, she shares an interest in cross-national outcome research. Angela Forbes Angela brings over 25 years experience in the community service sector having worked across family services, residential services, foster care, disability services and child protection including. She is currently CEO of Connections UnitingCare which provides a range of community services, including family services. Angela has actively sought opportunities over many years to advocate for sector issues and change. Angela holds a Bachelor of Social Work, and Masters of Business Administration; and is an Alumni of Latrobe University and the Ashridge Business School (UK). Belinda Fry Belinda Fry is a Wotjabuluk woman from the Wimmera district. She has been working with Aboriginal community for the last five years. Belinda is a team leader within the Early Intervention & Family Support team at the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency. Over the last four years, Belinda has been involved in VACCA's implementation of an integrated model of service delivery to support vulnerable Aboriginal families. She believes this mocel has significantly improved the centre's ability to provide more responsive and targeted interventions. Judith Gibbs Judith is a qualified social worker who has worked in child and family welfare in both Victoria and the UK. She has taught at La Trobe University and now works as an independent consultant and trainer. Judith’s doctoral thesis examined the problem of staff retention in child protection and her publications include material about staff supervision and support. In the past three years she has worked with a number of statutory and community service organisations undertaking consultancies related to learning for professional practice, supervision and leadership. From 2001 to 2004 Judith chaired the Victorian Child Death Review Committee. She continues to undertake individual child death inquiries in Victoria and is currently undertaking a review of the inquiry process. Rob Gordon PhD Clinical psychologist Rob Gordon has more than 30 years experience treating individuals and families on the front line of some of Australia’s most challenging disasters. Rob has worked with Australian and international humanitarian and welfare agencies to respond to devastating events that have taken a significant emotional toll on the Australian community including the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires, the Bali bombings, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, Cyclone Larry and most recently, the Victorian bushfires in early February 2009. Rob is vice president of the Critical Incident Stress Management Foundation Australia and has worked as a clinical psychologist at Victoria’s Department of Human Services CISM service. He currently works as a psychological consultant to the Victorian Emergency Management Plan, the Australian Red Cross, Psychology Beyond Borders and New Zealand’s Department of Child, Youth and Family. Rob specialises in understanding the vital role social support services play in helping communities through the recovery process. By June, those families and communities affected by the Victorian bushfires will be five months into the recovery process. For those working to provide family services in Victoria, and supporting the families affected by devastating floods in Queensland and the central north coast of NSW, Rob will be able to draw on his experience to provide very real and timely insight into the ongoing recovery from these events. He will discuss changes in professional approaches and thinking towards trauma counselling, and reflecting on some of the lessons that have been learned from the response to these disasters. Rob’s presentation at the Resilient Families Need Resilient Workers – Practice, Policy and Research Symposium, will address the dual challenges facing individuals and families – dealing with the immediate emotional impact of a traumatic disaster and surviving the grinding stresses families face in the longer term recovery process. He will give Symposium participants an opportunity to reflect on the role of workers within the child and family service sector and share his knowledge on the important role social support services can play in the recovery process. Cyndi Grant Cyndi Grant is a social worker with a background in working with vulnerable children and families for the past 16 years. Cyndi works with Child Protection as the Convenor, Aboriginal Family Decision-Making and Manager of Community Partnerships within the Eastern metropolitan region. She has worked in both the Department of Human Services and Community Service Organisation sectors relating to Child Protection, Out of Home Care and Family Services. Cyndi's role sees her providing leadership in the development of collaborative practices and relationships between child protection and family services programs across the eastern metro region. The position of Community Partnership Manager plays a key role in the continued implementation of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005, in building and strengthening partnerships and the integration and coordination of services. Outcomes for individuals and families improve if service delivery is integrated, coordinated and provided flexibly to meet individual needs. Neil B. Guterman, Ph.D Professor Neil Guterman is the Mose and Sylvia Firestone Professor at the School of Social Service and Administration at the University of Chicago. At the core of his research is preventing child maltreatment before it occurs, and eliminating the need for