Jenny Stanger, supervisor of the Salvation Army’s safe house for trafficked women in Sydney, has been working to end human trafficking for 15 years. She has been an advocate for trafficked persons in the US where the organisation she co-founded opened America’s first refuge for trafficking victims. Now in Australia, the Salvation Army’s 10-bed safe house for women has been open since 2008, and has been at capacity ever since. Jenny set up the Sydney Safe House in 2007. The Safe House forms part of a Salvation Army program designed to help people who’ve experienced slavery-like conditions in domestic work, hospitality, retail, agriculture, construction, sex services or who are forced into slave-like marriages. The Safe House has supported more than 300 people via residential care, outreach, prevention, case management and international assistance to prospective migrants and family members in the clients’ countries of origin. In 2005, Ms Stanger co-founded the ‘Anti-Slavery Project’ in conjunction with the University of Technology Sydney Faculty of Law. A key aim of the project is to provide free and comprehensive legal advice to people who experience human trafficking and slavery here in Australia.

Dr Mark Zirnsak, Director, Justice and International Mission, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, Uniting Church in Australia Mark was employed as the Synod Social Justice Development Officer in the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania in June 1999 and became Director of the Justice and International Mission Unit of the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania in early 2004. Mark has been involved in campaigning against child labour since the 1990s and against slavery and human trafficking since 2007. He is a member of the Commonwealth Government National Roundtable on Slavery and Human Trafficking.

The post Slavery on Our Shores appeared first on The Exchange.

Dr Simon Kinsella is a Melbourne based clinical psychologist, who has been practicing since 1993.  Currently he is the Director of Corporate and Personal Consulting, which is a psychology practice that provides coaching, consulting and psychological services to businesses, individuals and families.  The practice caters to a wide spectrum of people from those experiencing clinical psychological issues, to assessment, executive coaching, employee assistance, and consulting to business on mental health, team wellbeing and performance.  Dr Kinsella is the current Chairman of the Victorian State Committee of the Australian Psychological Society.  He is an Honorary Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne where he supervises psychiatry trainees in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Training Program.  He holds statutory positions as an independent medical examiner, a panelist for the disciplinary review board, and a board member of the Psychologists Board of Australia.

Dr Stephen Glackin’s fields of expertise range from sociology to computer science, covering community engagement/development, cultural studies, urban geography and a variety of other sociological areas. He is currently involved in a number of projects that incorporate geography, sociology and software engineering, all of which are related to analysing the functions of cities. He began his career as a software engineer, building computer systems for clients such as the Australian Navy, British Petroleum and Exxon. His Masters focused on subcultures and the spaces where they gather, in particular the ‘house party’. His PhD continued this research, analysing how a variety of subcultural and contemporary youth practices generated and maintained very fluid and dynamic but enduring individualised communities.

The post Instant Gratification appeared first on The Exchange.

Margie Warrell has become an internationally recognised thought leader in human potential and is passionate about empowering people to think bigger about what is possible for them, engage in bigger conversations and lead more purposeful lives. Margie draws on her background in Fortune 500 Business and Psychology as a keynote speaker, master executive coach, media contributor, bestselling author and facilitator. She is also a guest lecturer to MBA students at Georgetown University. With her down to earth Australian humour and working mother-of-four efficiency, Margie draws thoughtful insights from events going on in the world to share advice on how we can respond to our own challenges more constructively. She has appeared on many programs including The TODAY Show, FOX News, CNBC, and Al Jazeera. Margie also has her own Courage Works column in Forbes Magazine. Margie is an Ambassador for Beyond Blue and mentor to women in India through the UN Foundation’s global women’s initiative.

Emma Gee is one of Australia’s acclaimed Inspirational Speakers, offering her thoughts and solutions on client-centred care and resilience through her keynote presentations, workshops and consultancy. With a background in Occupational Therapy and as a Stroke Survivor, Emma is a renowned expert and a living example of what it takes to step in another’s shoes and truly bounce back in life. Through her inspiring presentations, Emma is able to both captivate and challenge her audiences to consider what IS possible in their own lives. Learning to speak again post-stroke, and realising the importance of sharing her story to help others, were the catalysts for Emma taking on speaking professionally. Today, and thousands of presentations later, Emma as an Inspirational Speaker has incredibly broad client group: from healthcare (associations, hospitals and rehabilitation facilities); businesses & corporate events; community organisations; through to educational facilities. She is also about to publish her first book.

