NIDAC Conference 2010 are proud to announce the Conference Keynote Speakers.

•  Professor Ian Anderson
•  Mr Tom Calma
•  Reverend Tim Costello
•  Mr Gerard Neesham
•  Professor Cindy Shannon 
•  Dr Tracy Westerman

	Professor Ian Anderson Chair of the Indigenous Health at the University of Melbourne, Director of the Onemda VicHealth Koori Health Unit at Melbourne School of Population Health Professor Ian Anderson’s family are Palawa Trouwunna: Plaimairrerenner and Trawlwoolway clans. He is the foundation Chair of Indigenous Health at The University of Melbourne and the Director of the Onemda VicHealth Koori Health Unit at the Melbourne School of Population Health. Professor Anderson is also the Director of Murrup Barak, the new Melbourne Institute for Indigenous Development at the University, and the Research Director for the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (CRCATSIH). He has been a full-time research academic since 1998 when he established Onemda with external funding from the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation and the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. Professor Anderson completed a medical degree at the University of Melbourne in 1989 and has a PhD in sociology and anthropology from La Trobe.
	Mr Tom Calma National Coordinator for Tackling Indigenous Smoking Mr Tom Calma was appointed the inaugural National Coordinator for Tackling Indigenous Smoking on 17 February 2010. Immediately prior to the appointment he was the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission. As Social Justice Commissioner, Mr Calma chaired the Close the Gap for Indigenous Health Equality Campaign Steering Committee since its inception in March 2006 and the Steering Committee charged with establishing the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples.Mr Calma is an Aboriginal elder from the Kungarakan tribal group and member of the Iwaidja tribal group whose traditional lands are south west of Darwin and on the Coburg Peninsula in the Northern Territory, respectively. He has been involved in Indigenous affairs at a local, community, state, national and international level and worked in the public sector for over 35 years. Mr Calma has broad experience in public administration, particularly in education, employment and training programs for Indigenous Australians from both a national policy and program perspective. Until his appointment as Commissioner, on 12 July 2004, Mr Calma managed the Community Development and Education Branch at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (ATSIS) where he worked with remote Indigenous communities to implement community-based and driven empowerment and participation programs. In 2003, he was Senior Adviser Indigenous Affairs to the Federal Minister of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs. From 1995-2002, he worked as a senior Australian Diplomat in India and Vietnam representing Australia’s interests in education and training. He has also served as Race Discrimination Commissioner from 12 July 2004 until 12 July 2009.
	Reverend Tim Costello Chief Executive Officer, World Vision Australia   Tim Costello is recognised as one of Australia’s leading voices on social justice issues, having spearheaded public debates on gambling, urban poverty, homelessness, reconciliation and substance abuse. And since February 2004, as Chief Executive of World Vision Australia, Tim has also been instrumental in ensuring that the issues surrounding global poverty are placed on the national agenda. His passion for justice and for helping to alleviate the suffering of poor communities in the developing world quickly became evident when the devastating Asia tsunami struck on Boxing Day, 2004. The leadership he showed at the time helped to inspire an unprecedented outpouring of generosity from the Australian public, with World Vision Australia raising more than $100 million for tsunami relief. Tim has also played a prominent role in the Make Poverty History campaign. And in April 2008, he chaired the Strengthening Communities, Supporting Families and Social Inclusion Committee of the Australian Government’s 2020 Summit in Canberra.   Prior to joining World Vision Australia, Tim served as Minister at the Collins Street Baptist Church in Melbourne, and as Executive Director of Urban Seed, a Christian not-for-profit outreach service for the urban poor. Between 1999 and 2002, he was also National President of the Baptist Union of Australia.   After ordination as a Baptist Minister in 1984, Tim established a vibrant and socially active ministry at St Kilda Baptist Church between 1986 and 1994. In 1993, he demonstrated his commitment to serving the community by successfully running for the position of Mayor of St Kilda. Tim studied law and education at Monash University, followed by theology at the International Baptist Seminary in Rueschlikon, Switzerland. He also received a Masters Degree in Theology from the Melbourne College of Divinity. In 2004, Tim was named Victorian of the Year; in June 2005 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO); and in 2006 was named Victorian Australian of the Year.
