INTRODUCING OUR MC:
BRADLEY WARNER
NURSE MANAGER
SOUTH WESTERN SYDNEY LOCAL HEALTH DISTRICT

BIOGRAPHY:
Mr. Bradley Warner is the Clinical Manager of the Aged Care Rehabilitation and Complex Care Internal Medicine Clinical Streams for South Western Sydney Local Health District.

He has always lived and worked locally, graduating from Western Sydney University with a Bachelor of Health (Nursing) and later with a Masters in Health Service Management.

As a Nursing leader Bradley was selected to participate in the NSW Premier and Cabinet course, Public Administration offered by the Graduate School of Government via The University of Sydney.
Bradley is passionate about public sector leadership and virtual care technologies. He utilises this passion to be visionary in strategy and planning. He is a promoter of clinical innovation and contemporary models of care. He is a well-recognised leader in South West Sydney local Health District with an added appetite for research, having published scholarly articles in the Medical Journal of Australia, Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare and The Australian College of Nursing publication – The Hive.

Bradley believes in the strengths and achievements of the New South Wales public health system and its ability to provide safe and equable care for all.

WELCOME TO COUNTRY:
AUNTY ZONA WILKINSON
WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY
ELDER ON CAMPUS (COMMUNITY ELDER) AND KAMILAROI ELDER

BIOGRAPHY:
An Aboriginal woman from north eastern New South Wales, Wanneroo Singleton NSW, Gumilaraay country.

She has volunteered in the community at the Holy Family Church, NSW Police, in community housing and NSW Rugby League where she worked as a coach.

Aunty Zona is a cultural educator and visual artist in textiles, ceramics, sculpture, painting, and printmaking. She has been an Aboriginal curator at the Penrith Regional Gallery and Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre and her artwork has been collected by the PowerHouse Museum.

Aunty Zona is also a founding member of the Blacktown Arts Centre.

OPENING ADDRESS:
THE HON. NATASHA MACLAREN-JONES

BIOGRAPHY:
The Hon Natasha Maclaren-Jones MLC was sworn in as a member of the NSW Legislative Council on Tuesday 3 May 2011 and is the Government Whip in the Legislative Council and the Parliamentary Secretary for Health.

Natasha brings to Parliament broad experience in public policy development. Before entering Parliament, Natasha worked as a public affairs and government relations consultant, providing services to multinational health care companies and industry associations. She also worked as an adviser to Liberal Ministers in the Commonwealth Government and as a registered nurse. She holds a Bachelor of Nursing and a Masters of Health Services Management.

As a long time Liberal Party member, Natasha has served in a variety of positions within the Liberal Party of Australia, including being the youngest person to serve as NSW State President and the third woman to hold the position. Natasha has also served as State Vice-President, NSW Young Liberal President, State Convention Chair and Chair of the Liberal Women’s Forum, a training and development program for Liberal Women.

Natasha plays an active role in the NSW Legislative Council, in addition to being the Government Whip, she is the Chair of the Selection of Bills Committee. She is also on various Portfolio Committees, including the Health Committee and Legal Affairs Committee. Natasha is also a member of the State Development Committee, Legislative Council Privileges Committee and Procedures Committee, and various other select committees.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
ADJUNCT PROFESSOR KYLIE WARD FACN
CEO, RN, M.Mgt, Dip.App.Sci (Nursing), Acute Care Cert., FACN, FACHSM, Wharton Fellow, MAICD


BIOGRAPHY:
Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward FACN is a renowned leader and a passionate CEO who has shaped the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) to become a prominent and influential professional organisation.She grew up on the traditional lands of the Dharug Nation in Sydney’s West.As well as leading a strong and collective voice for the nursing profession to improve patient outcomes and the social determinants of health for all Australians, Kylie is also driven to improve gender equality and diversity, social reform as well as promoting the importance of women in leadership roles both nationally and internationally.

