Palu Ingram

A PhD student with the Australian National University, her thesis explores childhood development delays and welfare concerns in Papua New Guinea. She has over 16 years’ experience of working in the early childhood and care industry across many different sectors including working with children ranging from low socioeconomic backgrounds to quite privileged backgrounds, children with developmental delays, and children with various forms of trauma. Palu also works at St Margaret’s and St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ Schools as the OSHC Coordinator.

Ryan Fitch

As the Program Manager of the Torres & Cape Hospital and Health Service NDIS Early Childhood Approach Program, Ryan has a background in speech pathology and a passion for community development in remote North Queensland. He has been lucky enough to live, travel, and work throughout the Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York, and Torres Strait. Ryan now resides with his wife on Waiben (Thursday Island).

Tania Herrington

A Certified Practising Speech Pathologist and founder of Words To Grow and author of the Growing Words program for early childhood teachers. She has extensive experience using oral storytelling to support children’s language development, literacy engagement and mental health. She is a Clinical Educator and Casual Academic at the University of Queensland.

Prof Rosita Henry

Rosita Henry, Professor of Anthropology at JCU, conducts research on colonial, anti-colonial and decolonial relations between people and places across tropical Australia and the Pacific as expressed in the politics of belonging and emplacement, cultural festivals, heritage, material culture, land tenure frictions, and state bureaucratic effects. Rosita is author of the ethnography Performing Place, Practicing Memory: Indigenous Australians, Hippies and the State (Oxford and New York: Berghahn Books, 2012).

Rod Soper

Diane Sherman

An Accredited Triple P Facilitator, A Circle of Security Facilitator, and Abecedarian -3A Facilitator, Diane is currently facilitating four playgroups and, until recently, a fifth specialist Budget Healthy Eating program wrapped around our Playgroup delivery model. She has worked with children and families for the past 32 years within the Not-for-Profit sector.

Linda Price

Linda’s dominant freedom cup finds her a natural advocate for child agency and emergent nature-based curriculum. She brings to her work a unique view of children, their capabilities, and the endless possibilities of what could be. Through this lens, Linda has spent the past nine years implementing contemporary evidence-based pedagogy at a community run not-for-profit service in rural Victoria, including developing an award-winning and nationally recognised bush kinder program. Linda has worked with the Phoenix Cups Framework as a teacher and educational leader since 2016 and joined the team as a facilitator, coach and mentor in 2023.

Alexandra Morse

Registered Music Therapist, who’s turned her love of music into using it as a super power to connect to, and support vulnerable humans, including the neurodiverse and people with neurodegenerative disease. Alex has spent 16 years working in early years and is now the director of Creative Therapies Tasmania, a creative hub for people kicking their goals based in Devonport. Alex believes all people can sing, even the non verbal, she oddly gets excited conducting mass choirs. But that doesn’t mean she’ll make you sing, although she’ll find a way for you to find your voice and LOVE IT. Sometimes her days are spent sitting on the couch listening to Skrillex with disconnected teenagers because you don’t always have to talk to understand what is going on.

Jo Maloney

Consultant and author of Wellbeing Science in Early Childhood Education – How to Create Positive Change. Jo has 30 years’ experience in the early childhood and community sectors and holds a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology, a Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood) and a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. She has a passion for supporting leaders, children, educators, and teams based on positive psychology principles, neuroscience, attachment theory, and child development theory. She believes strong communities can be built through the exploration and application of practical strategies in the areas of organisational culture, relationships, emotions, resilience, strengths, compassion, mindfulness and providing trauma-informed social-emotional learning support.

Christine Payard

Jackie Black

An occupational therapist who has worked for many years with children and families across public, private and non-government organisations in Far North Queensland, Jackie has particular expertise in early childhood development and developmentally supportive care for premature infants. Currently employed by The Benevolent Society, Jackie’s role includes coordinating the allied health team at Cairns and Gordonvale Early Years Centres, while working directly with families and children attending playgroups, kindergarten and long day care at the Acacia Ridge, Browns Plains and Beaudesert Early Years Centres. Jackie is passionate about promoting best practice in early childhood intervention and supporting families to access and advocate for quality, family-centred intervention.