expensive intervention and the risk of wider social problems. An emerging preventative strategy that is being implemented in hundreds of communities throughout the United States offers hope for change, and findings from the "early home visitation" approach suggest that delivering services directly to the homes of families around the time of a child's birth can prevent abuse and neglect from ever occurring. Professor Guterman is conducting several related studies on child abuse prevention, funded by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the Children's Bureau in the Department of Health & Human Services, and a number of private foundations. His "second generation" research on home visitation services is testing ways to improve the outcomes found in earlier studies on such services. Guterman is studying how growing parent social networks might help them better manage a series of challenges linked with the risk for child abuse, including social isolation and potential involvement in domestic violence. Professor Guterman's expertise in child abuse prevention has been tapped by a wide variety of local and national organisations including the US Surgeon General's Office, the Centre for Disease Control, the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, Prevent Child Abuse America, and the National Conference of State Legislatures. He has published one of the benchmark books in the field, and is working on a second book on child abuse prevention that is expected to become the reference work for the field of child abuse prevention. Jenny Higgins Dr. Jenny Higgins is the Knowledge Broker at the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare, a position designed to enhance the uptake of evidence-informed knowledge by managers and practitioners and facilitate knowledge-sharing across the sector. Jenny has worked as a practitioner, researcher and academic in the child and family welfare sector. Lisa Hillan Lisa Hillan is a social worker with over 18 years experience in child protection and working with children and young people. She has worked for government and non-government organisations in the delivery of child and family services as well as the development of program delivery options and services within the area. Lisa took on the role of Programs Manager of Save the Children Queensland in April 2000. In this role she oversees program development and is responsible for delivery of high quality services across early intervention and child protection programs. In 2006 she completed a Churchill Fellowship exploring differing models and outcomes of residential care provision for young people, with an examination of the links to evidence and research in the design and evaluation of out-of-home-care in the UK, Canada, and the US. More recently she has been working in partnership with a number of Indigenous organisations across the Northern Territory and North Queensland in the development of early intervention programs for children and young people, through the development of the mobile Playscheme and Future Parents Programs. Lisa has represented Save the Children Queensland and the community services sector on number of associations and boards at a State and National level, including chairing the child protection week committee in Queensland for two years. She is currently the Chair of the Child and Family Welfare Association of Australia. Professor Cathy Humphreys Professor Cathy Humphreys holds The Alfred Felton Chair of Child and Family Welfare at the University of Melbourne. The position supports a collaborative partnership between the University of Melbourne and the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare. This is a Research Chair to which she was appointed in 2006 in recognition of her contribution to research and publication in the child welfare and domestic and family violence fields. Cathy’s attention to research utilisation has been sustained, and supported by the collaboration with the Centre for Excellence. Each research project is designed to address the issues of research utilisation for policy and practice at the beginning rather than the end of the project. Since commencing her position as The Alfred Felton Chair of Child and Family Welfare, Cathy has been involved in the development of a research program to support the child and family welfare and family violence sectors. There have been 10 successful research grants attracting more than $2 million dollars of funding to support research in the area. Annette Jackson Annette Jackson has extensive experience as practitioner, supervisor, project manager and senior manager in Child Protection. She is a fellow of the Child Trauma Academy in the US and has experience in support services, family preservation and residential care for children, young people and their families at risk, working as a counsellor and manager. She has an ongoing commitment to working in partnership with the Aboriginal community in relation to child wellbeing. Annette is a 2004 Creswick Fellow and a current Child Trauma Fellow and has completed a Bachelor of Social Work and a Masters of Social Work at Melbourne University, completing her thesis on family reunification. Annette has worked with Take Two since its inception in 2003. Take Two is a therapeutic program for children who have experienced abuse and neglect. Annette is the Knowledge Manager, managing the Take Two practice development and training team, the information management team, and the research team. Annette has published a number of reports and papers and presented at numerous local, national and international