Central Research Team
Renee C Lovell is the Manager of Sydney Local Health District, Domestic Violence & Women’s Health Service. She is a member of the Sydney Institute Women, Children and their Families. She is responsible for management of the domestic violence clinical team, and coordination of the domestic violence strategic response for the District. She has extensive experience in community development, health promotion, and service review and quality improvement. She has expertise in working in the health and community sector with women who are marginalised and/or experiencing disadvantage and in responding strategically to issues relating to health and equity. She has contributed to development of project documents, including seeding grant application and ethics paperwork. Her ongoing contribution includes supporting recruitment for interviews and communities of practice, and participating in data analysis, formation of recommendations, dissemination of findings and reporting. She is currently working on research projects focusing on trauma informed health care and the intersections between domestic violence and child protection.
Jennifer Jones is a registered nurse and midwife with extensive hospital and community nursing experience. She is also an Honorary Associate of Sydney Nursing School, University of Sydney and a member of the Sydney Institute Women, Children and their Families. Her passion is in promoting and supporting Community Health Nursing. Currently employed by Sydney Local Health District (SLHD) as a Clinical Nurse Consultant Child and Family Health Nursing and is the co-ordinator and a facilitator of the Family Partnership Model Foundation Course Training (Davis 1993). She is a trained facilitator in the Proctor Model of Clinical Supervision and has supervised nurses, midwives and Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) in metropolitan, rural and remote districts of NSW. Her experience includes working with a primary health care focus supporting families with young children and those from Refugee & CALD backgrounds and has worked in East Timor. She has a strong interest in Health Promotion and providing parenting education. Jenni has recent publications in Breastfeeding, Child Protection, Content and Quality of Infant Feeding Smartphone Apps: Five-Year Update on a Systematic Search and Evaluation and is a regular presenter at National and International health conferences. She is currently working on research projects focusing on obesity in children, Community Health Nurses knowledge, skill and attitudes in hand hygiene and perinatal depression in pregnant women and new mothers and Virtual Parenting Groups.
Dr Sue Heward-Belle is the Associate Director of the Research Centre for Children and Families and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney in social work and policy studies. Sue has almost 30 years experience in the domestic violence and child protection fields and has conducted many studies in these areas. She was a Chief Investigator conducting, a range of domestic and family violence focused projects for ANROWS including: The PATRICIA Project and Invisible Practices: Engaging men who use violence. She is also Chief Investigator on two other large scale multi-state projects: Whole of Family approaches to working with families where there is domestic violence & the STACY Project (Safe and Together Addressing Complexity). Her PhD research examined the fathering experiences and practices of domestically violent men. She has a particular interest in advancing gender equitable and socially just approaches to practice that counter mother blaming.
Erin Links is a research assistant at the University of Sydney and a practicing social worker with a background in women’s and children’s services. She is passionate about building practice, research and policy responses that promote the safety of women and children and support their recovery from all forms of violence. Her involvement in this project has included data collection, interviewing, analysis and general support to the research team.
Community of Practice Facilitators
Biljana Milosevic is the Director of Jannawi Family Centre- a specialist NGO therapeutic child protection service in South-West Sydney. She has 20 years’ experience working directly with children and families at significant risk, experiencing violence, abuse (including sexual abuse) and neglect. She holds a Social Work degree with Honours and an Executive Masters in Arts & Social Sciences. As a bi-cultural Social Worker, she believes in ethical practice promoting social justice and the importance of working holistically to ensure safety. She believes strongly in the human right to live in a safe home and for people to participate in decisions being made about and for them.
Dr Susan Heward-Belle is excited to be working with practitioners from rural areas, facilitating a community of practice. She received the 2019 ANZSWWER Social Work Educator Award and the 2019 University of Sydney Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Teaching Excellence Award. She was also awarded the Fellow of the United Kingdom Higher Education Academy.
