Medical Advisor - Brighter Beginnings: The First 2000 Days of Life, NSW Ministry of Health
Elisabeth has overseen the implementation of state wide early intervention programs including the NSW-wide screening programs for hearing (SWISH – Statewide Infant Screening – Hearing) and vision (StEPS) and children in Out of Home Care(OOHC); the Aboriginal Maternal and Infant Health Strategy and the promotion of health checks for improved child development and health in the NSW Personal Health Record.
She is a past recipient of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians Medal and has been recognised as one of the top 50 Public Sector Women – NSW. In 2020 she was nominated as a Finalist for Public Servant of the Year. .
A/Executive Director Early Childhood Strategy and Partnerships
She is passionate about improving outcomes for all children across NSW.
Maari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation is an Aboriginal community controlled regional health service in Broken Hill. Maari Ma implements sector-leading strategies to improve Aboriginal health across the age spectrum and improving child development and wellbeing in far-west NSW. We developed a strategic framework to improve child development and wellbeing for Aboriginal children in the far west.
We have been doing our best to implement the recommendations of the framework to improve the outcomes for our children:
NNM is a multi-wards-winning arts in health program, established in 2009 for parents of Aboriginal children in the La Perouse area. Ngala Nanga Mai means ‘We Dream” and was named by the participants of the Group to reflect their hopes and aspirations for themselves and their families.
NNM was co-developed by local Aboriginal mothers and the Community Child Health department of the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network (Randwick). Our work is supported by evidence that consistently demonstrates that arts in health interventions contribute to the promotion, prevention, and management of a range of mental and physical health conditions. The group has exhibited and sold their artwork in 15 art exhibitions including at the La Perouse Museum, Bondi Pavilion, and the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network (Randwick).
Through a partnership with TAFE Digital, the mothers can enrol in courses that support their aspirations. Approximately 245 mothers and 250 children have participated in the Ngala Nanga Mai pARenT Group Program to date.
To date, the program has demonstrated measurable improvements in health seeking behaviour, maternal mental health, and child development in La Perouse. The program offers a unique environment to connect through culture and creativity to improve the health and wellbeing of mothers and their Aboriginal children.
Senior Policy Officer, Aboriginal Maternal Child and Family Health Team, NSW Ministry of Health
Sharnee Townsend is a proud Wailwan woman who currently resides with her family on Awabakal Country in Newcastle NSW. She works as a Senior Policy Officer, Aboriginal Maternal Child and Family Health Team at the NSW Ministry of Health. She has held multiple roles in Local Health Districts throughout NSW, including as an Aboriginal Health Worker and Health Service Manager.
Sharnee has completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree majoring in Sociology and Indigenous Studies and has post graduate qualifications in Public Sector Management. She has won multiple awards throughout her career including the Dr Ross Ingram Memorial Award in the Medical Journal of Australia (mja.com.au/journal/2015/203/9/my-journey-suit-skin) and was a Finalist in Excellence in Aboriginal Health Care NSW Health Awards (2021) for the Cultural Birth Plan for First Nations Women.
Senior Program Officer, Department of Communities and Justice
Cassandra has a strong background in local and state government, and a commitment to social justice and achieving outcomes. She is passionate about the effective implementation of evidence-based programs to build resilient families and communities.
Cassandra has an established career spanning the fields of youth and community development, community safety, and child protection. She believes in building relationships and partnerships to create lasting impacts for children, families and communities. With extensive experience and skills in community and stakeholder engagement, she has led and participated in a range of approaches, including asset based community development and co-design.
Since joining the Department of Communities and Justice in 2016, Cassandra has worked on the translation of policy reforms to contribute to program design, including the Permanency Support Program (PSP) Family Preservation model. As a Senior Program Officer with the Department, Cassandra is currently the DCJ lead working in partnership with NSW Health on the expansion of Pregnancy Family Conferencing across NSW.
Clinical Nurse Consultant, Illawarra Shoalhaven Child and Family Health service
Clare is a Registered Nurse and Registered Midwife. Clare has worked in several roles within maternity and child & family health nursing in SESLHD and ISLHD.
Clare holds a Masters in Science and is currently studying a Master of Public Health Research. She was the project clinical lead for the Brighter Beginnings Customer Experience Pilot Health and Development checks in Child and Family Health services.
Strategic Program Lead, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District
Tania trained as a youth worker and psychologist and is currently working as a Strategic Program Lead with South Eastern Sydney Local Health District.
Her work over the last 10 years has focused on the implementation and evaluation of cross agency prevention and early intervention initiatives, to address inequities and improve the health and well-being of children, young people, and their families.
During the last 7 years, she has developed and evaluated community-based models of care to optimise the health, growth, and development of children from priority populations, in particular new migrant communities.
Tania is a co-investigator for a translational research grant awarded for the first time in 2021 for a First 2000 Days project.
Director of Community Paediatrics at SLHD and Professor of Community Paediatrics at University of Sydney
In her clinical, service development and research roles, Sue aims to address child health and health care inequities in Australia and globally through innovative integrated health-social service models including Hubs and care navigation.
She has experience with working with large collaborative multidisciplinary teams including government and non-government agencies using qualitative and quantitative methods. Sue is an investigator on multiple grants with a focus on developing integrated and equitable models of child health care >$15M funding over the last 5 years and has 151 peer-reviewed papers.
She is the co-chair of the Sydney Institute for Women, Children and their Families at SLHD. She was previously the deputy lead of the Sydney Partnership in Health Education Research and Enterprise Early Life Determinants of Health clinical academic groups and now co-leads the Sydney Health Partners Child and Adolescent clinical academic group. With Tania Rimes, Sue has led the TRGS Round 5 First 2000 Days Care Connect project.
