Speakers

Keynote speakers

Christine Pabico

Christine Pabico, PhD, RN, NE-BC, FAAN. Director of ANCC’s Pathway to Excellence program, is a thought leader and expert in creating and sustaining high reliability organizations and positive practice environments.  Her passion is to provide organizations around the globe strategies for success in creating work environments that support, engage, and empower staff. In addition, she is a recognized champion for safeguarding clinician well-being, a sought-after speaker, and author of numerous peer-reviewed articles. two book chapters, and grants.

Christine has over 25 years of leadership experience, is doctoral-prepared, ANCC board-certified as a Nurse Executive, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.  Her passion for creating healthy work environments was the focus of her doctoral work where she studied the relationships among nurse manager competency, the nursing practice environment, and frontline nurses’ intent to stay.

For her volunteer work, Christine sits on the American Academy of Nursing’s Building Health Care System Excellence Expert Panel. She is also on the editorial board of the American Nurse Journal, a board member of the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce, a faculty for iLDP (PNAA’s leadership development program) and is the current president of the Philippine Nurses Association in Metro DC.

Dr Zoe Bradfield

Dr Zoe Bradfield is an Associate Professor of Midwifery with a joint appointment between Curtin University and the Women and Newborn Health Service in Western Australia. Zoe also holds an adjunct at the School of Medicine at the University of Western Australia, she is a Clinical Fellow at Monash University and has an Honorary Appointment at the Burnet Institute in Victoria. Zoe has worked as a nurse and a midwife across a variety of rural and metropolitan settings for over 25 years; and as an academic for the last 11 years. Her research focuses on clinical care and health systems innovations to improve outcomes for women, their families, and society. Zoe is particularly passionate about developing clinician researchers recognising their importance in identifying key clinical research problems and solutions. Her translational and transformational research programs have attracted >$10.2M in funding and received several high-impact awards. Zoe is an NHMRC Early Leadership Fellow and is the President of the Australian College of Midwives, the peak professional body for midwifery in Australia.

Stephanie Trethewey

Stephanie Trethewey is the 2024 Australian of the Year for Tasmania. She’s a visionary leader who has transformed personal challenges into a nationwide movement to support rural mothers across Australia.

Stephanie’s transition from life in the city and a successful career in television journalism, to embracing farm life and rural motherhood in Tasmania, has been both a brutal and beautiful journey.

Her struggles with postnatal depression and isolation inspired the creation of Motherland, a national charity that fervently advocates for the mental health and well-being of rural mothers, and celebrates and connects them through platforms like the Motherland podcast and Motherland Village program.

Motherland is on a mission to reduce social isolation and ensure no rural mum is left behind.

In 2022, Stephanie was named the national winner of the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award, and in 2023 she celebrated the release of her debut book, Motherland. Stephanie is also the co-founder of the Tasmanian Agricultural Company (Tas Ag Co) and sits on the Australian Advisory Council of Thankful4Farmers.

Speakers

Christine Stirling

Professor Christine Stirling is Head of School of the School of Nursing University of Tasmania. Christine has a strong commitment to the Aged Care Theme for the school and helped establish the Transforming Research in Ageing group. She has contributed significantly to improving health services for older Australians by increasing knowledge and generating impact in the social science nursing fields of workforce, care of older people and citizen participation, care experience. She has influenced policy as past President of the Australian Association of Gerontology, Chair of the AAG Research Trust, Board Member for the Australian Journal of Ageing, and member of the AIC Aged Services Industry Reference Committee. She has over 100 publications and has received over 2 million in research funding, including NHMRC, over her career. Christine has an extensive record of mixed method health services research using real world and implementation approaches to improve consumer voice and access in care of the older person.

Christine has been with the University of Tasmania since 2000 and has held roles as Deputy Dean of Graduate Research, Head of Discipline of Nursing and Midwifery, Associate Head of Learning and Teaching for School of Health Sciences, Associate Head Research School of Health Sciences, and Deputy Head of the University Department of Rural Health. Christine is a Registered Nurse with clinical expertise in community nursing and care of the older person. She is a member of the Australian Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence, (Aus-HCGNE) which comprises the leading group of Professors and Associate Professors of gerontological nursing in Australia.

Lisa Hellwege

Lisa identified a gap in the market in Tasmania for providing safe and gentle micro-suction procedures for earwax removal after working for many years in the ENT field. She believed there had to be a better way to access this procedure without extensive waiting times. This led to a process of discovery and entrepreneurship that resulted in the founding of Earworx in 2016; a nurse-led dedicated professional earwax removal service. Earworx has now enjoyed national expansion with 23 (and growing) clinic rooms nationwide across five states.

