Speakers

	Jenny Brockie Jenny Brockie is a multi-award winning journalist and documentary maker with more than 20 years experience in quality broadcasting. She is a recipient of the prestigious Gold Walkley Award for excellence in journalism; for her highly acclaimed documentary 'Cop It Sweet' about Sydney's Redfern Police. She has also received two AFI Awards, a Logie, a Human Rights Award, two Law Society Awards and another Walkley Award for her work in television journalism and documentary making. Jenny's journalistic experience spans television, radio and print. She reported extensively both nationally and internationally for both 'Nationwide' and ' Four Corners'. In addition, Jenny has presented her own interview series 'Speaking Personally' on ABC TV, hosted her own morning radio show on 702 ABC Sydney, and produced a variety of quality documentaries.
	Mara Bun, Head of Research, CANNEX Mara Bun was Director of Business Development for the CSIRO before joining CANNEX in 2006. She has eight years of experience in investment banking, initially with Morgan Stanley's M&A and High Technology Corporate Finance groups in the US and more recently as Senior Internet Equities Research Analyst with Macquarie Bank. In 2001, she was selected as one of Australia’s "Top 40 under 40" bankers by the Australasian Institute of Banking and Finance. During the 1990s, Mara contributed to the community sector as CFO of Greenpeace Australia and as Policy and Public Affairs Manager of the Australian Consumers' Association (Choice Magazine).
	Chris Cheah, Member, Australian Communications and Media Authority Chris Cheah is a full-time member of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). ACMA commenced on 1 July 2005 and was formed by the merger of the previous Australian Broadcasting Authority and Australian Communications Authority. Chris has had a wide range of roles in communications policy and strategy. These have included policy, research, regulatory and strategy roles with the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA), the National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE), AUSTEL and Telstra. Mr Cheah played a leading role in the development of telecommunications, broadcasting and online content legislation, including the Telecommunications Act 1991, the 1997 telecommunications reforms, and the online content provisions of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. For six years he headed up the telecommunications and postal division in DCITA , which advised successive communications ministers on telecommunications policy and legislative issues, as well as running a range of government funding programs.
	Teresa Corbin, Chief Executive Officer, Consumers' Telecommunications Network Teresa Corbin has worked for Consumers' Telecommunications Network (CTN) in several positions since 1995 and was appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer in 2003. Teresa has worked in the community sector in both policy and management positions for 19 years and has built up strong links with consumer groups on a regional national and international level. Over the years Teresa has represented CTN on many different bodies. She has been involved in the self-regulation processes of the telecommunications industry since the Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF) was established now the Communications Alliance. Teresa was a member of the ACIF Board from 2004-2006. She has also held the position of Chairperson of the Communications Alliance (CA) Consumer Council (the CC) since 2004 and is currently the Deputy Chair of the CA Consumer Issues Reference Panel. In 2006, Teresa was a member of the ACIF delegation to the 11th Global Standards Collaboration (GSC) meeting in Chicago, USA. In 2005 she attended the 10th GSC in France and also performed the role of Chair for the User [consumer] Working Group.
	Graeme Innes, Federal Disability Discrimination Commissioner, HREOC Lawyer, Mediator and Company Director, Graeme Innes has been a Human Rights Practitioner in NSW, WA and nationally for 25 years. Graeme was a member of the Australian delegation to the United Nations developing a Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. Graeme has been active in the disability field for thirty years. He was Chair of the Disability Advisory Council of Australia for four and a half years. He was the first blind President of Royal Blind Society of NSW and the first Chair of Vision Australia, Australia's largest national blindness agency. Graeme has been one of Australia's delegates to the World Blind Union, and the President of that Union's Asia-Pacific region. Graeme has been a consultant to organisations such as Westpac, Qantas and Sydney Water; on disability issues. In 1995 Graeme was admitted as a Member of the Order of Australia for his contribution to the development of Commonwealth disability discrimination legislation. He was a finalist for Australian of the year in 2003.
	Michael McLeod, Chief Executive Officer, Message Stick Michael is a Ngarrindjeri Monaro man from Southern NSW. In 1963, at the age of two, Michael was removed from his mother and family. He did not know his father and did not see his mother until he was 18, when they first met at his father’s funeral in 1979. Michael’s boyhood was spent in foster homes and in state ward homes throughout New South Wales. Michael’s inner determination to survive adversity saw him achieve his Higher School Certificate in 1979 and complete tertiary studies in Aboriginal Affairs at the South Australian Institute of Technology in 1984. In his late twenties, Michael overcame serious drug and alcohol addictions that almost claimed his life. Michael then spent time in assisting the rehabilitation of others. He accepted a position with the Illawarra Area Health Service as the Illawarra Aboriginal Health Officer. He has been nominated, accepted and sat on a number of National Aboriginal Health Policy Working Parties, being directly responsible to the Federal Health Ministers of the day. As an artist, he has exhibited his works at the Australian Museum in NSW, the National Art Gallery in Canberra, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Exhibition in Darwin and has entered the Archibald – Suliman Portrait Exhibition, on a number of occasions. Michael entered the private sector in 1996, starting an Indigenous ISP business and promoting this to both National/Sate Government and the corporate sectors. His Message Stick business model is aimed at proving that Indigenous and non-indigenous people can work together to achieve generic economic results - yet still fully support, and participate in, community growth. Michael’s future is aimed at advocating the need for Australian society (particularly the private sector and our Governments) to embrace, and support, the challenge Indigenous people face when his people begin the journey towards economic independence.
