Celebrating Families Speaker Series 2023
MORE INFORMATION COMING SOON
To mark National Families Week 2023, Families Australia will host an online event series showcasing diverse families and community leaders. Hear positive and uplifting stories of family resilience, renewal and reinvention in our Celebrating Families Speaker Series 2023.
Please join us across the week of Monday 15 to Friday 19 May for a 45-minute webinar at 1:00pm (AEST) each day.
This is an exciting opportunity to hear from a diverse range of families, all with their own unique stories.
Further information on our 2023 series will be uploaded soon!
Celebrating Families Speaker Series 2022
Monday 16 May – 1:00pm AEST
Ms Kathy Karatasas, Head of Multicultural Child and Family Program, Service Delivery – Community Settlement Services International
Register for Kathy’s webinar
Kathy Karatasas has worked extensively in statutory and oversight agencies, delivering and managing a range of child and family services including child protection, adolescent and women’s health, early intervention and permanency care programs.
She has a strong commitment to driving services which influence positive wellbeing outcomes and is a strong advocate for sector practice improvements in working with and supporting children and families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.
Kathy currently leads the Settlement Services International‘s (SSI) Multicultural Child and Family Program, which delivers family preservation and out of home care programs including services to support refugee children who have no family in Australia.
Kathy is Deputy Chair of the NSW Peak organisation advocating for children’s services ACWA and a member of several Ministerial and sector advisory committees.
On a personal note, Kathy is a second-generation migrant, whose parents both migrated from Greece and held strong cultural and family traditions. Kathy has four children, having raised them as a single parent, since her husband’s passing over 14 years ago.
Tuesday 17 May -1:00pm AEST
Ms Alana Moller, President Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association (ICPA)
Register for Alana’s webinar
Alana is a member of the Clermont Branch in Central Queensland and has been the President and Correspondence Secretary of the Branch. Alana, with her husband Scott, own and manage a cattle station ‘Star of Hope’ Station, west of Clermont in Central Queensland. They have three daughters – two at boarding school and one in primary school via distance education. She has been home tutor for all three girls completing primary school via distance education.
Alana has had a keen interest in rural education since her own school days, growing up on her family’s cattle station outside of a small mining town. Once completing all of her schooling there, she completed a Bachelor of Education (Secondary English and Geography) with the intent to teach rural. Alana met her now husband in a roundabout way as a result of completing a prac-teaching placement in Clermont. After getting married, Alana continued contract and supply teaching in Clermont and Capella until 2010 when her eldest daughter started distance education and she became the home tutor – meaning that her teaching continued and 10 years later is down to one child in the schoolroom.
Alana has joined federal council knowing that ICPA and all it stands for precisely reflects her passion for rural education and the importance of pursuing equality and accessibility for isolated children.
Wednesday 18 May – 1:00pm AEST
Ms Felicity Kime, President Family Inclusion Strategies Hunter (FISH) and FISH peer worker
Register for Felicity’s webinar
I am fortunate enough to be the mother of four beautiful children. Following some very challenging experiences, my children were taken into alternative care arrangements. Consequently, I understand the struggle parents go through when dealing with the complexities around the child protection system and navigating the loss of their children. These devastating circumstances compelled me to turn my life around and improve my relationships with my children. I now have had two of my children restored to my care.
I am now fully dedicated to helping other parents understand the often-frustrating child protection system and hope to link them with information to make the process easier. We all have challenges in life, and it’s up to us as parents to make sure we come out the other side thriving for the sake of our young ones.
Thursday 19 May – 1:00pm AEST
Mr Brendan Moyle, Chief Executive Officer
Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council (DLALC)
Register for Brendan’s webinar
Brendan Moyle is a Kamilaroi/Gomeroi man with cultural connections across northern-NSW, but who has lived across the South East of NSW.
He is currently the CEO of Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council, and has over twenty years in leadership roles in Aboriginal community controlled organisations providing a range of supports including housing, cultural heritage, economic development, social justice and land rights.
Brendan is a single father with two daughters, and grew up in a home with his four sisters and one brother spanning almost twenty years between them.
His life journey has shaped who he is as a father and part of a larger family unit, and how he supports Aboriginal people recognising and responding to the needs of Aboriginal families today and into the future.
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