Motivated and inspired by a desire to maintain excellence in standards of care, Lisa works each day to ensure her Earworx Registered Nurse team of over 40 work to the highest-clinical levels and are professionally supported within their scope of practice. Lisa is passionate about Earworx clients receiving the same high-quality care at every single visit, no matter where they attend across Australia.

An advocate for the advancement of nursing, Lisa’s service showcases what registered nurses are capable of within the healthcare sector when working to their maximum of their scope. Lisa is currently driving a campaign to see healthcare funding bodies support innovative primary care services in line with the regulatory environment. Lisa believes all Australians deserve equitable access to the services they need in the communities in which they live.

Earworx was the winner of the National Championing Health Award at the 2024 Telstra Best Of Business Awards in Sydney in February 2024. Lisa was a finalist in the Federal Health Minister’s Trailblazer awards in 2021 and a national winner of the 2024 SME Business Leader Outstanding Leadership Awards.

MC – Symposium

Jenni Pyefinch

Jenni Pyefinch is a Clinical Nurse Educator in the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the Royal Hobart Hospital. She undertook her Registered Nurse training at the Royal Hobart Hospital in 1986, went on to study Midwifery at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne in 1992, and then completed a Masters of Clinical Nursing (Critical Care) through the University of Tasmania (UTAS) in 2014. Jenni has worked in several clinical areas over her career, moving to Critical Care in 2001. She has been in the role of Clinical Nurse Educator since 2013, and also worked as the Unit Coordinator for the two Critical Care Nursing Practice subjects through UTAS in 2015 and 2016. She served as a committee member of the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses, both at a state and national level, for 10 years.

In her other life, Jenni enjoys participating in a range of creative arts. She sings with Cocktail Hour, an a cappella quartet, and is the Musical Director of Hobart Harmony, a 55+ voice women’s barbershop/ a cappella chorus. Over the last 26 years this position has given her local, national, and international opportunities in leadership, teaching, coaching, learning, and performing. Jenni has a strong interest in promoting creative arts in health, particularly for health care workers in the areas of well-being and self-care, and has recently been involved in setting up and facilitating the Department of Health’s Rainbow Choir.

MC – Awards

Tom Wootton

Tom has built a career in tourism, with a passion for showcasing his home state of Tasmania. Tom helped develop and launch Pumphouse Point at Lake St Clair, before moving to Federal Group to help launch MACq 01 Hotel. He then oversaw sales and marketing for the group’s tourism portfolio, which also included Saffire Freycinet, The Henry Jones Art Hotel and a suite of bars and restaurants. More recently, Tom was the inaugural CEO of a state-funded regional tourism organisation and is now embarking on a new tourism start-up with Tasmanian and interstate partners. Tom has consulted on tourism across Tasmanian government and industry for over a decade – he’s also a board director, qualified lawyer and an experienced presenter.

Welcome to Country

Alison Overeem

Alison Overeem is a proud palawa woman from South-East Tasmania who is driven by culture, family, empowerment and creating safe spaces to build hope and healing. Alison is passionate about raising awareness of Aboriginal culture and history and the rights of women in society. As a result, Alison was a past member of the Tasmanian Women’s Council. While working in aged care at the age of 16, Alison studied for a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) and graduated in 1989.

Alison established the Aboriginal Children’s Centre at West Moonah in 1989. As Director of the Aboriginal Children’s Centre from 1989 to 2013, she helped design a state-of-the-art, award-winning, culturally inclusive children’s centre at Risdon Cove. Alison believes she was fortunate to be at the forefront of developing a multifunctional Aboriginal service, the first of its kind in Tasmania. It was, in fact, a precursor to the Child and Family Centres rolled out across Tasmania in recent years.

In 2013, Alison was appointed as the Leprena Manager, Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC Tasmania). Alison has been instrumental in broadening Leprena’s engagement, networking and connections. Leprena’s mission is to be the lead provider of cultural and spiritual learning and immersion, uniting First and Second Peoples through Tasmanian Aboriginal culture, and the National UAICC story, across the nation. Leprena promotes a shared learning and unlearning between First and Second Peoples and provides projects and programs in a culturally and spiritually safe space by facilitating gatherings centred on cultural, emotional and social wellness. Leprena also provides training to church communities, not-for-profits, government and non-government organisations and educational groups.

Alison is also heavily involved with multiple advocacy, policy and strategic planning committees. She is a member of the UAICC National Executive, Uniting Care board of Australia, Uniting Church Assembly Standing Committee, Advocate for the Walking Together circle for the National UCA Assembly, co-chair of the UCA Vic Tas Walking Together committee and various others.

Alison has made numerous contributions to publications and resources nationally around culturally inclusive practice models of service delivery for Aboriginal communities. She has also been involved in advocacy and policies impacting social justice movements and climate change.

Alison has a Bachelor of Education and an Advanced Diploma in Management.