KEYNOTES

Dr Karen Pack is an experienced educator and communicator and the current President of Spiritual Care Australia. She has lectured in Australia and internationally for over twenty years, including training leaders in pastoral and spiritual care throughout Africa, Asia, North America, and the Middle East.

These days she is a Religious Historian specialising in the intersection of gender, faith and sexuality, and lectures in History at the University of Notre Dame, Australia. Prior to this she was involved in pastoral and spiritual care for over thirty years as a chaplain and pastor.

She has worked as a lecturer in Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care, having written core subjects for postgraduate degrees in this field. From 2020-2022, she was a founder and co-Pastor of New City Church, a church for “spiritual refugees” who have been cast out of churches or have experienced abuse which previously left them feeling unsafe and disoriented about re-engaging with faith.

Karen is driven by a desire to empower leaders with a sense of their own value and the beauty they bring to the world. As a gay Christian woman who has personal experience of exclusion and bullying in faith contexts, she is passionate about creating safe spaces for all people to explore their spirituality. Pronouns: she/her

Dr Nikki Jamieson (PhD, MSuicidology, BSW Hons) is a Suicidologist, author, researcher and Social Worker in Australia. Following the tragic suicide death of her army son Daniel in 2014, Nikki’s interest in moral injury (MI) and moral trauma in Australia led to innovative PhD research on MI, a range of publications including a global first concept analysis paper exploring the concept of MI and a book!

Nikki has delivered keynote/workshops nationally and internationally and has worked strategically across a range of government areas including DVA, Health and Education in suicide prevention and is currently the A/Director leading the National Suicide Prevention Program in the Department of Defence.

Nikki also remains actively involved in suicide prevention advocacy and policy development with memberships nationally, internationally, and locally with International Association for Suicide Prevention, Suicide Prevention Australia, Standby, and Postvention Australia and retains links to academia through her reviewer status for three internationally accredited journals – International Journal for Mental Health Nursing, Qualitative Health Research and Journal of Veteran Studies.

Nikki continues to advocate for better mental health, wellbeing and suicide prevention support for defence members and veterans and was integral in establishing the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

Fr Peter Day attended the University of Canberra (then CCAE) completing a Bachelor of Sport's Journalism and enjoyed a brief stint with a newspaper in England in 1988. He worked as a radio broadcaster with the ABCin Canberra from 1990-92.

Peter commenced his training for priesthood at St Paul's National Seminary,Sydney in August 1992. His ordination to the diaconate was celebrated in thecar park at the Matthew Talbot Hostel for Homeless Men in January 2000; then10 months later (October 20) he was ordained a priest at St Raphael's Church,Queanbeyan.

In October 2005, Fr Peter founded HOME in Queanbeyan: a community-basedinitiative that provides 24 hour supported accommodation for people withchronic mental illness who cannot live independently, or are at risk of beinghomeless.

Theresa Ardler is a proud First Nations descendant of her seaborn and mountain bloodlines; Gweagal, Gadigal, Bidjigal, Wangal, Cammeraygal, Wallumedegal and Gandangarra Clans of the Eora Nation, Sydney Australia, and her mother’s country where she was born. She grew up in her father’s country the Wandandian Clan of the Yuin nation, Booderee National Park, Jervis Bay, Australia in the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Fishing Community.

Theresa’s working life has been in education in many roles including teacher, consultant, advisor, research officer and lecturer. She has worked across all educational systems Catholic, State Government and Independent Schools within Australia from pre-school to tertiary level. At the Australian Catholic University, Theresa was the first Research Indigenous Liaison Officer of the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education and now Owner of Gweagal Cultural Connections. Theresa currently is a Sessional Academic in the Faculty of Arts & Sciences and Law & Business at The University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney Campus