The post When Life Goes Wrong appeared first on The Exchange.

John Ryan is the CEO Penington Institute. He has successfully advocated for government policy and funding change on naloxone distribution to potential overdose witnesses, increased access to needle and syringe programs and opioid substitution program access. John has advocated for evidence-based responses to drug use and related issues in the media, with government and key stakeholders. He has been a board member of Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association. John has been the convenor of the Australian Drugs Conference and Chief Editor of the Anex Bulletin, Australia’s harm reduction broadsheet. John has worked in university research, government policy and on the health frontline in a needle and syringe program. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Monash University and in 2012 received a Churchill Fellowship to study ways to improve drug policy and practice.

Les Twentyman is a recipient of the Order of Australia Medal. As a full time street outreach worker for more than 25 years, Les knows more about our streets than most. Having originally established the Care for Kids Program featuring high profile AFL footballers, the Smorgon 20th Man Fund Youth Refuge and the Back to School Program and the annual Childrens Christmas party. In recent years, since returning full time to his first passion 20^th Man Fund he has shone a light on the trends in emerging youth issues like gang violence, weapons carriage and its relationship to the growing incidence of truancy in our education system.  The hard hitting DVD “The Realities of Cyber Bullying” and csa “Knives Trash Lives” are testament to Les’ pull no punches approach to exposing the damage caused to youth through peer pressure and social media.

The post War on Drugs appeared first on The Exchange.

Dr. Janet Hall is a psychologist, hypnotherapist, sex therapist, author, professional speaker, trainer, and media consultant. Jan consults regularly with print media and is a frequent guest on talk-back radio and current affairs shows. Jan was a regular for two years on the Sex Life television program in Australia. Her user-friendly strategies offer practical solutions to sexual and relationship issues so that you can have the love and the sensational sex that you deserve.

Kia Antoniadis has lived in Melbourne all her life. Her parents migrated to Australia from Greece in the early 1960s so she has lots of personal experience around negotiating different cultures. She studied psychology at Melbourne University and has been a registered psychologist since 1989. She has a Masters degree in Applied Psychology and a Diploma in Family Therapy. She has worked with families for around 25 years. She started off working with families who had young children with disabilities. These families were mainly from migrant backgrounds. Kia has been married for 30 years and has 2 adult sons. In the last 4 years she has been working with the Australian Greek Welfare Society as a family counsellor and has been counselling families around ageing issues. She has also been involved with running workshops and counselling young couples from different cultural backgrounds who are in a committed relationship and planning to get married. This has been a collaborative project with Relatewell Family Relationships Institute who provide pre-marital support to young couples.

The post Cross Cultural Relationships appeared first on The Exchange.

Professor Kate Burridge is Professor of Linguistics in the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics (Monash University) and a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. Kate has authored / edited 22 books on different aspects of language, focusing on grammatical change in Germanic languages, the Pennsylvania German spoken by Anabaptist communities in North America, the notion of linguistic tabooand the structure and history of English. She is a regular presenter of language segments on radio and TV.

Anna Musson has rapidly become one of Australia’s most respected and well-known etiquette experts. Anna brings a modern and vibrant approach to social & business etiquette that has seen her become a highly sought after speaker and cultural change agent. Anna believes the lost art of etiquette is a simple and compelling way for organisations and individuals to differentiate themselves and deliver a unique value proposition. Anna’s sessions can be a hilarious reminder of all the awkward moments we can avoid in life. Her sessions are memorable, entertaining and will be a talking point around the office for the rest of the year.

The post Swear By It appeared first on The Exchange.

