See the individual panellists photos below and read their biography!
Financial Elder Abuse
Alasdair Gall
Senior Sergeant Alasdair GALL has been a member of Victoria Police for 27 years.
Alasdair has spent much of his policing career as an operational member in the inner and outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
He has been involved in the management and oversight of Family Violence Incidents since 2006.
• Family Violence Liaison Officer-Nunawading Police Station, 2006- 2013
• Eastern Division 1 Family Violence Advisor and Officer in Charge of the Eastern Division 1 Family Violence Unit- 2013- 2016
• Since mid-2016, Alasdair has been a member of Victoria Police- Family Violence Command- Policy, Projects and Regional Engagement Unit.
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Alasdair managed the integration of the National Domestic Violence Order Scheme into the Victorian jurisdiction. The scheme enable Victoria Police to enforce and prosecute a contravention of a Family Violence Intervention Order regardless of what Australian jurisdiction it was issued in.
Alasdair is currently the Project Manager of a trail in response of FV Royal Commission Recommendation 155 to scope a trial for the investigation of suspected Financial Elder Abuse.
Alasdair holds the Elders portfolio at Family Violence Command.
He was also chair of Roadsafe Eastern Metro-community based road safety group for 7 years.
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Luke Wright
Luke works at State Trustees Limited, the Public Trustee of Victoria. In his 15 years there he has worked in variety of roles servicing and supporting VCAT appointed clients. He currently works as a liaison between VCAT and State Trustees.
Luke’s passionate about relationships and building awareness so that State Trustees can fulfil its role of promoting and protecting the rights of clients with a decision making impairment. Naturally, this includes safeguarding Victorians at risk of financial elder abuse. Luke sits on forums, government and nongovernment, which focus on prevention, response and safeguarding of financial elder abuse.
Sonia Di Mezza
Sonia Di Mezza is the CEO of Loddon Campaspe Multicultural Services, located in Bendigo, Victoria. She is a human rights lawyer and solicitor. Sonia worked for eight years as the Deputy CEO of the ACT Disability, Aged and Carer Advocacy Service, managing the Aged Advocacy Team. She specialised in providing advocacy for older people, people with disability and people with mental ill health from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. As a bi-lingual advocate who speaks five languages, represented many clients who experienced elder abuse, particularly those from a multicultural background.
Dr Rebecca Edwards
Rebecca has a passion for social justice. She began her career as a practicing lawyer working in private practice in rural and regional areas, for Victoria Legal Aid, for the UNICTR in Tanzania and for the Kimberley Land Council. Rebecca then spent 10 years as a lecturer at La Trobe University, teaching the next generation of lawyers. Returning to the practice of law in 2017, Rebecca was appointed Principal Lawyer at Seniors Rights Victoria (SRV). In late 2020, she also took on the role of Manager of SRV. Rebecca submitted her PhD in 2021 which examined whether cooling off periods in mediations at VCAT empowered unrepresented mediation participants. In her spare time, Rebecca runs a small farm with her husband and two sons growing ethically-raised, pastured pigs in Central Victoria.
Restrictive Practices in Aged Care
Professor Joseph E Ibrahim
Joseph is a Professor and Head of the Health Law and Ageing Research Unit at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University and a practising senior consultant specialist in geriatric medicine. His research focuses on reducing harm to older persons and improving their quality of life. Joseph has also been an expert witness for criminal and coroners court cases as well as the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
He was the lead author of “Recommendations for prevention of injury-related deaths in residential aged care services.” A report that followed the first comprehensive national study of injury-related deaths among nursing home residents in the world considered one of the Top 10 influential research studies in 2017 published in the Medical Journal of Australia. Joseph was also one of three people recognized by the Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend’s “People Who Mattered 2019: Health”.
Dr John Chesterman
John Chesterman is the Queensland Public Advocate. A lawyer and historian by training, John has expertise in the fields of human rights, guardianship, supported decision making, powers of attorney and elder abuse. Prior to taking up his current position John was Victoria’s Deputy Public Advocate. He has previously undertaken a Churchill Fellowship on the topic of adult safeguarding, and his books include, as co-author, The politics of human rights in Australia (CUP).
