Australian Rehabilitation Providers Association
ABN 98075324881

 

Gala Dinner Sponsor

Guildgroup


Gold Sponsors

The Recovre Group

WorkSafe Vic


Silver Sponsor

MAA NSW


Keynote Speaker Sponsors

 

Medibank Health Solutions

WorkFocus


Morning Tea Sponsor

ActiveOHS

APCare


Plenary & Workshop Sponsor

WorkCover NSW


Workshop Sponsor

Sai Global


Conference Satchel Sponsor

Insite Injury Management Group


Exhibitors

Australian Society of Rehabilitation Councellors

Surgical Synergies

Chameleon Software

WorkHab

MLRSA


Endorsing Association

RCAA

Australian Society of Rehabilitation Councellors


Recognising Association

ESSA

 

 

 

Conference Speakers


Keynote Speakers

 

Mansel Aylward.jpg

Mansel Aylward

Professor Mansel Aylward CB is Director of the Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research at Cardiff University which offers a unique opportunity to extend knowledge and understanding of the psychosocial, economic and cultural factors that influence health, illness, recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration.  

He is also Chair of the Wales Centre for Health, an Assembly Government Sponsored Body established to be the ‘hub of connected organisations’ and to communicate better health messages to the people of Wales.  

In October 2007 Professor Aylward was asked by Edwina Hart, Minister for Health and Social Services to undertake a review of Health Commission Wales’ functions, including its decision-making processes and appeals mechanism.  Under this arrangement, a report on key findings and advice (including the making of recommendations) was provided to the Minister in June 2008.  He was also asked to advise the Minister on the healthcare provision in Merthyr Tydfil and surrounding areas. 

In December 2008, during the 60th year of the NHS, the Minister asked Professor Aylward to head the membership of a new independent group, the Bevan Commission, to help ensure that changes in the NHS structures set Wales on the path to a world-class health care system. 

In 2005 he was elected to the new Queen’s Birthday Honours Committee, designed to make the system more transparent. In September 2008 he was formally re-appointed for a further 3 years.

 

 

Michael Milton.jpg

Michael Milton
see Michael Milton in action

As one of Australia’s most successful athletes Michael Milton is no stranger to a battle. 

In an international ski racing career spanning 20 years, he’s won 22 medals, 12 of them gold.  He is Australia’s fastest ever skier and the world’s fastest skier with a disability, clocking an amazing 213.65km/hr.

He’s scaled Mt Kilimanjaro and walked the Kokoda Track.

He competed in his fifth winter Paralympic Games in 2006, and then turned his sights on cycling. After six months of tough training, Michael won the 3000m pursuit at the Australian Track Cycling Championships, setting a new Australian record in the process.

Michael Milton knows what it takes to win but when he was diagnosed with Oesophageal Cancer in July 2007, Michael knew he was facing the biggest battle of his life. And, with a daughter not even a year old, he simply had to win.

Less than 12 months later and after radiation therapy, chemotherapy and radical surgery, Michael was selected to compete at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.

He is truly one of this nation’s most inspirational and successful athletes… and also just a little crazy.

 

 

Richard Sauerman.jpg

Richard Sauerman
see Richard in action

Richard is one of the most experienced Brand and Communication Strategists in Australia.

He acquired his brand expertise working in the advertising industry for seventeen years, where he has worked on some of the world’s greatest brands [Cola-Cola, Microsoft, Vodafone, Toyota, Nescafe, Levis] for some of the world’s largest marketers [Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Nestle, Boots, Goodman Fielder] at some of the world’s biggest ad agencies [Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy & Mather, DDB, McCann-Erickson, George Patterson].

In 2003 Richard set up his own consultancy, Brand Alchemy, which gave him the opportunity to expand his ‘brand’ area of focus beyond marketing, into all areas of the organisation = CEO, Executive Team, Corporate Affairs, HR, Learning & Development, Internal Communications. How do we walk the talk by living and breathing our brand values. How do we get the best out of our people? How do we engage our people in a sustainable, ongoing way?

