Facilitated by Barry Evans, Consultant

Barry holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), a Graduate Diploma of Education and a Masters Degree in Organisational Development & Training. Most of Barry's working career was with The Buttery, beginning in 1983. In 1988, Barry was offered the position of Director in 1988, and continued in the role of Executive Director (CEO) until his retirement in July 2014.  The Buttery is the largest provider of drug and alcohol treatment services in northern NSW.  Its residential program, located near the seaside town of Byron Bay, operates as a therapeutic community, providing medium-term residential rehabilitation

In 1990, Barry was elected to the Board of what was then the Australian Therapeutic Communities Association. In 1995, he was elected to the position of President of ATCA and served for two years in that position. He was again re-elected as ATCA President in November 2000 and in 2008, was elected Chairperson for the Australasian Therapeutic Communities Association, a position he held until retiring in 2014.

Prior to this, Barry reviewed therapeutic communities in Australia and New Zealand, using a Peer Review model which was an early prototype of the ATCA Standard. Since his retirement, Barry has worked with ATCA as Project Officer, focusing on the development and registration of the ATCA Standard. He has also been employed by the Institute for Healthy Communities Australia (IHCA) as a Technical Expert to accompany their auditors when they review agencies for certification as a Residential Rehabilitation Service or a Therapeutic Community.

Barry has served on many Boards and been involved in a wide range of services, including NADA, the Northern Rivers NGO Health Network, the Northern Rivers Community Foundation, and the NSW Quality in Treatment Review Committee.

Workshop details:

This workshop will explore what is required of a member agency as it prepares for a certification audit. The session will focus on the necessities for certification as a Therapeutic Community under the ATCA Standard and the rating scale that determines whether certification is recommended by the auditors. The session will also examine the Essential Elements that inform the Standard and audit outcome and review Stages One and Two of the certification audit.

Facilitated by Robert Henderson: The Henderson Gallery

Part of Robert's vision for The Henderson is to provide life skills to Indigenous prisoners through art. He has entered the Archibald Prize competition four times. The Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize in Australian art. His entry in 2014 was a portrait of nationally popular and respected artist Archie Roach. In 2015 his entry was a portrait of Australian Aboriginal activist, academic, writer and actor Gary Foley. Celeste Liddle, an Australian Indigenous feminist, was the subject of Robert's 2016 entry. This year 2017 Archibald entry is of Ken Gormly, musician "The Cruel Sea."

Robert's dream for The Henderson Gallery is for it to be an outlet and education centre for artistic expression, the preservation of history and for the future appreciation of Aboriginal culture and art.

Workshop details:

Robert will be facilitating a dynamic Workshop focusing on a mindset orientated attitudinal framework. This framework will offer insights to complement existing practices. Exploring the other side of the brain - utilising both sides of the brain in your practice and ways to begin to have consideration for a flexible and balanced approach through difference lens.

Participants will leave with an insight of how to utilise this framework to assist clients to experience a paradigm shift. This involves client/s and the practitioner working together which culminates in an immersive practice event. The framework is a great engagement tool as it is often too hard for clients to verbalise past traumas, therefore this framework enables them to produce a visual illustration to which they can speak as a third person narrative.

The centre of First Nation's culture is story telling which includes historical and current Narrative. Most powerfully presented through dance, song, painting and other artistic practices.

Facilitated by Alanna Mendels and Tegan Nuckey, QuIHN, Harm Reduction Coordinators

Alana Mendels has worked with QuIHN for 8 years. As Harm Reduction Coordinator for the Sunshine Coast, she manages a Primary Needle and Syringe Program, delivers Harm Reduction Community Education and Training, and case manages clients engaged in QuIHN's TIDE Program. Previously based in Cairns, Alanna worked in Townsville and Cape York. Alanna is ecstatic to have returned to the Coast after growing up in Caloundra. Alanna wants to swim with turtles one day, and has two fluffy ragdoll cats.

Tegan Nuckey has extensive experience working in the alcohol and drug sector. For the last 8 years, Tegan has worked as the QuIHN Harm Reduction Coordinator, including coordinating the NSP, providing education and case management for PWID on HCV treatment.

Tegan's passion is working with Indigenous communities, providing education around HCV & harm reduction strategies for injecting drug use. Having had personal experience with HCV treatment, Tegan's key interest is human rights and equality.

Workshop details:

People who inject drugs represent approximately 90% of newly acquired hepatitis C infections. Therapeutic Communities can, and do, play an important role in improving the health outcomes of people living with hepatitis C and can contribute to the reduction in the risk of residents developing advanced liver disease through access to early diagnosis, appropriate support for the management of co-morbidities and access to treatment with new, curative, Direct Acting Antiviral medication (DAAs).