Associate Professor Juanita Breen
Associate Professor Juanita Breen has an extensive background in community pharmacy and aged care research. After gaining a PhD at the University of Tasmania, she worked as a Senior Lecturer at the Wicking Dementia Centre. Dr Breen developed the RedUSe (Reducing Use of Sedatives) program in 2008, the first national intervention aimed at reducing antipsychotic and benzodiazepine use in residential Aged Care. To date, the program has been run in 250 Australian homes and has been recognised with both international and national awards; including the Stawell award for the most impactful paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia during 2018/19. Dr Breen presented her work at the Royal Commission into Aged Care in May 2019 and at the Senate review into the Restraint Principles in August 2019. She now consults for the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and continues to research psychotropic and restraint use in aged care.
Nicole Tooby
Nicole Tooby is a program officer for the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch, based in Sydney, Australia. She has conducted research into the use of chemical restraints in aged care facilities and assisted with Human Rights Watch’s submission to the Royal Commission on the impact of Covid-19 on aged care.
Nicole also works to encourage the Australian government to take a more human rights-based foreign policy towards countries including but not limited to Myanmar, Vietnam, and Papua New Guinea. She holds a bachelor’s degree in International and Global Studies from The University of Sydney, with honours in Government and International Relations.
Supported Decision Making
Emeritus Professor Terry Carney
Terry Carney AO is Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Sydney and Visiting Research Professor at the University of Technology, Sydney. A Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, he is a past President (2005-2007) of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health. The author of nearly a dozen books and over 250 academic papers, he was a member of the 1980-1982 committee that drafted Australia’s first modern adult guardianship Act, later conducted an empirical evaluation of Victorian and NSW guardianship (Carney & Tait The Adult Guardianship Experiment: Tribunals and popular justice Federation Press, 1997) and served on reference committees for the Victorian and Australian Law Reform Commission inquiries on guardianship in 2012 and 2014. Most recently he has been a chief investigator on an ARC funded linkage grant team researching supported decision-making and undertaking research for the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.
Professor Christine Bigby
Professor Christine Bigby is Director of the Living with Disability Research Centre at La Trobe University. She has a long track record of working in partnership with disability support organisations investigating the effectiveness of practice, and programs to support the social inclusion of adults with intellectual disability. She has won the Research prize of the Australasian Society for Intellectual Disability three times since 1993 and the distinguished research award of the International Association in 2019. Professor Bigby has published 8 book, 42 book chapters, 163 journal articles and 75 research reports.
A/Professor Shih-Ning Then
Associate Professor Shih-Ning Then, is an experienced socio-legal scholar at the Australian Centre for Health Law in the Faculty of Business and Law at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). She is a national leader in health law and ethics with particular expertise in the areas of substituted and supported decision-making. She was a chief investigator on an ARC funded linkage grant team researching supported decision-making and is undertaking research on this topic for the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. She has extensive experience in international and domestic comparative regulatory analysis in the field of substitute and supported decision-making and has published widely in this area. Through her various research projects she has built strong collaborative relationships with stakeholders in the health professions, government organisations and consumer groups.
Justine O’Neill
Justine O’Neill is the Chief Executive Officer of Council for Intellectual Disability (CID). Justine works with CID to advocate for the rights of people with intellectual disability and to build on CID’s mission to create a community where all people with intellectual disability are valued.
Previously the Assistant Public Guardian in NSW, Justine has over twenty years’ experience in service delivery, advocacy, policy development and management. Justine has been active in the movement towards support for decision making for many years and currently leads four supported decision making projects at CID.
Ricky Kremer
Ricky is a Project Worker at the Council for Intellectual Disability. He is working to develop confidence in people with intellectual disability to make their own decisions by knowing their rights and having conversations with supporters about making decisions.
Ricky has spoken at conferences and webinars about co-design, inclusion and supported decision making. He has also appeared in a video about vaccination and worked as a Peer Advisor for Ability Links (St Vincent de Paul Society).