He has been engaged on major brand, culture and people projects by Macquarie Bank; The Commonwealth Bank of Australia; British Telecom; Allens Arthur Robinson; Gilbert + Tobin; Opportunity International; Deloitte; STW Group; PriceWaterhouseCoopers; QBE Insurance; and the Liberal Party of New South Wales.

In addition to his Brand Consulting and Workshop work, Richard does keynote talks on Brand and People at conferences in Australia and abroad; lectures on Brand and Strategy for the Advertising Federation of Australia; sits on the Board of School Aid Trust [a not-for-profit who’s purpose is ‘kids helping kids’]; works on his two blogs; and has recently launched his first book [Wake Up Tiger].

 

 

David Butler Photo.jpg

David Butler
see David discuss "Explain Pain"


David Butler is a physiotherapy graduate of the University of Queensland (1978). He also has a Graduate Diploma in Advanced Manipulative Therapy (1985), a Masters Degree by research from the University of South Australia (1996) and is currently completing the Doctor of Education Programme at Flinders’ University where he is studying therapeutic neuroscience education.

David is a clinician, an international freelance educator and an adjunct lecturer at the University of South Australia and Latrobe University. His professional interests focus around the integration of neurobiology into clinical decision making and public and professional education in pain management.

He is the author of the texts “Mobilisation of the Nervous System” (1991), ”The Sensitive Nervous System” (2000) and a co-author of “Explain Pain” (2003).

 

 

Deidre Anderson

Executive Director Campus Experience, Macquarie University

Deidre Anderson joined Macquarie University in 2001 as the Chief Executive of Sport and Recreation and after five successful years in this role in 2007 she was appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer U@MQ. In 2009 Deidre was appointed to the position of Executive Director Campus Experience.

She has held Executive Sports Management positions at both an international and national level and her contribution to elite sport has been acknowledged worldwide. She has published widely in the areas of coaching and career transitions in sport and has a life long commitment to supporting the development of young people. Her expertise has been recognised in her placements to serve on a number of boards.

She holds an undergraduate, postgraduate and master’s degree in Social Science, Psychology and Sports management.

 

 

Joe Pane

Joe is an expert in human behaviour. He knows what drives people and how they can better manage themselves and others. He has a Degree with Majors in Psychology & Sociology and a Post Graduate Diploma in Occupational Health. He is also accredited by the Society of Natural Therapists and Researchers as a professional meditation teacher. Joe worked for a number of years as a rehabilitation counsellor contracted full time to Ford Motor Company's assembly and stamping plants. For seven years he worked in residential real estate sales and promoted Ethics in Real Estate. Over this time he achieved and maintained a 95.3% client delight rating, while bringing in the numbers; 8 listings and 5 sales per month.

As a corporate trainer, Joe has worked with a range of real estate, accounting, transport, and catering organisations, delivering seminars, workshops, and coaching services. Joe is also a senior trainer and facilitator with The Coaching Institute, Australia’s most accredited and leading life coaching school, training and coaching coaches. He has trained in excess of 600 coaches who are out in the field today.

 


Conference Master of Ceremonies

 

Neil Cross

Neil Cross

Neil Cross is a journalist and broadcaster with 25 years experience in the media industry.

After completing an arts degree, he completed a cadetship at a Brisbane afternoon newspaper. In 1987, he decided to move to Adelaide. Four months later the Brisbane paper closed down.

The Adelaide paper shutdown as well, but Neil already had taken a job at The Advertiser newspaper in Adelaide. It has survived the departure of Neil in 1993 when he decided to try television journalism and joined Channel Ten. Another brief stint at the Advertiser followed before he moved across to the ABC in Adelaide where he has worked for 12 years.

While he has been a sports journalist and presenter for 14 years, Neil has a background in other news areas. He was a fulltime courts reporter for almost six years, covered local and state politics and police rounds and is occasionally called on to present the Adelaide 7pm ABC News Bulletin.

