Program and speakers

Dr Belinda Mawhinney
Belinda is an experienced leadership consultant, coach and facilitator with more than 25 years’ experience across professional and human services, and corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors. She is the founder of Belinda Mawhinney Consultancy, a leadership and workplace culture practice based in regional New South Wales, working with new and experienced leaders, leadership teams and organisations to strengthen leadership capability, workplace culture and relational practice.
Grounded in her experience as a qualified social worker, Belinda’s approach combines relationship-focused practice with strategic, evidence-based leadership development. She holds a Bachelor of Social Work, a Master of Health Management and a PhD. In 2013, she was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship to explore collaboration between health services supporting children and young people at risk of maltreatment, translating this work into research, practice and organisational insight.

Professor Fay Hadley
Fay is a Professor of Early Childhood Education in the School of Education, Macquarie University (MQ). She is also the Co-Deputy Director of the MQ Early Childhood Education Research Centre (CRECE). Fay’s primary areas of research are in leadership and family partnerships in early childhood education. Fay was lead Chief Investigator (CI) on the ‘Approved Learning Frameworks (ALFs) Update Project’. She started her career as an early childhood teacher and held director roles in both community-based and for-profit settings in the ACT and NSW. She is a longstanding Member of ECA and has been involved at the state and national level of the organisation. She also feels like she’s still a country bumpkin, as she spent the first 18 years of her life being raised in Eden (far south coast of NSW) on beautiful Yuin Country.

Emma Rattenbury
Beginning as a trainee in 2005, Emma has over 20 years’ experience in early childhood education. As an early childhood teacher, Emma uses social media to advocate for educators and promote high-quality, relationship-based practice across the sector. As an autistic educator completing a Master of Child Play Therapy, Emma brings both lived experience and evidence-informed practice to her work. Through honesty and a touch of humour, Emma shares the realities of early childhood education whilst advocating for high-quality practice. Through her platforms, she wants educators and services to feel seen, empowered and confident in the direction of their practice.

Alison Walton
Alison Walton is a Health Promotion Officer and Dietitian with the Mid North Coast Local Health District. She leads PICNIC in Early Education, an innovative program supporting early childhood educators to embed responsive feeding practices within their services. Alison is passionate about evidence-based child feeding, creating positive mealtime environments, and reducing stress for both educators and families. Her work focuses on practical, sustainable strategies that build educator confidence and support children’s lifelong relationships with food. She is particularly committed to helping children develop a healthy, trusting relationship with food, where they feel confident listening to their hunger and fullness cues.

Denise Luscombe
Denise is based in WA and has worked as a paediatric physiotherapist, trainer and consultant to the Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) sector for the last 40 years. She worked for the Disability Services Commission Consultancy Team supporting ECI professionals in regional, rural and remote WA. Denise is on the UNICEF Europe and Central Asia ECI Advisory Group. She is currently Chair of PRECI (Professionals and Researchers in ECI). Denise is especially appreciative of all that she has learnt from families, children and colleagues over the years and this underpins her passion to advocate for high-quality services for all children and families, no matter where they live.

Dr Kerry Bull
Kerry began her career as an early childhood educator. She utilised this foundation in early childhood development to further her work in the areas of education and early childhood intervention as a teacher and program manager in Melbourne and rural Victoria, and later as a researcher and trainer. Kerry currently works as a consultant and is involved in a broad range of research, policy, practice development and knowledge translation projects.
Driven by values of equity and diversity, Kerry is a keen advocate for young children with developmental concerns, delay and disability and their families.

Victor Lin
Victor Lin is a highly experienced senior consultant and senior solicitor in employment law and human resources with the Australian Federation of Employers and Industries (AFEI). Victor has extensive experience providing advice and guidance to employers in the early childhood sector. He has worked with employers across Australia in navigating complex employment issues including modern awards, employment contracts, and workplace policies and investigations.

Leanne Cruden
Leanne Cruden is a workplace and industrial relations lawyer with 20 years’ experience in the legal industry spanning private practice, in-house and employer association roles. During her career, Leanne has worked across the full breadth of workplace and industrial matters and gained deep experience within a range of sectors. Most recently, Leanne has taken a lead role on behalf of the Australian Industry Group in relation to the gender-based undervaluation proceedings for the Children’s Services Award 2010. Leanne is also the Project Manager for services provided by the Australian Industry Group under the Worker Retention Payment Engagement Program. In this capacity, she has gained a deep knowledge and practical understanding of the operation of the Worker Retention Payment, particularly in relation to how it intersects with the gender-based undervaluation proceedings.