Ricky co-wrote and acted in “Short Changed” with Waverly Community Living Program for the Focus on Ability film festival. With Bus Stop Films, Ricky interviewed parents for the documentary “What was it like?”. This film was shown at the 2020 FlickerFest and various other film festivals.
Ricky took part in an internship with Fremantle Media, working on Australia’s Got Talent, and has also been a student in the Uni2Beyond program at Sydney University.
The NDIS and hard-to-reach groups
Matilda Alexander
Matilda is the CEO of Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion and this work builds on her longstanding commitment to working towards a free, equal and inclusive society. Matilda is a leader and human rights lawyer with a lengthy history in the community legal sector including at Prisoners’ Legal Service and LGBTI Legal Service. She teaches Prison Law at Griffith University and has previously worked at the Queensland Human Rights Commission and Legal Aid Queensland. She has won multiple awards for her work with vulnerable communities and holds an enduring passion for justice.
Samantha Dooley
Samantha Dooley is Victoria’s State Director. Commencing in December 2021, Sam has a strong background in state-based complaints and oversight having recently worked at the Disability Services Commissioner for over seven years and acting in the role of Deputy Commissioner for the last two years. Sam has worked in the disability sector for 30 years in a variety of paid and voluntary roles including accommodation, employment, education and training, Community Visitors program, case management, Disability Support Register and complaints resolution. Sam holds a Bachelor of Art (Disability) and Post graduate diploma of Education & Training (TAFE).
Joshua Ng
Joshua has over 12 years of management experience predominantly in the public sector, as an advisor and strategy consultant. In his current professional capacity, Joshua is Branch Manager of Strategy for the National Disability Insurance Agency. Through his work, Joshua is passionate about making a difference to the lives of people with disability and is proud in helping to solve some of the Agency’s most complex challenges. Joshua is a graduate of both Harvard University and the University of Melbourne.
Sarah Firth
Sarah Firth is an experienced social work leader with specialist skills in complex case management, community development and community engagement. Sarah is the Program Facilitator for the Family Recovery Program (cohealth), a case management service supporting culturally and linguistically diverse communities in recovering from the mental health, health, education and employment related impacts of COVID-19.
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Prior to her current role, Sarah was the Resources and Mapping Practitioner for the Exceptionally Complex Support Needs Program (ECSNP). The ECSNP was established to further develop the capacity of NDIS providers (including support coordinators), mainstream and community services in responding to participants who have complex support needs or participants who are at risk of experiencing a crisis.
Sarah has a strong interest in co-designing programs that empower and support people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities and marginalised groups. Sarah is passionate about community engagement and enabling the participation of vulnerable groups in decision-making regarding service design and policy.
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Jodie Stangel
Jodie brings significant disability and NDIS expertise to her role as Branch Manager of the Complex Support Needs Branch, and prior to this as State Manager of National Delivery Victoria. She has worked in the disability sector for the past thirty years, which includes twenty years managing people in an executive leadership capacity.
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Jodie has been with the NDIA since 2013, being part of the original Barwon trial based in Geelong and supporting the Agency through transition from state-based supports. She is recognised as an expert in the Scheme and its intent, and is often called upon as a subject matter expert on various policy decisions, participant delivery process changes and specifically around the mainstream interfaces. Jodie has a strong background in designing and managing solutions and processes for people who have a disability living with complex needs.
Jodie has a strong passion for developing her teams to support participants around people centered planning. This passion shines through in her current leadership role and further strengthening a participant focussed culture within the Complex Support Needs Branch. Jodie holds a range of leadership and disability related professional qualifications and worked across a range of non-government organisations prior to joining the NDIA.
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Adam Schickerling
Adam Schickerling is an Adjunct Research Fellow at Griffith University, Menzies Health Institute and has 20 years’ experience in government and the community sector with a variety of nationally oriented general management and executive management roles. He has qualifications in Applied Science, Disability, Management and Training. With experience in business improvement and organisational development, Adam has expertise in leading national service development, expansion and growth strategies. Adam brings extensive experience in innovation, quality, practice and product development. He has led the design and scaling of innovation initiatives and pilot programs recognised as exemplars in their respective fields across the areas of Disability, Housing, Indigenous, Community Development, Youth & Family services and Aged Care. Adam works within his team to grow a dynamic organisation recognised for being grounded in and committed to, community and cultural capacity building.
