Millie Penny is a proud Noongar woman and her country includes, Whadjuk, Boojarah, and Ballardong.

Before retirement Millie worked in the community for over 27 years.  The majority of her work focused on women and family violence, including working as a sexual abuse counsellor for Yorgum Aboriginal Corporation, for 12 years.

Although retired, Millie continues to contribute to both the sector and community.

Aunty Millie is an integral part of WACOSS, guiding and supporting us in our mission.

Millie Penny is a proud Noongar woman and her country includes, Whadjuk, Boojarah, and Ballardong.

Before retirement Millie worked in the community for over 27 years.  The majority of her work focused on women and family violence, including working as a sexual abuse counsellor for Yorgum Aboriginal Corporation, for 12 years.

Although retired, Millie continues to contribute to both the sector and community.

Aunty Millie is an integral part of WACOSS, guiding and supporting us in our mission.

Millie Penny is a proud Noongar woman and her country includes, Whadjuk, Boojarah, and Ballardong.

Before retirement Millie worked in the community for over 27 years.  The majority of her work focused on women and family violence, including working as a sexual abuse counsellor for Yorgum Aboriginal Corporation, for 12 years.

Although retired, Millie continues to contribute to both the sector and community.

Aunty Millie is an integral part of WACOSS, guiding and supporting us in our mission.

Charmaine Pell is a Noongar woman and her country includes Whadjuk, Boojarah, Wagyl Kaip, Ballardong and Gnaala.

Charmaine is a mother, grandmother and great grandmother.  Before her retirement Charmaine worked for 20 years in Child and Adolescence community services.

Charmaine provides integral support to WACOSS to improve and enhance practice, ensuring cultural security on Noongar land.

Debra is the Chief Executive Officer of Ruah Community Services, and has been serving in the role since 2016. Prior to this she held the Chief Executive Officer position at Hope Community Services, and Director of Organisational Development at St John of God Subiaco.

As CEO of Hope Community Services Debra oversaw significant growth and expansion in alcohol and other drugs treatment and support services, as well as managing youth residential services and youth mental health.

Debra currently serves on multiple boards and committees, including the WAAMH Board, the East Metropolitan Health Service and the Alcohol Advisory Board. Previously, Debra has also been active on the WANADA board.

Debra would like to see a strong and sustainable community services sector to continue to ensure the inclusion of all people, particularly those most excluded, in our community. She also is excited to work with the sector to develop the leadership that is required for the future of community services in WA

Hilary is an internationally acclaimed social entrepreneur working with communities and governments around the world to design collaborative, affordable solutions to big social challenges. Innovations include new approaches to employment, care, ageing and chronic health conditions. Transformation is achieved through an emphasis on human relationships supported by technology.

Hilary’s current work focuses on the need for a ‘fifth social revolution’: to enable widespread flourishing in this century as work, society and our economies go through deep structural change.

Hilary’s book Radical Help on the future of welfare was published to widespread acclaim in June 2018 by Little Brown UK. Her TED talk on the future of social systems has had over 750,000 views.

Hilary was educated at Oxford, Sussex and the Open University. She is an Honorary Professor at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. Hilary has been recognised by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader and was named UK Designer of the Year in 2005 for her work pioneering social design. She was awarded an OBE in 2019 for services to the welfare state. Hilary lives in London.

www.hilarycottam.com
@HilaryCottam

Thomas Mayor is a Torres Strait Islander who was born and raised on Larrakia Land in Darwin. He was a wharfie for sixteen years before becoming an official of his union.

In 2017 he attended the Darwin Regional Constitutional Dialogue, where he was elected to represent the region at the Uluru National Constitutional Convention.

Since the overwhelming endorsement of the Uluru Statement at Uluru, Thomas has tirelessly advocated for the proposals in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and is the author of ‘Finding the Heart of the Nation – the journey of the Uluru Statement towards Voice, Treaty and Truth’, published by Hardie Grant. His book tells his story, the story of the Uluru Statement, and features some of the remarkable Indigenous people that he met on his campaigning journey. A children’s version of the book will be published in June 2020.

Dr John Falzon is Senior Fellow, Inequality and Social Justice at Per Capita, a progressive policy think tank. He is a sociologist, poet and social justice advocate and was national CEO of the St Vincent de Paul Society from 2006 to 2018. He has written and spoken widely on neoliberalism and the structural causes of inequality. He is the author of The language of the unheard (2012) and a collection of poems, Communists like us (2017). He is a member of the Australian Services Union.

Dr Naomi Joy Godden is a Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow at Edith Cowan University, focusing on community action for climate justice. She collaborates with communities and civil society organisations to undertake Feminist Participatory Action Research to understand the intersections of climate change, social justice and human rights, and develop and implement community-led actions for social change. Naomi has 17-years’ experience as a community social worker and social justice and environmentalist activist in Australia, the Asia Pacific and Latin America. She is also the co-chair of the Women’s Climate Justice Collective, chair of Just Home Margaret River Inc, and an elected Councillor at the Shire of Augusta Margaret River.

Lizzie O’Shea is a lawyer, writer, and broadcaster. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Guardian, and Sydney Morning Herald, among others. She was the host of Legal Briefs, for the ABC.

Lizzie is a founder and the chair of Digital Rights Watch, which advocates for human rights online. She is an advisor to the board of the National Justice Project, where she established a Copwatch program, which was a recipient of the Davis Projects for Peace Prize. In 2019, Lizzie was named a Human Rights Hero by Access Now.

Her book, Future Histories (Verso, 2019), looks at radical social movements from history and applies them to debates we have about technology today. It has been shortlisted for the Premier’s Literary Award.

Dr Amanda Tattersall co-founded GetUp.org.au and founded the Sydney Alliance, which brought community organising to Australia. She wrote Power in Coalition and currently hosts the ChangeMakers Podcast that tells stories about social change. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Sydney University’s Sydney Policy Lab.

Leanne is an Arrernte woman born and raised in Alice Springs with academic qualifications in Environmental Science, Law and Management.

Despite these formal qualifications, Leanne believes her grandmother and great-grandmother were the source of her most important knowledge and learnings because they taught her about traditional land management skills, particularly with the use of fire.

Leanne is grateful for these rich and diverse learnings and the many other opportunities and support she has received that have made her personal journey a little easier. She appreciates these advantages come with the obligation to share the benefits and understandings with others, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal.  Her passion is to improve the human rights of others and provide a voice for those who need to be heard.

Leanne has served in many senior public service roles, including within the Department for Premier and Cabinet as Manager of Food Security for Aboriginal communities in South Australia, and Manager of the APY and West Coast regions of South Australia. She was also the first Aboriginal female police officer in South Australia where she worked for 11 years as a Senior Constable in remote and Adelaide police stations. Leanne has also worked on the international circuit including various roles for the United Nations in Geneva, New York and Paris in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNESCO.

Having served on several boards as a Director, including Bush Heritage Australia, Leanne remains a member of the Menzies School of Health Research board.

Since returning to Darwin, Leanne has worked as the Senior Policy Advisor for the Northern Land Council and the Principal Legal Policy Officer in the Department of the Attorney-General and Justice. Leanne is now the Director of the Aboriginal Justice Unit where she is working with a small team to deliver the first NT Aboriginal Justice Agreement.