Dr Michelle Harrison

A public health advocate with expertise in maternal and child health, Michelle’s research interests are on parenting and help seeking behaviours, innovated service delivery, and opportunities to influence parenting capacity and engagement in community and family support services.

Kimberly White

An occupational therapist who early on in her career discovered that working with children and their families was where her passion was and continues to be, Kimberly has spent her career since working in Early Childhood Intervention Services, community child development services, working with children with physical disabilities across regional communities within VIC; NT and QLD. She is passionate about supporting children in their natural environment, working collaboratively with the team around the child and their family; family-centred practice and building the capacity of those that she works with and the team around them. Currently Kimberly is enjoying the opportunity to be part of the Cairns Early Years Centre team within The Benevolent Society supporting playgroups, community groups and also individual family support.

Tegan Russell

Alanna Philipson

Alanna Philipson is a practising public health and health promotion professional. She has a particular interest in health promotion in the early years, having completed a Masters of Public Health and Graduate Certificate in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health to support her work. Alanna currently works for the Centre for Children’s Health and Wellbeing, Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Services. She is the Principal Program Officer for the Connecting2u text messaging program that aims to provide universal health promotion information and strategies to support parents from birth until their child is 5 years of age.

Sonya Stanley

Sonya Stanley has a Master in Nutrition and Dietetics and Graduate qualifications in Health Economics, Management and Policy along with Health and Medical Research. Her experience includes community and public health nutrition focusing on prevention, early intervention and healthy policies that promote health and wellbeing particularly in the First 2,000 days. As part of the INFANT team, Sonya partners with stakeholders and coordinates strategic planning and integration, to support sustainable outcomes for local communities.

Lisa Meager

A dedicated and experienced Child Health nurse and midwife, boasting a wealth of knowledge cultivated over numerous years of service within the community, Lisa’s passion lies in supporting vulnerable families. Notably, Lisa played a pivotal role in establishing the Health Advisor position for the groundbreaking 1000 Days project in collaboration with midwife Bethan Townsend. This initiative is more than just a program; it’s a lifeline for families, walking alongside them throughout their parenting journey. She understands deeply the profound influence of parent-child relationships on child development and continues to champion efforts to ensure every child has the opportunity for a bright and healthy future.

Emily Hall

Emily is a proud Wiradjuri woman who graduated with a Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science. Emily is currently completing her PhD, partnering with the Yarrabah community to co-design a movement-based program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, embedded with Indigenous ways of Knowing, Being and Doing. This work seeks to improve both movement competencies and socioemotional learning in a culturally responsive manner.

Kristie Girdler

An experienced early learning educator who is passionate about creating nurturing and supportive environments for young learners, Kristie works as an inclusion support officer for Play Matters, where she creates inclusive playgroups for children with learning differences, with a special interest in autism. She has completed her Graduate Certificate in Autism Studies and is continuing her studies towards a master’s degree. This has equipped her with specialised knowledge in understanding and supporting autistic children and their families. Kristie firmly believes that every child deserves an inclusive learning environment, and she advocates for creating spaces where all students can thrive.

Dr Amanda Moon

A former foster youth from the US and a Fulbright post-doctoral researcher being hosted by the University of Newcastle, Amanda graduated with her PhD in education from the University of South Carolina in 2023, and her dissertation research focused on the influence of early childhood, primary, and secondary schooling experiences on children in out of home care (OOHC). The purpose of her asset-based research while hosted in Australia is to explore the perceptions of adults who graduated from university, and who also have an OOHC background, on how schooling during care impacted their academic and life trajectories, in an effort to understand what early childhood, primary, and secondary schools can do to better support children in OOHC. She has also served on the foster care review board in her state for 7 years and advocates for children in care, as well as their families. She is invested in the impact of OOHC on early childhood development and life trajectory.

Sarnia Ralston

Nicole Talarico

Jamie Finger

Sandi Phoenix

Rita Kebisu

As a proud Indigenous woman, Rita’s bloodline flows from the Wergaia Nation in north-western Victoria, through the Torres Strait Islands and to the Western and Central Provinces of Papua New Guinea. She is a community engagement officers for the Torres & Cape Hospital and Health Service NDIS Early Childhood Approach. Her background in community engagement, government and her strong passion for her people, sees her advocating on their behalf on COAG Closing the Gap Initiatives.