	Mr Gerard Neesham Chief Executive Officer, Clontarf Foundation   Gerard Neesham is the Chief Executive Officer of the Clontarf Foundation and has been instrumental in the coordination and sustainability of the program. His future visions are realistic and despite difficulties his leadership and dedication has prevailed.   After graduating from CBC Fremantle, Neesham qualified as a teacher in 1974. He worked as a teacher from 1975-83 which included two years at Clontarf, 1981 and 1983. However, his first love was sport, in particular water polo and later football. He was determined to represent Australia at the Olympic games but was ‘last man cut’ from the 1976 National squad. Despite this, his notable involvement in water polo includes: 300+ A-Grade (State Level) games; State Representation 1973 – 1979; Australian Representation: 1976 and 1979.   Gerard then concentrated on Australian Rules Football, in both the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) and the Victorian Football League (VFL). He then displayed his leadership skills as coach of the Claremont Football team in the WAFL and as the inaugural coach of the Fremantle Dockers in the national competition. Through these coaching roles, Gerard established a connection with young Aboriginal footballers and became aware of the cycle of disadvantage and disengagement confronting many Indigenous youth. Gerard developed a vision of using football to encourage young Indigenous students to re-engage with education. He saw football as a means of reconciliation, bringing Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians together. Gerard developed the concept of an organisation that would encourage aspiring footballers to perform well academically and on the football field, and he set out to convince Clontarf Aboriginal College to set up a football academy at the College. The Clontarf Football Academy was established in 2000. The program goes well beyond just football training and school attendance. It teaches young Indigenous men good sportsmanship and healthy lifestyle practices, and helps students to find employment or further education.
	Professor Cindy Shannon  Director of the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health, Director of the Centre for Indigenous Health at the University of Queensland   Professor Cindy Shannon is a descendent of the Ngugi people from Moreton Island. She has over 28 years work experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and she has recently been appointed Director of the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health. Cindy also heads the Centre for Indigenous Health at the University of Queensland.    Cindy is a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on BBV and Sexual Health and chairs the Queensland ministerial advisory committee in this regard. She is also a member of the National Health and Medical Research Council and chairs its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Advisory Committee. Cindy is also a member of the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ministerial Advisory Council, the National Health and Hospital Fund Advisory Board and the Queensland Smart State Council.
	Dr Tracy Westerman Managing Director of Indigenous Psychological Services (IPS) Dr Tracy Westerman is of the Nyamal people near Port Hedland, WA. She founded IPS in 1998 to address the inequity between the high rates of mental ill health amongst Aboriginal people and low rates of access to quality services. Dr Westerman has a Post Graduate Diploma (Science, UWA) in Psychology, a Masters Degree (Clinical Psychology, Curtin University) and a Doctor of Philosophy (Clinical Psychology). She is a recognised leader in Aboriginal mental health having won numerous awards including the NAIDOC National Scholar of the Year (2002); the Vice Chancellors Award for the top 10% of PhD’s submitted (2003); the National Health & Medical Research Council Post Doctoral Fellowship to investigate ADHD in Aboriginal people (2004; the only Aboriginal person to be awarded such a fellowship) and the Suicide Prevention Australia Award for Emerging Researcher (2006). She has been recognised in the Who's Who of Australian Women and Who’s Who of the Worlds Women from 2007. She is widely sought after as a keynote speaker averaging 6 Australia wide per year and as an international keynote speaker in Canada (2003); the USA (2004), Auckland, New Zealand (2006 & 2007) and Wellington (2009). In 2005 the Canadian government sent a delegation to Australia to explore Dr Westerman’s innovative approaches resulting in recommendations that the same approach be adopted for Canadian Aboriginal people. Dr Westerman has worked on numerous state and federal tenders, research grants and community based interventions placing her at the forefront of understanding frameworks, policies, procedures and service delivery models that have demonstrated effectiveness with Aboriginal people. Her PhD provided a much needed evidence base regarding the cultural manifestations of mental illness for Aboriginal people and the development of psychometric tests and assessment protocols which represent world ‘firsts’ for Indigenous people’s worldwide. Dr Westerman’s training workshops attract an average of 800 people throughout Australia each year placing her at the forefront of Indigenous workforce development Australia wide. Details of the work of Dr Westerman can be found at www.indigenouspsychservices.com