Program Highlights
Jane Caro AM
Day 1 Opening Keynote - 9:30am Monday 22 July 2024
Jane is a Walkley Award winning Australian columnist, author, feminist and public education activist. With an illustrious career spanning advertising, academia and the literary world, she brings a wealth of rich experiences to our event.
With 13 published books under her belt, Jane continues to contribute valuable insights through her columns for Nine Media, The Big Smoke and articles for The Saturday Paper and The Guardian. You might also catch her on Nine’s Today and Today Extra and ABC’s The Drum.
Beyond her literary pursuits, Jane enthusiastically takes on diverse projects, including writer’s festivals, speaking engagements and developing a TV series. Her versatility and dedication make her the perfect keynote speaker for our conference.
Get ready for an enlightening session as Jane Caro joins us to shed light on the crucial issue of addressing and preventing the abuse of older people!
Tracey Curro
Day 2 Opening Keynote - 9:30am Tuesday 23 July 2024
Tracey Curro is a former 60 Minutes reporter, and a Queensland University of Technology Outstanding Alumnus. She has over 20 years’ experience as a journalist, producer and presenter in mainstream media.
With her strong journalism background and experience in business, government, and corporate communications, Tracey is highly skilled at handling information and issues, and can engage with diverse audiences and stakeholders across a wide range of sectors.
In 2023, following the death of her father, Tracey shared publicly the harrowing story of her elderly father’s neglect and abuse as an ex-partner and relatives sought to wrest control of his affairs from his daughters in a two-year battle through the legal and administrative systems.
Her distinguished career on flagship news and public affairs programs combined with her lived experience makes Tracey uniquely placed to provide a powerful personal narrative as a keynote speaker.
Robert Fitzgerald AM
Day 1, 11:00am: In Conversation with Philippa McDonald
The Australian Government has recently announced the appointment of Robert Fitzgerald AM as a Commissioner of the Australian Human Rights Commission in the role of Age Discrimination Commissioner from April 2024. Mr Fitzgerald is currently the NSW Ageing and Disability Commissioner, a role he held since 2019.
Mr Fitzgerald’s early career was primarily as a solicitor and corporate lawyer. He moved into the public service in numerous Commissioner roles across a range of high-profile issues for Government at both State and Commonwealth level, initially as Community Services Commissioner in NSW.
He served as a Commissioner on the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, and as a Commissioner at the Productivity Commission for over ten years. In that latter role he conducted multiple inquiries including into the Care for Older Australians, National Disability Agreement and Australia’s Health Workforce.
Commissioner Fitzgerald has dedicated much of his adult life to promoting the rights of all Australians, especially those most vulnerable. He has been a dedicated advocate of universal, enforceable and practical rights embedded in high quality public policy, legislation, service systems, and the community. He has actively pursued the rights of older people and those with disability to live free of discrimination and abuse in every aspect of their lives.
Anne Burgess AM
Day 1, 11:00am: In Conversation with Philippa McDonald
Anne Burgess has a long history at Executive level in Government as the Director of Mental Health, Director Office for Women and Acting Commissioner for Equal Opportunity.
She is Chair of the Aged Care Council Of Elders, Deputy Chair of Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) and Chair of its network member in South Australia, Aged Rights Advocacy Service (ARAS).
Anne is also Deputy-President of COTA SA and Chair of their Policy Council. Anne also sits on the Northern Adelaide Health Board and the Legal Practitioner’s Conduct Tribunal.
In 2021 Anne was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her significant service to mental health, gender equality and older people.
Philippa McDonald
Conference MC
Philippa McDonald is one of Australia's most trusted and respected journalists. After 30 years at the ABC reporting from all over Australia and the world, she has spent the last three years committed to raising awareness of elder abuse through EAAA's webinars and Compass. This is the second time she has MCed the conference.
Over the past year Philippa has also been working in Timor Leste with the ABC International Development team and RTTL, the young nation's public broadcaster, to help establish an English speaking TV News service.