conferences. Annette's areas of interest include understanding the impact of trauma and disrupted attachment on children's development and wellbeing, family reunification and Aboriginal child social and emotional wellbeing. Diane Lawson Di Lawson has held the position of CEO of the Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council for over 6 years. With a Masters Degree in Education and degrees in Women’s Studies and Applied Science, Di aims to inspire others to a life of learning. Di has held national leadership roles in learning and business development for over 15 years and presently sits on a number of national workforce committees. Di is frequently invited to speak on community services and health industry trends and issues in particular on workforce issues. Tricia Lee Tricia Lee has worked in the community sector for nearly 30 years and for the past 5, as Executive Director at Wanslea Family Services in WA. Tricia's experience covers a broad range of service areas : out of home care, family services, refugee work, child care, homelessness, relationship services and domestic violence in NSW and WA. She am concerned about people in rural and remote areas having access to services and that children and young people, in particular, have a positive start to life and maximises their potential for the future. Tricia is passionate about our sector and our place in the broader community. Lauren Lee Indigenous Family Violence Intensive Case Management Support Worker. Lauren is a Maori woman from the Maninpoto tribe. She has a BA in Rural Social Welfare and a Post Graduate Dip Psychology. Lauren has five years experience in the family violence support sector and 18 years nursing experience. Paul Linossier Paul Linossier has been involved with the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare since the early 1980s and has been a Board Member and an office bearer on many occasions. He was President of the then CWAV from 1998 to 2001 and was later made a Life Member. He has similarly served as a member of the Council of Catholic Social Services Victoria and is the past Chairperson. Paul was also a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee for Vulnerable Children and Families, and Co-Chair of the inaugural Family Support & Placement Sector Development Plan. He is a member of the Premier’s Victorian Children's Council and chairs the VCOSS Community Sector Futures Task Group. He has been awarded a Centenary Medal for services to the welfare sector and in September 2007 was awarded the Robin Clark Memorial Award for Inspirational Leadership. Andrew Lowth Andrew Lowth is a social worker and psychotherapist with 25 years experience working with vulnerable communities and people. Andrew worked for 10 years in the HIV sector in Sydney and most recently moved to Daylesford in country Victoria where he currently works as a community partnerships manager across the Grampians region. Andrew's role sees him providing leadership in the development of collaborative practices and relationships between child protection and family services programs across the region. The position of Community Partnership Manager plays a key role in the continued implementation of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005, in building and strengthening partnerships and the integration and coordination of services. Outcomes for individuals and families improve if service delivery is integrated, coordinated and provided flexibly to meet individual needs. Andrew has a special interest in attachment theory and early development trauma. Jenny Macklin The Hon Jenny Macklin MP, Member for Jagajaga and Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, was elected to Federal Parliament in 1996. She served as a Shadow Minister until the 2007 election and as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 2001 – 2006. She has an honours degree in commerce from Melbourne University and prior to entering Federal Parliament worked in research roles with the Australian National University , the Legislative Research Service and the Labor Research Centre. She was also former Director for the National Health Strategy and the Australian Urban Regional Development Review. Andrew McCallum Andrew commenced his working life as a primary school teacher after completing a Diploma of Teaching at Ballarat Teachers’ College. After studying in the United Kingdom he moved into the welfare sector as an Education Officer/Supervisor of Residential Services at Orana Children’s Homes in Melbourne. In 1981 he took up the position of inaugural Director of Wimmera Community Care (Uniting Church agency) based in Horsham; a position he held for five years before taking up the position of Chief Executive Officer of St Luke’s Anglicare in the Loddon Mallee region of Victoria. A position he held until January 2006. Andrew has held many board positions on state and national bodies including five years as President of the Children’s Welfare Association of Victoria (CWAV) and Chairperson of the Child and Family Welfare Association of Australia. In 1999 Andrew was awarded life membership of CWAV. Andrew is a past President of the Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS), and during 1999 - 2001 Board and Executive Member of the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS). Andrew McCallum was elected President of ACOSS in 2001a position he held until December 2005. Andrew has worked as a consultant in the community services sector and is currently CEO of the Association of Childrens Welfare Agencies [ACWA] based in Sydney. Mary McKinnon