Professor Jioji Ravulo

Professor and Chair of Social Work and Policy Studies, Sydney School of Education and Social Work, The University of Sydney

Professor Jioji Ravulo is passionate about creating and implementing educational and research approaches that are engaging and engaged. Nuanced with a genuine commitment to the dynamic inclusion of cultural diversity and its differences, Jioji is super keen to create collaborative spaces for students, community groups and industry partners. He is involved in various community based research and co-design initiatives, including projects that support health literacies across equity groups, enhancing service delivery models for young people and their families, promoting the inclusion of diversity in educational settings and supporting the meaningful inclusion of indigenous perspectives and practices.

Sam Brain

Sam Brain leads Deloitte Access Economics’ work in inclusive education and is a national expert in inclusive education policy. His work has focused predominantly on inclusion in a schooling context, while extending at times to cover early learning and the training sector.

He specialises in supporting governments to set goals to progressively realise inclusive education and develop structures to achieve them. Sam’s work has led to improvements in system design, service delivery and financing at the federal level and in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT.

With over a decade’s experience in public policy design and evaluation, he applies a range of economic and public policy frameworks to education issues. He draws on an extensive professional network of experts in disability, inclusive education and teaching practice.

As part of his participation in the Inclusion and Disability conference, Sam is hoping to share his insights into the adequacy of the current national framework for students with disability and learn from school leaders the challenges they face and opportunities they see to adopt inclusive education for all students..

"Why we need a better institutional framework for students with disability in Australia"

Across Australia, it is clear that our education system can do better for students with disability than we are doing at present. 20+ reviews over ten years have highlighted a range of anecdotal insights into the experiences of students with disability. And at a national level, survey and other data show that the educational outcomes of people with disability are substantially worse than those without disability.

However, both the national picture of precisely what is happening in schools, and the framework for improving those practices within systems, is lacking. There is limited empirical information available – particularly in a comparable and consistent way across jurisdictions. And there is not a strong framework for holding systems to account for improvement in inclusive education in Australia. The focus of accountability is principally on individual schools, rather than systems, regions and networks, and it is up to parents to enforce school obligations – often at great cost and personal risk to themselves.

Sam’s presentation will contrast the availability of data, and the strength of national accountability measures, across two systems - Australia and the United States. It will then present a wish list – three wishes for system improvement in inclusive education at the system level – that, if achieved, would result in better experiences for students with disability, and more rewarding professional careers for teachers and school leaders.

Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM

Dinesh was the first quadriplegic medical intern in Queensland and the second person to graduate medical school with quadriplegia in Australia. Dinesh is a doctor, lawyer, disability advocate, and researcher.

Halfway through medical school, he was involved in a motor vehicle accident that caused a cervical spinal cord injury. Dinesh has completed an Advanced Clerkship in Radiology at the Harvard University.

As a result of his injury and experiences, Dinesh has been an advocate for inclusivity. He is a founding member of Doctors with Disabilities Australia.

Dinesh works in the emergency department at the Gold Coast University Hospital. He is a senior lecturer at the Griffith University and adjunct research fellow at the Menzies Health Institute of Queensland. Dinesh is a researcher in spinal cord injury. He is a doctor for the Gold Coast Titans physical disability rugby team. Dinesh is a senior advisor to the Disability Royal Commission. He is an ambassador to the Human Rights Commission’s Includeability program. He was a 2021 International Day of People with Disability ambassador.

Dinesh was the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service’s Junior Doctor of the Year in 2018. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2019. He was the third Australian to be awarded a Henry Viscardi Achievement Award. He was the 2021 Griffith University Young Alumnus of the Year. Dinesh was the Queensland Australian of the Year for 2021.

"The Greatest Enabler Worth Fighting For"

I have a spinal cord injury with quadriplegia.

I was also born outside Australia.

These two lenses have allowed me to see just how much education can enable the most marginalised people in our world. It is the single most powerful thing that can empower someone to change their circumstances. These are my thoughts on why education is worth fighting for.

Dr Kate de Bruin

Dr Kate de Bruin is a Senior Lecturer in inclusion and disability in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. She has taught in secondary school and higher education over two decades. In her academic teaching she has played a central role in developing and delivering the Inclusive Education courses for pre-service and experienced teachers. Her research examines system, school and classroom level practices that are supported by evidence, and that promote quality and equity for all students with a particular focus on students with disability. Her current projects explore teaching and learning interventions that fit within multi-tiered systems of support with a particular focus on the teaching of reading through a Response-to-Intervention framework. She has worked with Commonwealth and State Education Departments on research projects such as the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data for Students with Disabilities: A Moderation Resource, and the Evaluation of Disability Inclusion. She also appeared as an expert witness at the Royal Commission in Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.

