Speaker Profiles

Pauline Peel has more than 20 years experience as a Senior Manager in complex and diverse organisations across community, government and private sectors in Australia and internationally. Prior to Pauline taking up her appointment as Deputy Chief Executive, Sustainability, Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation with the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Pauline worked with the Queensland Government as the Deputy Director-General, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services in the Department of Communities.

Pauline was responsible for driving Indigenous reforms, including the COAG reforms to Close the Gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Queensland. Achievements include the improved outcomes for service delivery in remote communities utilising a place-based approach, implementation of the Cape York Welfare Reform program (including the Family Responsibilities Commission), the establishment of the Remote Indigenous Land and Infrastructure Program Office, oversight of the Queensland Government's engagement strategy, and the initiation of Queensland's first Indigenous Urban and Regional Strategy.

Barry Johnson currently manages the Regional Operations Centre in the Northern Territory. In this role he is responsible for oversighting the implementation of the National Partnership on Remote Service Delivery in the NT working in partnership with Australian and NT government staff and their agencies, the shires and the 15 selected remote service delivery communities in the NT. Mr Johnson was the Deputy State Manager of the Dept of Families and Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) in the Northern Territory before taking on this current role.

In addition, Mr Johnson held the position of State Manager of the Office of Indigenous Policy and its precursor ATSIC in NSW. In this role, Mr Johnson participated in the establishment of whole-of-government and across government initiatives in that State and was a member of the NSW Murdi Paaki COAG Trial. He has wide range of previous experience in Indigenous affairs and in particular health and substance misuse.

Steve has strong networks amongst Aboriginal community organisations and has 20 years' experience in programs that focus on equity of service delivery and service knowledge for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Steve is the Mission Australia National Aboriginal Advisor where his main tasks are:

• Promoting the Reconciliation Action Plan and guiding Mission Australia in its strategies towards Closing the Gap
• Building cultural appreciation competence and safety within Mission Australia
• Building a closer relationship between Mission Australia and the Aboriginal communities around Australia
• Strengthening and supporting the corporate relationships of Mission Australia across these tasks.

Ivan commenced work with Aboriginal Hostels Limited (AHL) in 1980 as a Trainee Asset Officer employed under the old NEAT/NESA Training for Aborigines Scheme. He was employed with that organisation for over 10 years having aspired to the most senior position in NSW as the Regional Manager.

He left AHL in late 1990 and returned to the NSW Public Service and have worked in various agencies, such as the Department of Community Services, the Office of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Housing, the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and is now back employed with the NSW Aboriginal Housing Office as Deputy Chief Executive.

Cathy has managed several national projects around Indigenous Training and Business with the 'Make it Real – Training for Enterprise' Project, being recognised as a finalist for the NT Training Awards in the Innovation category and the Northern Territory Research and Innovation Awards in 2006.

Cathy works with the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations with one of the key drivers being Closing the Gap in Indigenous disadvantage. In this role Cathy manages a regional team and has a program lead in employment. Cathy's strength lies in working collaboratively with government agencies, industry, organisations and communities to achieve a shared vision. Cathy helped drive the development of a memorandum of understanding between the Australian Government and the Northern Territory Government to partner strategically in education, training and employment priorities.

Andrew Maurer heads the Regional and Indigenous Communications Branch within the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. He is responsible for the Indigenous Communications Program, which delivers community phones, internet access and training to remote Indigenous communities. His branch also manages the Satellite Phone Subsidy Scheme which helps reduce the cost of satellite handsets for people living, working and travelling outside of terrestrial mobile coverage, and works as the secretariat to the Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee which reports to the Commonwealth on the adequacy of telecommunications in rural, regional and remote Australia.

Celia Moss has over 20 years experience working in the field of statistics. During this time she has developed expertise across a range of social statistical collections, working on both the Australia and United Kingdom Population Censuses, as well as leading ABS involvement with the groundbreaking Longitudinal Study of Australian Children.

For the majority of her career, Celia has been based at the ABS in Canberra, but in early 2010 she joined the Northern Territory office of the ABS as Director of the Northern Australia Census Management Unit. In that role, Celia has been contributing to the development of strategies to improve enumeration outcomes across the northern Australia region, particularly in relation to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island population, addressing challenges in relation to remoteness, cultural and language barriers, hard to reach populations and the high mobility of communities living in these areas. In this role, Celia is responsible for the indigenous engagement program, which has the overall aim of improve the quality and relevance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander statistics, as well as the specific objectives.