He has also hosted ABC television’s SANFL (football) coverage for nine years and commentated on basketball, netball, hockey and other sports for both television and radio.

His interests include sport, politics, music and reading.

 

 

Invited Speakers

 

stuart andrews

Stuart Andrews

Stuart Andrews owns and operates a physical rehabilitation clinic in Canberra called "Fit-To-Manage (FTM)" with his partner Bronwyn Thompson who was herself a dual Olympic rower.  The FTM clinic predominantly specialises in the treatment and prevention of Occupational Overuse related injuries.

Stuart has represented Australia at both Commonwealth and Olympic level in the sports of Decathlon and Bobsleigh and was also a scholarship holder at the Australian Institute of Sport. It was as a result of being involved in a Bobsleigh accident in 1990 that Stuart nearly lost the use of his right arm which was the catalyst for his interest in treating neuromuscular related conditions.  Stuart has designed and holds numerous international patents on rehabilitation equipment that aids in the facilitation and recovery as well as the prevention of Occupational Overuse related conditions associated with individuals that are predominantly in sedentary based occupations. 

Stuart is currently trialling his prevention based equipment "Posture Plane" with a large Government based organisation.  Stuart is also a published author as well as having led major expeditions with the most notable being the "Blind Leading the Blind Expedition" which involved training two visually impaired athletes to paddle kayaks from Australia to Papua new Guinea crossing the infamous Torres Straits and then walking the Kokoda Track for which he was awarded the Advance Australia award at Parliament House.  Stuart also co-ordinated the project of designing the world’s smallest helium airship which flew in the opening ceremony of the 2000 Paralympics and was powered by wheel chair athlete Angie Ballard.

 

 

Alison Angleton

Alison Angleton

With 15 years experience working in vocational rehabilitation, Alison has held a number of roles in both management and direct service delivery.   Alison is a registered psychologist with a strong commitment to social justice and disability management. 

Alison’s interests also include social inclusion, mental health, indigenous issues, knowledge management and organisational change.


 

 

Rochelle Cairns

Dr Rochelle Cairns

Dr Rochelle Cairns is a registered Psychologist working at Ballarat Health Services, Victoria. She is a member of the Motivational-Interviewing-Network-of-Trainers (MINT), the Australian Psychological Society, and the College of Health Psychologists.

Dr Cairns worked at Eastern Access Community Health in the Hospital-Admission-Risk-Program, and at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in the Chronic Pain Management Program prior to commencing work at BHS. Her work at BHS includes a clinical caseload, guest lecturing at the University of Ballarat and consultation to the HARP program at Wimmera-Health-Care-Group, Horsham. Dr Cairns has a key responsibility for the Persistent-Pain-Management-Program, and a particular interest in rehabilitation.

In 2007, Dr Cairns and her work colleague Ms Kylie McKenzie were the recipients of a “Victorian Pathways Home Scholarship”. This provided funding to travel to Ohio, to undertake training in Motivational Interviewing with Professor William Miller and Associate Professor Theresa Moyers.

Since then, they have been awarded a Chronic Disease Self-management/Lifestyle and Risk Modification Grant by the Federal Government Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA).  This has enabled them to develop and implement a Motivational Interviewing Training and Coaching Program for Allied Health and Nursing Professionals which aims to build the capacity of clinicians to promote effective rehabilitation and self-management.

 

 

Alan Clayton photo

Alan Clayton

Alan Clayton is the principal of Bracton Consulting Services Pty Ltd, an independent research and consulting organisation working primarily in the field of accident compensation and injury prevention.  He holds Honours Degrees in both Law and Arts and is an Honorary Associate at both the Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law at the University of Melbourne and the National Research Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Regulation at the Australian National University as well as being an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Victorian Institute of Occupational Safety and Health at the University of Ballarat. 