"Multi-Tiered Systems of Support: Key Lessons for Australian Leaders"

In this keynote, Kate will provide an overview of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) including what this framework is, where it came from and the rationale for its adoption in Australia. Her presentation will include an outline of Australia’s international human rights obligations in education and demonstrate how they map onto national and state policies with reference to the education and support provided for students with disability. Kate will outline some of the gaps and inequities that result from these policies and show how MTSS can address these and provide a roadmap for systemic transformation to make inclusive education a reality in Australia. She will highlight examples of schools and systems already using MTSS in Australia and note the implications for education leaders in ensuring all students can access a high-quality and inclusive education at school.

Dr Toshiko Kamei

"How assessment reform is being led by principles of inclusion
Assessment and recognition of learning for inclusive education"

Toshiko is a research fellow at the Assessment Research Centre. Her work has focused on projects to investigate the assessment and recognition of complex competencies in school-age students and adults. For instance, she has led projects that aims to develop resources to assess foundational skills in students with disability. Prior to her time at the Centre, she taught in primary, secondary and specialist settings in Canada, England, Japan, and Australia.

Toshiko’s research interests include assessment of complex competencies, measurement theory, and raising the capacity of teachers to educate all students.

Professor Sandra Milligan

Enterprise Professor Sandra Milligan is Director of the Assessment Research Centre at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne. Sandra has an unusually wide engagement with the education industry and in educational research. Originally a teacher of science and mathematics, she is also a former Director of Curriculum in an Australian state education department and has held senior research, management and governance positions in a range of educational organisations, including government agencies, not-for-profits, small start-up businesses and large, listed, international corporations. Sandra’s current research interests focus on assessment, recognition and warranting of hard-to-assess learning. She directs several research partnerships with school networks and organisations working to develop Learner Profiles for their students,. She is lead author of ‘Future Proofing Australian Students with New Credentials’ report, outlining methods to reliably assess and recognise the level of attainment of general capabilities, and of Recognition of Learning Success for All: Ensuring Trust and Utility in a New approach to Recognition of Learning in Senior Secondary Education in Australia.

"How assessment reform is being led by principles of inclusion
Assessment and recognition of learning for inclusive education"

Over the last decade or so, the learning ambitions for students in our schools have shifted: there is now more (official) emphasis on development of the ‘whole child’, and a broader specification of what learners need to thrive, at school and in later life. Inclusion of general capabilities into curricula is an example of this shift, as is interest in topics such as learner agency, and student wellbeing. In this presentation, we will explore approaches to assessment that accompany these shifts in learning ambitions and approaches that position assessment as an enabler of reforms. We will draw on our experience working with a range of innovative schools and other educational institutions in programs such as New Metrics, SWANs and ABLES, and Big Picture to describe the practical changes adopted by ‘first mover’ organisations. They have used assessment and recognition (reporting and micro-credentialling) of general capabilities to support the broader learning ambitions they have for their learners, beyond mere mastery of content in the formal curriculum, and beyond NAPLAN and ATAR. Particular reference will be made to how the development of such assessments has been deeply informed by the practice and principles of inclusion.

Deborah Dunstone

Deborah Dunstone is a leading educator in the Department of Education (Queensland) where she is focused on ensuring all children from birth to 8 years are engaged in high-quality early childhood programs and services that support learning and development, and successful transitions. Deb is highly respected for her previous role as the inaugural Assistant Director-General, Disability and Inclusion, where she led the cultural reform and implementation of the 17 recommendations of the Queensland Disability Review across the agency. Deb is known for her passion for inclusive practice, along with an inspiring capacity to challenge leadership teams to ask difficult questions, and work with them to ensure children and families have access to high quality, safe, inclusive and nurturing learning environments.

"Belonging begins from birth"

Our thinking will be challenged as we consider the first 1000 days of a child’s life and the beginning of their educational journey.  Belonging and inclusion begin well before the school gate!

