Transforming child safety and wellbeing, especially for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, will be the focus of Families Australia’s Child Aware Approaches Conference at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, 15-16 May 2017.
‘Australia continues to face an alarming situation on child abuse and neglect. ’ said Families Australia CEO Dr Brian Babington. ‘Numbers of cases of abuse continue to rise nationally. This conference brings together governments, NGOs and researchers from around Australia to review encouraging policies and practices and identify new ways to make improvements’, he said.
The Child Aware Approaches Conference will hear from national leaders, including Senator the Hon. Zed Seselja, Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs, Professor Frank Oberklaid from the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, and Ms Natalie Lewis, CEO, Chief Executive Officer of the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak.
The conference will be addressed by Ms Di Farmer MP, Deputy Speaker of Queensland Parliament, representing Queensland’s Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Communities, Women and Youth, and Minister for Child Safety, the Honourable Shannon Fentiman MP.
As well as eminent overseas speakers, Professor Ngiare Brown, Deputy Chair of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council, will deliver the annual Families Australia Oration at 4.30pm, 15 May, focusing on the needs of, and ways forward for, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities.
Child Aware Approaches Conference 2017 is the latest in an annual conference series that advances the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009-2020, Australia’s first-ever COAG-supported plan of action to improve child safety and wellbeing.
Contacts: Dr Brian Babington (0417 550 149) or Ms Stella Conroy (0422 384 000).
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