Mary McKinnon is currently Director of Child Protection, Placement and Family Services with the Department of Human Services in Victoria . She has worked to drive policy development, forward planning and strategic direction within the DHS's child protection team through placement and support, family violence, sexual assault and family support services. Mary is committed to clear leadership, team development, change management, effective translation of policy into practice, and has significant government and non-government experience. Mary has a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from the South Australia Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Media Arts from RMIT University in Melbourne , as well as a Certificate of Management in Organisational Leadership. She has worked with the Executive Fellows Program for Senior Public Sector Executives at the Australian and New Zealand School of Government, RMIT University . Before joining the DHS, Mary worked at the Melbourne Citymission from 1995 to 2001 in a number of management roles including manager of state wide ABI Case Management Services, Manager Youth and Family Services and Manager Yarra Centre. From 1982 to 1990 Mary was employed by the Department for Community Services in South Australia in a wide variety of roles. From 1984 she worked consistently as a manager in Juvenile Justice custodial settings. John Merritt John Merritt is the Executive Director of Health and Safety at WorkSafe Victoria, the occupational health and safety regulator for the State Government of Victoria, and part of the Victorian WorkCover Authority. John has an extensive background in workplace health and safety and has held senior management roles in leading Australian and international organisations. Prior to joining WorkSafe, John was the Managing Director and chief executive officer of the National Safety Council of Australia – a position he held for three years. In that role he was also a member of the Asia Pacific Occupational Health and Safety Organisation. John has been the associate director of the management consulting firm World Competitive Practices, and the executive manager of Fletcher Construction Australia. He has also held senior roles in the Australian trade union movement. He holds a Bachelor of Economics and completed post graduate research work at the London School of Economics under a British Government scholarship. He is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Annette Michaux Annette Michaux is General Manager, Social Policy and Research at The Benevolent Society, a large non-profit organisation with the purpose of creating caring and inclusive communities and a just society . Annette's role at The Benevolent Society is to drive the organisation's increasing focus on evidence-informed practice, research and advocacy. With qualifications in social work and adult education, Annette has held a number of senior policy and operational positions in both government and non-profits. She was the executive officer of the NSW Child Protection Council and a member of the senior policy team at the NSW Commission for Children and Young People. Earlier in her career Annette worked as a child welfare officer and ran a large inner-city community centre in Sydney . She has been on numerous high-level committees and is currently a board member of the Australasian Evaluation Society and a member of Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) , Future Generations - Network Advisory Committee. Robyn Mildon Dr. Robyn Mildon is the Director of Knowledge Transfer at the Parenting Research Centre. Robyn is responsible for a number projects all of which of focus on the dissemination of evidence-based parenting programs and practice and are based on scientific knowledge of parenting in the development of information, policy, and community capacity building. Robyn Miller Robyn Miller is a social worker and family therapist with over 25 years experience in the field. Prior to this she has worked in the Community Sector, Local Government, Child Protection, and for the past 14 years at the Bouverie Family Therapy, La Trobe University Centre as a senior clinician and teacher. She has worked in the public and private sectors as a therapist supervisor, consultant and trainer for a range of organisations, and academic institutes. She has been a member of the Victorian Child Death Review Committee for the past 5 years and was the recipient of the inaugural Robin Clark memorial Phd scholarship attached to the Take Two Program. For the past two years she has provided practice leadership as the Principal Practitioner in the Children, Youth & Families Division of the Department of Human Services in Victoria , Australia , which has embraced many positive reforms. Her practice and research interest has been in the area of trauma and family work, and she has a particular expertise in with families where there has been sexual abuse and family violence. Robyn has published several articles, chapters and has authored the Best Interests Series for the Department of Human Services. Robyn has presented widely at conferences both nationally and internationally and she is noted for her innovative practice with children and families where there is complex and trans-generational trauma. Gaye Mitchell Gaye Mitchell has been a practicing social worker for more than 30 years, supporting her sector experience with academic study through a Bachelor of Arts, Diploma of Social Studies and a PhD from the University of Melbourne. The majority of Gaye's practice and research experience has been