Queensland’s Early Childhood vision is for all Queensland children from birth to 8 years to be engaged in high quality early childhood programs and services that support learning and development, and successful transitions.   Deb will talk about the change needed to ensure our little people have the right support at the right time.  The Kindy FOR ALL funding reform and Kindy Uplift programs are exciting initiatives in the year before school that work towards ensuring we have stronger connections with services and families to enable participation, engagement and seamless transitions for children and families.

We need to raise our expectations around the role we all play in providing children with a quality educational program in the years before school, and the A-standard leadership needed for our school communities to be inclusive and connected for ALL children.

Dr Scott Avery

Dr Scott Avery is a Senior Lecturer in Indigenous Disability at Western Sydney University and the research partner of First Peoples Disability Network (Australia). His is descendant from the Worimi people and is profoundly deaf. His research area on the intersection of Indigeneity and disability in rights and social policy. He has authored the research monograph Culture is Inclusion: A narrative of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People with disability, and is the lead investigator in the ‘Living our ways’ research program that established a community-based disability research agenda from Australia’s Indigenous people.

"Culture is Inclusion: Converging culturally responsive and inclusive education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with disability"

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience inequality in educational outcomes at a greater rate compared to other groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children without a disability, and children with disability who are not Aboriginal and Torres Strait lslander. Existing approaches to educational practice and policy are not well equipped to address the intersecting nature of the barriers faced by children who are both Aboriginal and Torres Strait lslander *and*have disability, meaning that their educational exclusion can occur in plain sight.

Promoting the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on their education experiences, this presentation will detail the isolating barriers that Aboriginal and Torres Strait lslander children with disability encounter in their educational journey. It will mount the case that culturally responsive policies through Closing the Gap must converge with disability inclusive policies in the Australian Disability Strategy to secure the composite rights Aboriginal and Torres Strait lslander children with disability to an inclusive education, and puts forward an Indigenous cultural approach to inclusion of disability as a means of fostering a greater sense of belonging in the classroom.

Professor Suzanne Carrington

Professor Suzanne Carrington’s academic career, research reputation and outcomes demonstrate her passion and commitment to progress inclusive culture, policy, and practice in Australian and international contexts. She is internationally recognised as a leader in the field and her research has directly informed a better understanding of what it means to be inclusive and impacted policy in education in national and international contexts.

In the field of inclusive education, she is ranked number two in Australia and Asia Pacific by output and number four worldwide by number of publications. She is one of the top contributors to the topics of Inclusive Education; Special Educational Needs; Teacher Attitude (2011-2020), being ranked number 2 by scholarly output in Australia, 3 in Asia Pacific and 28 worldwide. Her publications have been cited in 15 policy documents from 5 countries between 2005-2021 including OECD (2021); WHO (2012); Canada, US, and UK (Policy Guidelines.) Sixty-four per cent of her research output about inclusive education and disability has been published in the highest quality journals. She also conducts transdisciplinary research with psychology and health researchers and publishes in journals such as Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, and International Journal for Equity in Health. Over the last 10 years she has engaged in extensive international development and consultancy work in the field of inclusive education building on her program of research. Her international work focused on supporting students with disability to be included in schools. This is an international priority for Australian Aid and UNICEF. Suzanne was the academic leader on international projects and coordinated a team of academics to teach and consult in projects that involved staff from the Ministries of Education from countries such as China, Philippines, Indonesia, Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Samoa. This important international work has supported these countries to develop policies and practices that align with work of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which came into force in 2008, and has since been ratified by 181 countries. She has actively collaborated with Ministry of Education staff, school principals, teachers, and students in countries such as Bhutan and the Maldives for eight years to support the development of inclusive policy and practice.

"Transformative Leadership for Equity & Inclusion"

Equity and inclusion in education are enshrined in documents such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007).  While much progress has been made, schools continue to perpetuate inequality, despite policy attempts to shift education towards inclusion. There is a need for school leaders to make choices between competing forces between the political and bureaucratic requirements and “put equity on the policy (and therefore resource) agenda” (Blackmore, 2006, p. 194).  While performativity is baked into many school systems in ways that equity and inclusion are not, fostering leadership for equity and inclusion is increasingly recognised as a way of moving towards more socially just schooling. This presentation will introduce the eight tenets to support transformative leadership in schools drawing on Carolyn Shields work over the last ten years. This will be combined with contemporary research findings with data drawn from a Queensland research project that highlights transformative leadership attributes that support school improvement aligned with a national focus on equity and inclusion. The presentation will appeal to aspiring and practising leaders at all levels in education and will provide an evidence-informed practical guide to frame a transformative leadership approach.

