Victoria is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of South Australia. Her higher degree supervision and research areas include critical perspectives on children's learning and development, children’s wellbeing in education settings, early brain development, and contextually based, dialogic, democratic and rights-based approaches to early childhood education. Victoria has been Chair of the Gowrie SA Board since 2000, and at UniSA, provided long term leadership in early childhood education. She formerly worked for thirteen years as a classroom teacher with children from 5-12 years. Victoria is a member of the Centre for Research in Educational and Social Inclusion, University of South Australia.

Professor Sarah Blunden (MAPS, BAPsych (Hons), MSocSc, MClinPsy, PhD) has a dual role as Head of Paediatric Sleep Research and Professor of Clinical Psychology at Central Queensland University, Australia and is a clinical psychologist specialising in the treatment of children’s sleep problems and related mental health issues. Sarah is the Founder/Director of the Paediatric Sleep and Psychology Clinic, Director of SensibleSleep and Sleep Education Centre in Australia. She is a member of the Education Committee, Behavioural Sleep Medicine subcommittee and chair of the Indigenous Sleep Health Special Interest group, all of the Australasian Sleep Association and on the board of the International Pediatric Sleep Association. Sarah’s research interests include sleep education, Indigenous sleep and health, sleep interventions for young children and the psychosocial and psychological impact of poor sleep. She is an expert sleep consultant for the Australian Psychological Society and is often featured as an expert on ABC radio. Sarah has presented over 100 conference presentations and published over 120 academic papers and books including The Sensible Sleep Solution for infants and the Boss of My Sleep Book for Toddlers. Her responsive sleep therapies are published and utilised worldwide and she has developed a Practice Certificate in this method for psychologists interested in sleep therapy for children.

Sally is a distinguished researcher at the University of South Australia dedicated to enhancing the healthy development and early learning of young children, particularly in underserved communities. Her extensive research spans regions across Australia, Asia, the Pacific, Latin America, and the Emirates. Sally collaborates closely with international governments and prominent donor organizations, including the World Bank, UNICEF, and UNESCO. Sally's expertise encompasses population monitoring, enabling her to uncover and address disparities in child outcomes. She employs pragmatic randomized control trials to rigorously assess the impact and cost-effectiveness of interventions. Her research has made a substantial impact on both global and local levels, across the fields of early education, community development, and development economics, benefiting children around the world. Serving as a trusted advisor to governments and actively participating in numerous Expert Advisory Groups, Sally plays a pivotal role in shaping policies and practices. Her academic body of work includes over 200 publications, with contributions to esteemed journals such as The Lancet. Sally's research consistently translates into real-world solutions, earning her widespread recognition and acclaim in academic and policy circles, both nationally and internationally.

Helen became South Australia’s inaugural Commissioner for Children and Young People in April 2017. Helen has extensive experience in executive leadership roles in a range of not-for-profit organisations. Prior to taking the role as Commissioner, Helen was the Executive Director of Australian Red Cross in South Australia and Chair of the South Australian Council of Social Service Inc (SACOSS). Helen is a long-time advocate for building respectful partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, communities and organisations and has established networks and relationships through her position as a Co-Chair of Reconciliation SA. Throughout her career, Helen has taken an active advocacy role on the main policy issues that impact on the wellbeing of Australian families and children, with a strong focus on early intervention and prevention strategies.

Michelle is a lecturer in law at the University of South Australia and is an expert in children’s rights and family law. Michelle’s research focusses on the voices of children following parental separation, including in cases involving international child abduction. She is a former director of Anglicare SA and Anglicare Tasmania. Michelle is passionate about children’s rights and welfare, and about giving children a genuine say in decisions that affect them.

Tina is the General Manager, City Services for the City of Playford, with a wide portfolio that focusses on direct delivery to the customer, ranging from residential and commercial planning and development, economic development and support to business, through to community facilities, libraries, community development and program delivery. She and her team are charged with delivering high quality programs and services that enable great community outcomes, creating opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to improve their wellbeing, build their capacity and enable social inclusion and community engagement. Tina holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a Psychology Major. She is also an active Board member and is currently the Chair of a not for profit organisation that delivers both Aged Care and Affordable Housing.