within child and family welfare, largely within community service organisations. Gaye is basing her Symposium workshop on a piece of research conducted by Connections, and completed in 2008. Gaye is currently working as a Practice Research Consultant, a Researcher at Wesley Mission Melbourne, and an Honorary Research Fellow with the Alfred Felton Research Program in Child and Family Welfare at School of Nursing and Social Work, University of Melbourne. Deb Milera Deb Milera is an Indigenous Family Violence Support Worker. Deb is a Narungga woman from South Australia and has fourteen years experience in the public and community sectors providing services to Indigenous people in the areas of education, employment,income support and family violence Mick Naughton Mick Naughton is the assistant director of Child Protection Operations within the Department of Human Services’ Youth and Families Division. As a qualified social worker, Mick has spent the past 14 years working in the Victorian child and family services policy environment. Earlier in his career, he worked for six years in the Victorian child protection system and spent seven years working in child and family services in the United Kingdom. Since 2002 he has led the expansion of Victoria’s early intervention services for vulnerable children and families through Family Support Innovation Projects and more recently through the Child FIRST initiative. Mick is a passionate believer in the importance of evidence-based policy and in 2007 he was the co-recipient of the Victorian Robin Clark Memorial Award for Inspirational Leadership. Timothy O'Leary Timothy O'Leary is a senior training officer at Berry Street's Take Two program which provides therapy for children who have experienced abuse and neglect. Tim is a social worker with a Masters of Couples and Relationships Counselling. He is an experienced clinician and teacher who has an engaging and open approach to training and education. Tim's clinical experience ranges from working in the areas of mental health and youth work, trauma work to couples counselling and men's behavioural change group-work. Tim has presented a variety of conference papers and seminars relating to trauma work, sexual assault and working with young men. Among his areas of responsibility, Tim is responsible for the portfolio within the Take Two Practice Development and Training Team, providing training and expertise on trauma and attachment within schools, including the Calmer Classrooms approach. Melinda Polimeni Dr Melinda Polimeni is Clinical Research Fellow at the Parenting Research Centre and was project coordinator of Healthy Start: A national strategy for children of parents with Learning Difficulties until February 2009. Melinda works on several projects that focus on parenting in vulnerable families and dissemination of evidence based practice. Holly Reid Holly Reid has been the Chief Executive Officer of Menzies Incorporated since January 2007 Menzies, located in Frankston, runs four homes of residential services and also provides programs at Sages Cottage Farm for a variety of community needs in the disadvantaged area of Baxter. Holly's background includes her early career years as a French & English teacher, both in the United States and Australia . She arrived in Australia in 1976 and until 2003 lived and worked in Ballarat. Since 1983 Holly has held senior management roles in fundraising, marketing and media relations for non-government schools, the Victorian College of the Arts and Alzheimer's Australia Vic. Holly has served on several not-for-profit boards supporting regional communities, Melbourne and the arts. Holly has a Master's of Business Management degree and is a CFRE, Certified Fundraising Executive. She is enjoying the leadership challenges of running a small but complex organisation and joined the Board of the Centre For Excellence in November 2008. Luke Rumbold Luke has been the CEO of Upper Murray Family Care for the past 24 years.His professional qualifications are in Social Work ( BSW,MSW,PhD).He is currently a board member of the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare and Family Relationship Services Australia Simon Schrapel Originally trained in Social Work in Adelaide , Simon has undertaken a number of practitioner and management roles in the United Kingdom , Sri Lanka and in Australia . Simon is currently the Executive Director of Strategy, Policy and Services at Anglicare SA and holds a number of key leadership roles in the community services field, including as Chair of SACOSS, part Chair of CAFWAA and a member of Families Australia and ACOSS Boards. Marie Stuart A graduate from Macquarie University in Psychology and Education, Marie commenced work as an early intervention teacher in the Macquarie Down Syndrome Program in 1986. However throughout university Marie worked as a youth worker for the NSW Department of Child Welfare in group homes for children and young people. Since 1983 Marie worked in the area of child protection for government and non-government organisations in the delivery of child and family support, therapy, education, management and the development of program delivery options and services within communities in the Blue Mountains, western Sydney and south eastern Queensland. From January 2003 Marie coordinated the Family Support Service for Save the Children Queensland, and this included the management and development of a research project for the Department of Communities. This project “No Empty Promises” explored the strategies for engaging with difficult to engage families and best