Helen Smith

Sue Chapman

Rhi Sugars

Layla Dickson

Making a difference in the lives of children and their families is a calling and takes many different forms. In New Zealand, Layla Dickson has worked with children and families in both small, privately owned centres and large organisations, supported teachers in training with their theory to practice, coaching and mentoring teachers through their Registration and Professional Development training programmes. Moving to Australia, Layla has had the opportunity to absorb and learn about the Indigenous cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, as well as the rich diversity of Care and Education settings across the States and Territories. She currently works with NAPCAN as a trainer.

Fiona Nave

With over 20 years experience working clinically as a Paediatric Dietitian in tertiary hospitals across Australia and England, Fiona is a subject matter expert on nutrition in children. Having an inner working knowledge of clinical environments, and multi-disciplinary professional knowledge and role scope has enabled Fiona to successfully lead prevention in the first 2000 days for Health and Wellbeing Queensland. HWQld is leading prevention and early intervention in health behaviours across Queensland.

Maree Kirkwood

Maree’s experience includes early childhood teaching, consultancy, management, community engagement and regulatory compliance. She has worked across a variety of early learning settings from metropolitan to very remote locations, as well as local and state government. Maree holds qualifications in early childhood education, psychology and educational leadership, and her interests include professional identity and advocacy.

Charlotte Joscelyn-May

A Speech Pathologist and Allied Health Team Leader with more than 10 years’ experience working with children and families in Australia and the UK. She is passionate about family-centred practice in the early years and has a particular interest in perinatal wellbeing. In her role at the Benevolent Society’s Childhood Approach Charlotte has played an important role in reorientating clinicians’ practice through the implementation of a relationship-focused approach in Early Supports.

Jacqui Morrison

An experienced midwife who coordinates the Childbirth and Parenting Education Service at The Townsville University Hospital, Jacqui works collaboratively with services both within the hospital and wider community settings to support families during their pregnancy and early parenting journey. She is a LAMAZE certified childbirth educator and is a member of the Further Education Committee for the Childbirth and Parenting Educators of Australia.

Jaimee Hamilton

Jaimee is a proud Ngunnawal woman from the ancestral lands that are now called Canberra. She is currently a lecturer in the pathways program at James Cook University. She has 20 years’ of experience in the Higher education sector. She is passionate about inclusivity and creating culturally inclusive spaces for all.

Bethan Townsend

Originally from the UK, Bethan has been a midwife for over 30 years and completed her PhD last year with her research interest being in how women negotiate their choices in health care. Bethan has considerable experience working in and setting up midwifery continuity models of care. In 2017 she was instrumental in setting up a midwifery navigator service for women with severe mental health and substance abuse at the Gold Coast University Hospital. Presently Bethan is working with a child health nurse (Lisa) at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, who have recently set up a health advisor’s role supporting women and families who are either under the child protection system or at risk of, for the first 1000 days.

Cecelia See Kee

Jaye Odgers

Jaye is a Registered Music Therapist, who completed her tertiary studies in Music Therapy at the University of Queensland. She is a Clinical Specialist for Sing&Grow Australia; having facilitated Sing&Grow programs in North Queensland for almost 19 years. Often found singing in the libraries, early learning centres, schools and community spaces around Cairns; Jaye is passionate about the role that music can play in supporting growth and development for people of all ages through an engaging and inclusive approach.

Rebecca Leahy

Rebecca has a background in Social Work and Perinatal and Infant Mental Health, and works in a community-based midwifery group practice providing support for young parents. Working with young parents with a focus on mental health in a community setting is a passion area for Rebecca, particularly in understanding how community services can fill service gaps in providing wrap-around support to families in need.

Genevieve Frazer

As an Early Childhood teacher, Genevieve’s career has spanned over 25 years across a variety of Early Childhood settings.She is passionate about challenging the way people think and approach educating children. She is a firm believer in “the environment as the third teacher”; that the children’s learning environment is constructed and driven by the children where educators become co-constructors of learning and children’s journeys are scaffolded as their interests continue to deepen.

