In complex and uncertain funding and service delivery environments leadership and practice must evolve to remain sustainable and effective. With increasing focus on both the persons' and staffs' rights, wellbeing and safety in schools and community services the need for effective rights-based responding is paramount for building resilient, and psychologically safe services that deliver meaningful outcomes. This presentation provides a real alternative to traditional approaches that are becoming increasingly limited and problematic in contemporary practice environments. It goes beyond ideas to offer an approach that includes strategies for responding and research-based evidence of effectiveness. The presentation identifies a critical issue for all services working with people with complex needs. It offers a new and effective approach which is largely unused yet can deliver meaning outcomes for safety and wellbeing for young people and adults alike. The issues, strategies and evidence are discussed in an applied way. Common barriers are also addressed to aid understanding and assist in effective implementation. Complex ideas are made practical and accessible in this presentation. on-Aversive Reactive Strategies (NARS) are described with examples and evidence of their efficacy for complex and risky behaviour. NARS resolve behavioural crisis without resorting to punishment or restrictive practices, thereby meeting legal, policy and ethical requirements. A range of NARS including needs-based responding are described for achieving safety. These 'first resort' crisis management techniques avoid 'rights compromising' last resort responses. This protects relationships, avoids risks of re-traumatisation, offers safety for the person, staff and other stakeholders. Concerns like the fear of 'making behaviour worse' are addressed through a holistic multi-element support context that upholds psychological safety for all involved.

This presentation explores how lived experience reveals critical gaps in the systems designed to ensure the safety and wellbeing of young people in an increasingly digital world. Through the stories of two children lost to suicide, we highlight how online harm, mental health, and system fragmentation intersect, impacting relationships, identity, and early intervention. This session is for educators, school leaders, wellbeing professionals, safeguarding leads, policymakers, and community organisations working with young people. Participants will gain deeper insight into how digital environments are shaping risk, along with practical strategies to recognise early warning signs, strengthen relational safety, and embed prevention-focused approaches. They will also leave with a clearer understanding of how to bridge gaps between systems to better support young people before crisis occurs. It matters now because digital environments are evolving faster than our systems can respond. Without coordinated, prevention-focused approaches that strengthen relational safety and emotional awareness, young people will continue to fall through the gaps, often before warning signs are recognised or acted upon. This presentation centres lived experience as critical evidence to inform safer, more responsive systems. Through our children’s stories, we offer enduring insights into how harm occurs across digital, social, and systemic contexts, and where current approaches fall short.

To be confirmed

This presentation offers an alternative conception of research-informed practice that challenges human-centred constructions amid escalating human-driven environmental degradation. Drawing on ecofeminist and ecojustice traditions, teaching practices are conceptualised as relational, storied, and ecologically situated (d’Eaubonne, 1999; Mies & Shiva, 2014). The paper examines how alternative ways of knowing are enacted within teacher education programs and curricula, while analysing the systemic and institutional constraints that privilege what counts as legitimate knowledge. The study is informed by ecofeminism, which identifies patriarchal domination as foundational to intertwined systems of social, ecological, and epistemic exploitation (d’Eaubonne, 1999; Fotaki & Pullen, 2024; Gain, 2025). Ecofeminist theory positions the subjugation of women and exploitation of nature as mutually reinforcing, while contemporary decolonial ecofeminism foregrounds diverse ontologies, worldviews, and more-than-human relationality (Gain, 2025; Jones, 2022; Siegel, 2024). Using an autoethnographic methodology, cultural storytelling serves as both method and analytic lens through which knowledge is represented, authorised, and enacted in education. The concepts of binary subjectivity, slow ontology, and hybridity are explored to illuminate the complexities of identity, belonging, and being. Cultural storytelling is positioned as an epistemic practice that renders lived experiences visible, intelligible, and legitimate, demonstrating how dominant knowledge paradigms can be challenged and culturally safe learning environments cultivated through recognition of diverse ways of knowing. The discussion considers implications for teacher education, arguing for greater recognition of lived experience and culturally situated knowledge as catalysts for transformative practice and social change.

Despite decades of advocacy and reform, our communities continue to face complex challenges to their safety and wellbeing. This presentation will demonstrate why integrating lived experience is essential for designing effective responses and share practical insights into ethical co-design for child, family and community service organisations. This session will focus on embedding lived experience in policy, programs, services and governance as a strategy to accomplish meaningful systems change. Using Safe at Home as a case study, the panel will reflect on their learnings, including the importance of care, consideration and planning when embarking on co-design. This session is for leaders, practitioners, policy makers and sector partners working within the community services sector. Participants will gain practical insights into co-design that centres lived experience safely and ethically, including in lived experience governance. Attendees will leave with better understanding of the benefits of embedding victim survivors’ voices in the design and governance of policies, programs and services and how to collaborate with other organisations in pursuit of this. This presentation will embody Enduring Wisdom, Emerging Futures by combining long‑held knowledge from women with lived experience of homelessness and family violence with the perspectives of three speakers who played varied roles in co-designing and implementing Safe at Home. The panel will illustrate how co‑creating with victim‑survivors builds stronger, more responsive systems, honouring their lived experience in this area.

