-Welcome-
On behalf of Team LEAD and the Board, it is a pleasure for me to welcome you to LEAD’s 2023 conference ‘Hand-in-hand: Make it happen…Make it Matter’.
In LEAD’s continuing endeavour to support the Community Sector workforce, we are planning this conference to create a platform for growth and development opportunities for the workforce and as a celebration of …………collective learning, opportunity, hope, and new beginnings.
Community sector workforce is engaged in ‘relational’ work and this conference will provide the opportunity to meet in-person and learn together, an occasion for deep and rich conversations and shared learning. Across the two-days of the conference, we will hear from Aboriginal Elders, state and local government leaders, sector leaders, pracademics and subject matter experts, leading researchers, and service providers.
Day 1 of the conference, will focus on current and emerging sector issues and trends, building practice capacity of Community Sector practitioners by empowering personal and professional growth.
Purpose:
- What kind of shifted perspectives do WE need: as a sector, as a service provider, as a practitioner?
- As one of the largest growth industries in the state, what are our priority skill needs, how do we reskill, upskill, and cross-skill our current workforce and position our sector to attract a diverse workforce.
Expected Outcome:
- Rekindled professional connections and extended networks to address the Community Sector’s most pressing long-standing and emerging challenges,
- Increased skills and knowledge to continue providing the right services at the right time to support the well-being and safety of children, families and communities.
- Sustained culture of fulfilment and growth for the Community Sector workforce in NSW.
Day 2 of the Conference is about capacity development of Community Sector organisations to develop and implement their organisational Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
For Day 2, a Conference Reference Group made up Elders, First Nations practitioners from organisations that operate and provide services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities in the WSNBM district, has been set up. This Reference Group is providing specialist advice into planning day 2 to improve long-term outcomes for Aboriginal children, young people, families and communities.
Purpose:
- Unpack the challenges and experiences of developing and implementing a RAP in a small to medium not-for-profit organisation.
- Build connections and learnings between RAP organisations to develop a peer support group.
Expected Outcome:
- Increased commitment to actions for reconciliation by building genuine and trusting relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
- Who should attend-
The conference is for not-for-profit Community Sector practitioners supporting the well-being and safety of children, families and communities.
-Keynote Speakers-

The Hon. Minster Natasha Maclaren-Jones

Vikki Reynolds

Mary Jo Mcveigh

John Leha

Lucy Bloom

Ivan Clarke

Amar Singh

Prof. Daryl
Higgins

Prof. Brian
Stout

Edmond Atalla MP

Joshua Staines (Wiradjuri)

Dr Stewart Sutherland (Wiradjuri)

