The conference will explore the following:

Defining ‘community’ and expanding our understanding of a national identity that fosters and supports social inclusion.

Engaging diversity in making changes so that all Australians regardless of where they live or who they are, can participate in the social and economic life of the nation.

Developing strategies for ensuring that people do not fall through the safety net.

Developing tools for measuring positive change so that we know we are making a tangible difference to people facing entrenched disadvantage.

Community leaders, service agencies, politicians, academics, researchers and government representatives will come together to participate in responding to the challenge of the community sector having to play a critical role in delivering an Australiansocial inclusion agenda. (Source: Federal Government’s Social
Inclusion Agenda)

Conference Themes
Current good practice, as well as ideas for shaping the way forward,
will be highlighted through presentations covering the following
key topics:
Regeneration through capacity building towards greater inclusivity

The community perspective: What does social inclusion mean
for new and emerging communities including youth, women
and families?

What does meaningful participation look like?

Where do we go with what we know in achieving meaningful and sustainable social inclusion?

Challenges for policy makers, service planners and the
community sector.

Achieving universal, connected services.

Creating local partnerships to deliver targeted and tailored interventions which address localised systemic disadvantage.

The above major themes will include developing strategies for
advancing social inclusion through outcomes in:
Housing
Education, Employment and Training Health
Social, Cultural and Recreational Participation
Community Empowerment
Conference Official Opening
Mr Hieu Van Le, Lieutenant Governor of South Australia and Chairman of the South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission
Speakers confirmed to date
Mr Tom Calma is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission . He is an Aboriginal
elder from the Kungarakan tribal group and a member of the Iwaidja tribal group whose traditional lands are south west of Darwin and on the Coburg Peninsula in 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 30 years. Until his appointment as Commissioner, 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 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. Mr
Calma was a White Ribbon Day Ambassador for 2005, 2006 and 2007 and was awarded the prestigious Number One position in the Indigenous category for the Bulletin magazine’s Power 100 for 2007. The Power 100
selects the 100 most powerful people in Australia.
Professor Graeme Hugo is Federation Fellow, Professor of the Department of Geographical and Environmental Studies and Director of the National Centre for Social Applications of Geographic Information Systems at the University of Adelaide. His research interests are in population issues in Australia and South East Asia, especially migration. He is the author of over two hundred books, articles in scholarly journals and chapters in books, as well as a large number of conference papers
and reports. In 2002 he secured an ARC Federation Fellowship over five years for his research project, “The new paradigm of international migration to and from Australia: dimensions, causes and implications.
Ms Sue Conde AM is Vice President of the UNIFEM Australia International Committee. She has extensive experience serving the interests of women and girls at local, state, national and international
levels and has held various Executive leadership positions at State
and National levels of Girl Guides Australia, serving as Deputy Chief Commissioner from 1998-2002. Ms Conde’s international involvements include attending the UN General Assembly Special Session on Women
in New York in 2000, the UN Special Session on Children in 2002 and Commission for the Status of Women meeting in 2006. She has been actively involved in awareness raising around Security Resolution 1325.
Since 2003, Ms Conde has also had extensive involvement with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women through the UNIFEM Australia initiative - the White Ribbon Day campaign. Sue
represents UNIFEM Australia on the Australian Women’s Coalition, one of the four national secretariats funded by the Australian Government,to provide policy advice to the Minister assisting the Prime Minister for Women’s Issues. In January 2005 Sue was appointed a Member in the Order of Australia for service to the community through organisations and
advisory bodies that promote the interests of women.

