Invited Speakers

Dr Francis Lannigan
Iinformation coming soon!

Damian Howard
Dr Damien Howard is a psychologist and educator with a research interest in the social outcomes of middle ear disease, especially among Aboriginal people.  He lives in the Northern Territory of Australia where 30 per cent of the population is Aboriginal, many of whom live in remote communities in extreme poverty and where middle ear disease is endemic. This ear disease results in widespread hearing loss among Aboriginal children and adults.  He has worked in these communities as well as more urban contexts as a teacher, psychologist, cross-cultural consultant and researcher.  His doctoral studies researched school behaviour problems associated with Aboriginal students conductive hearing loss. In recent years he has been looking at occupational outcomes of widespread adult Aboriginal hearing loss. A number of research reports and resources developed by him are available at www.eartroubles.com

Ken Wyatt
Ken has a strong Noongar, Yamatji and Wongi heritage and believes that education and access to the knowledge society involves life-long learning and is the key to the change and making informed decisions of choice. Ken recently held the position of Director Aboriginal Health New South Wales Department of Health from 2003 and has returned home after being successful in being appointed as the Director Aboriginal Health with the Western Australian Department of Health. His leadership at the national level and within New South Wales is widely acknowledged and appreciated by many.  Prior to leaving Western Australia Ken held the position of Director of the Aboriginal Education Department of Education Western Australia from 1992 until June 2002 where the focus of his work was on improving educational outcomes for Aboriginal students. He also held the position of Pro Chancellor of Edith Cowan University Western Australia for a period from 2001-2003 when he relinquished the role to take up his appointment as Director Aboriginal Health in New South Wales. 

In 1996 he was honoured to receive an Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours List and in 2000 The Centenary of Federation Medal for his efforts and contribution towards improving the quality of life, firstly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and to mainstream Australia society in education and health. Ken has been actively involved with numerous committees associated with Aboriginal Affairs, Education, Health and the Aboriginal Lands Trust at the community, State and National levels and with ATSIC as a Regional Chair.  Ken is committed to working towards achieving better outcomes and opportunities for Indigenous Australians and Australian society.

Stephanie Button
Stephanie is the Acting Program Manager with "Deadly Ears" State-wide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ear Health Program.  She is an Aboriginal woman born and bred in Cherbourg, Queensland.  Her family connections on her mothers' side are (Grandmother) Kullali (from South West Queensland) and (Grandfather) Wakka Wakka (South East Queensland).  Connections on her fathers' side are Birri Gubba (Central Queensland).  Stephanie has worked within the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health system for over 20 years, incorporating all areas in health that relates to her people.                

Tracee Cunningham
Tracee is the A/Senior Communication Skills consultant with Deadly Ears. >From Ireland originally, Tracee has significant experience and training in Nursing and Speech Pathology. Her team focus on developing culturally appropriate and evidence based practises specific to Ear Disease and the implications on child development, education and the future of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.  Tracee is currently leading the way in validating a new culturally appropriate screening tool which will assist in identifying children with developmental delays, and researching indigenous child developmental milestones