Keynote speakers
Tim is Deputy Director of the Australian Centre for Child Protection at the University of South Australia.
For over two decades, Tim has been committed to understanding and supporting young carers and their families. In 1998, he established Australia’s longest-running young carer program, St Nicholas Young Carers program, with the St Vincent de Paul Society, before helping to establish programs at a local and national level, including the Supporting Young Carers initiative at Carers Australia. Tim also served as Carers Australia President from 2010 until 2013.
In 2005, Tim moved into academia and has conducted a series of studies on young carers, including a focus on young carer engagement in education. Through his practice, advocacy and research roles, Tim aims to improve the lives of young carers and their families, giving them a platform to share their experiences and lobby for better supports and services.
Dr Meredith Kiraly is a psychologist with over thirty years’ experience specialising in child and family welfare, with particular expertise in kinship care.
She is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne and has a small consultancy in human services. Her numerous research projects and consultancies have focused on vulnerable children and families and out-of-home care.
Meredith has made many conference and seminar presentations nationally and internationally on topics related to child welfare. She has published extensively in Australia and overseas on her various kinship care research projects.
Meredith has recently completed a large research study on the experiences and support needs of young kinship carers.
Panel 1: Beyond the current model of young carer supports
Katie is the CEO of Youth Action, the peak body for young people and youth services in NSW. She has served as the Chair of the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition for the past five years.
With two decades working on the ground with young people and representing their interests at state, national and international level, she is a powerful voice in the Australian youth sector. Katie takes great joy from having the opportunity to work with young people, advocating for change on systemic issues, and being part of the development and implementation of programs to deliver better outcomes for young people.
Katie remains a strong supporter of young carers since her early role as the coordinator of CYCLOPS ACT and as a young board member of Carers ACT.
Rose is the state-wide coordinator of the Victorian government funded FaPMI Program (Families where a Parent has a Mental Illness) which is coordinated by The Bouverie Centre in Melbourne.
With over three decades of experience in child, adolescent and adult mental health services, Rose specialises in supporting families where a parent has mental health challenges through direct clinical practice, developing and implementing peer support programs, co-producing resources, publishing widely and conducting training and research.
Rose also holds the voluntary role of Executive Director and co-founder of the not-for-profit organisation, Satellite Foundation.
Rose is passionate about building futures of hope and possibility for families where mental health challenges exist.
Miguel is a 17-year-old young carer living at home with his step father, mother and three siblings in Canberra. He cares for his mother, who has no spleen and chronic pain, his eight-year-old sister who has epilepsy and mild cerebral palsy and his 13-year-old brother who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attention deficit disorder (ADD).
Miguel enjoys playing all sports, particularly basketball and volleyball. Sport is one of the few things he uses to relive himself from all the responsibilities he has at home. These caring responsibilities include helping his mum when she is in too much pain and helping to care for his brothers and sister to give his mum some respite.
Kerry is a board member of Emerging Minds, the organisation leading the National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health. She is also the President of the Western Australian Association for Mental Health, the peak body for community mental health services in WA.
Kerry has previously worked as a Director in the mental health team for the National Disability Insurance Agency, as a Carer Consultant with public mental health services in Perth, and as a senior program manager within the Western Australian Mental Health Commission. Her other board appointments include Helping Minds, a mental health carers organisation in WA and NT, and the Recovery College of WA.
A graduate of Boston University’s Global Leadership Institute’s Recovery Class of 2013, Kerry draws on her lived experience when advocating for fundamental transformation of mental health systems.
Panel 2: Exploring the definition of young carers
Liana is the Principal Commissioner for Children and Young People and a part-time Commissioner of the Victorian Law Reform Commission.
Liana commenced as Principal Commissioner for Children and Young People in April 2016. In this role, she is responsible for regulating organisations working with children, overseeing services for vulnerable children and young people, and promoting the rights, interests and wellbeing of children and young people in Victoria.