The Queensland Injectors Health Network (QuIHN) has implemented the Hepatitis C Treatment Management Program to offer access to testing and treatment for clients in the community who might otherwise have difficulty accessing treatments. QuIHN has developed a streamlined assessment and treatment model including a comprehensive case management support service (TIDE) designed to assist and support people while on treatment. The Treatment Management Program focuses on recruiting people who are Hepatitis C positive who are currently injecting drugs, or people on Opiate Substitution Therapy, and or people who are accessing Rehabilitation services.

Director - Primary Care & Chronic Services
Agency for Clinical Innovation

Chris Shipway brings a wide range of expertise and more than 30 years' experience in the health service setting including, primary health, community health, chronic disease management, aged care, palliative care, youth health, mental health, drug and alcohol services, acute hospital settings, workforce development and policy development. During that time Chris has held leadership positions in the NSW Health system in Drug and Alcohol, Mental Health, Community Partnerships and Chronic Disease. For the past five years Chris has led the Primary Care and Chronic Services Portfolio at the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation.

Originally trained as an enrolled nurse working, Chris is also a qualified Social Worker and has a Masters in Public Administration.

Practicing Artist - Owner: The Henderson Gallery

To gain an understanding of others, first gain an understanding of yourself. Robert Henderson is a prime example. He took 32 years to discover his roots and now works and lives as a proud Wiradjuri man from New South Wales. He is also a Practising Artist and Owner of the Henderson Gallery.

Robert came up the hard way. After his first day at school he came home and announced to his mother he didn't need to go back as he had already "learned everything". This was his attitude in life. From the age of five he was a dynamic personality, strong minded, arrogant and often not interested in anyone else's viewpoint.

He learned totally from his own experiences and would not ... or perhaps could not ... learn from anything other than life and the experiences life brings.

At school in Buderim his IQ was among the highest; however, Robert was tacitly voted by his friends and their parents as to most unlikely candidate to survive until his 21^st. He smoked, drank and did drugs. He was violent, rebellious and living on the edge very early in life.

One of his biggest challenges was his father. Ex-Navy, the Vietnam veteran clashed violently with his son. At 13 years, Robert was a large lad who knew that his mother thought it inappropriate and disrespectful for Robert to retaliate to his father's violent behaviour.

Rather than kill his father, he was just 14 when he hitchhiked to Sydney, bumped up his age and began working in pubs at Kings Cross. He mixed with all kinds of individuals from diverse backgrounds including police, prostitutes, drug addicts, criminals, entertainers, the military and the underworld. At age 16, Robert was in hospital in a coma. Drunk, he had walked in front of a car and was not expected to live.

He survived, but the accident had unleashed a mountain of pent up rage. For 16 years Robert embarked on a wild existence hitch hiking the east coast of Australia, living on the street, working on prawn trawlers, concrete pumps, in bands, mines, factories, pubs, publishing and more. He got into fights, drugs, and all kinds of self-sabotage and harm to both avoid the pain of his life and correspondingly fit the image he had of himself.

Robert's 'Sabotage Haze' came to a grinding halt at age 32 and he was not in great shape. He was addicted to alcohol, drugs, self-destructive/anti-social behaviour, cigarettes, adrenaline, violence, guitars and motorcycles. When he looked in the mirror, he saw his father. The very person he was running from was staring right back at him - only this time his name was Robert.

Soul searching and counselling eased him back to the person he was destined to be and he realised that through this work he now had something he could give back to young people who had been on a similar journey to his and had similar beliefs about themselves as he had as a child, teenager, adolescent and younger man.

He's been employed by many frontline organisations working with disenfranchised and abused people to rebuild lives, reunify families and champion hope. Robert is no longer violent, nor does he drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or does drugs. Robert has had an interest in art for many years but didn't start painting until quite recently. He says art is about creating a lens through which others might see and feel through different eyes. Art also has a responsibility to record the happenings of our times through artistic lens.

His early paintings produced a narrative collection of visual works inspired by Wiradyuri culture, history and spirituality.

As he painted he continued to unveil, in 16 pieces of work, the story of the massacre of his people in and around Bathurst under the declaration of martial law circa 1823-1827. Constructing these early works, he believes he was being taught and educated into the spirituality and pain of his people. His material is original, unique, practical and effective, using examples drawn from lessons in a life of extremes and tapping into his own inherent spirituality.