Janet Williams-Smith
Janet is responsible for leading Early Childhood Australia’s (ECA’s) national inclusion and early intervention strategy, including managing an NDIS Partner in the Community and Inclusion Support programs in the Northern Territory, along with the Early Years & School Age Care (EYSAC) programs in Tasmania.
Janet has extensive experience working with young children and families experiencing vulnerability and disadvantage. Her background and training is in general and psychiatric nursing, social work and family therapy working in both the UK and Australia.
Janet has held several executive leadership and management roles in large not-for-profit health and education organisations, including the Brotherhood of St Laurence, Early Childhood Management Services, Kids First (formerly CPS) and Karitane.

Amy Shine
Amy, Director of Forbes Preschool, has 25 years of experience working in rural and remote preschools. Under her guidance, Forbes Preschool has become a leader in inclusive education, a recognised NDIS provider, and has won the prestigious Narragunnawali Reconciliation in Education award. Amy is passionate about community partnerships, embedding allied health professionals into the daily life of the preschool and fostering strong connections with Forbes Shire Council. Her dedication to creating an inclusive, supportive environment has made a lasting impact on both the preschool and the wider community.

Anita Kumar
Anita Kumar is a social entrepreneur and a passionate advocate for the rights of children and families, especially those dealing with complex life issues or living in vulnerable circumstances. She has a strong track record of forging impactful partnerships across government, corporate, philanthropic and sector organisations as a means of building a sustainable social enterprise. Anita is currently the CEO of ECTARC, an early childhood education and care provider and a national RTO. She was previously the CEO of Early Start at the University of Wollongong. She also sits on a number of boards, committees and reference groups.

Zac Hatzantonis
Zac Hatzantonis is a leading advisor in the early childhood education and care sector. She brings more than 25 years’ experience in public policy strategy and national reform, including in early years, education, justice and human services. Zac is regularly engaged by government clients to assist with strategic planning, business case development (particularly for large-scale social infrastructure or technology investments), economic modelling and sensitive program reviews and evaluations.

Kristy Hyndes
Kristy has worked in the early childhood education and care sector for more than 20 years across a range of roles and service types. For the past decade, she has served as Director, Nominated Supervisor and Early Childhood Teacher at Gilgandra Preschool, leading a service recognised for its commitment to innovation, inclusion and community collaboration.
Kristy is engaged casually as a NESA HALT (Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher) Assessor and is a qualified Trainer and Assessor, working with a Registered Training Organisation to undertake unit marking and deliver skill set training. She is also a qualified facilitator of the ‘Tuning in to Kids’ program, which she has thoughtfully adapted to support educators in embedding emotion coaching practices within early learning environments.
In addition to her leadership role, Kristy provides consultancy support to other services and professionals, including service visits and mentoring for new directors.

Hayley Canobie
Hayley is the Education Leader at Gilgandra Preschool and a highly experienced early childhood professional with more than 18 years in the sector. Her career began as a Diploma-qualified educator, and through a strong commitment to lifelong learning, she has now completed a Bachelor of Teaching and a Bachelor of Education.
Hayley is deeply passionate about learning and development, with a strong belief that every child deserves the opportunity to thrive regardless of disability, developmental delay or learning difficulty. She is particularly interested in brain development and trauma-informed practice, exploring how early experiences shape the brain and nervous system, and how educators can implement strategies that support regulation, connection and meaningful learning.
As an Educational Leader nominated for the EECE National Educational Leader Award, Hayley is committed to mentoring and empowering educators to reflect, grow and continuously improve their practice.

Jessica Turnbull
Jessica has been a valued member of the Gilgandra Preschool team since March 2024, working as the Administrator and Bookkeeper. She supports the operational and financial management of the service while contributing across all areas of the preschool and providing reliable support to the director and educators. Jessica holds a Diploma of Business and a Bachelor of Arts (Sociology and English Literature). She brings experience from NDIS Plan Management and retail leadership roles, with strengths in compliance, systems improvement and team support. As a parent of two children with additional needs, she has a strong knowledge of Early Intervention and the NDIS.

Dina Petrakis
Dina has been the Chief Executive Officer of Ethnic Community Services (ECS) since May 2022. She has over 20 years of experience managing social justice and international aid programs across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, with a strong focus on education, training, community development and refugee support.
Before joining ECS, Dina held leadership roles at Settlement Services International, most notably as global manager for the Ignite Small Business Start-Ups initiative, where she spearheaded the program’s expansion nationally and internationally.
Dina holds a Master of Adult Education, a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Education, all from Western Sydney University.
Dina is deeply committed to empowering culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, advocating for inclusion and equitable access to services like aged care, childcare and disability support.

