Speakers

Elizabeth is both a registered nurse and a priest in the Anglican Church of Australia. She was the inaugural Director of the Centre for Ageing and Pastoral Studies at St Mark's National Theological Centre, Canberra 2001 to 2012. Professor MacKinlay is a member of the Centre for Public and Contextual Theology (PACT) at Charles Sturt University where she researches issues around spirituality, frailty and ageing. The book: Finding meaning in the experience of dementia. (MacKinlay and Trevitt) was awarded the 2013 Australasian Journal of Ageing book prize. A companion book 2015 is titled:Facilitating spiritual reminiscence for people with dementia: A learning guide. A second edition of Elizabeth’s book: The Spiritual Dimension of Ageing was published in 2017.

John Swinton is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom. For 16 years he worked as a registered mental health nurse and as a community mental health chaplain. In 2004, he founded the University’s Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability. The Centre enables academics, researchers, practitioners and educators to work together to develop innovative and creative research and teaching projects. He has published widely within the area of mental health. His book Dementia: Living in the memories of God won the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Ramsey Prize for excellence in theological writing in 2016.

Dr Robyn Wrigley-Carr is Senior Lecturer in Theology and Spirituality at Alphacrucis College, Sydney Australia. She received an ARTFinc grant to research “spiritual care” for people with dementia. Robyn studied her PhD at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, and has published about spirituality and aging in the Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Aging.

Dr Richard Egan is the co-director of the Cancer Society Social and Behavioural Research Unit, part of the Department of Preventive & Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, New Zealand. His background includes five years working as a health promoter in a Public Health Unit and five years secondary school teaching. Richard’s Master’s thesis examined spirituality in New Zealand state schools, his PhD thesis explored spirituality in end-of-life care and he has qualifications in theology, English literature, religious studies, and public health. Richard is a past-president of the New Zealand Public Health Association and is currently on the Board of the Health Promotion Forum.

Professor Kalyani Mehta is Head of the Graduate Gerontology Programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. She has a PhD in Social Work from the National University of Singapore. Dr Mehta’s edited books “Social Work in Context: A Reader” (2004) and “Social Work in the Singapore Context” (2011) have been adopted as textbooks in Singapore. Although most of her research is conducted in Singapore, she has extensive knowledge of the Asia Pacific region. Her passion for older people has led her to specialise in gerontological social work. She was consultant for ESCAP, United Nations and the Asia Development Research Forum and contributed several reports and presentations.

(PhD Boston University, 1987) is the Wicking Professor of Ageing and Practical Theology at Charles Sturt University, Canberra, Australia. He was ordained in the Anglican Church in 1980 and served in parish ministry until 1993. He is an endorsed clinical and forensic psychologist, who has written ten books for publishers such as Random House, Harper Collins, PsychOz Publications, Australian Academic Press, Wiley-Blackwell and New Harbinger. His latest book is The Storied Self(Fortress Academic, 2018) on narrative gerontology. He has four adult children. He is a minister-in-association at Wesley Uniting Church.

Andrew is the Director of St Mark’s National Theological Centre and Associate Professor in the School of Theology, Charles Sturt University. He teaches subjects in the School’s Ageing and Pastoral Studies courses. Andrew’s academic interest is in the intersections between Christian theology, ethics and human emotions; whether personally, in professional codes or in political discourses. His publications include Living in the Next Phase: developing the theology, practice and ministries of later life (2014). Andrew is married to Mary-Anne and they co-parent two fluffy border collies, Wally and Colah. Andrew's plenary address is on Tuesday morning.

Ilsa Hampton MPH, BA, BTheol, GradCertMgt, GradDipEd Ilsa has over twenty years experience in health, community services and aged care, and commenced in 2016 as CEO of Meaningful Ageing Australia. Prior to joining Meaningful Ageing, Ilsa worked in strategic and operational leadership in a range of senior roles in aged and community services including research, social policy, sustainability, spiritual care and community engagement. Ilsa lives in a five-generation household in Melbourne’s north. Ilsa will be presenting delivering a plenary on the New Aged Care Quality Standards for Australia.

Mahjabeen Ahmad is an independent researcher and advocate based in Adelaide, Australia. She is passionate about cultural appropriateness in care situations for the Muslim community. She received the 2016 Governor’s Multicultural Award for her work in the area of Muslim aged care. She has published in academic journals and authored a guidebook on Muslim aged care for service providers. In addition, Mahjabeen delivers cultural training sessions in the context of Muslim aged care and palliative care. Mahjabeen Ahmad will participate in the Interfaith Panel discussion on Wednesday 30 October 2019,

Paul Bongiorno AM is an Australian political journalist and commentator. He is a regular contributor to The Saturday Paper online. He is also a regular commentator on the ABC Radio National Breakfast. Paul has been reporting federal politics for three decades as a member of the parliamentary press gallery.Paul will be giving the plenary session on Tuesday 29 October on the Royal Commission into Aged Care.

Stephen Pickard was appointed Executive Director of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture and Professor of Theology at Charles Sturt University in September 2013, and is currently an Assistant Bishop in the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn. He holds the position of Director of the Centre for Public and Contextual Theology conjointly with these roles. Professor Pickard is the author of several books, including Seeking the Church: An introduction to Ecclesiology(2012) and In-Between God: Theology, Community and Discipleship (2011).