intervention strategies for improving family wellbeing and protecting children. Marie has since been the Programs Manager of The Early Intervention and Domestic Violence projects in south eastern Queensland, at Save the Children since July 2007. In this role she oversees all program development and is responsible for organisational structure to deliver high quality services. She is also responsible for advocacy on children’s rights issues within the state alongside other state program managers and the state executive officer. Save the Children programs range from early intervention to tertiary treatment programs for children and their families in the child protection area. Staff are from varied professional backgrounds including early childhood training, residential carers and social workers and psychologists. Nancy Sweeney Born in Darwin in 1963, Nancy Sweeney is a proud Wolwonga woman. She and her family of 12 recently discovered their lost identity and she is now working to preserve and understand that history for her children and grandchildren. Nancy joined Save the Children Queensland in 2004 as a family support worker within a team of three. She describes the amazing journey she has experienced with Save the Children, as she has moved from Family Support Worker to team leader and now a proud program coordinator for a team of 13 Aboriginal staff. Nancy’s goals in life have been to mentor and encourage her people to stand strong and achieve whatever they set their sights on, as she has done with the help and mentoring of the Indigenous Business Association. Nancy is currently working on a weekly play scheme in Wadeye, training local people and inspiring them to run the play scheme on their own, with opportunities for them to be trained in early childhood development and management roles. Nancy is a firm believer in the power of education. She is passionate about change for her people and to see the next generation of Indigenous children succeed and become leaders within their communities. Her work with Save the Children has linked her with Indigenous women from the Territory and all over Australia and helped her to build strong relationships with other women. This is important in knowledge sharing and in building her capacity to assist her community. Paul Testro Paul Testro is a consultant in child and family welfare based in Queensland . He has a long history of working in areas of children, youth, family and community services within government and, as a consultant, with both government and community services. In respect of child and family support, Paul has undertaken a range of work relating to directions and implications for policy development and service delivery. Celia Verrall Celia trained as a breastfeeding counsellor with the Nursing Mothers Association of Australia in 1990 and worked on their telephone counselling service and lead support groups for mothers around parenting issues. Whilst studying for her Bachelor of Human Services degree, her practicum with Good Beginnings –Prisoners And Their Families Program gave her great insight into the difficulties that marginalised families face as she co-facilitated a parenting program with male prisoners in the Sir David Longland Correctional Centre, Queensland. Celia has been a Family Support Worker with Save the Children Queensland since January 2003, participating in the action research study for the Queensland Department of Communities. She recently trained in sand play therapy and enjoyed the challenge of carting her symbols and sand tray to a range of locations. She is now the Coordinator of the Family Support Work Team. In addition to her Coordinators position she has retained a small caseload in order to not loose sight of the reality of the work her team do. The team work alongside the Save the Children playscheme team in caravan parks and other areas of low cost housing. They also take referrals from the two Save the Children refuges. The team of six work in areas from Nambour on the Sunshine Coast down to Tweed Heads on the NSW Qld border. Sepi Weeransinghe Sepi Weerasinghe is social work-trained and has worked in the field of Child and Family welfare for 15 years. Sepi has worked for the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency over the past eight years developing and implementing a variety of Family Support interventions and programs to assist vulnerable Aboriginal families and children. At VACCA, she has worked to build the reach of a range of family support services at universal, secondary and tertiary level, including an Integrated Model of service delivery which is particularly beneficial within Aboriginal organizations, and in supporting Aboriginal families. Gail Slocombe Gail has been with PeakCare since August 2006. She worked with Relationships Australia Queensland in a senior role and has experience with TAFE, University, immigration and child protection. Gail is committed to ensuring quality services within the human services and promoting research to ensure that children and families receive excellent support from the government, the community and their families. Gail has a background in social work, teaching, management and policy development. She enjoys workplace coaching and believes that improved industry standards can develop better services for children and young people. Gail was born and educated in England and travelled to Australia with her husband in the mid-1970s. She has studied for her Masters in Social Work at Queensland University, her teaching studies took her to Griffith University and with her management studies she was