Carmela is a social work practitioner, researcher and educator. She is a lecturer in Social Work at Flinders University, responsible for the child protection portfolio within social work and the university. She contributes to research projects undertaken by Flinders University’s Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS) focusing on the intersection of domestic and family violence and child protection. Carmela has held senior positions in the Department for Child Protection. She is committed to building social work practice excellence and improving outcomes for children, young people and families who experience complexity.

Mark is a general practitioner working both in general practice and for Drug and Alcohol Services SA where he works in a team that regularly deals with the effects of drug and alcohol use on children and young people. He worked for 15 years in an adolescent health service, including with young people in detention. The effects that mental health and drug and alcohol problems have on the lives of young people and their families, and the ways in which these problems may contribute to the death of young people, is of particular interest to him.

Margaret is a general practitioner who specialises in disability and developmental delay. Margaret has dedicated her professional life to teaching, research, advocacy and providing specialised clinical care to people with intellectual and developmental delays. Margaret’s expertise in the health care of children, young people and adults with disability has led to teaching and other professional roles in Australia and internationally. For her services to children and young people with disability Margaret was awarded an OAM in 2001.

Kathy is a clinical psychologist whose practice focuses on assessment, diagnosis and intervention services for infants, children, adolescents, adults and families. She currently works across public health, university and private practice settings, including supervision and project work at the Flinders Medical Centre’s Child Protection Service and clinical lecturing at Charles Darwin University. Kathy’s experience and skills in clinical psychology and inter-disciplinary child and family psychology work are grounded within a relationship-based and ecological context, acknowledging the importance of connected systems to support young people. Kathy appreciates how a child or young person’s individual differences, as well as the role of context and experiences, impact on day-to-day functioning.

Kurt is the Executive Director of Aboriginal Health for the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network, and a registered Aboriginal Health Practitioner. Kurt has extensive experience in the Aboriginal health and wellbeing fields leading executive roles within mental health, aged care and Aboriginal health in various metropolitan and remote settings. Kurt is vice president of Kidsafe SA and is passionate in leading and supporting strategies to reduce the incidence of unintentional injuries in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Deirdre has over 30 years’ experience as a paediatrician. This has involved community paediatrics, acute care paediatrics, child protection and, for the past 10 years, developmental paediatrics at WCH. She has practised in the community and public hospital settings. Her work has also included the teaching of undergraduate medical students and post graduate paediatric trainees as well as sitting on national committees of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. She has strong interests in equity of care and the ability of services to address this issue at both micro- and macro-systems levels.

Catherine Turnbull is the Chief Child Protection Officer for the Department for Health and Wellbeing, South Australia, leading the governance, models of care and practice reforms for Child Protection Services across SA Health. Catherine liaises and consults with health, child protection, human services, education and police colleagues and consumers, Aboriginal services and children, and key stakeholders such as the Commissioner for Children and Young People, the Guardian for Children and Young People in Care, and the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People. She Co-chairs National Strategy on the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse Committees, the SA Health and SAPOL’s Joint Investigation Teams Committee and is Chair of the SA Health Child Protection and Policy Board.