Gary B. Melton is professor and director of the Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life at Clemson University in South Carolina, USA.  He is a past president of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, the American Psychology-Law Society, and the Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice.  The author of more than 300 publications, Prof. Melton has received distinguished contribution awards for public service, international achievement, and/or research from APA (thrice), two of its divisions, Psi Chi, the American Orthopsychiatric Association, Prevent Child Abuse America, and the American Professional Society on Abuse of Children.

Dr Matthew Stagner
Executive Director, Chapin Hall
Senior Lecturer, Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy Studies,
The University of Chicago, Chicago, USA

Matthew W. Stagner is Executive Director of Chapin Hall and a Senior Lecturer at the Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy Studies. Prior to joining Chapin Hall, Dr. Stagner directed the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. He also served as Director of the Division of Children and Youth Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He has directed research for the National Research Council and the Center for the Study of Social Policy as well.

Dr. Stagner is an expert on youth risk behaviors, child welfare services, and program evaluation. He is currently conducting research, with Mark Courtney, on the effectiveness of programs for children aging out of foster care.

Dr. Stagner holds a Ph.D. from the Harris School and a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

• Evaluation of children's services
• Child welfare services
• Youth risk behaviors
• Youth development

Lenore Manderson, PhD, is a medical anthropologist and social historian. She is a research professor in the School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, and the School of Political and Social Inquiry, Faculty of Arts, at Monash University. Her research interests include the anthropology of infectious and non-communicable disease; chronic disease, chronicity and disability; gender and sexuality; and immigration and identity. She is the author or editor of over 400 books and articles. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and the World Academy of Art and Science.

Shazly Savahl
Department of Psychology, University of Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa

Shazly Savahl is a registered research psychologist, currently employed as a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of the Western Cape.  He obtained a M.A. Research Psychology degree from the University of the Western Cape.  His research interests include the study of ideology, social constructionism, childhood, child well-being and indicator development.  Current projects include an examination into the combined influence of children’s exposure to violence and hope on children’s perceptions of well-being, a qualitative exploration into the dynamics of social networking and information technology and an investigation into the effects of crystal methamphetamine on child and adolescent well-being.  As a passionate community activist he has always endeavoured to make his research directly beneficial to the communities and neighbourhoods that he works in.  In 2005 he was awarded the Vlaamse Interuniversiteit Raad prestigious doctoral scholarship.  His PhD dissertation, which is currently under examination, explores the ideological constructions of childhood.  He has published in the areas of child well-being and children and information technology.

Bryony Beresford is a senior research fellow at the Social Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of York, United Kingdom. She has been carrying out applied social research projects concerned with the lives of disabled children, young people and their families for almost twenty years and has published widely on this topic. Much of her work is government funded and relates to policy and/or practice issues. Along with other members of SPRU, she has been at the forefront of developing methods by which children with severe disabilities, including those with autistic spectrum disorders and children who do not use speech to communicate, can participate directly in research projects. Current and recently completed projects include: identification of the desired outcomes of disabled children and young people; an evaluation of specialist mental health services for deaf children and their families; and an evaluation of parent training programmes for parents with disabled children with sleep or behaviour problems.

Jeff was recently employed as the Research Director at the College of Indigenous Australian Peoples (Gnibi). He was awarded a PhD (Psychology) from the University of Western Australia and has extensive experience working in rural and remote Aboriginal communities, primarily focusing on supporting communities to address their health, education, and sexual abuse issues. His stronger interests lie in developing assessment protocols to accurately identify the cognitive profiles (strengths and limitations) of Aboriginal children and using these profiles to improve their quality of life. This process will be especially useful for children suffering from the effects of FASD and other neural compromise and for those who have suffered previous and ongoing exposure to trauma and violence.

Penny Allbon
Director, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australia

Dr Allbon has been Director of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare since February 2006. She has over twenty years of experience in government, at both Federal and Territory levels and within the financial, health and welfare arenas, including the position of Chief Executive of ACT Health. Penny has a particular interest in translating the needs of policy makers into relevant data analysis and ensuring that data is user-friendly and timely. She has also run her own consultancy, working with government in various Pacific Islands.

Kate Yeong-Tsyr Wang is professor of the Graduate Institute of Social Work, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan. She holds a PhD in social work from Washington University in St. Louis, USA. She teaches courses in poverty, social policy analysis, social work ethics, program evaluation and advanced statistics. Her research and publications are in the area of unemployment, poverty and inequality, policy evaluation, and social work ethics. She is a board member of the Taiwanese Association of Social Workers (TASW). She is also on the editorial boards of Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development, as well as Asian Social Work and Policy Review.