Bec Burch
Bec Burch is the founder of Bush Kindy Australia, Australia’s leading provider of Bush Kindy Leader Training and nature pedagogy professional development. She mentors and trains educators nationwide, empowering teams to embed confident, compliant and meaningful nature-based practice. Alongside this work, Bec leads Cottonwood Learning on the Gold Coast, maintaining hands-on, grassroots nature play in action—ensuring her national training remains grounded in lived practice.
Bec is a strong advocate for children’s right to play in nature, and believes connection to the natural world builds resilience, wellbeing and ecological literacy for both children and educators.

Merise Bickley

Merise Bickley has worked at NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) as Lead, Early Childhood since 2016. Initiating her professional life as an early childhood teacher, Merise’s 40-year early childhood career well positions her to develop and implement policy that guides and supports NSW early childhood teachers with teacher accreditation.

Dr Amy Birungi

Dr Amy Birungi is a senior education leader with extensive experience in early childhood education policy, reform and system improvement. She holds a PhD from the University of New England, exploring the impact of relationships on outcomes for adults and youth enrolled in non-formal education in Uganda. In the NSW Department of Education, Amy has led major national and state reforms focused on strengthening the early childhood workforce, improving teacher capability and advancing child safety. With a background spanning teaching, curriculum reform and early learning policy, Amy is committed to strengthening quality, equity and outcomes for children across diverse communities.

Dr Melinda Miller
Melinda is a registered early childhood teacher, researcher and consultant. Over a 20-year career, Melinda has worked with early childhood providers, in higher education and with government. Melinda lectured in education at the Queensland University of Technology for 12 years, working in faculty leadership roles and with undergraduate and postgraduate preservice teachers. She delivers ongoing professional learning in the early childhood sector on a range of topics, including leadership and ethics, and inclusive education.

Paola Mercado
Paola is a Consultant for Be You with Early Childhood Australia. Paola draws on many years of experience and a variety of roles, including as a child and family practitioner in child protection. Paola understands the importance of prevention, early intervention and systemic change as foundations for positive mental health in early childhood.

Indi Buckskin-James
Indi is a proud Kaurna, Narungga, Wirangu and Arrernte woman, living and working on Kaurna Yarta. In her role as Senior Relationship Coordinator—Early Years Support SA at SNAICC—National Voice for our Children, she works alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to champion place-based, culturally strong approaches to child and family wellbeing. Indi is passionate about community-led change, strengthening local voices and shaping systems that genuinely reflect the strengths, aspirations and needs of her people.

Johannah Wright
Johannah is a Larrakia woman from Garramilla (Darwin), and is currently living and working on Wurundjeri Country in Melbourne. Through the Community Partner team at SNAICC—National Voice for our Children, she works in partnership with Aboriginal communities, ACCOs and government stakeholders to co-design and implement initiatives that uphold self-determination and cultural authority. Johannah advocates for the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families by championing culturally grounded approaches that strengthen identity, connection to Country and the role of culture as a protective force.

Bridget Isichei
Bridget is the director of two Excellent-rated preschools in the Northern Rivers of NSW. She has a master degree in educational leadership, and a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood). Bridget has 27 years of experience across a variety of ECEC sector roles in New Zealand, England, Thailand, Vanuatu and Australia. She is President of the Northern Rivers Preschool Alliance, Editor of Early Childhood Australia’s (ECA’s) Everyday Learning Series and is a member of ECA’s Publications Advisory Panel. Bridget is driven to continually push for excellence in ECEC, knowing the life-altering effect quality services have on children across their lifespan.

Judy Radich
Judy is an experienced early childhood teacher and director with over 30 years in the not-for-profit early childhood sector.
She is a former national president of Early Childhood Australia and a member of the publications committee. She is currently a member of the ECA Far North Coast group. Judy has written extensively for the early childhood sector and taken many positions within a number of organisations that work for and advocate for quality early childhood practices.
Judy is currently the manager of Cooloon Children’s Centre Inc. in Tweed Heads, a 45-place not-for-profit service for babies, toddlers and preschoolers.

Katherine Wilson
Katherine is a mother of three teenagers and lives on a property outside of Mandurama, NSW. She has worked in early childhood for over 20 years, becoming an owner/director in 2014. Katherine and her husband Robert successfully run three services in Blayney, Oberon and Bathurst.
Katherine is passionate about workforce development and succession planning, as well as strongly believing that rural and remote communities should have access to quality long day care options.

Rachael Phillips

Rachael Phillips is a proud Gomeroi woman from Tamworth, NSW, and the CEO of Birrelee Multifunctional Aboriginal Children’s Service (MACS). As a dedicated advocate for Aboriginal children, families and community, she actively participates in various local, state and national boards. Rachael is a devoted mother of three boys, which drives her passion and commitment to creating better opportunities and a brighter future for all Aboriginal children, ensuring their voices— and all Aboriginal voices—are heard and valued. Her leadership and advocacy work play a crucial role in uplifting Indigenous children, people and communities.