He has published widely in the field of accident compensation with his work appearing in books or journals in Australia, the United States and Europe.  He co-edited a series of essays published by the Swedish Work Environment Fund and has acted as co-author of a major workers’ compensation review undertaken by the W E Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  He has undertaken work for a wide range of bodies including the International Labour Office, the Institute of Work and Health in Toronto, many Australian accident compensation regulators and the Accident Compensation Corporation in New Zealand.

 

 

Dr Peter Cotton

Peter Cotton

Peter has published numerous book chapters and research papers in the fields of organisational behaviour and workplace mental health. He regularly works with organisations across the public and private sector on the management and prevention of workplace injury, absenteeism and counterproductive behaviours (e.g. harassment, conflict etc).

In 2003 Peter was appointed a subject matter expert in workplace mental health with the National Occupational Safety & Health Commission, and has recently completed a three year psychological injury prevention project working with large agencies across the Commonwealth sector, sponsored by Comcare.

Peter has been involved in developing the Victorian WorkCover Authority’s Clinical Framework from the Delivery of Psychological Services and also works on a range of ongoing quality assurance initiatives to improve the delivery of mental health services provided to injured workers across Victoria. He has also recently completed a major primary prevention project sponsored by WorkCover NSW.

Peter served three terms on the Board of Directors of the Australian Psychological Society and was appointed a Fellow of the Society in 2002. He currently holds the role of Director of Mental Health Services with Medibank Private.

 

 

Corina Della-Posta

Corina Della-Posta

Corina Della-Posta has been working in the occupational rehabilitation field for the last 10 years and is currently the WA State Manager for WorkFocus Australia. Corina has extensive experience in the areas of Employment Services and Psychological Services across most jurisdictions and in both the workers compensation and Job Service Australia systems. Corina has completed a Masters in Clinical Psychology and has published research in the Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation relating to increasing employment for those clients who have been injured at work.

WorkFocus Australia is the contracted provider of JobAccess and the National Disability Recruitment Coordinator services (from March 2010) for DEEWR.

 

 

Kris Fraser

Kris Fraser

Kris Fraser is a Certified Professional Ergonomist and Registered Occupational Therapist and is currently responsible for the management of ergonomics and rehabilitation at The University of Queensland (UQ). She has extensive experience in occupational health and safety, ergonomics and work rehabilitation across a range of diverse industry sectors and work environments.

Kris is committed to ensuring a risk management approach to work rehabilitation and providing quality participative ergonomics programs as effective injury prevention and management strategies. Her professional work focuses mainly on musculoskeletal disorders as they are consistently the highest risk injury type at UQ.

The University of Queensland self-insures its workers’ compensation and effectively manages its claims and rehabilitation. The University’s strong commitment, innovation and leadership in the management of its work rehabilitation was recently recognised when it was announced as the winner of the Q-Comp 2009 Return to Work Award – self-insured employer category.

 

 

Dorothy Frost

Dorothy Frost

Dorothy is the Director of WorkSafe Victoria’s Return to Work Division. The Division is charged with the task of getting more injured workers back to work, as well as ensuring that their return to work is suitable and timely. WorkSafe has a focus on increasing the capability of those involved in facilitating return to work, including employers, Agents, and occupational rehabilitation providers.

Dorothy has a rich and wide ranging background in workers compensation, with previous experience in occupational therapy, occupational rehabilitation and injury management from the perspective of both an Agent and a provider. Dorothy has qualifications in occupational theapy and occupational health and safety.

 

 

Dr Caron Jander

Dr Caron Jander

Dr Caron Jander is Chief Medical Officer of the Australian Racing Board; she qualified as a Sports Medicine Physician in 1995 at University of Cape Town, South Africa and as an Occupational Environmental Physician in 2005 at Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

She is an established expert in her field having worked both in South Africa and Australia and has been involved in a number of leading research projects in the areas of Sports Medicine and Occupational Health. Dr Jander has been involved with medical research since the late 1980s. As part of her Master of Philosophy in Sports Medicine she completed a Philosophy level thesis on Exercise and Lactational Performance.

