7th SNAICC National Conference
12-14 September 2017
National Convention Centre, Canberra
The next SNAICC National Conference will be held at the National Convention Centre in Canberra, in September 2017. The conference expects to attract a diverse audience of around 1000 participants from all over the country that will again provide a dynamic networking and learning opportunity for all those attending.
Planning is well underway, and we are pleased to announce that the 2017 SNAICC Conference Expert Advisory Group has been confirmed. The group is made up of experts and leaders working on issues relating to the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.
The group will provide high-level advice and direction for the Canberra conference, and the members include:
Geraldine Atkinson
Geraldine Atkinson is a Bangarang/Wiradjuri woman. She is president of the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc. (VAEAI); was instrumental in developing the 2001 Yalca education partnership between the Victorian Government and VAEAI; is the National Indigenous Education Consultative Body representative to the MCEETYA; and the chairperson of Lidje MACS and Batdja Aboriginal Preschool in Shepparton. Geraldine has served on the SNAICC National Executive since 1999.
Professor Ngaire Brown
Professor Ngiare Brown is a Yuin nation woman from the south coast of NSW. She is a senior Aboriginal medical practitioner with qualifications in medicine, public health and primary care, and has studied bioethics, medical law and human rights. Over the past two decades she has developed extensive national and international networks in Indigenous health and social justice, including engagement with the UN system.
Amongst her many achievements she is also undertaking doctoral research in law, addressing Aboriginal child protection systems and practice. Prof. Brown has made extensive contributions to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, research process, bioethics, policy, translation and practice. She is dedicated to Aboriginal child and adolescent wellbeing, and supporting communities to develop initiatives focused on cultural education, and breaking the intergenerational cycles of disparity.
John Dommett
John Dommett is the non-Indigenous chair of the National Stolen Generations Alliance. He is also the developer and CEO of Connecting Home, a Victorian organisation that provides essential human services to Aboriginal people of the Stolen Generations, as well as linking these people to the families and communities they were often forcibly taken from as children.
Mick Gooda
Mick Gooda is a descendent of the Gangulu people of central Queensland and is the current Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. His term in this position commenced in February 2010.
Mick has a long experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs, having worked remote, rural and urban environments throughout Australia for over 30 years. He has a strong record of achievement in implementing program and organisational reform, and delivering strategic and sustainable results across the country.
As Commissioner, Mick builds on this experience to advocate the human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia and then promote respect and understanding of these rights among the broader Australian community.
Stan Grant
Stan Grant is a multi-award winning current affairs host, author and adventurer. In 2016 he was appointed special advisor to the Prime Minister on Indigenous constitutional recognition, replacing Pat Dodson on the Referendum Council. The appointment came soon after he made a speech on racism that went viral, and then reduced the Prime Minister to tears during an exclusive interview with The Point when speaking about Indigenous issues.
Stan Grant’s Aboriginal heritage has shaped his dynamic, resilient personality. Born in Griffith in south-west New South Wales, Stan Grant’s mother is from the Kamilaroi people and his father is of the Wiradjuri. His career as a journalist has spanned internationally for more than 30 years, and he has more recently worked as the Indigenous editor for the Guardian Australia, managing editor for National Indigenous Television, and international editor for Sky News.
Stan has won many major awards, has written Tears of Strangers and Talking To My Country (Harper Collins), and has published numerous articles and opinion pieces for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian.
Matilda House
Matilda House is a Ngambri-Ngunnawal Elder with long-established connection to Canberra and its surrounding regions as one of the traditional custodians of the land. She has been actively involved in Aboriginal affairs and social justice in the Canberra region since 1967 and is the Chair of the Ngunnawal Local Aboriginal Land Council in Queabeyan, and the Joint Chair of the Interim Namadgi National Park Committee.
She helped establish the Aboriginal Legal Service in the 1980s, and is a member of the Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee. Matilda has served on the first ACT Heritage Council, contributed to the Bringing Them Home report into the Stolen Generations, and is one of the original protestors who established the Tent Embassy in 1972.
In her role as a Ngunnawal representative she has performed numerous welcoming ceremonies including the first Welcome to Country to be held at the Australian Parliament at the opening of the 42nd Parliament of Australia. She is still vitally active within the community and in 2006 she was named Canberra Citizen of the Year.
Dr Jackie Huggins
Dr Jackie Huggins is a Bidjara (central Queensland) and Birri-Gubba Juru (North Queensland) woman from Queensland who has worked in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs for over thirty years. Jackie is a celebrated historian and author who has documented the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people throughout the decades.
In 2001, Jackie received the Member of the Order of Australia for services to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Jackie has played a leading role in reconciliation, literacy, women’s issues and social justice. Jackie holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland and Flinders University (with Honours), a Diploma of Education, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Queensland. Most recently, Jackie was the Director of Jackie Huggins and Associates, a successful consultancy business, following a long and distinguished record of public service and professional achievement.
Sue-Anne Hunter
Sue-Anne Hunter is a Wurundjeri woman and has worked at the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) for twelve years, undertaking senior roles within a number of programs – from policy and project work to service delivery.
Sue-Anne is the currently Manager of the Aboriginal Children’s Healing Team at VACCA and also a member of the SNAICC National Executive. The Healing Team is the central point for the development across VACCA of an integrated culturally appropriate and trauma-informed approach to working with Aboriginal children and families.
Lisa Hillan
Lisa Hillan is the Director Programs and Knowledge Creation at the Healing Foundation. Lisa is a social worker with over 20 years’ experience working with vulnerable communities in program design and delivery. Over the past 10 years, Lisa has worked in Queensland and the Northern Territory in partnership with many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations to build their children and families sector. As Programs Director, Lisa is responsible for the development of healing and training initiatives with a culturally strong program design, creating positive change to the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Sharron Williams
Sharron Williams has served as the Chairperson on the SNAICC national executive since 1999. Sharron is a Narungga/Kaurna woman who has been the CEO of Aboriginal Family Support Services (AFSS), the peak Aboriginal child welfare organisation in South Australia, since 1997. The agency was formed in 1978 in response to Aboriginal children often being removed from their families and communities without the consent or even consultation with extended family members.
Sharron’s experience has included 15 years with Correctional Services in strategic and policy development positions, including as the first Indigenous Public Relations Officer within the Correctional Services system in SA. Sharron’s strengths are building strong relationships with government and industry on behalf of the community, based on respect and a strong commitment to protecting the rights of the Aboriginal community.