Project Advisory Group Researchers
This project receives guidance and support from the following members of the Project Advisory Group:
Hayley Foster – CEO Women’s Safety NSW
Renata Field works at Domestic Violence NSW as the Voices for Change Coordinator and Policy Advisor, supporting people with lived experience of sexual, domestic and family violence to speak out about their stories. Domestic Violence NSW is the peak body in NSW representing over 60 organisations working to end domestic violence in the community. Renata holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Sydney and brings more than 10 years’ experience in the not-for-profit community sector to the role. Renata began working with women who had experienced trauma at Guthrie House in 2013, and has worked in a range of roles including at Women’s Safety NSW, Delvena Women’s Refuge and the Education Centre against Violence. Renata is committed to advocating for the needs of women and children experiencing domestic and family violence and improving the service delivery offered to women in need through high quality, well-funded, specialist services.
Jacqueline Walker – Clinical Nurse Consultant-Child Family Health| Tresillian
Jacqueline Walker is Clinical Nurse Consultant-Child Family Health for Tresillian Family Care Services. New to the role of CNC, Jacqueline has had the pleasure of enhancing the Extended Home Visiting Model for Tresillian and supporting the implementation of this model across NSW. Her passion remains supporting the Child and Family Health Nurse (CFHN) to navigate the complex role of placing value on and enhancing the quality of parent child interactions/relationships whilst working at the intersection of ‘systems’. Jacqueline is also interested in contributing to CFH Nursing documentation styles in order to better demonstrate maternal efforts and increase the profile of CFHN role.
Naome Reid – Social Work Team Leader Child and Family Health, Sydney Local Health District
Matthew Balane – Community Projects Officer, Inner West Council
Tanya Smyth – Director, Women NSW
Rebecca Coote – Program Manager, Barnardos
Community of Practice Researchers
Sam Borka, a former asylum seeker, has worked tirelessly supporting and assisting refugees since 2008, first as an adult settlement teacher at University of Western Sydney then Navitas, and currently in his role as a Community Liaison Officer at NSW Department of Communities and Justice. Sam is a part of many interagency meetings and working groups and has shown initiative for and led many successful events to support refugees and newly arrived migrants in collaboration with government and non-government organisations. Sam’s passion is evident in the work he has delivered including leading and hosting information sessions, Court open days, Law expos, and Field visits to police stations and local courts where the aim is to break barriers between community members, Department of Justice and the police. He is co-founder of the South West Sydney Domestic Violence Committee. Sam goes beyond his role to provide casework to support refugees in need of assistance, tailoring legal content to deliver it in a way that best supports the CALD community and refugees.
Janet Dandy-Ward has a Masters in Social Work from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom (UK). She has over 20 years’ experience working for not-for-profit organisations and statutory services in the UK and Australia. As an experienced practitioner, feminist in my approach, she is a keen campaigner and advocate on women’s and child protection issues through my professional and community networks. She believes that balancing the voices and views of women and children has always been the heart and guiding principle of her work. As a manager, she is solution focused in her facilitation style and encourages staff to focus on developing their capacity to incorporate evidence based best practice principles into day-to-day practice. She is passionate about improving the lives of children, young people and their families. This is a fundamental value that has underpinned her extensive direct social work practice experience and also her subsequent work, leading best practice and ensuring quality service delivery.
Glen Dark is a Registered Nurse and Psychologist. She is the Clinical Team Leader of The Whole Family Team in Lismore Northern NSW. Whole Family Teams work with families where parental mental health and AOD use is impacting child protection concerns. She is passionate about working with families from disadvantaged communities that have experienced generational trauma. She has worked in AOD in Health services since the 1980’s, Langton Clinic, Canterbury Community Drug and Alcohol, and at The Buttery a therapeutic community in Northern NSW and Lismore mental health. She has written and successfully applied for grants to support Aboriginal community women’s groups. She values her work now supporting an experienced multi-disciplinary team to provide a specialist service to families and children.
Lanie Devine is a registered nurse having spent time in a variety of areas within the health care sector including; not for profit and private aged care facilities, medical/surgical wards, acute and chronic/complex community services and more recently, the disability sector. She was given the opportunity to coordinate Northern Sydney Home Nursing Service (NSHNS) become a registered NDIS provider, learning invaluable knowledge of the NDIS throughout the project. She is currently working with the Integrated Service Response team hosted by The Ministry of Health supporting the most vulnerable members within our community whilst gathering information to inform on gaps in the service system.