Joanne is a social worker in Queensland and manages the Integrated and Family Youth Service’s Foster and Kinship Care program. Joanne has worked across the Queensland child protection sector for 28 years and is passionate about innovative and outcome-focused results for children and families.
Joanne works closely with researchers and academics and is a member of two academic boards – the Queensland University of Technology and University of the Sunshine Coast. She is currently working with Dr Meredith Kiraly to advocate for the needs of young kinship carers.
Joanne has been instrumental in influencing the development of family exploration practice in Queensland and, together with other non-government agencies, is leading a state-wide project in a Finding Kin trial with the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women. Joanne’s article ‘Where do I come from?’ recently published in Developing Practice, outlined the significance of family connection for children and young people in care.
Jess has been raising her half brother and sister since she was 23 years old, after her mum unexpectedly passed away.
With other family members unwilling to commit to the children raising the prospect of foster care, Jess took them in. She has provided a safe, loving and stable environment for the past six years.
Jess has achieved this with the support of her husband, a friend from the children’s school, and her aunty. However, Jess is not a guardian to the children and has no legal rights should they decide to leave her care. She is not recognised as a kinship carer or any form of carer by the government.
Panel 3: Young carer educational outcomes and environments
Dr Myra Hamilton is a Senior Research Fellow at the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). She also leads the Gender Justice Research Program at the Australian Human Rights Institute at UNSW.
She is a sociologist, social policy researcher and expert in the field of care and the life course. In particular, she has focused on the ways families organise the provision of unpaid care and the effect it has on their wellbeing, education and training, participation in paid work, and retirement incomes.
Myra also conducts research on care services and the care workforce. A major component of her work concerns young carers and she has undertaken a large amount of qualitative and quantitative research on their experiences and needs. The focus in all of her work is the ways in which policies and services support individuals and families to meet their care needs.
John is proud to be a carer for his mother, who lives with mental illness. He is an ambassador for multiculturalism and a role model for young carers.
John has worked with the Federal government, Northern Territory government and in the not-for-profit sector across a range of areas including community development, specifically in the economic and social fields, and intragovernmental relations. He has received the Northern Territory Government Young Achiever award in 2017 and has been awarded several scholarships.
He completed a Bachelor of Business with management specialisation at Charles Darwin University and undertook studies in Indonesian International Business Law at the University of Gadjah Mada.
Associate Professor Ben Edwards is Program Leader of Research Methods at the Centre for Social Research Methods and Co-Editor of the Australian Journal of Social Issues.
A quantitative social scientist with a focus on large scale surveys, he has been examining issues around informal care for 20 years. Currently, Ben is lead investigator evaluating the Federal Government’s Integrated Carer Support Service.
Other speakers
Ara has a lengthy history in the not-for-profit sector, having served in roles across national and ACT‑based organisations. She was was the CEO of Carers Australia from September 2011 until November 2019 and remains dedicated to carer-related issues. During her time as CEO of Carers Australia she oversaw numerous initiatives aimed at supporting young carers, including the Young Carer Bursary and the Young Carers Network.
Before joining Carers Australia, Ara held senior positions at Reconciliation Australia, the ACT Council of Social Service, the Australian Federation of Homelessness Organisations (now Homelessness Australia), and Toora Women Incorporated.
Ara believes that in our lifetimes each of us is likely to either be or need a carer, so taking care of carers is about taking care of our families, our friends and ourselves.
Sonia has been the Chairperson of the Carers Australia Board since November 2019. She has over 20 years’ experience in executive and board advisory positions across the healthcare and media sectors.
Sonia believes in strong advocacy for those unpaid carer voices seldom heard. She has a passion for helping children with developmental delays and founded Once Upon A School Limited, a charity assisting children to build self-esteem and confidence through technology and creative arts programs.
Sonia also has a deep interest in cultural intelligence and its impact on organisations and communities. In 2019 she established the Shremaya Foundation, which promotes inter-faith and cultural understanding through cultural arts.