April was appointed as South Australia's inaugural Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People in October 2018. April is a proud Aboriginal woman who heralds from the Mirning and Kokatha peoples from the Far West Coast of South Australia. April holds a social work degree which led to an early career in front line child protection work and Aboriginal foster care services. April moved into management roles of Aboriginal social welfare policy and programs and later took on a range of executive leadership roles in South Australian Government agencies including Aboriginal Justice Director in the Attorney General’s Department, SA Health Aboriginal Health Branch Director and Director of Aboriginal Education. Over the last 30 years, April has contributed to the formation of policy at the State and National level, and excellence in service innovation and community development with regard to Aboriginal health, education, child and family services, foster care services, justice services, across the metropolitan and regional areas, including rural/remote. April strongly believes that we need to bring the voices of Aboriginal children and young people and their communities into how we are designing and delivering health, education, justice and child protection systems and services so that Aboriginal children and young people can flourish with their right to family and culture upheld. She believes that to improve services and outcomes, we need to recognise the solutions coming from our Aboriginal communities and families and act upon them in a meaningful way.

Gerry is a Professor in public policy at the College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University, where he has worked since 2012. Prior to that he worked at University of NSW, UNICEF and the University of Cambridge, UK. His academic training is in sociological and social policy research and involves both qualitative and quantitative analysis of children’s and young people’s well-being in Australia and in other countries. His research aims to privilege the perspectives of marginalised young people, how they negotiate challenges in their lives, and how these challenges impact their wellbeing, development and life chances. He has a strong interest in research engagement with policymakers and advocacy groups, and in knowledge translation of academic research. He has been Chief Investigator on six Australian Research Council research projects and is currently leading a project on the opportunities that young people with disability and young carers can access, and the contributions they make to Australian society. His aim in both these projects is to draw attention to the wide range of economic and societal factors that influence young people’s life chances in Australia and in other countries.

Cat is a healthcare leader with extensive experience in project, leadership, quality and safety, and clinical roles. She has recently returned from Queensland where she worked for Clinical Excellence Queensland’s Healthcare Improvement Unit, representing the Statewide Child Health and Child Development Networks. In this role, Cat developed the Queensland Health, Child Development Clinical Capabilities Framework, which underpins a consistent, evidence based and contemporary approach to providing care for children, adolescents and their families. With a background in Paediatric Physiotherapy and Allied Health Leadership, Cat has worked extensively across public and community healthcare and disability settings. Cat is energised by driving system change to improve experience and outcomes for infants, children, adolescents and their families.

Tricia is an experienced arts leader with a 30-year background in community arts, cultural development, regional arts, youth arts, adult education and small publishing ventures. As Chief Executive of Carclew (2008-2023) she oversaw a nationally recognised state-wide program for children, young people and early career artists, including arts and cultural development projects in urban, rural and remote schools and communities. Tricia is experienced in not-for-profit leadership, governance, strategy, policy development and organisational change. Some of her past roles include Director of the regional arts program at Country Arts SA and Company Manager of Kurruru Aboriginal Youth Performing Arts. Tricia has served as Chair of the Arts Industry Council of SA, and Chair of A>R>T, a group of artists and educators supporting arts rich learning strategies in South Australian schools. She holds a BA in Literary Studies and a Graduate Diploma of Adult Education and Learning and she is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the South Australian Governor’s Leadership Foundation. Tricia's most recent board role was as a non-executive director of the Australian Dance Theatre.

Shirley is a Nukunu woman from South Australia. She is a Social Worker and the Director of Two Worlds Consultancy. Two Worlds Consultancy has been operating for the last five years across South Australia and is now operating nationally, contracting services to government and non-government organisations and has become specialised in the provision of cultural and clinical supervision for individuals and groups, across sectors, and working alongside a variety of classification levels and disciplines. Other services provided include family reunification, therapeutic support to children in out-of-home care, NDIS services, corporate training and development, writing corporate documents and casual lecturing for universities. Shirley also sits on a variety of working parties and boards with the focus on child protections, child development and child, infant and maternal health. Shirley previously worked in various Public Service organisations over a span of 23 years in portfolios such as Health, Child Protection and Child and Adolescent Mental Health.