The Hon. Minster Nastasha Maclaren-Jones

Vikki Reynolds

Mary Jo Mcveigh

John Leha

Lucy Bloom

Ivan Clarke

Amar Singh

Prof. Daryl
Higgins

Prof. Brian
Stout

Joshua
Staines (Wiradjuri)
This Event has been past
-Conference Program-
What kind of shifted perspectives do WE need: as a Sector, as a Service Provider, as a Practitioner?
Arrive at 8.30am for 9:00am start
8.30am – 9.00am | Conference Registration | |
9.00am | Welcome to Country | Uncle Colin Locke |
9.10am | Conference Welcome | Sharmily Nagarsekar, CEO LEAD Professional Development Association Inc. |
9.20am |
Opening Keynote: Change as your superpower | Lucy Bloom, Award-winning Leader, International Keynote Speaker, Author, Ambassador for Australia Reads |
10.00am |
Morning Plenary | The Honourable Natasha Maclaren-Jones, Minister for Families and Communities, Minister for Disability Services |
10.30am |
Morning Keynote: Skills versus Attributes: Why it matters when working with vulnerable community members? | Mr Amar Singh – NSW Australian of the Year, NSW Local Hero – Turbans for Australia |
11am – 11.15am | Morning Tea | |
11.20am |
The debate: As a sector how prepared are we to pivot between –
Best Practice – Good Practice – Emergent Practice or Novel Practice? Facilitator: Kerry Thomas, Chair LEAD Professional Development
Association Inc. Board |
John Leha, CEO AbSec
Joanna Quilty, CEO NCOSS
Kate Munro, CEO Youth Action
Clement Meru, Settlement Council of Australia Board
|
12.00pm |
Morning Breakout Session 1: Living a meaningful life-working to make it
matter Morning Breakout Session 2: What is a ‘public health approach’ to prevention of child maltreatment (and what does it have to do with me)? Morning Breakout Session 3: Youth Justice: Doing the right thing for
young people |
Mary Jo Mc Veigh, CEO Cara House
Professor Daryl Higgins, Director, Institute of Child Protection Studies,
Australian Catholic University Professor Brian Stout,
Dean, School of
Social Sciences, Western Sydney University
|
1.00 | Lunch & Networking | |
1.45pm | Afternoon Keynote Address: Creating cultures of accountability, structuring safety and justice-doing in community work | Vikki Reynolds, Internationally Acclaimed Consultant, Instructor, Supervisor |
2.45pm | Afternoon Plenary | Mr Edmond Atalla, MP Member for Mount Druitt |
3.00pm |
Afternoon Breakout Session 1: Living a meaningful life-Working to make it
matter Afternoon Breakout Session 2: Children’s rights: Thinking about Public
health approaches from the perspective of those whom they are meant to serve. Afternoon Breakout Session 3: Refugee Camp in my Neighbourhood
|
Mary Jo Mc Veigh, CEO Cara House
Professor Daryl Higgins, Director, Institute of Child Protection Studies,
Australian Catholic University Naseer Naseer and Elizabeth Schaffer
|
4.00pm | Panel Session – Unlocking collective potential, celebrating local collaborative initiatives and sharing experiences about managing challenges with collaboration. | Mountains Community Resource Network Thrive Services Cumberland City Council Blacktown City Council Linker Network |
4.45pm – 5.00pm | Closing Remarks & Lucky Door Prize | Kerry Thomas, Chair LEAD Professional Development Association Inc. Board & Conference Sponsor Representative |
5.00pm | End of Day 1 |
Day 2 of the Conference, will focus on capacity development of Community Sector organisations in Western Sydney Nepean Blue Mountains to develop and implement their organisational Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
⦁ A local place-based RAP Conference unpacking the challenges and experiences of developing and implementing a RAP in a small to medium NFP organisation.
⦁ Commit to actions for reconciliation by building genuine and trusting relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
⦁ Build connections and learnings between RAP organisations to develop a peer support group.
Arrive at 8.30am for 9:00am start
8.30am – 9.00am | Conference Registration | |
9.00am | Welcome to Country | Uncle Colin Locke |
9.10am | Conference Day 2 Welcome Message |
Paul Newman, EMCEE, Sharmily Nagarsekar, LEAD CEO, & Conference Sponsor Representative |
9.30am | Cultural Performance | Wagana Dancers |
9.45am | Day 2 Opening Keynote Address: What does ‘Reconciliation’ look like in the current context? | John Leha, CEO ABSEC |
10.00am | Morning Plenary: RAP in the context of cultural safety in the workplace; A path of change with a RAP | Josh Staines Penrith City Council – Board Member Reconciliation NSW |
10.30pm | Panel Discussion: What does Reconciliation look like in your organisation’s journey? |
|
11.00am – 11.15am | Morning Tea | |
11.15am | The framework and the core pillars of RAP | Peter Morris, Reconciliation Australia |
11.45am | ‘Yarning with Elders’ – what does Reconciliation mean for you in their life-journey?’ |
|
12.30pm – 1.30pm | Lunch | |
1.30pm | Afternoon Keynote Address | Dr Stewart Sutherland, Associate Dean First Nations, ANU, College of Health Medicine, Chair Indigenous Health Framework, School Medicine and Psychology |
2.30pm | Afternoon session: Reconciliation equals healing and prosperity for all…. respectful relationships form the basis | Ivan Clarke |
3.30pm |
Panel discussion – Changes that bring transformation. -What it takes to truly champion the rights of First Nations people in all the places and spaces that matter. – Building genuine and trusting relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, improve long-term outcomes for Aboriginal children, young people, families and communities. Facilitator: Kerry Thomas, Chair LEAD Professional Development Association Inc. Board |
|
4.15pm | Closing Remarks | Kerry Thomas, Chair LEAD Professional Development Association Inc. Board & Conference Sponsor Representative |