Ms Natalie Lewis

Commissioner, Queensland Family & Child Commission

Natalie Lewis is a Gamilaraay woman and the Commissioner of the Queensland Family and Child Commission.

Natalie’s career spans more than 25 years across youth justice, child and family services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. She was the CEO of the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak for 8 years and has also held numerous appointments on Boards and Councils that have driven significant reform in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child protection and family services sectors.

Natalie is fiercely committed to progressing a transformational reform agenda to ensure that children’s rights are upheld in Queensland and nationally.

April Lawrie

(Presenting Virtually)
South Australian Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People

Announced in October 2018, April Lawrie became South Australia’s inaugural Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People and continues in the role newly enshrined in legislation in October 2021.

Commissioner Lawrie live in Adelaide with her husband and children and heralds from the Mirning and Kokatha people from the Far West Coast of South Australia.

Over the last 30 years, Commissioner Lawrie has contributed to the formation of policy at a State and National level and excellence in service innovation and community development with regard to Aboriginal health, education, child and family services, foster care services, justice services, across the metropolitan and regional areas including rural and remote.

Commissioner Lawrie strongly believes that we need to bring the voices Aboriginal children and young people and their communities into how we are designing and delivering health, education, justice and child protection services so Aboriginal children and young people can flourish.

The Commissioner believes that to improve services and outcomes we need to recognise the solutions coming from our Aboriginal communities and families and act upon them in a meaningful way.

A key priority for Commissioner Lawrie is addressing the growing number is Aboriginal Children in non-Aboriginal care.

Mr Bernie Shakeshaft

Founder BackTrack Youth Works; 2020 Australian of the Year - Local Hero

Bernie Shakeshaft is the Founder and a Director of BackTrack. With 25+ years of youth work experience under his belt, he believes that young people are the most accurate barometer of how we are faring as a nation. In the early days of his career, Bernie saw kids dropping out of school, getting into trouble and falling through the cracks of a system that couldn't meet their complex needs.  
BackTrack was his solution. In 2006, Bernie founded the organisation with just a shed, a passionate crew of volunteers and a desire to make a real difference for young people doing it tough. Since then, BackTrack has gained national recognition for its holistic, flexible and long-term model and set a gold standard for youth work across the country. After holding the position of CEO for 15 years, Bernie continues to play an active role in setting the organisation's strategic direction in his capacity as founder, board director and member of the Executive team.  
Bernie has been named Australian of the Year Local Hero (2020) and National Rural Health Alliance Unsung Hero (2019) and received the Spera Australian Rural Education Award (2018), the Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Award (2017), the Churchill Fellowship (2014) and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of New England (2020). He and BackTrack have also been the subject of the award-winning documentary 'Backtrack Boys' and biography 'Back on Track'. 

Associate Professor Michelle Banfield

(Presenting Virtually)
College of Health & Medicine, Australian National University

A/Prof Michelle Banfield is a prominent international lived experience leader in mental health services research. She is Head of Lived Experience Research at the ANU Centre for Mental Health Research, and the Lived Experience Lead Investigator for ALIVE: The National Mental Health Research Translation Centre. She has over 17 years of experience conducting collaborative research focused on lived experience knowledge for system reform, including 8 years leading ACACIA: The ACT Consumer and Carer Mental Health Research Unit.

Ms Kristen Douglas

National Manager + Head of Headspace Schools, Headspace

Kristen Douglas has a Bachelor & Master of Education and over 27 years’ experience in the education, health, mental health, suicide, not for profit, and government sectors. Kristen has held several roles such as educator, Principal, Adolescent Forensic Health Manager (Royal Children’s Hospital), National Mental Health Manager, and roles within state government.

Kristen has significantly contributed to the synergy between education and mental health in Australia. From guiding government policy to leading transformational change and national reform. Kristen has led many national and state initiatives in the critical areas of whole school approach, youth mental health, principal leader mental health and wellbeing, and leading teams through complex environments like COVID. Kristen has authored several national resources and frameworks and specialises in the impact of suicide, complex events, trauma, and natural disasters on schools and communities and how they respond and recover.

As National Manager & Head of headspace Schools, Kristen continues to lead a large multi-disciplinary national team of mental health and education professionals to support primary and secondary schools across Australia from promotion, prevention, early intervention, intervention, to postvention.
She is a highly respected and sought presenter nationally and internationally on the topics of educational leadership, health and wellbeing, suicide, mental health, critical incident response and recovery, and other related topics.
Kristen is also currently a member of the Sydney Myer Foundation and proud member of School Council at Princess Hill Primary School. Kristen was very proud to be awarded a Victorian Leadership Award in 2021 –Through ACEL (Australian Counsel Educational Leadership).

Mr Taylor Johnstone

Director, Youth Live4Life

Ms Kathryn Mandla

Head of Advocacy and Research, yourtown Kathryn Mandla is the Head of Advocacy and Research with yourtown where she leads the advocacy, data analytics, evaluation and research functions. Prior to working with yourtown, Kathryn was the inaugural Head of the National Office for Child Safety in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Chair of the OECD Working Party on Social Policy from 2016-2019. She has also worked as a senior executive in the Australian Government’s Department of Social Services in various roles responsible for children, family, housing and homelessness policies, international relations, performance management, evaluation and research. Kathryn also worked for the Queensland Government as a senior executive responsible for child protection policy and programs, and headed up the Office for Women. She holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland.