At present she consults to the New South Wales Fire Brigades and the Australian Racing Board as well as practicing 2 days a week at the Vale Medical Clinic in Brookvale NSW.

Dr Jander was awarded the 2009 Winston Churchill fellowship for research in improvements in international health protection standards for jockeys in the UK, Ireland, France & Germany.

 

 

Denise Keenan

Dr Denise Keenan

Dr Denise Keenan has been practicing as a psychologist for over 20 years within the dual areas of clinical and organisational psychology. She is an active contributor to the psychology profession. The major focus of her clinical work is on referrals relating to occupational stress, trauma and injury management. She is contracted to first-responder, emergency service, and other organisations, to provide early intervention trauma management services and/or post-trauma care.

Organisationally, she has special interest in the subjects of the management of workplace trauma, resilience, occupational health and safety, management and reintegration of injured workers, occupational stress, mental health in the workplace and change management. She has significant experience in management, supervisor and general staff development and has worked at providing training for all levels of organisations, including that of senior executives. 

 

 

Sandy McFarlane

Prof Sandy McFarlane

Professor McFarlane is currently the Head of the University of Adelaide Node of the Centre of Military and Veterans Health.   He is an international expert in the field of the impact of disasters and post traumatic stress disorder.

He has held the role of Senior Adviser in Psychiatry to the Australian Defence Force, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health and holds the rank of Group Captain in the RAAF Specialist Reserve.  He has lectured and run workshops in Europe, USA, Asia and South Africa.

His research has focused on the epidemiology and longitudinal course of posttraumatic stress disorder as well as the neuroimaging of the cognitive deficits in this disorder in relation to disaster victims plus military and civilian personnel.

He has published over 300 articles and chapters and has co-edited three books.

He is a member of several international advisory boards in the field of traumatic stress and has also been involved in many medico legal cases in Australia and internationally relating to mental health.

 

 

Mark McKie

Mark McKie

Mark is currently the Manager of Attached Claims at Employers Mutual, and has worked in the Rehabilitation and RTW industry for approximately 25 years, both as a Rehabilitation service provider and business manager.

Over this time Mark has worked in South Australia, Victoria and NSW, and has dealt with the issues of Rehabilitation and RTW in markets including Workers Compensation, Compulsory Third Party/Motor Accident, Travel and Income Insurance.

 

 

Dr Greg Murphy

Dr Greg Murphy

Dr Greg Murphy is an Associate Professor within the School of Public Health, La Trobe University and one of Australia’s most active Rehabilitation Psychologists. His main research interests are in vocational rehabilitation, particularly return to work following serious injury. He is particularly interested in two key constructs central to the successful adjustment to major life crises – effective social support, and personal control beliefs of those facing major adjustments.

Greg has held visiting staff member appointments at such prestigious academic and hospital settings as Johns Hopkins University, Georgia Institute of Technology, the Duke of Cornwall Spinal Unit and the Swiss Paraplegic Centre. He is currently a member of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Technical Advisory Committee (Rehabilitation) where he contributes to policy and service development in the area of rehabilitation and return-to-work for both veterans as well as injured members of the Defence forces.

 

 

Mark Raberger

Mark Raberger

Mark has worked within the Workers Compensation area since 1993 and has a background in Physiotherapy and has also completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Ergonomics. Between 1993-2001 Mark was a director of a large physiotherapy clinic and subsequently began a multidisciplinary industrial medicine clinic in Melbourne focusing on large local industry. From here Mark moved into consulting in Workers Compensation, Injury Management and Claims management working with large employers, Agents and self insurers. In 2003 he started an Occupational Rehabilitation Provider which grew to a 3 state (Victoria, NSW and South Australia) entity before moving to WorkSafe in 2008. Mark has been the Manager of the RTW Support Branch which is responsible for managing Occupational Rehabilitation providers and the programs which they provide.

 

 

Belinda Shepherd

Belinda Shepherd

Belinda Shepherd is an Accredited Occupational Therapist with over 17 years experience predominantly working with clients post catastrophic injury.