Robert's latest exhibition demonstrated a shift in form and technique showing his ability to expand, refresh and develop a style which builds on his early work. As well as his now full-time practice in visual arts, Robert runs art workshops using collaborative concepts that transfer usefully to individuals and organisations. Robert offers private tuition and is available to consult on art projects.

Part of his vision for The Henderson is to provide life skills to Indigenous prisoners through art. He has entered the Archibald Prize competition four times. The Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize in Australian art. His entry in 2014 was a portrait of nationally popular and respected artist Archie Roach. In 2015 his entry was a portrait of Australian Aboriginal activist, academic, writer and actor Gary Foley. Celeste Liddle, an Australian Indigenous feminist, was the subject of Robert's 2016 entry. This year 2017 Archibald entry is of Ken Gormly, musician 'The Cruel Sea.'

Robert's dream for The Henderson Gallery is for it to be an outlet and education centre for artistic expression, the preservation of history and for the future appreciation of Aboriginal culture and art.

Chief Executive Officer, Odyssey House Victoria

Stefan is the father of two boys, a psychologist, and the CEO of Odyssey House Victoria where he manages a number of intensive treatment, training, research, and support programs for those affected by drug and alcohol and mental health problems. Stefan has worked in the alcohol and other drug sector for over 15 years and has been active in promoting change to better address the needs of children and families affected by problematic parental substance use.

In the past, Stefan has worked as a senior counsellor in a range of settings and has conducted research on alcohol use, men's issues, sexual coercion, intimacy, family work, and fathers. Stefan has delivered workshops to more than 5,000 young people in football and netball clubs across regional Victoria, and has also taught courses in counselling, statistics, drug and alcohol, family work, and personality disorders and has presented papers and workshops at several National and International conferences.

Stefan received a Harvard Fellowship in 2014, was an Australian delegate to the United Nations NGO Forum on Drugs in 2008, and is the current President of the Victorian Alcohol & Drug Association and a Board Director of the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia. On weekends, Stefan is a junior football and cricket coach, and enjoys cooking and travel.

Executive Officer, ATCA
Honorary Principal Fellow, University of Wollongong

Lynne is a Clinical and Forensic Psychologist and holds a position of Honorary Principal Fellow with the University of Wollongong, where she was previously an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology. Lynne has a long history with therapeutic communities and within the AOD sector, commencing with Alpha House and the Ley Community in the UK in 1974. She has worked in both the non-government and Government sectors, as a program and clinical director, policy officer, lecturer, researcher and consultant in Australia. In 2010, Lynne was inducted into the National Drug and Alcohol Awards Honour Roll.

Lynne has extensive clinical and research experience and has published over 30 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapter and monographs. She has also served as the National Convener of the Australian Psychological Society's Psychology and Substance Use Interest Group and was the Chair of the Illicit Drugs in Sports Initiative. Lynne has held appointments to the IGCD National AOD Workforce Development Strategy Working Group, the Advisory Committee for the Review of the Drug and Alcohol Prevention and Treatment Services Sector and the Of Substance Editorial Reference Group. She is currently a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Therapeutic Communities.

Director, National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC)
University of New South Wales

Professor Michael Farrell, is the Director of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre in the University of New South Wales in Sydney Australia. He was a Professor of Addiction Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London up until 2011.

His area includes broad based population studies based on Psychiatric Morbidity and its relationship to substance use. His other key area is Evidence Based Practice and Treatment Evaluation and the Translation of research into practice with a focus on harm reduction. He is a founding Editor of the Cochrane Drug and Alcohol Group. He is the Theme lead for UNSW Faculty of Medicine promoting research collaboration across mental health, addictions, neuroscience and ageing.

He has published over 200 scientific papers and is a member of the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence. He is Assistant Editor of Addiction. He has undertaken a wide range of work for international agencies and for National Governments on aspects of National Drug Policies.

NHMRC Senior Research Fellow
Lives Lived Well Professor of Alcohol, Drugs & Mental Health
The University of Queensland

Professor Leanne Hides holds an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship and the industry-supported Lives Lived Well Chair in Alcohol, Drugs and Mental Health at the University of Queensland. She is a senior clinical psychologist with over 17 years of clinical and research experience in the treatment of primary and comorbid substance use disorders in young people. Professor Hides has led 15 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on substance use treatment and has been a chief investigator (CI) on a further five. She also develops web and mobile-phone based programs. Her current work uses strengths-based approaches to target both risk and protective factors for youth substance use. Professor Hides have been a CI on eight NHMRC project grants (7 current) including two as the chief investigator. She has 123 publications including 99 peer reviewed journals and has written five treatment and training manuals. Professor Hides' work has presented her work at over 100 conferences and has been invited to present 13 keynotes and participate in 17 symposia at national and international conferences.

