Aquero Lecture Series

Hosted by: Dr Peter Steer

Dr Peter Steer has a wealth of healthcare administration experience and clinical expertise, recently joining the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne as CEO. Previous appointments include Mater CEO in January 2019, and Chief Executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) in London from January 2015 to December 2018.

Peter commenced his medical career at Mater Brisbane in 1982 after graduating from The University of Queensland and worked there until 1987. After four years of further training in neonatology in New Zealand and Canada, Dr Steer returned to the Mater Mothers’ and Children’s Hospitals in 1991 as a neonatologist and subsequently as Executive Director of Mater Children’s Hospital from 1995 until 2002.

Peter then spent six years at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences in Canada as President and Chief of Paediatrics at McMaster Children’s Hospital and Professor and Chair, Department of Paediatrics at McMaster University. On return to Brisbane, he was charged with the merger of Royal Children’s and Mater Children’s Hospitals and the delivery of the $1.4 billion Queensland Children’s Hospital as CEO of Children’s Health Queensland.

Peter is a current member of the ACU Senate.

Presenter 1 – Professor Laura Miller

Professor Laura Miller is an occupational therapist with 25 years clinical experience working with children with disabilities and their families. Laura has a PhD in clinical sciences and a Master of Health Services Management and has held leadership positions within non-government, private and public health, and disability sectors, both nationally and internationally.

Laura works in the School of Allied Health at the Australian Catholic University and is the chief investigator on the ENVISAGE program of research. ENVISAGE: Enabling Visions and Growing Expectations is a nationally and internationally funded – more than $12 million – program of research engagement, implementation and impact that seeks to empower families and communities raising children with developmental concerns and disabilities.

Laura has conducted multi-organisational, international and national clinical trials with children with disabilities and their families over the past decade. She currently has more than 30 industry partnerships across Australia supporting the implementation and evaluation of ENVISAGE nationally.

Laura is committed to using integrated knowledge translation approaches and partners with parents and communities raising children with disabilities to drive consumer led research with impact. Laura’s research priorities focus on co-design and parent engagement, caregiver wellbeing, participation, community connection and culturally responsive practice.

In 2020 Laura received the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Staff Excellence in Community Engagement and the Vice Chancellor’s Award for the Spirit of Reconciliation. In 2023, ENVISAGE was a finalist in the international Triple E Awards for Community Engagement and the National Disability Awards for Innovation. She was also awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Staff Excellence in Research and Research Partnerships, and the Vice Chancellor’s Medal for Excellence.

Presenter 2 – Rose Babic

Rose Babic is a parent researcher from Melbourne who is passionate about empowering children with disabilities and their families to live a strengths-based values driven life.

She is a mum of two wonderful young men. Her first child Eric, 19, has a congenital brain malformation – polymicrogyria. This has led to developmental delays, cerebral palsy, uncontrolled epilepsy and associated health complications.

Rose has a tertiary background in behavioural science and education. Since 2017 she has been working on the international research collaboration known as ENVISAGE and since 2021 has worked within Murdoch Children's Research Institute's (MCRI) Neurodisability and Rehabilitation Group. At MCRI, as research associate, she has been co-designing and contributing to research that aims to understand the experience of and improve interactions between the health system and the everyday context of a child and family's environment.

She also works as a support coordinator helping NDIS participants and their families to seek out and direct services that empower them to live a good life.

Presenter(s) 3 – Janice Mc Randal and Peter Kline

Janice McRandal

Janice is mum to Leo, a darling seven-year-old boy with complex disabilities. Janice says that ENVISAGE Families program has changed her life. Not only did it provide a safe space and time to reset after the tumultuous early years of caring for Leo, but it gave her the tools and time to empower herself for the journey ahead. She is finally feeling positive and is excited about her caring journey ahead.

Peter Kline

Peter Kline is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at St Francis College in Brisbane. He is a parent-peer in the ENVISAGE program, a dad to Leo, and a stepdad to Jesse and Penelope.

Kelly Humphrey is the inaugural Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous) at Australian Catholic University (ACU). Kelly is a proud Gomeroi woman who is deeply committed to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in achieving their chosen futures. With degrees in education and theology, Kelly has developed a strong foundation in teaching, Aboriginal education, educational policy and leadership within Catholic and public school systems. Her research, which focuses on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school leaders and leadership, reflects her dedication to advancing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education and leadership.

KEYNOTE Adjunct Professor Donna Murray IAHA | CEO

Ms Donna Murray is a proud Wiradyuri and Wonnarua nation citizen with strong kinship ties to South West NSW on the Murrumbidgee river and the Hunter Valley, NSW. Donna is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA) and was a recipient of the National 2021 Pro Bono Impact Awards in recognition of her contributions to social change.
Donna has formal qualifications in community development, management and Indigenous governance and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors bringing over 30 years’ experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs across various sectors. Donna is actively involved in the education sector as an Adjunct Professor with Charles Darwin University and Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney. She is the Chairperson of Thirrili Ltd a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide postvention service and the Independant Chair of an Indigenous corporate business. Donna works closely with key stakeholders and community participating on several national and state committees focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and education, aged care, disability, workforce development, cultural safety, health policy and system reform.
She has a genuine commitment to community development and Indigenous nation building working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples supporting cultural priorities, practices and aspirations of families, communities and nation groups.

