KEYNOTE SPEAKERS & PANELLISTS
Professor Pat Dudgeon
Professor Pat Dudgeon AM, a Bardi woman from Western Australia, is a psychologist and professor at the Poche Centre for Aboriginal Health and the School of Indigenous Studies at The University of Western Australia. Her research focuses on Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing and suicide prevention.
She is the Director of the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention, and the lead Chief Investigator for the national Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing research project. Professor Dudgeon has served on numerous boards, including the National Suicide Prevention Office Advisory Board, NACCHO Culture Care Connect, Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit Australia) and AIPA, and was a National Mental Health Commissioner for five years.
A leading voice in Indigenous mental health, her significant publications include the Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice (2014) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project Report – What the Evidence and Our People Tell Us (2016).
Dr Lorraine Anderson
Dr Lorraine Anderson is the Medical Director at Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services, based in Broome, Western Australia. Lorraine is proudly linked through her father to the Palawa people of Tasmania.
She gained her primary degree in Medicine at The University of Auckland in New Zealand, followed by post graduate qualifications in Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Child Health, Palliative Medicine and General Practice. Lorraine is a Fellow of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practice and the Royal Australian College of General Practice.
She has been working in Aboriginal health and remote rural practice in the Pilbara, Indian Ocean Territories and now the Kimberley for the past 19 years. Lorraine has a passion for Aboriginal Health, the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Sector model of care and loves to see technology being used well in this environment.
Professor Ginny Barbour
Prof Ginny Barbour is the Editor-in-Chief of the Medical Journal of Australia. She is an Adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia.
She trained in clinical and academic haematology in the UK, before becoming an editor. She joined The Lancet in 1999, leaving in 2004 to be one of the three founding editors of PLOS Medicine. She has been involved in many international open access, innovative scholarly communication and publication and research integrity initiatives.
She is currently Co-Chair of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and is a member of the Australian NHMRC and MRFF Public Health and Health Systems Committee. She was previously Chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
A/Prof Aunty Vicki Wade
Aunty Vicki is the Associate Professor and First Nations Senior Research Fellow at Menzies School of Health Research Darwin.
She is a proud Noongar woman with over 40 years’ experience in health. `Aunty Vicki has been awarded two prestigious awards for her tireless work in improving heart health for First Nations people. She is a member of the Ministerial appointed Women’s and CVD Expert Advisory group to Minister White.
Aunty Vicki is involved in a number of research projects in RHD in First Nations communities throughout Australia. She is a mother of 4 and grandmother to 11 she hopes that all her work will help her grandchildren and their children to live a comfortable and happy life free of discrimination and healthy strong hearts.
A/Prof Glenn Pearson
Associate Professor Glenn Pearson is a Nyoongar researcher, educator and Aboriginal health leader with extensive expertise in Aboriginal health, education and child protection. He is the Director of First Nations Strategy and Leadership at The Kids Research Institute Australia, a member of the Institute's Executive Team and Head of the First Nations Health and Equity Theme.
Grounded in Aboriginal cultural authority and community partnership, Glenn's leadership seeks to embed Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing across research and practice. His work focuses on strengthening evidence, amplifying Aboriginal voices, and translating research into meaningful policy and health outcomes that improve the lives of Aboriginal children, families and communities.
Glenn’s primary area of research is in Strep A/RHD where he with Professor Jonathan Carapetis, is the Co-Team Leader of the Strep A Translation Team. Current research includes the Australian Government (MRFF) funded Strep A Vaccine Initiative (SAVI), the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funded Synergy Grant STopping Acute Rheumatic Fever Infections to Strengthen Health (STARFISH) and most recently the Ten Year Vision to END RHD in WA grant funded by the Western Australian State Government under their Future Health Research and Innovation (FHRI) Spotlight program.
Dr Benjamin Jones
Ben is a Murrawarri doctor who recently completed his PhD on the implementation of rheumatic heart disease screening at the University of Oxford.
He is currently a paediatrics trainee at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.
Dr Gordon Reid MP
Dr Gordon James Reid MP was elected to the Australian House of Representatives in 2022 as the Federal Member for Robertson. Born and raised on the Central Coast of New South Wales, he is a proud Aboriginal man dedicated to public service and the wellbeing of his community
Dr Reid graduated with Distinction from the University of Newcastle with a Bachelor of Medicine, before beginning clinical practice within the Central Coast Local Health District. He continues to work in the Emergency Department at Wyong Hospital, maintaining his clinical practice while serving in Parliament. His experience as an emergency doctor — particularly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic — has shaped his commitment to accessible healthcare, equity, and resilient regional communities.