Daniela Francavilla is a social worker with extensive experience working with children and adults who have experienced trauma, including domestic violence. She has worked in the areas of child protection and sexual assault in various statutory, therapeutic and crisis intervention roles. Daniela was the Child Protection and Domestic Violence Educator for Western Sydney LHD for 15 years and is currently employed in two different roles in Sydney LHD – one as Domestic Violence Counsellor and the other as Child Protection Educator.
Neroli Jager is a Domestic Violence Counsellor within the Violence Abuse and Neglect (VAN) Services in the Tweed Byron LHD. Neroli is an Accredited Social Worker and has worked in the fields of adolescent support, youth accommodation, Women’s refuges, Foster care and domestic violence for the last 30 years. More recently in the last 10 years, her focus has been on domestic and family violence, working for an NGO within the Integrated Domestic and Family Violence Services (IDFVSP) program and establishing the Staying Home Leaving Violence (SHLV) program for the Northern Rivers region. Neroli is passionate about providing both a therapeutic and integrated approach to supporting women. Neroli has run women’s domestic violence support groups and community training for professionals and GP’s around responding to domestic violence.
Ms. Barrie Jenkins is an Aboriginal woman originating from and working within the Bundjalung Nation. Barrie’s passion is to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, creating access to services, educating and advocating to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s health and well-being. Barrie’s current position as an Aboriginal Mental Health Clinician with the Whole Family Team in Northern NSW local Health District involves working with families where parental mental health and AOD use is impacting child protection concerns. Barrie has previous experience working as an Enrolled Nurse, she has spent numerous years working with HART Services in the Aboriginal Engagement program creating flexible, culturally appropriate and affordable access to health services, affordable shopping, attending employment and cultural obligations as well as developing and supporting projects identified as a priority by communities within the Northern Rivers Area, at HART service’s Barrie was also employed as the NDIS service Coordinator, coordinating staff to deliver person centred care and services for NDIS participants. Barrie has recently completed a Graduate Diploma in Indigenous Health Promotion.
Daniela Lewkowicz is one of the Coordinators of the Pregnancy Family Conferencing (PFC) program. Daniela has Teaching qualifications, a Masters in International Social Development and a Graduate Diploma in Counselling. She has had experience working with vulnerable families in Australia and Argentina and has worked in child protection for over ten years. Daniela is passionate about working in early intervention with pregnant women and their families. She has made significant contributions to the development of PFC and together with Zia Tayebjee has implemented innovative approaches to working in the perinatal space in child protection.
Sarah May lives in Newcastle on the land of the Awabakal people. Sarah is a men’s behaviour practitioner working in individual and group work with men who use domestic violence. Sarah has worked in the space of DFV and interpersonal violence for over fifteen years including counselling, group and project work with adult and child survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Sarah has co-ordinated an intervention program for men who use DFV and delivered training across the community sector on trauma-informed responses to working with harm. Sarah is passionate about intersectional feminist practice and transforming systems and structures of violence and oppression.
Rebecca Radovanovic is a Senior Social Worker in the Community Domestic Violence Counselling Service Sydney Local Health District. Rebecca has extensive experience working with women who have experience domestic violence as a counsellor, impatient social worker and in the community. Rebecca works from a trauma informed perspective drawing on attachment and neurobiology to inform her practice. Rebecca is also passionate about supporting her colleagues and ensuring the workplace is trauma informed and she is is currently completing a Certificate IV in Leadership and Management.
Adele Sheridan-Magro is an ‘Accredited Mental Health Social Worker’ . Manager of the Domestic & Family Violence Service at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney. Has extensive experience in Health providing management, mentoring and leadership in the area of Women & Child Health . She has also worked in the NGO sector as a specialist domestic violence counsellor, educator and trainer and service coordinator. Has presented on domestic violence at conferences both nationally and internationally including presenting at the inaugural ‘European Conference on Domestic Violence’ held in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Joana Miranda is a social worker, sand play therapist, and has the current position as a Mental Health Specialist Clinician with Whole Family Team based in Lismore, Northern NSW. Whole Family Teams work with families where parental mental health and alcohol &other drugs use is impacting on parenting, and families are considered as high risk in terms of child protection. She has extensive experience working with disadvantaged and vulnerable families where there is a trauma background, mental health and drug use. Joana started her work in the disability sector 20 years ago and has spent the past 10 years working with families. She is passionate about working with families in a culturally and trauma informed manner that supports wellbeing and creates opportunities for positive changes to family functioning, as well as working towards creating change in the broader welfare system and community.