Jacinta Perry

Jacinta is a systems change practitioner who leads the Thriving QLD Kids Country Collaborative, an initiative which brings together leaders from across country Queensland communities to help create conditions for kids to thrive. Jacinta has harnessed her expertise in partnerships, collaboration, and service design in a wide range community based not for profits in Queensland over the past decade. She thinks that the wisdom of kids is an untapped resource and that we must do more to provide a great start for every child. Jacinta gets in touch with her inner child by singing Disney songs loudly in the car.

Pratiksha Gopal

As a Child and Family Practitioner with the Benevolent Society Early Years Place. Pratiksha is a qualified Social Worker, with a commitment to supporting and advocating for the positive wellbeing for children and families. Her passion is promoting early mental health and engaging individualised support for children. She has a strong commitment to informing her work with evidence-based practices and is currently studying Expressive Therapies with Children. She informs her practice methods though art, play and creative modes of client delivery, inspiring the development of the Big Adventurers Program.

Antonia Kish

A health, family and child psychology researcher, Antonia’s research interests centre around families, child development and wellbeing and the early years. Currently, she is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Health Research Institute, University of Canberra and has been working on the ‘A Good Start in Life for Young Children’ project since 2022.

Kylie Ellison

Rita Kaitap

As the community engagement officer with NDIS Early Childhood Approach Program with Torres & Cape Hospital and Health Services, Rita was a Local Area Coordinator in Torres and NPA region in the Disability Services and played a key part in the NDIS services roll-out in the Torres and NPA region in 2018. She has worked and lived in the region most of her life and believes in the importance of building relationships to build capacity for positive outcomes, in a culturally responsive manner. Rita constantly strives to provide equity of services for all families through her work with Early Childhood Approach Program.

Kym Dunstan

Amanda Franklin

A proud Kokatha (gug-a- dah) woman from the Gawler Rangers area in South Australia, Amanda has been employed through Play Matters Australia as a Play helper for the Southside Supported Playgroups Program for the past 4yrs. She has also facilitated a school holiday program for families and works at Freshwater State School as an educator a their OSHC program.

Jacqui Barfoot

An experienced Occupational Therapist and Postdoctoral Clinical Researcher at QCPRCC, Jacqui is passionate about creating a shift in early childhood intervention, where parents are at the centre of therapy, supporting lifelong and rich relationships with their children. She is involved in several clinical research projects that focus on supporting parents who have a child with a disability, and has also developed a practical and innovative training package for early childhood practitioners to implement a relationship focused approach in their therapy.

Annette Fuller

Senior Project Officer for the B4 Early Years Coalition (B4) in Tasmania, having an extensive history working in community development, early childhood education and care, and service system reform. This is alongside her outside of work life, as a visual artist. Before moving to Tasmania in 2017, Annette spend 10 years working in Central Australia and prior to this with the Australian Government in a range of policy and programming areas. Annette is a passionate advocate for social justice and the need to get it right in the early years so we get it right now and for life!

Shannon Higgins

As the Service Coordinator at Redlands Integrated Early Years Place (RIEYP), Shannon brings extensive experience from various sectors; customer service, business and education. She taught for 8 years in rural Queensland primary schools and was a Goodstart ELC Director. She collaborating with The Benevolent Society, and Goodstart on behalf of the Education Department, and is dedicated to the continuation of an inclusive and collaborative environment for families in the Redlands Community. With a focus on supporting child development, fostering parental confidence, and facilitating engagement with essential services, Shannon orchestrates valuable opportunities such as playgroups, nurse and outreach visits, and workshops. Leveraging her diverse background, Shannon is committed to nurturing inclusivity and fostering partnerships, ensuring RIEYP adeptly caters to the varied needs of children, families, and the wider community.

Grace Panizza

Grace is a speech pathologist with a keen interest in early intervention and using a capacity building approach to support children to reach their goals. Grace has an interest in supporting early language, speech sound disorders, feeding difficulties, and alternative and augmentative communication such as high technology communication aids. Grace is a valued member of the Cairns Early Years Centre team, appreciated by the team for the knowledge and practical advice she shares with them and the families we work with.

Phobe So

As a Child Development Specialist (Advanced Practitioner) with the Browns Plains Early Years Centre Benevolent Society, Phobe has over 15 years’ experience working with children and families in educational settings in Queensland. She works closely with families and children who are preparing to attend Kindergarten and Prep, and is a passionate advocate for social inclusion for all families, children’s mental health and development. Phobe is also a strong believer in early intervention to give families and children a chance to thrive in life.  and recently returned to university to complete further studies in Child Play Therapy.