Dr Reid currently serves on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability, the Joint Standing Committee on the Implementation of the National Redress Scheme, and the Joint Standing Committee on the Parliamentary Library. These appointments reflect his focus on national security, public health policy, and institutional integrity.
Karl Hampton
Karl Hampton is a Warlpiri man born in Alice Springs, with a large extended family network spanning the Northern Territory.
Karl has dedicated more than 40 years to serving and working with Northern Territory communities across a range of sectors, including Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, the Australian Public Service and the mining industry. He has also served on numerous boards and is currently Chairperson of the AIATSIS Council, a national appointment.
Karl’s career in Northern Territory politics spanned 11 years, during which he worked as a political adviser and served as a Member of Parliament. From 2008 to 2012, he was appointed as a Minister in the Henderson Labor Government.
A Senior Atlantic Global Fellow with the University of Melbourne, Karl completed his Master’s in Social Change Leadership in 2023. His research project focused on Warlpiri traditional governance.
Seven years ago, Karl and his son, Jamie Hampton, co-founded the Warlpiri Project, now recognised as one of Australia’s leading community-led repatriation projects. The project has received international recognition, including a significant 2024 delegation to Germany to repatriate Warlpiri cultural heritage material.
Passionate about the bush and Central and Western Desert culture, Karl is a strong advocate for strong culture, strong governance and sustainable economic development and employment opportunities for Yapa.
Dr Gene Slockee
Dr Gene Slockee is a proud Bundjalung, Darumbul and South Sea Islander man who grew up on the lands and waters of the Nganduwul and Minjungbal speaking people of Coodginburra, Tulgigan and Moorung-Mobar groups, the north-eastern end of Bundjalung Jugun.
Gene, is a Consultant Anaesthetist at the Tweed Valley Hospital and Lismore Base Hospital within the Northern NSW LHD on Bundjalung Jugun. He has a special interest in the intersection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Peri-operative care.
Gene has over twenty years of experience in healthcare, having worked as an Aboriginal Health Worker in Child and Youth Mental Health and Chronic Disease Rehabilitation early on in his career and then working across different tertiary and regional hospitals in both Intensive Care and Anaesthetics.
As a strong cultural man and clinician, Gene is an active AIDA member and a member of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists Indigenous Health Committee consulting for a more and better representation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anaesthetic trainees and culturally responsible perioperative care.
Talila Milroy
Dr Talila Milroy is an Yindjibarndi and Palyku General Practitioner who graduated from the University of Sydney in 2015.
Talila is the Academic Lead for the Boola Boola Djinda Aboriginal health team and a PhD student at University of Western Australia. She is also the Clinical Director for Babbingur Mia Maternal and Child Health Aboriginal Corporation, providing clinic management support and GP clinical services.
Talila previously held the AIDA/RACGP Academic Post in 2020 exploring the experiences of racism for Indigenous General Practice trainees, and has continued her research career in projects focussed on Aboriginal women's and children's health.
William Hayward
William Hayward is a Noongar man from the Gorang/Minang clan groups. He was raised to live with the integrity and honour of his people’s culture, customs and the strengths embedded within family and community systems. For William, being Aboriginal is not a deficiency, but a unique strength. His culture has provided a foundation of stability throughout his life and has been a testament to empowerment and resilience.
William is a strong advocate for Aboriginal peoples’ right to self-determination and for community-led solutions. He is currently employed as Strategic Advisor, Aboriginal Services, within the Young People Directorate.
William holds a Bachelor of Social Work and has worked across government agencies and not-for-profit organisations throughout his career. He has developed extensive experience delivering services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across youth justice, child protection and safety, counselling, policy and law reform, training and presentation, cultural competency and practice, trauma-informed practice and frameworks, social work, youth work, program development, lobbying, advocacy, cultural ceremony and healing, and performing arts.
William is strongly committed to empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Aboriginal Australians to achieve equality and freedom across a range of professional, practice and community environments.
Download the Cultural Security Framework for Youth Detention in Western Australia here.
Contact Us
Contact the organisers: AIDA@spinifexevents.com.au
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Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge and pay our respects to the Whadjuk Nyoongar people as the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters where we will gather.
We acknowledge and respect the Whadjuk Nyoongar people's cultural, spiritual and physical connection with their land, waterways and community, and pay respect to Elders past and present.