Professor and Chair of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney; Head, Academic Unit of Child Psychiatry South-West Sydney; Director, Centre of Research Excellence in supporting child and family health for priority populations
Dr Eapen is also Chair, Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry (RANZCP); Co-Chair, Section on Developing countries, and Zonal representative for Oceania, World Psychiatric Association; and Treasurer and President Elect, International Neuropsychiatric Association. Eapen has published >400 journal articles, 6 books, and 50 book chapters and is currently part of research programs with funding >$40 Million.
Known internationally for expertise in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and Tourette Syndrome, Eapen is the Medical Publicity and Liaison Officer for Tourette Syndrome Association Australia. Eapen served as the Director of Early Years program, Australian Autism Co-operative Research Centre and served on the 4-member Executive Group that led the development of the National Guideline for the Assessment and Diagnosis of Autism. Current areas of work include digital innovations in early identification and interventions for developmental disorders and equitable access to services.
Dietitian and Program Manager, Hunter New England Population Health; NHMRC Medical Research Future Fund Research Fellow, University of Newcastle
Rachel leads an integrated research and service delivery team of dietitians, health promotion officers, post-doctoral researchers and PhD focused on infants, children and their families to address behavioural risk factors that prevent the onset of future chronic disease and supports optimal child development.
She is passionate about implementation, scale-up and translating research into practice and focuses much of her work on digital technologies to support the delivery of evidence-based programs at scale. She is currently scaling-up a nutrition intervention to support parents of primary school aged children nationally, which has been funded via an MRFF grant and is also working in partnership with Child and Family Health Nursing services locally to design, evaluate and scale-up a universal prevention service addressing the First 2000 days.
Director of the Research Centre for Transforming early Education and Child Health (TeEACH),Western Sydney University
Rebekah's research is focused on the service and support needs of children and families who experience disadvantage and adversity.
Her research spans the fields of disability, education, child development and child protection. She employs a cross-disciplinary, mixed-methods approach, and seeks to move beyond the bounds of disciplinary silos to address complex challenges.
Rebekah has extensive experience in productive collaboration with government and non-government service organisations. Her expertise is in applied research, and in the translation of that research so that it is meaningful within practice and policy settings. Rebekah has expertise in the conduct of rigorous effectiveness trials. She is also well known for her research using participatory methods with children, young people and their families, and for her work in the co-design of new service initiatives with community members and service professionals.
Public Health Physician
Susan completed a PhD in life course epidemiology working on revitalising the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s cohort study. Her time in Europe introduced her to the value and utility of longitudinal studies and the extraordinary evidence that can emerge from following ordinary lives over time.
On returning to New Zealand in 2003, she went onto successfully lead the establishment of a cross-faculty Research Centre at the University of Auckland (He Ara ki Mua) and she designed and led the multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional team of researchers who established the contemporary longitudinal study of child and family wellbeing -Growing Up in New Zealand from its inception.
Susan has been working across traditional research boundaries for almost two decades to provide robust scientific evidence to inform strategies and policies at national and international levels to improve population health for all and to reduce inequities in health outcomes within and across populations. She has a successful track record of establishing meaningful partnerships with cross-sectoral policy agencies and technical experts, as well as with diverse communities to ensure research she leads is context relevant, translatable, and impactful.
In February 2023 she has taken up a new challenge as the inaugural Director of a pan-University Research Institute at UTS in Sydney – called INSIGHT – whose overarching goal is to provide innovative solutions to improve life course health and wellbeing.
Director of Community Paediatrics, South Western Sydney
Shanti is a Consultant Paediatrician, with sub-specialty training in community child health, epidemiology, and public health. She is responsible for clinical services in child development and child protection across the region, providing academic leadership and directing research and training.
Her research and teaching interests include health of migrants and refugees, indigenous child health, child rights and child maltreatment, quality and safety in health, global maternal, newborn and child health. She is involved with policy development at state, national and international levels promoting a rights-based perspective to child health and population health.
She is on the Board of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect (ISPCAN) and on the Executive Committee of the International Society for Social Pediatrics & Child Health (ISSOP). She has recently been appointed as Editor-in-Chief of BMJ Paediatrics Open.
Karitane is a non-government, not for-profit public healthcare service provider specialising in child & family health and perinatal infant and child mental health. We are recognised for our clinical excellence in a broad range of evidence-based face-to-face and leading virtual care services including sleep & settling, feeding & nutrition, toddler behaviour, emotional dysregulation, perinatal infant mental health issues (anxiety & depression), post-natal adjustment disorders and community parenting programs. We also have mature, long- established academic research and education university partnerships and our services are delivered by a highly competent, multidisciplinary team of health and community service professionals and skilled volunteers. We use a stepped model of care with early intervention, prevention and intensive therapeutic services. We offer health and community programs in partnership with local health districts, primary health networks, non-government agencies and are leaders in the emerging integrated child and family hub model of care.
Tresillian was established by the NSW Government in 1918 and provides both state-wide and local services, including parenting advice, perinatal mental health support and treatment to families during the First 2000 Days of a child’s life, as well as providing leadership and support for other local health agencies and organisations. Tresillian state-wide services include residential inpatient units, Virtual Residential Parenting Service, Integrated Care Hubs, Tresillian 2U Mobile Vans in regional NSW, and Parent Help Line. At Tresillian, our goal is to ensure all expectant families and those with young children, regardless of where they live, have access to parenting advice, mental health support and early parenting services, enabling them to raise healthy families and build healthy, resilient communities.