Jahin Tanvir

"Improving accessibility for students starts with including diverse student lived experience"

Jahin Tanvir is 21-year-old award-winning keynote and TEDx speaker, author, board director, and multicultural youth advocate.

Jahin was recently named the 2022 Young Australian of the Year finalist whilst also receiving the 2021 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year in Individual Community Service. Jahin is a Board Director of the Adolescent Health Association of Australia and the Youth Coalition of the ACT. Jahin was recently named as a Young Ambassador at UNICEF for 2022.

The Hon Grace Grace MP

Grace Grace was first elected to State Parliament in October 2007 and is currently the member for McConnel.

Grace was appointed Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, Minister for Racing and Minister for Multicultural Affairs in December 2015 and successfully implemented a series of important legislative reforms including the Racing Integrity Act, the Multicultural Recognition Act and the Industrial Relations Act 2016.

Following the 2017 state election, Grace was appointed Minister for Education and Minister for Industrial Relations – both areas she is passionate about. Grace understands the importance of education and her tireless advocacy delivered a new high school in Fortitude Valley in 2020. The first built in the inner city for 50 years.

Grace was appointed Minister for Education, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Racing following the recent 2020 state election.

During her career, Grace has had extensive director board experience with organisations including Sunsuper, Energex and Southbank Corporation.

She has worked with local community organisations in her electorate including P&Cs, the New Farm Neighbourhood Centre, Teneriffe Progress Association, Queensland Aids Council (QuAC), Fortitude Valley Chamber of Commerce and many others.

Grace has lived her whole life in her electorate where she and her husband Michael raised their child, Alex.

Dr Barbara Watterston

Barbara has extensive experience in education and has held a number of executive leadership positions across Australia within the education and not-for-profit community sectors. An engaging facilitator, Barbara’s national and international research, consultancy, high performance coaching, and speaking engagements, centre on leadership development that emphasises the impact of high-quality leadership on creating the enabling environments for students to learn.

An author, Barbara’s most recent co-authored book Step In, Step Up: Empowering women for the school leadership journey, received a silver medal in the international 2020 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards.

Recognised for her contribution to educational leadership and professional learning, her national research report, Insights: Environmental Scan Principal Preparation Programs contributed to five major national recommendations for preparing future school leaders. This has informed her design and delivery of bespoke emerging, principal and system leadership programs.

Barbara was the inaugural recipient of the Women of Achievement Award (WA DoE), is an Honorary Fellow of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and is a National Fellow of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders. Her expertise is regularly sought out to contribute in an advisory capacity as a member of numerous university, departmental, school, and professional boards.

She has a special interest in the links between leadership sustainability, wellbeing, and impact on performance to ensure learning, for all, can thrive.

Karen Fox

Having enjoyed a long career as an educator across all sectors, Karen has fulfilled a number of senior leadership positions with a focus on curriculum, teaching and learning, leadership development, and more recently, in school governance. Karen has designed and facilitated educational and leadership courses at school and tertiary level and has worked within the corporate and professional services sector in the development of programs associated with leadership and organisational culture. Karen has recently worked on targeted curriculum projects through the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority and with schools and other organisations in culture and strategic planning, and through mentoring early career teachers and leaders.

Karen has been an active member of ACEL since 2006 and an elected member of the ACEL Queensland Branch executive member since 2017. She was admitted as a Fellow of ACEL (QLD) in 2012.

Karen is committed to developing and sustaining professional dialogue across all school sectors, all levels of education and policy development, and through acknowledgment of the important role of members of the broader educational community, including researchers, parents, and those in system and school governance. She has a particular interest in building leadership capacity for middle, as well as for senior leadership teams, and her abiding passion is to seek all opportunities to advocate for the teaching profession as a vocation of hope and a source of leadership for the broader community.

Maree Neilsen

A leader in education with high credibility to deliver successful outcomes through collaborative models of practice, Maree has a shared imperative to improve the future of every student and their communities across Queensland. Maree has led teams within Disability and Inclusion branch to improve access and participation for every child to make progress through engagement and achievement. Maree has previously worked in regional and school leadership roles.

Todd Macbeth

Todd has worked in all areas of education from early childhood to Year 12 in both in Australia and in the United States. Todd’s professional experiences have stretched across the government and independent school system, public service and the University sector. Todd has worked as a teacher, Principal, Senior Policy Advisor and as a casual lecturer. Todd is currently the Acting Executive Director for School Support in the Victorian Department of Education’s Southwest Region and is substantively the Director of Inclusive Education Professional Practice Branch for the Department of Education Victoria.