Mark Dobson is a performance coach that advises some of the most elite athletes on the planet. He was a founding member of New York City’s first University for talented teenagers, which was acknowledged by President Barack Obama for its educational innovation. He is a captivating and entertaining speaker that offers very strategic advice on performing at your best.

Michael Grose is the author of 8 parenting books, including his new release Thriving! and the best-selling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change it. His popular parenting columns appear in newspapers and magazines across Australia. He appears regularly on television including Channel 10’s The Circle, and is a popular & entertaining speaker as well as a frequent columnist for a variety of written media. He also has a regular fortnightly half hour parenting segment on ABC radio Victoria. Michael has an education background, and holds a Master of Educational Studies with research into what makes healthy families tick. He has conducted over 1,500 parenting seminars over the last two decades.

The post Nurturing Talented Children appeared first on The Exchange.

Dr Kevin Donnelly (BA, DipEd, MEd, PhD) is one of Australia’s leading education commentators and authors. Dr Donnelly is currently Executive Director of the Education Standards Institute and Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Catholic University. Dr Donnelly’s experience includes benchmarking and evaluating curriculum for state and Commonwealth governments as well as the New Zealand Business Roundtable. Research interests include identifying the characteristics of stronger performing education systems, evaluating the impact of outcomes based education on Australian schools and analysing various models of curriculum theory and implementation within an international context.

Dr Robert Sparrow is a Researcher at the School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies at Monash University.  His research interests are political philosophy and applied ethics; Robert is interested in philosophical arguments with a real-world implications.  More specifically, he is working in or has worked in: political philosophy, bioethics, environmental ethics, and media ethics; war theory; and the ethics of science and technology. Rob Sparrow is also a Australian Research Council Future Fellow in the Philosophy Program.

The post Political Correctness appeared first on The Exchange.

As a mediator and trainer, Fred Stern has a wealth of experience in the field of conflict resolution and training with businesses, families, adolescents and a wide array of individuals and community groups. As both a past mediator at the Noble Park Family Mediation Centre, and co-ordinator of a mediation service in Geelong & Glenroy, Fred brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the area of conflict resolution and in particular mediation. In his private consultancy practice, Fred has trained over 500 workers from a broad range of professions including, teachers, community workers, youth workers, health professionals, the clergy and business people. Fred estimates that he has currently trained over 600 students at both the primary and secondary level. Fred’s work with schools has earned him two awards. Fred has recently taken up a position as a facilitator for D.A.R.T. (Defence Abuse Response Taskforce). Fred’s other passion is his work as a principal instructor in the field of mental health training.

Meredith Fuller’s many concurrent careers have included author, actor, playwright, columnist, talkback radio host & guest, TV show panellist, theatre director, psychological profiler and lecturer. Not to mention her day job, a psychologist in private practice, providing counselling and career development to individuals, couples and groups. She has consulted to organisations on career development and change for over 20 years. Meredith is a recognised specialist in career change. She ran a university careers counselling service for 12 years and has been a sessional lecturer in postgraduate courses in vocational psychology at several universities. Meredith is also a media spokesperson for the Australian Psychological Society.

The post Conflict Resolution appeared first on The Exchange.

Rebecca Randall is a PhD student at the National Institute for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University. She lives with a chronic mental illness and many of her greatest challenges come from figuring out how to integrate this with her desire to change the world. She strongly believes that talking about and sharing stories of mental ill-health are one of the best ways to combat stigma.

Sally-Anne McCormack is a Clinical Psychologist and a media consultant.  She is a former teacher, author of two books, “Stomp Out The ANTs – Automatic Negative Thoughts” and “Living With ANTs” as well as creating a poster, ”Which ANT Are You?” In addition, she is the mother of 4 adolescents/adults and has made many regular appearances on a variety of TV shows (eg. Sunrise, The Morning Show, The Circle, The Project) over the years and is often interviewed for various print and radio media. Sally-Anne currently works in private practice with adults suffering from depression, anxiety, stress and various personal issues, but is probably best known for her work with children and adolescents covering many areas and for her parenting and behavioural management advice.

The post Children & Mental Illness appeared first on The Exchange.