Program

Mayfair Ballroom

DEA’s Practitioners’ Forum in Association with genU Training

Wayne Herbert – Director of Progress and Property, LEAD Disability Services

Matt Levy OAM – Author, gold medal winning swimmer, motivational speaker & inclusion advocate

Lauren Peacock – CEO, Institute of Capacity Building

Dan Gavin – National Business Development Manager, GenU

Paul Diviny – CEO, Prospert

Rana Kordahi – Reverse Marketing Sales Coach, Employment Services Training

Keryl Neville – CEO, Lead Employment

The Residence

Tender Writing Workshop

Darren Coppin – CEO & Chief Behavioural Scientist, Azurum

Jess Barwood – APAC Account Manager, AutoGen AI

Malene Rohde – Chief Operating Officer, Prospert

Peter Bacon – Chief Executive Officer, Disability Employment Australia

Tim Flowers – Principal, Insight First

Mayfair Ballroom

DEA’s Practitioners’ Forum in Association with genU Training (continued)

The Residence

Tender Writing Workshop (continued)

Mayfair Ballroom

DEA’s Practitioners’ Forum in Association with genU Training (continued)

Savoy Ballroom

Welcome – Day 1

Brett de hoedt – MC, Hootville Communications

Savoy Ballroom

The Disability Royal Commission: what did we learn?

Alastair McEwin AM – Disability Consultant

Savoy Ballroom

The Australian economy in 2024, labour market movements, trends and indicators for disability employment

Callam Pickering – Senior Economist, Indeed Hiring Lab

Savoy Ballroom

Diversity Pathways ILC Project and Employment Findings

Jung Yoon – Senior Researcher, Flinders University

Claire Hutchinson – Senior Researcher, Flinders University

Mayfair Ballroom

Selection from the Focus on Ability annual International Short Film Festival

Nova Employment –

Bristol Room

Building employer confidence to recruit and retain employees with communication disability and low literacy

Mrs Ashana Comport – Project Worker, Speech Pathologist, Communication Access Consultant, Scope (Aust.), Australia

Jacob Matthew – Project Worker, Scope Australia

Savoy Ballroom

Unlocking Potential: NDIS to Open Employment, Empowering Participants and Employers

Mrs Rebecca McIntyre – Employment Services Manager, The Disability Trust, Australia

Mayfair Ballroom

Accessible Websites – what works?

Aamir Qutub – CEO, Enterprise Monkey

Bristol Room

Update on Workforce Australia

Melissa Ryan – Group Manager, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

Savoy Ballroom

IncludeAbility – Ensuring equality in employment

Rhiannon Walker – Director, IncludeAbility, Disability Rights Team, Human Rights Commission

Erin Wilson – Centre for Social Impact, Swinburne University

Savoy Ballroom

Reforms to the disability employment system to support more Australians living with disability into work

Julian Hill – MP, Australian Government

Savoy Ballroom

Panel Session – Unpacking DES Reform

Catherine McAlpine – CEO, Inclusion Australia

Mathew McIntyre – Manager, Disability Trust

Dr Ann Nevile – Social Policy Researcher, ANU

Peter Bacon – Chief Executive Officer, Disability Employment Australia

Suzanne Colbert AM, GAICD – Advisor, NED, Founder and former CEO of AND, and Inaugural DEA chairperson

Savoy Ballroom

Pop Culture & Policy – Why Visibility of Disability Matters

Lisa Cox – Inclusive Communications Professional

Savoy Ballroom

In our words

Wayne Herbert – Director of Progress and Property, LEAD Disability Services

Yenn Purkis – Autistic author and advocate

Alastair McEwin AM – Disability Consultant

Savoy Rooms 1 & 2

Welcome & Acknowledgement of Country

Brett de hoedt – MC, Hootville Communications

Savoy Rooms 1 & 2

DES Reform

DSS Speaker to be advised – Department of Social Services

Savoy Rooms 1 & 2

Creating Neurodivergent Inclusive Workplaces

Sonny Wise – Author, advocate and public speaker

Savoy Rooms 1 & 2

Getting ready for the sub 8 hour benchmark participants – how do we effectively work with these clients?

Catherine McAlpine – CEO, Inclusion Australia

Luke Nelson – Policy Officer, Inclusion Australia

Savoy Rooms 1 & 2

Employer Panel

Jo Ingold – Professor, Australian Catholic University

Mr Daniel Valiente-Riedl – General Manager, JobAccess, Australia

Saraya O’Connell – General Manager, Hotel Etico Australia

Dr Karina Davis – CEO, Jobs Bank

Savoy Rooms 1 & 2

A systemic change approach: explore and improve school to work transition for young people with disability

A/Prof Sue Olney – UoM-BSL Principal Research Fellow, University of Melbourne, Australia

Ms Sinead Gibney-Hughes – Senior Policy Officer, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Australia

Ms Michelle Wakeford – Senior Advisor Youth Transition Disability, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Australia

Savoy Room 3

Getting workplace adjustments out of the “too hard” basket

Dr Catherine Maitland – Research Lead, Australian Network on Disability Ltd, Australia

Bristol Room

Vocational supports within a person's primary human service- the headspace experience

Ms Carolyn Watts – Head of Vocational Programs, headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation, Australia

Ms Adrienne Hazeldene – IPS Program Manager, headspace Youth Mental Health Foundation, Australia

Savoy Rooms 1 & 2

Bale’s story and Artificial Intelligence and the future for Australia

Balendran Thavarajah – CEO, GetMee