engaged with the Australian Institute of Management. Her first job in Queensland was with the (then) Department of Children's Services where she was part of the inaugural Child Protection Unit. Some of Gail.s passions are social justice and the protection of vulnerable people within society, so her role in PeakCare will tap into her energy for this. Gail is also a member of AASW. Diana Smart Diana Smart is a psychologist who joined the Australian Institute of Family Studies in 2000. Diana is a General Manager (Research) at the Institute with responsibility for Growing up in Australia, the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children and the Australian Temperament Project. She joined the Growing up in Australia study in 2007 after a long association with the Australian Temperament Project. Prior to this, Diana conducted research for the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology’s Education Unit and the Victorian Education Department’s Curriculum and Research Branch, and was a Lecturer in Psychology at Rusden State College (now part of Deakin University). Diana's research interests include child and youth adjustment, developmental transitions and pathways, and the fostering of social competence and social responsibility. Janet Williams-Smith Janet Williams-Smith joined CPS in September, 2008, tasked with developing early year's services for young children at risk of abuse of neglect. With qualifications in child care, registrations in general and psychiatric nursing specialising in child and adolescent psychiatry, family therapy and counselling, Janet has wide experience both in Australia and the UK initiating, developing and managing programs and services for highly disadvantaged families and children. Janet comes to CPS after five years of managing the Brotherhood of St Laurence's Napier Street Child and Family Resource Centre in Fitzroy with considerable experience in the inclusion and support of refugee children and families and other disadvantaged children and families. Bruce du Vergier Bruce du Vergier has been the Chief Executive Officer of Community Connections (Vic) Ltd. since its creation in 1991. With his leadership the Agency has emerged as a key provider of social and community service in rural Southwest Victoria. Bruce has been an active participant in the public and private social and community services sector for over 30 years. He has worked as a Community Social Worker and in organisational management in both sectors. He has a special interest in assisting rural communities to obtain and retain vital family and children’s support and care services. He has closely worked with government and non government agencies in the establishment of innovative child protection programs within the rural regions of Victoria; and is particularly interested in extending the role of not for profit organisations in the public policy arena. Judy Wookey Judy Wookey has worked within the child and family services sector for over 25 years. She began work as a social worker in the early eighties working in West Heidelberg in Melbourne. Judy describes this experience as a ‘baptism by fire’. After spending 12 years working for the Victorian state government in a range of direct practice, policy and program development and management positions, she took up an organisational development role at Berry Street Victoria. Ten years ago she took on her first chief executive officer role within the community sector, recently finishing up as CEO of Glastonbury Child and Family Services in Geelong. She now works as a consultant within the health and community services sector. Judy is passionate about providing opportunities for vulnerable children and young people, strengthening families and building communities. She believes that a key way of achieving this is through the building of a strong and resilient workforce and has placed a high emphasis on recruiting and retaining high quality staff. Sarah Wise Dr Sarah Wise is the General Manager, Policy Research and Innovation at Anglicare Victoria . Dr Wise has a background in developmental psychology, and is an experienced and extensively published researcher in the areas of parent-child attachment, child care and the family, community and service contexts of vulnerable and disadvantaged children. In 2008 Dr Wise was awarded a PhD from the Department of Psychology at the University of Melbourne . Kevin Zibell Kevin Zibell has been chief executive of the Ballarat-based Child and Family Services (CAFS) since 1999 where he has been able to hone his drive to support the family welfare sector. His interest in family welfare began in the 1970s when, as a teacher, he could see that classroom activity and learning in general was impacted by difficult personal and family circumstances for a number of his students. He took the opportunity to work with young people in less structure ways after studying social work with a focus on family-centred approaches. From 1991 to 1996 he worked as Ballarat Centre Manager at Relationships Australia, where he was able to combine specialised counselling to develop programs including working with couples, developing a 1800 relationship counselling line, working with families affected by problem gambling and working with people at risk of developing Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Kevin is the current President of the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare and is highly committed to using his social work experience to incorporate research and evaluation into practice and drive state government policy development.