Director, Illawarra Institute for Mental Health
University of Wollongong

Professor Frank Deane teaches in the clinical psychology programs in the School of Psychology and is the Director of the Illawarra Institute for Mental Health at the University of Wollongong. He has worked as a clinical psychologist or clinical researcher in New Zealand, USA and Australia. His research is predominantly applied in nature and focuses on help seeking, 'recovery-oriented' service provision, routine outcome assessment and training in mental health and drug and alcohol treatment contexts. He has been a CI on ARC, NHMRC, Rotary Health, Movember Foundation and multiple industry funded grants. His research programs have been awarded multiple ANZ Mental Health Services Awards. The collaborative research work with The Salvation Army has led to a National Drug and Alcohol Research Award (2012), Excellence in Research and Evaluation Award at the NSW Non-Government Alcohol and Other Drug Awards (2016) and, the Australasian Therapeutic Communities Association Excellence in Research and Evaluation Award (2016).

Senator for New South Wales

Deborah grew up in an Irish, small business family in outer Sydney before moving to the Central Coast in 1985. Before entering Federal Parliament, she was a high school teacher between 1986 and 2000 and a lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Newcastle until 2010 where she co-ordinated courses in teacher education.

It was Deborah's connection to the regional NSW community through education that guided her into politics. She entered federal politics in 2010 when she was elected to Federal Parliament as the Member for Robertson. Deborah was appointed to the Senate in 2013 and in 2016 she was elected as a Senator for NSW for six years.

Deborah has been Junior Vice-President of NSW Labor since 2011.

In Parliament, Deborah has occupied a number of positions including Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Health; Chair and Deputy Chair of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Corporations and Financial Services; member of the Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment and member of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing.

In September 2016, Deborah was appointed Shadow Assistant Minister for Innovation and Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health.

Deborah continues to live on the NSW Central Coast with her family.

The James A. Pitts Oration has been established as an annual event to feature Australian and internationally renowned individuals who have been a significant contributor to research or practice in therapeutic communities. Named in honour of James A. Pitts, who has worked in the Alcohol and other Drugs field for more than 38 years, the Australasian Therapeutic Communities Association (ATCA) takes great pleasure in partnering with Odyssey House McGrath Foundation in this important event.

James retired as CEO of Odyssey House in 2016 after more than 32 years in that role. James was selected to a number of prominent boards over his career and was awarded the Ted Noffs Foundation Award for Individual Achievement in the AOD field in 2000, the Australia Day Medal in 2001 by the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia in recognition of his contribution and commitment to the field, the inaugural fellowship by the Harvard Club of Australia, Not For Profit Fellowship Program in 2001, and in 2007 was inducted to the Honour Roll of the National Drug and Alcohol Awards. In 2016, James was presented with the O. Hobart Mawer Award, in Recognition of Excellence in the global field of Therapeutic Community Treatment, by the World Federation of Therapeutic Communities at a ceremony in Mallorca. James has also previously served as a Board Member of the ATCA Board over many years and was a founding member of ATCA.

The James A. Pitts Oration has been made possible thanks to the generosity of a long-time Odyssey House donor.

This year's oration will be delivered by (Hon) Professor Jan Copeland.

(Hon) Professor Jan Copeland (PhD) is the founding and sole Director of the National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre (NCPIC) at UNSW Australia from 2007 to its defunding by the Turnbull Coalition government in 2016. She is now leading her own consultancy Cannabis Information and Support. She is a registered psychologist and a member of the US College on Problems of Drug Dependence, the Australian Psychological Society, International Society for Research on Internet Interventions and the International Cannabinoid Research Society. She has worked in the addictions field at UNSW for more than 25 years, specialising in the development and testing of tools and brief interventions for the management of cannabis use disorder among adults and adolescents.

Her research and research translation work has attracted $42.5million including 14 clinical trials, 4 as CIA with NH&MRC and 5 as a member of NH&MRC CI teams. She has more than 350 publications (n=175 in peer reviewed journals) including lead author of a 2015 book on quitting cannabis for Allen & Unwin and sole author of a clinical manual for US Hazelden Publications on brief CBT interventions for cannabis use disorder released in 2017. She has advised national and international governments on cannabis-related prevention and treatment. She is an Associate Editor of Drug and Alcohol Dependence and Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment among other journal editorial roles. Prof. Copeland has received a number of awards for her contribution to drug-related treatment, public health and community education.