Belinda is currently the clinical services manager at Accent Health Sciences. In this role she has the responsibility of managing a team of thirteen clinical consultants including Occupational Therapists, Speech Pathologists, Psychologists, Exercise Therapists and Technical Aids. Belinda assists people with injuries within workers compensation, CTP, Lifetime Care and Support and community jurisdictions.

Belinda attained her PhD in 2006. Her research examined the decision making of support staff working with clients with brain injury in transitional living settings. Belinda is committed to research and best practice and this focus has seen her regularly present project findings at relevant industry conferences. She is recognised as an expert in catastrophic management of clients in a community setting holding positions as a Life Time Care Needs Assessor, Motor Accident Authority Occupational Therapy Assessor and an Authorised Visitor with the Public Trustee.

 

 

Tracey Slatter

Tracey Slatter

Tracey commenced with the TAC in January 2009 as the Executive Manager of the Claims Division. Tracey has extensive leadership experience in the health, community service and local government sectors. Tracey held a range of executive and management roles during her 15 years at the Department of Human Services where she led programs, services and policy reform until 2004. From 2004 to 2008 Tracey was the Chief Executive Officer at the Colac Otway Shire where she led valued community projects and an improved financial position.

Tracey enjoys leadership challenges and is passionate about achieving excellent results for clients.

As the Head of TAC’s Claims Division, Tracey oversees $800m of payments and $7billion in liabilities. The Claims Division aims to improve the recovery and independence of people who have been seriously injured as a result of transport accidents. Services are provided to 30,000 clients each year.

Tracey also has Post Graduate qualifications in Human Services Research, Business Management and a Masters of Commerce.

 

 

Howe Synnott

Dr Howe Synnott

Before moving to Sydney, for 15 years Dr Synnott was a consultant psychiatrist in a regional centre and of necessity dealt with the full clinical spectrum - this required a broad knowledge of psychiatry and ‘the human condition’.  Publications include “A Guide to Psychiatric Terms and Medications No 4” (fourth edition) and the training manuals “Understanding Psychiatric Illness” and “Managing Drug & Alcohol Abuse in Psychiatric and Workplace Injury”.

Dr Synnott is a member of the Forensic Section of the RANZCP and the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law (ANZAPPL). He has completed training in the evaluation of permanent impairment for WorkCover NSW, the Motor Accident Authority NSW and Comcare and is a Medical Assessor for the Motor Accidents Authority of NSW. He is Section 112 registered with the Victorian WorkCover Authority and in Queensland Dr Synnott is accredited in assessment using the Permanent Impairment Rating Scale (PIRS). 

 

 

Greg Tweedly

Greg Tweedly

Greg was appointed Chief Executive Officer in February 2003, after rejoining WorkSafe as Acting CEO from September 2002. Greg held senior positions with the Transport Accident Commission from 1996–2002 including Chief Operating Officer responsible for all Claims Management functions.

Greg previously worked for WorkSafe (and its predecessor the Accident Compensation Commission) in numerous senior positions including Chief Financial Officer and later Director responsible for the regulation of the Victorian Workers Compensation system. Pre 1990, Greg held senior financial positions at V/Line and the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW).

Greg has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Melbourne University and is currently a Director of the Personal Injury Education Foundation and Chair of Heads of Workers Compensation Authorities.

 

 

Elizabeth Zutt

Elizabeth Zutt

Elizabeth is a Registered Nurse who has worked in the field of Injury Management for 18 years.She has worked as a Consultant,Rehabilitation Provider,Regional Manager of a national rehabilitation provider,a Trainer and is currently the Senior Consultant with Comcare in the Prevention and Injury Management Section. Elizabeth has worked with all state jurisdictions with experience in both the public and private sectors.Over the past 10 years she has provided advice and or training on provider management,strategies for Injury Management and complex case management solutions to Commonwealth Agencies,Act Government and Self Insured Licensees.




 

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