Toni Smith is a ‘Gadigal’ born woman with ‘Yuin’ ancestry. She has lived and worked in her local Aboriginal community, Redfern for many years. Toni is the Principal Female Aboriginal Health Worker in Domestic Violence & Women’s Health (Community Health Specialist Services, SLHD RPAH). Toni is an experienced Registered Nurse, graduating from The University of Sydney in 1995.She has worked for NSW Health in identified positions including Aboriginal Education Officer, Promotions Officer, Project Officer and Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer across St. George and The Sutherland Hospitals. Toni has worked with her local Aboriginal community as the Camps and Conferences Manager at the National Indigenous Centre of Excellence (NCIE) and the Redfern PCYC. Toni was granted the ‘Equity Challenge’ of $10,000 to begin her project “Tidda-Links” (Linking Sisters), her first project when newly appointed in her role at Sydney Local Health District.
Alison Tutt is the Perinatal Coordinator Clinical Nurse Consultant for Sydney Local Health District. This new position works with a multidisciplinary team to provide families with a seamless transition through hospital based maternity care and into community based services. The position aims to provide continuity of care to families experiencing greater risk of vulnerability during this perinatal period and increase parent-infant attachment and child developmental outcomes. Alison has extensive experience in community child and family health nursing and contributed to the implementation of the sustained health home visiting programs across the district. She has contributed to research projects around promoting healthy weight and reducing childhood obesity and is passionate about the contribution child and family health nursing can have on childhood developmental outcomes.
Ulla Inki-Gilabert has been a leader in the domestic and family violence sector for over 20 years, both in Australia and in Finland. She was instrumental in developing an integrated domestic and family violence approach and framework in Finland and is now leading the implementation of a whole of family response to domestic and family violence on the Mid North Coast. Ulla is a member of the NSW Men’s Behaviour Change (MBC) network and is currently building upon her Certificate in MBC by completing a Graduate Certificate in MBC Individual and Group-work Interventions. She has been championing for MBCPs and individual change work with men for much of her career, believing that working with men is a critical part of eliminating domestic and family violence. She was part of international domestic and family violence projects in Spain and Portugal and is at the helm of the redevelopment of Liberty’s own MBC approach. Ulla’s considered, curious approach and high level of self-mastery makes her an expert group facilitator and she leads a team of staff to instill the same passion, vision and expertise.
Donina Va’a of Samoan heritage is presently the Service Manager for Linking Hearts, Muslim Women’s Association. Daring of diversity and inclusion, she is fiercely committed to women’s empowerment and inclusivity of men to enable positive change- “it’s not a competition on who is better, rather together, WE create an ocean of difference”. Deep focus to nurture and grow ethical women leaders, and strategic capability of communities to ending violence. Her leadership, project management and governance experience span 25 years across public and the not for profit sector. She is also the founder and Lead Executive for the Pacific Women’s Professional Business Network Inc. In 2013 & 2015, she received the Mary Dimech Multicultural Award, 2018 finalist Women with Altitude Super Connector Award, and Lead Practitioner 2020 at the Homelessness NSW SHS Good Practice.
Zia Tayebjee is one of the Coordinators of the Pregnancy Family Conferencing program offered to families with complex health and social needs involved in the child protection system in Sydney, Australia. She has had a key role in the ongoing development, implementation and evaluation of this program. Zia has extensive clinical and management expertise in child protection and has provided assessment and advice to vulnerable children and families with issues of concern pertaining to drug and alcohol use, mental illness, abuse and neglect and domestic violence. Zia holds Masters degrees in both Social Work and International Social Development.