Associate Professor Michael Reynolds 
ACU | Deputy Head of School, School of Allied Health (NSW) 

Associate Professor Michael Reynolds is based at ACU’s North Sydney Campus on Cammeraygal Country. He holds positions as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Curriculum and Pedagogy Coordinator (Physiotherapy) and Deputy Head of the School of Allied Health (NSW). He is also Chair Elect of the Australian Physiotherapy Council, the accreditation and assessment body for physiotherapy in Australia. Michael is completing his PhD at ACU with the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education (IPPE), focusing on enablers of success for Indigenous Australians’ university completion, and how universities can create environments to ensure this success. Michael, a Wiradjuri man, is a strong advocate for First Nations Peoples within the physiotherapy profession in Australia. He was awarded the Indigenous Allied Health Australia Local Champion Award (2023) and Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) NSW Branch Award (2018) in recognition of his contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health.

Professor Louise Burke
ACU | Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research

Louise is a sports dietitian with 40 years of experience in the education and counselling of elite athletes. She worked at the Australian Institute of Sport for 30 years, first as Head of Sports Nutrition and then as Chief of Nutrition Strategy. She was the team dietitian for the Australian Olympic Teams from 1996 to the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Her publications include more than 350 papers in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, and the authorship or editorship of several textbooks on sports nutrition. She is an editor of the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Louise was a founding member of the Executive of Sports Dietitians Australia and is a Director of the IOC Diploma in Sports Nutrition.

She was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2009 for her contribution to sports nutrition. Louise was appointed as Chair in Sports Nutrition in the Mary MacKillop Institute of Health Research at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne in 2014 and took up this position full-time in 2020.

Professor Shona Halson
ACU | SPRINT Research Centre

Professor Shona Halson from ACU's School of Behavioural and Health Sciences has been a mainstay of Australia's high performance sport network. Her research focuses on recovery, fatigue and sleep and she has been a trusted advisor to countless elite coaches and athletes. Prof Halson was named as one of Exercise and Sport Science Australia's three Female Leaders in Exercise and Sports Science on International Women's Day 2019. Prof Halson's notable career milestones include being the Head Recovery Physiologist at the Australian Institute of Sport from 2002 to 2018 and being part of three Olympic campaigns with the national team.

Professor Joseph Ciarrochi

Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, ACU

Professor Joseph Ciarrochi is among the top one per cent of the most cited scientists in the world for his revolutionary work on the development and promotion of wellbeing. He focuses on psychological flexibility, or what he terms 'flexible strength': a cluster of skills that can be used to promote personal growth and build vitality and valued action. Examples of skills related to flexible strength are emotional intelligence, social intelligence, mindfulness, psychological flexibility, nonattachment, grit, equanimity, willpower and emotion regulation skill.

Professor Ciarrochi has given presentations and workshops all over the world on how best to promote wellbeing and peak performance. He is a research professor and all of his talks are based on the best available science. He works with a wide variety of groups, including people in organisational settings, adolescents, teachers, leaders and members of the public. His work focuses on finding the best way to:

• develop character strengths such as courage, perspective taking and flexibility
• assess and promote emotional intelligence
• help people live more vital, meaningful lives
• improve social relationships and social functioning
• create supportive work groups and communities
• help people to persist at what they care about and change their behaviour when the situation calls for it.

Dr Baljinder K Sahdra

Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, ACU

Dr Baljinder K Sahdra's publications reflect her diverse substantive interests in psychological assessment, educational psychology, personality, developmental psychology, and mindfulness-related constructs and interventions. They also showcase various computational methods, including structural equation modelling, multilevel modelling, network analysis, mixture modelling, longitudinal analysis, text mining and machine learning advances in psychometrics. She has been awarded several prestigious awards and competitive grants (more than $7 million).

Dr Sahdra's research is published in top-tier journals, is highly cited and has been featured in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sun, Radio Canada International, Boston Globe, New York Daily Post, Huffington Post, New Scientist, The Guardian, ABC Radio and other major media outlets.

Associate Professor Keong Yap

School of Behavioural Health Sciences (Psychology), ACU

Associate Professor Keong Yap is the National Course Coordinator for postgraduate psychology programs at the School of Behavioural and Health Sciences. He joined ACU in 2015 to assist in setting up the Master of Psychology (Clinical) course on the Strathfield Campus. Associate Professor Yap graduated from the University of Melbourne in 2002 with a Doctor of Psychology, majoring in clinical psychology. He is a registered psychologist with clinical endorsement and is also a PsyBA-accredited supervisor.

His research interests are in clinical psychology focusing on obsessive-compulsive disorder and hoarding disorder. He is also interested in examining the application of mindfulness and acceptance-based therapies (eg acceptance and commitment therapy) for these conditions.

Dr Madeleine Fraser

School of Behavioural Health Sciences (Psychology), and Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre, ACU

Dr Madeleine Fraser's research interests are in clinical and health psychology. She is passionate about self-compassion and cultivating a healthy and supportive way of relating to oneself, as opposed to harsh self-criticism. Dr Fraser completed a Doctor of Psychology (Clinical) at Macquarie University in 2015 and a PhD at the University of Sydney in 2021, with a thesis titled 'Self-Compassion in Adolescence: A Protective Psychological Framework for Relating to Oneself'. She is a member of the Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre (HBMRC) at ACU.

Since 2015, Dr Fraser has lectured at ACU's Strathfield Campus in a full-time clinical psychology lecturer role. She supervises honours and master's research projects related to clinical psychology and with a particular focus on self-compassion. She is also an AHPRA board approved supervisor and facilitates group supervision in the clinical master's program. Dr Fraser is the lecturer in charge for units such as Abnormal Psychology in undergraduate psychology, and Ethics in postgraduate psychology. In 2017, Dr Fraser was the recipient of the APS Sydney Branch Outstanding Lecturer in Psychology Award and was awarded the 2019 APS Early Career Teaching Award. She is a registered psychologist with clinical endorsement and a PsyBA-accredited supervisor.