For anyone whose work asks them to keep finding their voice, and to keep going. Conflict is the daily weather of this work. We sit with families in crisis, carry impossible decisions, and have the hard conversations no one else will. Finding your voice in those moments is essential, and, done without care, can be very depleting. This is a hands-on workshop, not a talk. No death by PowerPoint. Drawing on more than a decade in the courts and over 1,500 mediations, Mary guides you through a practical, conversation-based approach to conflict that lets you speak honestly while staying grounded, boundaried, and whole. You’ll work through real scenarios, leave with language you can use on Monday morning, and come to see self-protection not as stepping back from conflict, but as how you show up within it

Details to be confirmed.

In an age where young people are constantly online yet increasingly disconnected, this workshop invites educators to return to the foundations of wellbeing: genuine, meaningful connection. Together, we’ll explore how to help young people strengthen their connection to others, to community, and to self- three essential pillars that underpin resilience, belonging and emotional health. Through a mix of practical insights, real‑life examples, and engaging hands‑on activities, participants will experience strategies they can immediately use to foster stronger relationships and a deeper sense of belonging within their school communities. The workshop will also showcase how Kids Helpline’s virtual services- Kids Helpline, My Circle and Qwibbl- offer accessible pathways for young people to feel supported, understood and more connected in their everyday lives. Come ready to reflect, participate, and leave with a toolkit of activities designed to help young people feel seen, valued and genuinely connected. Happy to be guided by you, as to whether you think this is on the right track or not and change direction if need be.

This presentation focuses on how schools can better support students experiencing school refusal, disengagement, and relational breakdowns, particularly neurodivergent learners. With increasing complexity in student needs, traditional compliance-based approaches are often ineffective. This work matters now as educators are seeking practical, compassionate, and evidence-informed ways to create safe, inclusive environments that prioritise wellbeing, rebuild trust with families, and support sustainable student re-engagement.

Mentoring strengthens safety, wellbeing, relationships, and emotional intelligence by creating trust‑rich learning environments. It encourages open dialogue, reflective thinking, and supportive challenge, helping learners manage emotions, build resilience, and communicate effectively. Through consistent guidance and positive role‑modelling, mentoring deepens connection, reduces anxiety, and promotes respectful relationships. This nurturing climate empowers many learners to grow confidently and achieve best outcomes. This Case Study explores how mentoring can create a growth‑focused environment by combining clear expectations, supportive guidance, and gentle accountability. Approaches shared encourages individuals to explore strengths, confront limiting beliefs, and build confidence through structured reflection and practical skill development. By modelling trust, active listening, and constructive feedback, mentoring fosters psychological safety—allowing people to take risks, learn from mistakes, and stretch beyond comfort zones.

This presentation explores how schools can move beyond one-off cultural events toward sustained, whole-school approaches to belonging and intercultural understanding through authentic partnerships. Using a primary school in metropolitan Melbourne as a case study, it examines how an Artist-in-Residence program supported the embedding of First Nations perspectives through art, student voice and community engagement. At a time of increasing social division and uncertainty around cultural conversations, schools play a critical role in fostering belonging, cultural safety and social cohesion for all young people.

Children and young people thrive when they can live safely with their families. The Family Preservation and Reunification (FPR) Response is an evidence-based initiative that works with families where children are in out-of-home care or at risk of entering it. This presentation will focus on a recent participatory evaluation by Uniting Vic.Tas of our FPR program, which was completed in partnership with parents with lived experience of family services. This presentation, co-delivered with a consumer partner, will share insights on embedding lived experience in evaluation and highlight what works to strengthen child safety and family wellbeing in complex and evolving service systems. This presentation is for community service leaders, practitioners, evaluators, researchers, and policymakers working in child and family services. Participants will not only gain understanding in what works to keep children safely at home, but also practical strategies for embedding lived experience in evaluation. They will leave with a greater understanding of how participatory approaches that centre both professional and lived experience perspectives produce more relevant, credible, and actionable evaluation findings that strengthen child safety and family wellbeing. Using the Family Preservation and Reunification evaluation as a case study, this presentation shows how evidence, best practice, and lived experience can be drawn together through collaborative sense making to produce more relevant, credible, and actionable evaluation findings that strengthen child safety and family wellbeing, practitioner practice and system responsiveness in complex child and family service contexts.