Indi Clarke

Head of Advocacy and Research, yourtown

Born in Naarm (Melbourne) on Wurundjeri Country and raised in Mildura on Latji Latji Country, Indi Clarke is a proud Mutti Mutti, Wemba Wemba, Boon Wurrung, Trawlwoolway and Lardil man.

Indi is a passionate advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the power of strength-based approaches and Aboriginal knowledge systems. Indi believes that the path to positive change starts with empowered families and communities as well as a holistic approach to healing and wellbeing.

Indi is the Executive Officer of the Koorie Youth Council and takes great pride contributing to work that gives back to his communities. Prior to this he was formally the Deputy Manager of KYC before then working with Mallee District Aboriginal Services (MDAS) as its Youth and Community Engagement Facilitator.

In 2016, Mildura Rural City Council recognised him as an emerging leader in the local community by naming him Young Citizen of the Year. In the same year, he also won the Victorian Koorie Student of the Year, as part of the Victorian Training Awards and then went on to win the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year, as part of the Australian Training Awards.

Indi sits on several governance committees and boards including as a board member of the Koorie Heritage Trust and is currently enjoying study, as one of the inaugural cohort members studying at Monash University completing his Masters of Indigenous Business Leadership.

Ms Glenda Pedwell

Deputy Director Allied Health and Manager, Child and Youth Mental Health Service Glenda Pedwell is the Manager for The Alfred - Child and Youth Mental Health (CYMHS) and headspace programs. She has led the design and establishment of new services and redesign of established programs in Victoria. Glenda is passionate about innovating the service system through co-design of services so that services align with user expectations, preferences and needs and has led establishment of peer programs at Alfred Health CYMHS/headspace. Recent projects include the cross sector partnership Sibling Support and Placement – keeping brothers and sisters together when placed in out of home care; establishing Aboriginal Traineeships in CYMHS and leading change in clinicians’ use of social media with young people/families through collaboration with the youth advisory and peer workforce.

Ms Issy Ferrier

Senior Youth Peer Worker & Recovery Groups Coordinator, headspace Early Psychosis

Ms Liana Buchanan

(Presenting Virtually)
Commissioner for Child and Young People Victoria

Liana Buchanan has been Victoria’s Principal Commissioner for Children and Young People since 2016 and is also a part-time Commissioner of the Victorian Law Reform Commission. Liana has a background in oversight and system reform for people experiencing disadvantage and those affected by family and sexual violence. Her previous roles include Director, Office of Correctional Services Review and CEO of the Federation of Community Legal Centres.

Ivan Frkovic

Commissioner, Queensland Mental Health Commission Ivan Frkovic was appointed Commissioner from 1 July 2017 and brings substantial policy, academic and patient-centred experience to the role, having worked in the Queensland mental health system for over 20 years. With a focus on strengthening partnerships and collaboration, he oversees delivery and implementation of the State's strategic plan for mental health, alcohol and other drugs - Shifting minds. Ivan’s experience across government and non-government organisations provides valuable insight to help bring all sectors together to focus on delivering better mental health outcomes for Queenslanders. He has made a significant contribution to community mental health through published papers and articles.

Dr Lyn O’Grady

Community Psychologist and Conference Chair

Lyn is a Community Psychologist with a particular interest in the mental health of children, young people and families. She has previously worked with parents in the community sector, as a school psychologist and as a manager of the KidsMatter Project for the Australian Psychological Society. She currently works in private practice with children, young people and families and is a registered supervisor of psychology interns. Lyn is also interested in suicidology and regularly conducts workshops and training in this area for mental health professionals. She is also the author of a book for parents of teenagers who are suicidal.

Ms Kathy Eadie

State-wide Senior Service Evaluation and Research Coordinator, Children’s Health Qld, Child & Youth Mental Health Service

Kathy Eadie is a registered psychologist with an extensive research background. Kathy has worked on research projects over the past 25 years in several different settings including government, non-government, the university sector and private hospitals. Throughout this period, Kathy has worked in mental illness, chronic disease, disability, domestic violence, substance abuse, childhood trauma and out of home care. Kathy has produced several papers for peer reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences.

Ms Nicola Palfrey

National Clinical Manager, Headspace Schools

Nicola is a Clinical Psychologist and researcher who has worked extensively with children, adolescents and adults who have experienced adversity and trauma. She is Director of ACATLGN at the ANU, and is responsible for developing and delivering resources, training and interventions based on the latest evidence base to support individuals and families affected by adversity and trauma. Nicola is also the ANU Project Lead for Emerging Minds: The National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health, an initiative to support workforces identify, assess and support children under 12 years who are at risk of experiencing mental illness.