Associate Professor Abd Malak AM BSW MSW is the Director of the Diversity Health Institute. He has worked in the field of health andsocial welfare for the past 30 years including service provision, policy, planning and management. He has written and published various papers on cross-cultural issues. A/Prof Malak is also Honorary President of the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (FECCA) and the Convenor of the newly established Australian Partnership of Religious
Organisations (APRO). In 2002 he was honoured to be included in the Australian Honours List as a Member in the Order Of Australia for his service to migrant communities. Currently A/Prof Malak is the Executive
Director of Workforce and Organisational Development for Sydney West Area Health Service. A/Prof Malak was appointed as an A/Prof of University of Western Sydney, School of Medicine.
Ms Voula Messimeri is the Chairperson of the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA). She is committed to championing the social and economic benefits of multiculturalism in Australia. Ms Messimeri has been involved in the community servicesfield for 25 years, with a particular focus on multicultural affairs, women’s issues and has a strong commitment to social justice and community building. As Executive Director of the Australian Greek Welfare Society (AGWS) she manages an agency with a diverse range of programs including aged & disabilities, family and children’s services, training and community education. Ms Messimeri serves on a number of Boards including as Deputy Chair of VITS Language Link, Council member of Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria, Trustee Radio-marathon Trust (for children with disabilities) and has served on the RMIT University Council for four years till December 2007. She was inducted on the Victorian Honour Roll of Women, in March 2007.Council of Victoria, Trustee Radio-Professor Hurriyet Babacan is the Professor of Social and Cultural
Development at Victoria University. She has over 20 years of experience as an academic, public servant, community worker, researcher and trainer in the government, community and university sectors. Professor
Babacan was the Executive Director, Multicultural Affairs, Women’s Policy and Community Outcomes Branch in the Department of Premier and Cabinet (Qld), Associate Director, Centre for Multicultural and Community Development (University of the Sunshine Coast), Commissioner with the inaugural Ethnic Affairs Commission in Victoria and was VictorianManager, Office of Multicultural Affairs in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. She has published widely in national and international publications on the issues of multiculturalism, immigration, identity, social policy, gender, racism, settlement, child protection, and community development including two publications for UNESCO on gender and development. She has co-authored a book titled Racisms in the New World Order: Realities of Colour, Culture currently being published by Cambridge Scholar’s Press and is working on a secondbook on Refugees in a Globalised World which will be published by Canadian Scholar’s Press in 2008. She has been recognised for her work
through a number of awards including the Bi-Centenary Medal awarded by the Prime Minister, 2002, Queensland Semi-Finalist Telstra Business Women’s Awards and the Multicultural Services Award by the Premier of Queensland.
Dr Helen Szoke is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Conciliator of the Equal Opportunity Commission of Victoria and has held this position since December 2004. She is currently a member of the National
Health and Medical Research Licensing Committee, Director of the Adult Migrant Education Services and Director of the Melbourne High School Foundation.
Ms Manar Chelebi is a Senior Consultant with Diversity Connect International. Her actions have always reflected her vision. In 2006, wearing an Indigenous head scarf she designed, Ms Chelebi led 44
Muslim students on the Long Walk to express solidarity with Indigenous Australians. As a consultant to Diversity Connect International and executive Officer for the Australian Council for Islamic Education in
Schools, she is passionate about human rights issues and building bridges and in both her personal and professional life strives to embrace people from all backgrounds. As an educator and mother of 3 (including twins), Ms Chelebi like all mothers wants her children to live in a safe and peaceful world where they can grow up free from injustice and proud of their heritage. Her first book ‘The Australian Muslim Student’ was published this year by David Barlow Publishing in Sydney. In 2007, Ms Chelebi was a finalist for the Australian of the Year Local Hero Awards and is proud to be an Australian Muslim calling herself an ‘Aussie Mossie’.
Mr Conrad Gershevitch is the Director, Education and Partnerships Section of the Race Discrimination Unit at the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC): Australia’s
national, independent, human rights statutory authority. He currently manages a section that administers programs working to promote participation, inclusion and respect for Muslim Australians
within a whole-of-community framework. One of the section’s new projects is African Australians: a report on their human rights and social inclusion. Before joining HREOC, Conrad worked for 5 years
with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in several different roles. He then worked in policy and national project management with the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing for
approximately 10 years with a particular focus on mental health programs, especially those working with multicultural health services. He was Director of the Federation of Ethnic Communities’
Councils of Australia (FECCA) for four years (the national, peak body representing ethnic communities in Australia), and has been a visiting fellow at the Australian National University for the sustainable heritage development program.
Mr Abeselom Nega is the President of the Federation of African Communities Council. He has a background in Psychology, Social Policy and Business Administration. Mr Nega was the General Manager of AMES Employment, the largest Commonwealth Government funded specialist employment services provider in
Australia. He is now the CEO of Australian Vocational Training Centre, a Sydney based Registered Training Organisation and consultancy group. Mr Nega has served in a number of Boards Advisory groups for both State and Commonwealth Governments and is currently serving as the Board member of National
Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters. He is a community advocate whose prime interest is helping refugees settle in Australia effectively and he is also an active contributor to social policy debates through his contribution to the media and other social policy magazines. Mr Nega has a keen interest in community capacity building, social policy research and formulation and is
currently working with a number of national and international organisations to help the people of Zimbabwe and Darfur.
Dr Lynn Arnold AO Dr Lynn Arnold is Chief Executive of Anglicare SA, after completing eleven years with World Vision International, as Senior Director [Board Development & Peer Review], World
Vision’s Regional Vice- President for Asia and the Pacific since 2003, and as Chief Executive Officer of World Vision Australia. During this time he also served on a number of professional boards including
the Australian Foreign Minister’s Aid Advisory Council, and the Australian Council for Overseas Aid (now ACFID). Lynn also served for two-and-a-half years as an executive consultant with a large
Spanish media company and from 1979 to 1994 as a member of the South Australian Parliament including over 11 years in Cabinet. His service in government included ten years serving in a wide range
of senior ministries (including Education, State Development and
Agriculture), he also served as Premier in 1992-1993. Lynn Arnold holds a PhD, and in 2004, he was awarded the Order of Australia (AO) for his services to Australia through the South Australian
Parliament as Premier, and internationally through development and humanitarian aid assistance. In 2001 he received the Centenary Medal for his services to the Australian community.