Child Development Council Members
The Members of the Council are appointed by the Minister for Education, Training and Skills as set out in the Children and Young People (Oversight and Advocacy Bodies) Act 2016.
Associate Professor Victoria Whitington (Presiding Member)
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 (Deputy Presiding Member)
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.
Mr Dale Agius
Dale is a proud Kaurna, Narungga, Ngadjuri and Ngarrindjeri man who carries deep respect for the cultural knowledge, stories, and resilience of his people. With strong ties across four language groups, Dale has dedicated his career to creating lasting change for Aboriginal communities in South Australia. Over the past 18 years, he has worked across Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Correctional Services, the Office for the Commissioner for Aboriginal Engagement, and as a Ministerial Advisor and Manager of Metropolitan Aboriginal Youth and Family Services. He now serves as the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People, a role that places him at the forefront of advocating for the rights, safety, and wellbeing of Aboriginal children and young people across the state. He envisions a future where Aboriginal children grow up strong in culture, surrounded by opportunity, and where systems are shaped with, not just for, community.
Professor Sally Brinkman
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.
Ms Mimi Crowe
Mimi has been appointed Acting Commissioner for Children and Young People.
Ms Dawn Davis
Dawn is a consultant with significant executive leadership experience and responsibility for creating, guiding and implementing national initiatives, state-wide systems and programs and regionally based and local service delivery in the education and early childhood sectors in Victoria, NT and SA. She has worked at all levels, from national policy development to implementation of policy in schools, early childhood centres and local communities. Her wide-ranging leadership and management responsibilities have covered strategic policy and planning, resource management, regulatory oversight, improving outcomes for children and young people, school and system improvement, curriculum, program development, stakeholder management, research and innovation, professional learning and service delivery. Areas of responsibility have included early childhood (birth to 8), schooling (birth to 18), middle years and senior secondary reform, indigenous education, parenting programs and initiatives for Indigenous children and families and vocational education and training. Dawn also brings extensive experience in human services including youth policies, income support, and family policy and programs. She has had responsibility for key government reforms to improve outcomes for children, including the development of the national Early Years Learning Framework, the Preschool Curriculum in NT and the Victorian birth to 8 and transition to school frameworks.
Dr Michelle Fernando
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.
Ms Tina Hudson
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.
Professor Gerry Redmond
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.
Mrs Cat Turner
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.
Ms Shirley Young
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.