Indigenous Perspectives
Natasha Short
I have over twenty-five years’ experience working in Aboriginal Development and Community Work, almost exclusively within the Kimberley Region.
As a descendant of the Jaru people of Halls Creek, East Kimberley, I am passionate about social justice and Aboriginal affairs. I am a strong advocate for disadvantaged groups and I am enthusiastic and positive about my ability to effect positive change by providing opportunities and investing in people within the local community.
I have a proven track record as an individual who has held a number of senior and leadership positions over the years and I have built a strong reputation of being able to deliver high quality outcomes, whilst working in a collaborative way with stakeholders and maintaining a high level of integrity and professionalism.
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I have fostered strong relationships throughout the Kimberley region and my networks span the entire region, having lived and worked in both the East and West Kimberley.
My work experiences have given me the confidence that I have a strong understanding of the local issues, especially for Aboriginal people, but I remain positive and proactive about addressing those challenges in an innovate way, leveraging off my strong relationships/partnership to influence positive social changes. My strong belief is that Kimberley women are an untapped resource to influence social change in our local communities.
In 2018, I established my business Kimberley Jiyigas (Birds) which is a movement of Kimberley Indigenous women influencing social change. Kimberley Jiyigas is a network of highly accomplished Aboriginal women who work in collaboration to amplify womens voices in order to create social change and raise awareness of Australian Aboriginal culture. Many of their bios can be found on my website www.kimberleybirds.com.au.
I have held a number of management roles and board positions, and I hold a Diploma in Leadership and Management. Through my own personal learning and experiences, formally and informally, I have gained the confidence to create a suitable Leadership Development package, relevant and engaging for our Kimberley people, especially women.
My passion is to share Indigenous culture in a positive way and I recognise speaking engagements as an opportunity to achieve that goal.
I live in Kununurra, East Kimberley with my husband and young adult children.
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Jennifer Cullen
Jennifer Cullen is CEO of Synapse, a national organisation providing specialist services, support and housing for people impacted by brain injury and disability. Ms. Cullen is a descendent of the Bidjara and Wakka Wakka people and has worked collaboratively with the community to revolutionise housing for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples with brain injuries through an award-winning housing project in Cairns that promotes self-determination through connection to land, country and culture.
Human rights and adult safeguarding
Robert Fitzgerald AM
Robert Fitzgerald AM is currently NSW Ageing and Disability Commissioner.
He was a Commissioner on the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse for five years. He was formerly a Commissioner with the Productivity Commission, the inaugural Chair of the Advisory Board, Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission and Community and Disability Services Commissioner and Deputy Ombudsman in NSW.
He has served on numerous NGO boards for over 30 years including previously as President Australian Council of Social Service, NSW State President St Vincent de Paul Society, Deputy Chair Benevolent Society and is currently a Board Member of Social Ventures Australia and Chair of Caritas Australia.
Robert holds degrees in commerce and law from the University of NSW and an honorary doctorate from the Australian Catholic University and is currently an Adjunct Professor with the University of Western Australia. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1994.
Shayna Smith
Shayna Smith is the Public Guardian and Chief Executive of the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). Shayna joined the OPG as Deputy Public Guardian in 2015 and was appointed as the Public Guardian in June 2021. The Public Guardian is an independent statutory appointment of the Queensland Government and is vested with promoting and protecting the rights and interests of children and adults with impaired decision-making capacity under the Public Guardian Act 2014, the Guardianship and Administration Act 2000 and the Powers of Attorney Act 1998.
Shayna is a senior government executive and her distinguished career spans more than 25 years across the public and private sectors, both in Australia and internationally, particularly across the areas of justice, education and consumer protection. Shayna holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland. She is an admitted solicitor to both the Supreme Court of Queensland and the High Court of Australia and is a member of the Queensland Carers Advisory Council and the Queensland Law Society Health and Disability Law Committee.
