John is the Chairperson for the Scienentific Committee and is also involved with the Organising Committee. He is a services and planning consultant to the public and private health sectors, human services and Not-for-Profit sectors at both State and National levels. He is currently the Consultant for Services and Planning for Able Australia and is responsible for growth and development of services in Victoria and Tasmania.

John is an Associate Fellow at the College of the Health Service Executives and holds a Bachelor of Applied Sciences. He is also a Qualified Registered Mental Health Nurse and tutors in mental health nursing at Deakin University.

He has been a member of the Victorian Ministerial Advisory Committee on mental health for over seven years, Senior Vice Chairman Board of Directors of a Disability Service Provider in Victoria for over 8 years and President, Board of Directors of The Solid Rock Foundation.

 

 

Eddie Kier  OAM BA(Psych) TPTC TTCTD MAPS FAud SA.

Eddie was responsible for instigating the first early intervention program in Australia for deafblind children and their families in 1965 whilst working at the Royal Children’s Hospital, and has maintained an active interest in working in the area of deafblindness since that time.

Eddie is a founder Member of the Deafblind Association of Victoria (now Able Australia) and has been a Board Member since 1978, including being President for 23 years. Eddie is also a Foundation Member, former Vice-President and now Honorary Life Member of the Deafness Foundation of Victoria. Eddie’s former roles include teaching at Queensland Schools for the Deaf and Blind 1955 – 1960; Senior Audiologist, Department of Audiology, Royal Children’s Hospital 1960 – 1997, and currently is the Director of Educational Audiology, a role he has held since 1997.

Eddie has been awarded the Anne Sullivan International Medal for work with Deafblindness; and the Order of Australia Medal for work with the Deafblind and for contribution to the Profession of Audiology.

 

 

Dr Mike Steer AM is Senior Lecturer in Vision Impairment at Renwick Centre, Royal Institute for Deaf & Blind Children and The University of Newcastle.

His former roles include being the Director of NSW Office on Disability, Principal Advisor on Disability Policy for Government of Victoria; Director, Integration Unit, Ministry of Education (Victoria); Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health & Behavioural Sciences, Deakin University, Director of Special Education, Government of Newfoundland & Labrador, Principal, Psycho educational Teaching Laboratory, Syracuse University, and Principal of the Montreal Association School for the Blind.

 

Meredith Prain is a speech pathologist who has worked in the area of deafblindness for the past fourteen years in a variety of settings including early intervention, a school for children who are blind, adult accommodation and day services and nursing homes. She currently works at Able Australia in their Deafblind Services team and is completing a PhD at RMIT University.

 

 

 

Patricia has been with Able Australia since February 2009 working as the part time Events Coordinator.

She has been heavily involved in the development of the 8^th National Deafblind Conference and works closely with both the Organising and Scientific Committees.

Patricia has a Diploma of Business in Marketing and a Graduate Certificate in Marketing. Her background encompasses over 12 years experience in Marketing and Events Management, working for companies such as Aged Care Association of Victoria, the Victorian Farmers Federation and the MS Society, as well as running a home-based marketing consultancy.

She has hands-on experience coordinating and managing numerous Conferences, Trade Shows, seminars, and community events.

 

 

Stefan is Able Australia’s Marketing and Public Relations Manager having joined Able in September 2009 and is involved in both the Scientific and Organising Committees for the conference.

He has recently worked as a Product Manager for Sensis (Yellow Pages Online), and was previously the Head of Strategy and Communications for the South Australian Film Corporation.

Prior to joining Able Stefan took several months off work to study his MBA part-time and volunteered for organisations such as Reclink and The Gertrude Association.

Stefan has a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing) degree from the University of Tasmania and is currently studying for his MBA at Deakin University.