Malcolm Fox has been engaged with indigenous people for the last eleven years working from the Katherine area through to Tennant Creek, working in horticulture to his current position as Shire Services Manager in Beswick community with Roper Gulf Shire Council. Malcolm is passionate about the value of training and engaging with local people on all levels and proud to be a part of indigenous culture.

Ippei Okazaki is the Acting Director of the Community Justice Centre for the Northern Territory Department of Justice.

He is a Nationally Accredited Mediator and Trainer specialising in civil, cross-cultural, restorative practices with a focus on developing strong partnerships with Indigenous communities.

He holds a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from the Australian National University and a member of the National Mediation Accreditation Committee, National Dispute Resolution Network, Leading Edge Alternative Dispute Resolution, Criminal Lawyers Association Northern Territory and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Alistair Legge has over 20 years experience in designing, managing and implementing complex civic and electoral governance projects. He has worked in many countries around the world including Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and the Philippines. His particular focuses is on post conflict or problematic areas in the Asia Pacific region. The last 18 months he has taken that experience and applied it to designing and establishing the Indigenous Electoral Participation Program (IEPP) for the Australian Electoral Commission. After a very short period the IEPP has made significant strides forward. Alistair says that the key to the program's success is "a program designed, managed and implemented by Indigenous people."

Patrick is an Indigenous Australian, his family connections are with the Waanyi/Garawa people from the Queensland Gulf country. He hails from the small town in the NT named Katherine.

Patrick Anderson is well known in the field of remote Aboriginal Community Engagement in the Northern Territory. He is currently employed by Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education as the Senior Advisor, Community Engagement and has been employed within this organization for 16 years.

Patrick is the Chair for the Top End Education and Training Network (TEETN), which is a collaborative network of professionals representing government departments, industry groups, educational institutions and private providers which explores and debates issues/solutions that relate directly to education and training initiatives in remote Aboriginal communities in the Top End of the Northern Territory.

He is a member of the NT Indigenous Education Council (NTIEC), which is an Indigenous representative advisory body appointed by the NT Minister for Education and Training to provide advise and make recommendations to the NT and Australian Government Ministers on education and training matters related to Indigenous people.

Kate has been with Waltja since 2002 and her current position is Remote Training and Community Development worker.

Kerry is a Registered Nurse. Kerry has extensive experience in the delivery of health services at a clinical, operational and executive management level. Prior to her current role as Regional Director, WA Country Health Services, Kimberley. Kerry was the District Manager of the Fraser Coast and prior, Central Highlands Health Service Districts in Queensland.

Kerry has worked closely with the Aboriginal communities in these regions, including supporting the establishment of the Galangoor Duwalami Primary Health Care Service at Fraser Coast and working in partnership with government departments, cross boarder service providers and local service providers to enable clinical service planning, funding submissions and clinical service delivery in the Kimberley.

Viv Sinnamon is a long-term resident of Kowanyama, an Aboriginal community on Cape York Peninsula in North Queensland.

He is the founding manager of Kowanyama Aboriginal Land and Natural Resources Management Office and has been an advocate for the establishment of Indigenous owned and controlled land management agencies since the late 1980's. The Kowanyama Land Office has successfully developed and operated a wide range of management programs since its opening in 1990 having expanded from a staff of two to 17.

Colleen is an Aboriginal woman who grew up in the Cairns area of North Queensland and is a descendant of the Gudjula nation. Colleens has a strong interest in the criminal justice system and was employed as a RCIADIC monitoring officer before coordinating the Trial Aboriginal Interpreter Service in the NT. Since April 2000, Colleen has played a key role in the establishment of the Northern Territory Aboriginal Interpreter Service. The AIS is the only government run interpreter service in Australia and currently has approximately 40 support staff and in excess of 350 active interpreters. The AIS is one of the largest employers of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, if not Australia. Colleen continues with her strong interest and advocacy in the criminal justice system and is currently a Director on the board of the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency.

David Price has worked in Aboriginal education, training and public administration for over twenty years. His teaching experience includes over seven years in remote Aboriginal communities. He also has substantial experience in delivering training in the public service and has taught courses in the Warlpiri language and culture.

Bess Nungarrayi Price was born at Yuendumu. Her first language is Warlpiri. She also knows Luritja and Western Arrernte. Bess has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Aboriginal Community Management and Development from Curtin University and has worked in education and training, public administration, media, community development, interpreting, translating and language teaching.