Todd’s branch designs and delivers capability building programs and initiatives to support inclusive practice for all students including the state-wide implementation of School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support, Mental Health Practitioners initiative and the Recovery and Resilience team, which led the Education Department’s response to the 2019-20 bushfires. The Branch is also responsible overseeing the Victorian Deaf Education Institute and leads several components of the Disability Inclusion Reform including the Master/Graduate Certificate scholarships scheme and the Inclusion Outreach Coaching initiative. Todd has a passion for the rights and educational services for students with disabilities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds and believes that schools are the key enablers to societal inclusion and an essential protective factor for positive mental health and wellbeing.

Selwyn Button

What belonging looked like in the work undertaken in QLD then draw it out – what it looks like nationally and in other fields.

Selwyn is a Gungarri man from South West Queensland who was raised in Cherbourg. He has extensive experience working towards the achievement of an empowered and sustainable Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health sector. Mr Button has served on numerous councils & committees including the Queensland Indigenous Education Consultative Committee, the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Senior Health Officials Network & the Senior Officials National Network for Indigenous Education. Selwyn joined PwC’s Indigenous Consulting as a partner in December 2021.  He has also held roles as the Assistant Director-General, Indigenous Education,  CEO at QAIHC.  He has also worked in a variety of government policy development roles within the Department of Education and Training, and  served as a Police Officer with the Queensland Police Service. Selwyn has worked with Government, Indigenous organisations across urban and remote settings, and has a strong commitment to improving outcomes through evidenced based program design and quality service delivery.

Daniel Pinchas

The support needed for teachers and school leaders to ensure inclusion for students with disability, and therefore meeting relevant areas of nationally agreed standards (Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and the Australian Professional Standard for Principals).

Danny Pinchas has 15 years’ experience as a leader across the education sector and has been with AITSL since 2013. As General Manager, Teaching and School Leadership, Danny leads AITSL’s work across initial teacher education reform, quality teaching support, and school leadership development. Danny’s responsibilities involve driving and supporting the development and implementation of a range of policy initiatives and resources to empower teachers and school leaders. Prior to joining AITSL, Danny held positions at the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Before that, he spent several years in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, working in remote communities as a principal, teacher, and numeracy coach.

Kathy Shelton

There is a high level of accountability and responsibility for schools, government, and community for the provision of quality education and future pathways for all students that addresses both visible and invisible underlying barriers to access and participation.

I am the Senior Manager for Inclusive Education and Student Wellbeing in Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE), a system of 146 primary, secondary and P-12 schools. I have held leadership and consultancy roles within BCE’s central office since 2009. Prior to that, I worked as a Guidance Counsellor for 13 years and as a secondary teacher for 15 years across the independent, Catholic, and state sectors.

I am an endorsed organisational psychologist with Masters’ degrees in education, religious education, and psychology.

I lead a multidisciplinary team that coordinates strategy, policy, and innovation to create effective systems, support and resourcing that builds the collective capacity and capability of schools and staff.

We aspire to build a culture of respect, dignity, justice, and compassion in which every student experiences belonging, connection, engagement, and growth.

Ric Day

Leaders play a critical role in developing a sense of belonging in their organisations.

Ric Day is the President of Queensland Association of Special Education Leaders (QASEL). QASEL is the peak professional association for special education leaders across Queensland. QASEL members are Principals, Deputy Principals, Heads of Special Education Services, Heads of Curriculum/Department and other leaders and aspirants, who support students with disability, across all sectors of education in Queensland. Some members are based in special schools, many support students with disability and diverse learners in primary, secondary and early childhood settings.

Ric has been with the Queensland Department of Education for almost 30 years and has been a leader in a variety of roles within special education for over a decade as a Principal, Deputy Principal and Head of Special Education Services. More recently he has also held roles in Regional Offices, Central Office and the Office of the Director General. These roles have included Lead Principal (Special and Foundation Schools), Lead Principal (Principal Hotline) and Executive Policy and Liaison Advisor.

As an experienced leader in special education, Ric has a strong track record of creating a clear strategic direction aligned to the organisation’s values, and creating systems, processes and culture to achieve results. He believes in putting the best interest of students at the centre of all decision-making and strives to support other leaders across the sector.