2022 Connexions Conference - Program
Monday 28 November
8.00am - 8:50am
Conference Registration
Doors open for check-in. Light breakfast will be served in the forecourt.
The Conference is in Lecture theatre 2.
9:10am – 9:20am
Welcome to Country
Aunty Bronwyn Chambers – a Darkinyung woman and the Resident Elder at the Gibalee Centre on the Central Coast Campus of Newcastle University
9:40am – 9:50am
Adam Crouch MP
NSW Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast.
9:50am – 10:50am
Paula Smith
eSafety Women Training Facilitator and Presenter
11:50am – 12noon
Lunch
Performance by Melinda Schneider
1:00pm – 2:00pm
Matthew Parsons & Russell Vickery
2:45pm – 3:00pm
Jodie Harrison
Shadow Minister for Women, Seniors and Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
3:00pm – 3:20pm
Afternoon Tea
3:20pm – 4:10pm
Founder & CEO of Aboriginal Males Healing Centre Strong Spirit Strong Families Strong Culture Inc (AMHC)
4:10pm – 4:45pm
4:45pm – 5:00pm
Sarah Judd
Sector Development Manager
DVNSW
5:00pm
Close of Conference
5:00pm – 6:30pm
Connexions Conference drinks and canapes
All conference attendees are invited to come along, celebrate and network.
2022 Connexions Conference Guest Speakers
- Juliana Nkrumah – Master of Ceremonies
- Delia Donovan – CEO DVNSW
- Natalia Antolak-Saper – Monash University
- Jess Hill – Investigative Journalist & Author
- Devon Cuimara Founder and CEO of Aboriginal Males Healing Centre
- Julie Inman Grant – Australian eSafety Commissioner
- Monash University – Panel Discussion
- Matthew Parsons – Rainbow Health Victoria La Trobe University
- Russell Vickery – IPV Lived Experience Cabaret Performer
- Ms Sally Stevenson and Dr Patricia Cullen – Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre
- Ms Paula Smith – eSafety Women Training Facilitator and Presenter
- Jodie Harrison – Shadow Minister for Women
Delia Donovan
Delia brings with her extensive experience in non-government and social services settings across Australia and the United Kingdom. She has 21 years’ experience in social work and social care settings spending the last 11 years in the domestic and family violence sector. Delia has led two domestic violence organisations as CEO: The Dash Charity (Domestic Abuse Stops Here) set in the UK and more recently White Ribbon Australia. Delia was appointed as Chair of Prosper Australia in 2016 and is deeply passionate about their work to support disadvantaged children and families across NSW at home, in school and across the community. Delia has been recognized and awarded for her work in both the UK and Australia receiving several awards for her work to innovate and effect change. Prior to her appointment with DVNSW, Delia has been consulting for an out of home care provider supporting their strategic planning and review processes. Delia holds a Bachelor of Honours Degree in Social Work from Brunel University in London.
Natalia Antolak – Saper
Natalia Antolak-Saper is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law, Monash University. Natalia graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Criminology, and a Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours. She completed her professional training with Lander & Rogers Lawyers, and was admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria and of the High Court of Australia. In 2012 she received an Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship and commenced her PhD which examined the extent to which the media impacts upon sentencing policy. In 2017, she was a Visiting Scholar at the William and Mary Law School, Williamsburg, USA. She has published articles on diverse topics including directed verdicts, bail conditions, and gambling regulation. She teaches criminal law and trusts in the LLB and JD programs at Monash. Her research areas are in comparative criminal law and procedure with a particular focus on unrepresented accused, sentencing and the death penalty.
Jess Hill
Jess Hill is a Walkley-award winning investigative journalist who’s been reporting on domestic abuse for several years. Prior to this, she was a Middle East correspondent, and worked as both a producer and reporter for various programs across the ABC, including AM, PM, The World Today, and Background Briefing. In 2019, she published her first book, See What You Made Me Do, about the phenomenon of domestic abuse in Australia. It was awarded the 2020 Stella Prize, has been shortlisted for several others, including the Walkley Book Award and the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, and has been adapted into a television series for SBS. Currently, Jess is working on an audio documentary series called ‘The Trap’ with the Victorian Women’s Trust, which will be released in August.