Mr Brad Morgan

Director, National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health, Emerging Minds

Brad Morgan is the Director of Emerging Minds, the not-for-profit organisation dedicated to advancing the mental health and emotional wellbeing of Australian infants, children, adolescents and their families. Brad is responsible for leading systems change and building the knowledge, skills and capacity of Australia's health and social service workforce to create better mental health outcomes.

Brad’s background is in occupational therapy, public health, child development and mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention.

Brad is regularly interviewed by the media on mental health topics including child mental health, childhood trauma, parent and family mental health and government mental health-related announcements.

Dr Michelle Tye

Senior Research Fellow, Black Dog Institute

Dr Michelle Tye is a Senior Research Fellow at the Black Dog Institute, University of New South Wales. Since joining the Black Dog Institute in 2015, she has led a number of research projects in the field of suicide prevention focused on developing and testing novel interventions for communities and young people specifically. Her work which aims to ensure that effective interventions are delivered in the right settings, at scale, to reach those in need to prevent suicide crises. She has 16 years research experience, having completed her PhD in Public Health from the University of New South Wales in 2015, and working as a senior research office for the 10 years prior to that in the National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre. She has been the recipient of a number of prestigious awards for early career excellence, including a NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (2018 – 2021), NSW Tall Poppy award in 2018, and the Paul Bourke Award in 2020.

Dr Michelle Kehoe

Post-doctoral Researcher Michelle Kehoe is an Evaluation and Research Development Officer at headspace and the Child and Youth Mental Health Service in South-East Melbourne. She has worked in research for over 10 years primarily developing and conducting research projects on mental health programs for both adults and young people. She has a keen interest in evidence-based interventions which improve outcomes, the involvement of lived-experience in design and development of mental health programs for young people and recovery-oriented practices.

Mr Nic Brown

CEO Batyr

Nicolas Brown is CEO at batyr. After Graduating from Southern Cross University in 2011, Nic has spent most of his career in Not for Profit organisations as well as in State and Local Government. Working with young people in Australia and overseas has been the main focus in each of these roles. In 2015 he began work at batyr as the School Program Manager in the early stages of batyr’s growth. After implementing processes and structures to ensure a scalable and safe rollout of the batyr@school program he applied the same approach to all of batyr’s programs as the National Program Manager. In 2017 he moved into the role of General Manager before taking on the role of CEO in late 2019 where he continues to support batyr’s growth and reach toward smashing the stigma around mental health and empowering young people to create a mentally healthy Australia. These roles have allowed Nic to gain valuable experience in preventative education, mental health and suicide prevention in the areas of schools, universities and the importance of sharing lived experience stories and vulnerability. Nic has sat on advisory committees for the Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health and on the Integrated Content Technical Advisory Group for the Beyond Blue National Education Initiative and currently sits on Suicide Prevention Australia’s Policy Committee. Nic is originally from the Mid North Coast of NSW and loves getting back to the slower pace and quieter beaches of that region to surf and spend time with his family. Snowboarding, spending time with friends and exercise are other things he is grateful for.

Ms Katherine Ellis

CEO, Youth Affairs Council Victoria

Katherine is CEO of Youth Affairs Council Victoria (YACVic), the peak body and leading advocate for young people and the youth sector in Victoria. One of YACVic’s key policy areas is mental health, with work such as inclusion of youth perspectives in the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, and convening a Youth Mental Health Community of Practice in partnership with Orygen.
Katherine’s previous roles include Director of Youth Affairs at the Commonwealth of Nations, working on youth policy and programs across 53 countries; and CEO of youth development organisation the Reach Foundation. Earlier, she spent over a decade in the private sector, working both in Australia and internationally in a variety of analysis, strategy and corporate social responsibility roles.
Katherine believes that it is vitally important to recognise young people as experts in their own lives, and make sure their unique needs and perspectives are at the heart of the policies, decisions and programs that affect them.

Katherine holds a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, a Master in e-Business, a Bachelor of Commerce, and a Diploma of Youth Work.

Dr Alix Woolard

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Child Mental Health, Telethon Kids Institute

Dr Alix Woolard is a research fellow in Child Mental Health within the Youth Mental Health team at the Telethon Kids Institute in Perth, Australia. Alix’s current research is looking at childhood trauma and the ways we can identify, target, intervene and improve the lives of children and young people who have experienced trauma. She is currently working on psychosocial interventions to improve the resilience and recovery of children who experience child maltreatment or medical trauma. Previously, Alix has worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Institute focussing on neurodevelopmental research across the lifespan. Alix’s research background is in parent-child interactions, social development, early signs of autism and neurodevelopmental disabilities, and most recently, childhood trauma.

Dr Samantha Batchelor

Senior Researcher, Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO)

Dr Samantha Batchelor is a Senior Researcher at the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO), Australia’s national education evidence body. Prior to joining AERO Sam spent 10 years working with not-for-profits where she led applied research and evaluation projects on topics as diverse as suicide by children and young people, domestic and family violence, and student engagement with education. Sam’s broad interests include anything that helps children and young people to thrive, and she has a keen interest in promoting the value of lived experience expertise. Sam holds a BA with 1st Class Honours in Psychology from Sydney University and a PhD from Griffith University.