Speakers and Presenters
The Hon. Pru Goward MP
Minister for Family and Community Service and Minister for Women
Pru Goward is the Minister for Family and Community Services, the Minister for Women, and the Member for Goulburn in the NSW Parliament.
Before entering Parliament in 2007, Pru served as Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner for six years, and the Commissioner responsible for Age Discrimination for two years. She has also served as the Executive Director of the Office of the Status of Women in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
An economist by training and a broadcaster by practice, Pru worked with the ABC for 19 years as a reporter and national political commentator for television and radio.
She is a former Chair of the Council for Australian Arab Relations, Deputy Chair of Anglicare (Canberra and Goulburn), and a former member of a number of boards including the John Curtin School of Medical Research.
Julian Pocock
Berry Street - Director Public Policy and Practice Development
Julian is the Director of Public Policy and Practice Development with Berry Street, Victoria’s largest independent child welfare agency. He has worked for over 20 years with a range of national and state based peak bodies focused on young people, students and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. He has worked with the Victorian TAFE Students Network, Australian Youth Policy and Action Coalition, Youth Affairs Council of Victoria and was the Executive Officer with SNAICC, the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care from 1998-2009. To build on policy expertise in the areas of employment, education, training, Aboriginal child welfare, child protection he completed a Masters in Policy and Management including a published research report on child abuse in the Northern Territory, State of Denial: The Neglect and Abuse of Aboriginal Children in the Northern Territory.
Prof. Muriel Bamblett AM
Muriel Bamblett is a Yorta Yorta woman who has been employed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency since 1999. Muriel was Chairperson of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care, the peak agency representing Indigenous Child and Family Services nationally, for 10 years. Muriel is active on many boards and committees concerning children, families and the Indigenous community, including the Victorian Children’s Council; the Australian Institute of Family Studies Advisory Council; the Aboriginal Child and Family Services Network; and the Aboriginal Community Elders Service. From 2009-2010 Muriel was a Board Member on the NT Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System.
Muriel has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Robyn Clark Memorial Award for Inspirational Leadership in the Field of Child and Family Welfare, and an AM (Membership in the General Division) in the 2004 Australia Day Honours for her services to the community, particularly through leadership in the provision of services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. In 2009 Muriel was appointed an Adjunct Professor at LaTrobe University’s School of Social Work and Social Policy and this year was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.
Dale Tolliday
Dale is the Clinical Advisor to the New Street and Cedar Cottage Services Network within NSW Health. He is located in the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. Dale’s work (at these services) with people who have sexually harmed others spans over 20 years. Prior to this Dale worked in a variety of child, adolescent and family mental health settings.
Dale’s professional training is in Social Work and Law. He has a particular interest in training and professional standards for people working with those who have sexually abused children. He participates in a number of government and professional associations, panels and committees as well as assisting some church groups review complaints concerning the conduct of clergy and church leaders.
Dale is a member of the Australian Association of Social Workers and a founding member of the Australia and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abuse (ANZATSA). He was President of this association from 2000 to 2004. Dale is also a member of the accreditation panel of the Child Sex Offender Counsellor Accreditation Scheme (CSOCAS) administered by the NSW Commission for Children and Young People.