Kylie’s distinguished career spans almost three decades and has seen her hold Executive positions in the largest health services in NSW and Victoria. Through her commitment to reform, transformational change and leadership development, she has been awarded honorary Professorships from Monash University, Deakin University, University of Technology Sydney, Western Sydney University and Federation University.

Kylie is the first nurse to be appointed by the Federal Minister as a Board Director of the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA). She is a Board Director of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC), as well as serving Ministerial appointments to the Aged Services Industry Reform Committee (IRC) and the Health Translation Advisory Committee (HTAC) of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

Dedicating her career and purpose to empowering others, Kylie has received widespread recognition and received multiple awards, including the 2017 ACT Telstra Business Woman of the Year Award for Social Purpose and Enterprise and 2018 Western Sydney University Prestigious Alumni’s Award for Professional Excellence.

Kylie is an inspiring leader with a flair for inspiring others and promoting a socially responsible and progressive culture. A motivational executive, Kylie has led thousands with her holistic, innovative and transformational approach to leadership, focusing on building resilience and empowering people to meet organisational challenges.

             

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
HANNAH DAHLEN AM

BIOGRAPHY:
Hannah Dahlen is the Professor of Midwifery, Discipline Leader - Midwifery and Associate Dean (Research and Higher Degree Research) in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Western Sydney University. She has been a midwife for 29 years and still practices. She is one of the first midwives in Australia to gain Eligibility and access to a Medicare provider number following government reforms in 2010.

Hannah has over 200 papers and book chapters and has strong national and international research partnerships. She has received 20 grants since 2000, including being CI on three NHMRC grants and an ARC Linkage grant. She has spoken at over 100 national and international conferences in the past 5 years and given invited keynote addresses at most of these.

In 2019 Hannah was awarded a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia (General Division) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for her significant services to midwifery, nursing and medical education and research. In November 2012 Hannah was named in the Sydney Morning Herald’s list of 100 “people who change our city for the better” and named as one of the leading “science and knowledge thinkers” for 2012.

        

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
LUKE ESCOMBE, CREATOR, THE VEGETABLE PLOT

BIOGRAPHY:
Luke Escombe is an award-winning songwriter, musician and comedian who has turned his 25 years of living with chronic illness into inspiration for his art.

Starting his musical career as a blues guitarist in London, Luke suffered a number of devastating setbacks because of Crohn’s Disease, an illness he was diagnosed with at the age of 14. He finally launched his first album at the age of 30, only to end up in hospital requiring blood transfusions to live through the night.

Luke’s breakthrough as a writer/performer came in 2011 with his one-man show “Chronic”, which combined multiple music styles with candid stand-up comedy about his many hospital stays. It was Luke’s ticket to festivals all over Australia, and the start of his unexpected journey into health advocacy.

The follow-up to “Chronic” was a kids band called “The Vegetable Plot”, which played its first show at the 2014 Sydney Fringe. After years of speaking about illness, The Vegetable Plot was Luke's way of making a fresh start: playing roots music for kids, families, and foodies with an emphasis on having fun and being healthy. The Vegetable Plot won the award for Best Kid’s show at the Fringe and the group has since played at major events all over the country, including The National Folk Festival, Woodford, Sydney Festival and Splendour in the Grass, and was recently signed to the ABC Kids label.

Luke is an ambassador for Crohn's and Colitis Australia and The Gut Foundation, a member of the NSW Arts Advisory Panel and a teaching artist with the Sydney Opera House's Creative Leadership in Learning Program. He has spoken three times at Parliament House in Canberra, as well as at the New Zealand National Museum in Wellington, the National Medicines Symposium, the Patient Experience Symposium, and at conferences, workshops, support groups, award ceremonies and training seminars across the country.

2017 saw him crossing the Pacific for the first time, telling his story at events in Chicago and Miami. His work was recognised at the end of the year by WEGO Health, who named him as the winner of their “Hilarious Patient Leader” award. Since then, Luke has received standing ovations on four continents for his unique mix of storytelling, music, humour and insight into the patient experience.