Devon Cuimara
Devon Cuimara Founder & CEO of Aboriginal Males Healing Centre Strong Spirit Strong Families Strong Culture Inc (AMHC). My people are the First Nation People of the Southwest of Western Australia (WA). My matrilineal kin groups are Manitjimat (white cockatoo) and Wardongmat (crow). ‘Mat ‘means ‘stock, family, leg’. My Moort (Family) are the Juat, Wadjuk, Pibilman, Njunga – Nyungar mob and Badimaya, Wudjari mob of the Southern Yamatji group.
I’m the son of a father who is the son of a father (my grandfather). Three generations have used violence. If I didn’t stop, my sons would have been the fourth generation. In my family, most men use violence. Most Aboriginal men I know are abusive. I have been aggressive. However, I was not born violent. I learned aggression. The abuse was normal growing up. Living with abusive behaviour in my family was like a repetitive monologue. I have faced abuse all my life, including racial abuse.
Julie Inman Grant
Julie Inman Grant is Australia’s eSafety Commissioner. In this role, Julie leads the world’s first government regulatory agency committed to keeping its citizens safer online.
Julie has extensive experience in the non-profit and government sectors and spent two decades working in senior public policy and safety roles in the tech industry at Microsoft, Twitter and Adobe.
The Commissioner’s career began in Washington DC, working in the US Congress and the non-profit sector before taking on a role at Microsoft. Julie’s experience at Microsoft spanned 17 years, serving as one of the company’s first and longest-standing government relations professionals, ultimately in the role of Global Director for Safety & Privacy Policy and Outreach. At Twitter, she set up and drove the company’s policy, safety & philanthropy programs across Australia, New Zealand & Southeast Asia.
Dr Patricia Cullen
Dr Patricia Cullen is a NHMRC Early Career Fellow in the School of Population Health at UNSW. Her program of research develops innovative solutions to complex equity issues that impact people and communities experiencing burden of injury and violence. Patricia led the co-design research to develop the Trauma Recovery Centre model of care. She is a founding member of the Australian Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Recovery Alliance and is a Lived-Experience Research Co-Lead in the ALIVE National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation. Patricia is passionate about supporting the next generation of public health professionals, she delivers trauma-aware training for staff and students in the Faculty of Medicine at UNSW.
Sally Stevenson
Sally Stevenson has been the Executive Director of the Illawarra Women’s Health Centre for the past 8 years and successfully led the national campaign to establish the Australian first Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre. The Illawarra Womens Health Centre provides casework and counselling support to women who have experienced domestic and family violence, has developed a number of innovative domestic and family violence programs, including those for women with disabilities, and is a founding member of the newly formed Australian Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Recovery Alliance. With qualifications in finance and public health, Sally has worked for Médecins sans Frontiers in conflict zones as Head of Mission and as public health finance expert for the World Health Organisation and the World Bank. She was Assistant General Manager of the first Aboriginal owned and managed financial institution, the Traditional Credit Union.
Sally has sat on the board of Women’s Health NSW, the peak body for NSW women’s health centres and the Supported Accommodation & Homelessness Services Shoalhaven Illawarra (SASSHI) which is the region’s specialist service for homelessness. She was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for her service to the community both nationally and internationally.
Matthew Parsons
Matthew Parsons is the Manager, Education and Strategic Development at Rainbow Health Victoria within the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society, La Trobe University. Matthew leads the development and delivery of training and resources to health and human services on supporting LGBTIQ people in a culturally safe environment, including various sector specific staff training and the HOW2 program which supports organisations to achieve Rainbow Tick accreditation. Matthew has extensive content knowledge in research and common practices supporting the experiences of LGBTIQ people with intellectual disability, and is one of Australia’s leading experts in LGBTQ experiences of intimate partner and family violence. They lead the delivery of the LGBTQ Family Violence Capacity building Project and are the Producer/Director of the highly successful and innovative LGBTQ domestic violence educational theatre piece; “My Other Closet the Cabaret”, through which they have led media and educational campaigns across several states and territories raising awareness on LGBTQ people’s experiences of domestic and family violence.
Juliana Nkrumah AM
Juliana has worked in both State and Commonwealth Government agencies for over 20 years. Her voluntary work in the community sector has gained her much acclaim including the award of Membership of the Order of Australia.
Juliana has been an active advocate on the women’s issues in Australia since 1989; she is especially passionate about Women’s Human Rights issues.
The several roles she has served in include:
- One of the Eminent Australians on the Committee to review the Australian Citizenship Test.
- Member of the African Ministerial Consultative Council for the Commonwealth Government in 2012 .
- Initiated and founded of the African Women Australia Inc.