Director, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research
Chair, Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth
Professor, School of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

Professor Stanley is the Founding Director of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research; Chair of the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth; and Professor, School of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Western Australia. Trained in maternal and child health epidemiology and public health, Professor Stanley has spent her career researching the causes of major childhood illnesses such as birth defects. Her research includes the gathering and analysis of population data for epidemiological and public health research; the causes and prevention of birth defects and major neurological disorders, particularly the cerebral palsies; patterns of maternal and child health in Aboriginal and Caucasian populations; various ways of determining the developmental origins of health and disease; collaborations to link research, policy and practice; and strategies to enhance health and well-being in populations. Her major contribution has been to establish the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, a unique multidisciplinary independent research institute focussing on the causes and prevention of major problems affecting children and youth. She sits on the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council as well as the Australian Statistics Advisory Council. For her research on behalf of Australia's children, she was named Australian of the Year in 2003 and in 2006 she was made a UNICEF Australia Ambassador for Early Childhood Development.

Dr. O’Hare’s work over the past 30 years has been defined by the use of statistical data to elevate the needs of disadvantaged populations such as children, the poor and racial minorities on the public agenda. That work has also involved working closely with the media and policy makers.

From 1993 to 2005, Dr. O’Hare directed the KIDS COUNT project at the Annie E. Casey Foundation in the United States. Since 2005, he has been a consultant to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, working on KIDS COUNT and related data-based projects.

Mary Kellett is Professor and Director of Childhood and Youth at the Open University, UK, where she is also Founder Director of the Children's Research Centre. She has an international reputation as a leading pioneer in the empowerment of children and young people as researchers and has published widely in this and associated fields. She sits on a number of advisory panels and her work is the focus of many initiatives including projects in eight European countries. A late entrant into academia, she has prior experience both as a children's social worker and a primary school teacher.

Gillian Calvert has spent more than 25 years working to improve the lives of children, young people and their families, including 10 years as the NSW Commissioner for Children and Young People. Gillian advocates for children and young people and works with others to improve their safety, welfare and well-being. Gillian is passionate about helping children and young people speak up and get involved in activities and decisions that affect their lives.

Lyn Campbell, Commissioner, NZ Families Commission, brings experience in working with children, young people and their families in a wide variety of contexts. Formerly, as Children's Advocate, with Christchurch City Council, Lyn lead an international cluster of city leaders, working collaboratively to bring children and their families into the centre of decision making in local government. Innovation and changing mindsets enabled children's experiences to impact upon policy decisions. Lyn is involved in innovative engagement with children and families using a 'family lens' which is uniquely impacting upon research, advocacy and policy developments with government, NGO's, neighbourhoods and families.

Professor Susan Danby researches in childhood studies and in the national priority areas of Early Years and E-health. Her recent Australian Research Council projects investigate helpline interactions on a national children’s helpline, young children’s friendships and their participation in everyday decision-making. Her interest is in children’s everyday social and interactional practices, and how they construct their social worlds across school, home and community. She was involved in the Queensland Preparing for School Study (2004) that led to implementation of universal full-time preparatory education in Queensland.

Since 2006 Danielle has worked for the CREATE Foundation. CREATE is a national organisation that seeks to connect and empower children and young people in care and to change the care system through activities, programs, training, research and policy advice. CREATE believes in the spirit of youth participation and amongst other things has a history of involving children and young people in research as participants and as well as researchers. Danielle has a strong interest in promoting children and young people’s participation in their own lives and in our communities

Student Presenters

Harry Fuelling		Emily Halloran		Jessica Chau		Joanna Ma		Dr Ainslie Yardley Facilitator and Coordinator of children’s presentation

Concepts of maturity: Some children’s views on what adults researching children need to know

This multi-textual performative presentation was created collaboratively by thirty-four children from years five and six at Picnic Point Public School. These child researchers thought about, reflected on, and created a qualitative framework in which they could discuss their feelings and ideas about the concept of maturity - which emerged in discussion as one of the most significant influences on the relationships, freedoms and responsibilities that are part of their lives on a daily basis. Their primary concern was to explore reactions to, and understandings of adult constructs of maturity - how variable these constructs can be and how arbitrary and inflexible decisions that emerge from them can seem to children. All images, films, and written texts were created or chosen by the children, and editing undertaken or supervised by them.