Colleen Pearce
Colleen Pearce is Victoria’s first female Public Advocate, a position she has held since September 2007. As Public Advocate, she is the guardian of last resort for adults with disabilities in Victoria. Under legislation, she is also chair of the Community Visitor boards.
Colleen fearlessly advocates for the human rights and interests of people with a disability and a mental illness. She has almost 40 years’ experience managing community and health services in both the government and non-government sectors.
Colleen’s outstanding contribution to community services in Victoria was recognised with a Commonwealth Centenary Medal. She was added to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2016. Colleen was awarded an honorary doctorate from RMIT in recognition of her work in the disability sector in 2018. In 2020, she was awarded an order of Australia medal.
She is also a board member of Connecting Home, an organisation that works with the Victorian Stolen Generations.
Colleen is a proud Yuin woman.
Jodie Smith
Jodie Smith is a Senior Practitioner with the Adult Safeguarding Unit in South Australia, having started with the Unit at its infancy stage. Jodie is a Social Worker who has committed her career to working with mostly older people in the community.
Enduring Powers of Attorney: Harmonisation and National Registration
The Hon. Anna Bligh
Anna Bligh is a respected Australian leader and former Premier of Queensland. Since 2017, she has led the Australian Banking Association through a period of critical reform, delivering on the recommendations of the Royal Commission.
While working to strengthen bank culture and rebuild trust, Anna has also driven the industry’s response to COVID-19. She was instrumental in delivering a united approach by Australia’s banks, ensuring millions of customers were supported through the pandemic.
Anna was the Premier of Queensland from 2007 – 2012. She delivered significant economic reform to the state, including investment in infrastructure, science, innovation, and the arts. In 2011, Anna managed the state’s response to a devastating series of natural disasters including cyclones and floods.
After her retirement from politics, Anna was appointed CEO of YWCA, NSW with a mission to build a safer world for women and children.
She was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia in 2017 for services to the Parliament of Queensland, and as an advocate for education, the role of women in public life and services to the not-for-profit sector.
Anna is a non-executive director of Medibank Private and Playwriting Australia and holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of Queensland and Griffith University.
Dr Kay Patterson
The Honourable Dr Kay Patterson AO, Age Discrimination Commissioner, Australian Human Rights Commission
Dr Patterson began her role as Age Discrimination Commissioner on 29th July, 2016. Her strong interest in issues affecting older people has been demonstrated throughout her professional career. After gaining a BA (Hons) at the University of Sydney, a PhD in Psychology and Dip Ed at Monash University Dr Patterson taught allied health science for 11 years. She then went on to study gerontology at two universities in the USA using the knowledge gained during those visits to co-develop the first Victorian post-graduate diploma in gerontology and to introduce gerontology into the undergraduate behavioural health science courses.
Following her election to the Senate in 1987 she served on a number of Senate committees and held various shadow portfolios. In 1988 she was appointed a Parliamentary Secretary and in 2001 was appointed to Cabinet and served in the Health and Social Security portfolios. During her time in the Senate one of her major areas of interest were issues affecting older Australians. She retired from Cabinet in 2006 and from the Senate in 2008. At the end of 2021, she was appointed to the Australian Council of Elders.
She has served on a number of not-for-profit Boards and in voluntary positions and is currently a Director of the Brockhoff Foundation and Honorary Fellow at Monash University. She was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2016.
Regina Chang
Regina Chang heads the Office of the Public Guardian, a division of the Ministry of Social and Family Development, Singapore.
Her previous appointments include serving as a District Judge of the Family Justice Courts from 1997 to 2015, where she adjudicated divorce; child custody; child/spousal support; family violence; mental capacity, probate and adoption cases.
From 1990 to 1997, she was a State Counsel and Deputy Public Prosecutor of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Singapore. Her duties included advising, representing and drafting documents for the Singapore Government in civil suits, criminal prosecutions and international bi-lateral talks.
She was seconded to the Office of the Public Guardian as the Public Guardian on 1 January 2016.
She holds Masters and Bachelor of Law degrees form the National University Singapore and has spoken on the Mental Capacity Act and OPG operations at various international and local conferences and seminars.