Alternative education settings deliver learning support that is deeply relational and personalised. Student progress can be non-linear, and gains that look small on paper can represent significant transformation for a child or young person. Drawing on our work across diverse systems, we will share our observations of how settings and systems are currently measuring and understanding their impact We will highlight what is working well, as well as the common challenges and tensions in capturing meaningful progress Bringing our perspective as evaluators of a wide range of school programs, we will offer practical insights to support deeper, context-sensitive understanding of impact.

This presentation focuses on embedding emotion regulation as a shared, whole-site capability that shapes how staff and students respond in the moment, with impact on both self and others. Grounded in neuroscience and cognitive behavioural theory, staff build self-awareness, understand the developmental stages of adolescence, and their role in managing their emotions and co-regulating young people. Students are explicitly taught strategies to self-regulate, communicate, and use their agency to take responsibility. This matters now, where schools face increasing complexity in student wellbeing, behaviour, and diverse developmental and learning needs. It prepares young people for life at school and beyond, where strong regulation, communication, and relational capability support success.

This session deepens understanding of child trafficking and exploitation within the Australian context, drawing on current realities, practical insights, and the challenges we face in a rapidly changing environment. David explores current concerns in identifying children experiencing exploitation in Australia, how trafficking and child exploitation intersect, and how stereotypes can shape understanding and responses. Drawing on international learnings from ZOE’s restorative care work in Thailand, the session also highlights pathways to healing and recovery and how children and young people can be better supported. Grounded in evidence, on the ground experience, and practical case studies, this session equips participants to think critically, hold complexity, and strengthen responses that centre the safety, dignity, and care of vulnerable children.

Cultivating Respect Through Social and Emotional Literacy: We will workshop how language and interventions from Mental health First Aid delivered across a whole college community can establish norms and expectations centered on respect, empathy and understanding. By empowering students and staff to value themselves, we explore the ripple effect this has on their community. Participants will gain insights into practical approaches that build confidence, encourage exploration of new opportunities, and foster a sense of intrinsic value. Data-Informed Strategies for Developing Flourishing Learners: Drawing from our experience at a large secondary school with over 2500 students, we will demonstrate how data can drive effective practice in enhancing the capacity of both staff and students. Our approach integrates evidence, experience, to build mental health literacy and create resilient learning environments. Participants will learn actionable strategies to leverage wellbeing data across multiple campuses, enhancing social, emotional, and mental health literacy.

Why can’t we just feel whelmed? Not flooded. Not shut down. Not about to explode. Just… whelmed. For many young people, even mild discomfort can feel intolerable, pushing them outside their Window of Tolerance and into reactive states like fight, flight, or freeze. In these moments, distress becomes the driver, and behaviour often turns impulsive, disruptive, or withdrawn, affecting both learning and safety. We’ll explore the distress paradox, how efforts to avoid discomfort can actually amplify it, and how patterns of up- or downregulating behaviour become strategies to manage an internal world that feels overwhelming. That’s the function of distress tolerance. It doesn’t fix the feeling, but it gives students something to reach for in the feeling. A way to ground, distract, or steady themselves just enough to choose a better next move. This presentation equips educators with practical, psychologically informed tools to support students through moments of emotional intensity, responding in ways that reduce impulsive reactions and gently redirect emotional momentum, while preserving a sense of safety and flow in the classroom

This presentation focuses on Seeing the Need, a key finding from a constructivist grounded theory study of placement stability in statutory kinship care. Seeing the Need describes how family and kin come to recognise a child’s unmet need for care and make the decision to step forward. This matters now because systems continue to struggle to find and engage family for children on statutory orders, particularly those with complex needs. Applying this insight reframes family finding as a relational, emotionally intelligent process that strengthens safety, belonging, and long‑term wellbeing for children and young people.

The Ronald McDonald Learning Program is one of the programs offered by Ronald McDonald House Victoria and Tasmania and aims to help students from foundation to year 12, who have missed school due to a chronic health condition or serious illness, catch up on their learning. Whilst implementing this support through several different programs, an unmet need was identified for this cohort of students who experience mental health challenges as a result of their illness and subsequent absences from school. As a unique educational setting that provides onsite teaching at the North Fitzroy House as well as tutoring support in local communities across Victoria and Tasmania, the opportunity to pilot the Seasons for Growth Program was welcomed. Following the successful pilot, the teaching team is looking ahead to develop an online program to capture regional students as well as incorporating a parent program. Bridging the education gap for students that have missed school due to a chronic health condition or serious illness is at the core of the education services provided by The Ronald McDonald Learning Program, however the impact of illness on mental health for these students continues to be a burden. Introducing a pilot of the Seasons for Growth program in this unique educational setting has been pivotal in improving the wellbeing of identified students.