Sarah Christensen

A dedicated Senior Health Promotion Officer at Health and Wellbeing Queensland with a background as a clinical dietitian predominantly working with children, Sarah’s passion lies in enhancing food security within remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities. Her expertise extends to policy development within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled health sector, focusing on Closing the Gap initiatives including Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Food Security strategies. Sarah is a firm believer in that food security as a fundamental human right, and committed to ensuring that every child has access to culturally appropriate nutrition, laying the foundation for a resilient, healthy and long life.

Sheena Callaghan

As the Education Lead at True Relationships & Reproductive Health, Sheena comes from a nursing and midwifery background. She has worked in sexual health education for over 20 years in Australia and overseas. Sheena has been working with True delivering comprehensive sexuality education working with early years, schools, universities and communities to support young people to receive evidence informed, factual information and support around relationships & sexuality. She also manages True’s Traffic lights framework, which supports professionals to identify, understand & respond to sexual behaviours in children & young people.

Elissa Cordukes

As a Child and Family Practitioner for The Benevolent Society at the Cairns Early Years Centre and Kindergarten in the role of both a Child and Family Practitioner and one of the kindergarten teachers for the past 10years, Elissa is passionate about providing a holistic approach that nurtures children and families social and emotional wellbeing through the lens of the Circle of Security program. She believes that working collaboratively within our community is the key to making lasting differences in our children’s lifelong wellbeing.

Lee Town

A father of 4 adult children, grandfather of two and Lee has been an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker since 2007, and a Medicare/NDIS/EAP provider. He is passionate about working with families from an ante and perinatal perspective and engaging with Dads.

Jorian Cunliffe

Jorian’s 25-year journey in early childhood education began with the Masterman Montessori Indigenous Children’s Trust, leading to his recent CEO appointment. Recently working with First Nations educators to come up with a family education and playgroup program that has an evidence base and is grounded in First Nations culture. His innovative approach combines traditional First Nations culture with modern, evidence-based methods and cutting-edge technology. Jorian’s dedication to nurturing young indigenous families has made him a prominent figure in the field of children’s education, particularly for indigenous communities.

Tameeka Glass

Tameeka is the Director of SNAICC Victorian Early Years Support. The SNAICC Early Years teams support and advocate for Aboriginal Controlled Community Organisation Early Learning services across Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. Tameeka supports leaders and educators in improving wellbeing and learning outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Through professional learning and coaching, Tameeka guides leaders and educators to reflect on their effectiveness in shaping learning environments and experiences that empower children, families, and communities. The importance of identity, culture, family and community are threaded through all reflective practices.

La'Shauna Nathaniel

A proud Torres Strait Islander woman from Waibene (Thursday Island) in the gateway of the Torres strait, La’shauna is a Nutrition Cadet under remote retailer, Community Enterprise Queensland. She has had the opportunity to travel out to numerous remote communities and connect with the store teams. This cadetship in nutrition has allowed her to understand the importance of food security for families and communities that reside remotely. La’shauna has also begun studying for university entry with long-term goals to pursue a career in nutrition, and to give back to her people.

Kathy McConell

With a Masters in Exercise Physiology and Masters in Nutrition and Dietetics, Kathy McConell have a varied background from clinical and community dietetic practice, public health, research and teaching in a wide variety of settings including community health, state health department (DH), universities (Deakin, University of Melbourne, Victoria University and Monash). As INFANT is scaled up, her role, as the INFANT State-wide Implementation Coordinator, is to work closely with those planning on implementing INFANT, offering support for setting up and embedding INFANT locally.

Yvette Lucas

As the Course Coordinator for the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education, Yvette is a strong advocate for quality Early Childhood Teachers. She has over 20 years’ experience in the sector teaching all over Sydney as well as in Japan and Switzerland. Yvette has a strong interest in attachment theory and the links to supporting children’s emotional development. This has led to embedding Circle of Security within her teaching practices and guiding students with understanding behaviour as communication. She holds a Masters in Educational Studies (Early Childhood), Graduate Certificate in Counselling, Graduate Certificate in Educational Studies (Early Childhood), Bachelor of Early Childhood Teaching.