	Dr Christopher Newell, Associate Professor, School of Medicine, University of Tasmania Associate Professor Christopher Newell, AM is Associate Professor within the School of Medicine, University of Tasmania where he teaches and researches in medical ethics, disability studies, medical humanities, and chronic illness. He has a particular interest in the ethical dimensions of technologies that create disability. Associate Professor Newell is also an Adjunct Lecturer of Trinity College Theological School in theological ethics. Dr Newell is an Anglican priest, recently appointed as a Canon at St David’s Cathedral, Hobart. From 1994 to 2000 he was Vice-President of the Australian Bioethics Association, and a member of the Australian Health Ethics Committee, a Principal committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council. Current Board memberships include the Consumers’ Health Forum of Australia, the Australian Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Council and Australian General Practice Accreditation Ltd, and the Council of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). He chairs the Editorial Committee of Australian Health Consumer, and is a member of the Editorial Board and Editorial Advisory Boards of a variety of journals in health care including the Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy (US), the Journal of Religion, Disability and Health, Nursing Ethics and Australian Prescriber. Dr Newell has an extensive range of publications include 7 co-authored/edited books, 4 monographs, contributions to 5 monographs, 26 book chapters, and some 250 published journal articles and conference papers. He has research for several books in progress, including a book commissioned on Australian spirituality and curriculum. In 1999 Dr Newell was Highly Commended in the Australian Human Rights Awards. In 2001 he was awarded the "Australian Achiever" award in the Australia Day Awards. In 2001 he was also appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
	Tim Noonan, Company Director & Principal Consultant, Tim Noonan Consulting Tim has been consulting to industry, government, NGOs and educational institutions since 1995 when he established SoftSpeak Computer Services. Tim has worked for Vision Australia (formerly Royal Blind Society) for over a decade, focusing on making information and technology accessible to people with disabilities. Tim is a member of two Standards Australia committees and a director on the Board of 2RPH (Radio for the Print Handicapped) NSW, and was a past board member of St. Edmund's School for Blind Children Since 1993, Tim has been representing ATUG (Australian Telecommunication Users' Group) on the Standards Australia "Interactive Voice Response User Interface Requirements" Committee.
	Laurel Papworth, Online Communities Strategist, World Communities Laurel Papworth runs a consultancy specialising in educating companies in how to maximise value from social networks, user generated content and web 2.0 technologies. In the past she had lead roles in digitising Fairfax Newspapers and establishing Optus Convergent media and now Laurel lectures on marketing into social networks at the University of Sydney and advising clients such as Channel 10 (developing online communities around shows such as Australian Idol) and Mobiles2Go (world leader in location based mobile services). Laurel frequently presents on Web 2.0 technologies and how they can best be used at a business level including corporate blogging, RSS feeds, user documentation wikis and vibrant customer communities.
	Mark Pesce Known internationally as the man who fused virtual reality with the World Wide Web to invent VRML; Mark Pesce is the author numerous articles and five books, including The Playful World: How Technology is Transforming our Imagination and frequently writes for publications such as WIRED, Salon, and The Age. For the last three series, Mark has been a panelist on the hit ABC show THE NEW INVENTORS. From 2003 to 2006, Pesce chaired the Emerging Media and Interactive Design Program at the world-renowned Australian Film Television and Radio School. Last year he received an appointment as an Honorary Associate in the Digital Cultures Programme at the University of Sydney. Subsequently, he has gone on to found FutureSt, a Sydney Media and Technology consultancy; with clients that include some of the largest media companies in Australia.
	Louise Sylvan, Deputy Chair, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Louise Sylvan was appointed to the ACCC as the member with expertise in consumer affairs. Formerly head of CHOICE-Australian Consumers' Association, she was also the President of the global consumer movement and served as an executive member of Consumers International for 14 years. Selected as one of 20 of 'Australia's True Leaders' by the Australian Financial Review in 2002, Louise is well known as a force for consumer empowerment and consumer protection in Australia. Louise was a member of the international group which created the Adelphi Charter on Intellectual Property. She has BA and MPA degrees from her original home country, Canada.
	Alex Varley, CEO, Media Access Australia Alex Varley is the CEO of Media Access Australia (www.mediaaccess.org.au), a not-for-profit, public benevolent institution that develops and promotes access to media through technology for disadvantaged people. Since leaving the oil industry in the late 1980s, Varley has had extensive experience in the management of not-for-profit organisations, including senior roles at Sydney Theatre Company and the Australian National Maritime Museum, as well as the Australian Caption Centre. He is also a director of MARS Inc, a not-for-profit vocational training organisation for people with mental disabilities.