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The National Committee is the key governance body of UnitingCare Australia and is appointed by the National Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia.
The Committee's functions are informed by a range of national networks and working groups. The role and responsibilities of the National Committee as delegated by the Assembly are to:
- develop and ensure the implementation of strategic directions for UnitingCare Australia
- discern and determine key priorities
- give oversight to the work of UnitingCare Australia, including the National Office and national working groups and networks
The National Committee membership comprises three ex-officio members, six synod representatives and five appointed members. The current National Committee members are:
Ex-Officio members (3)
Peter Bicknell - Chair
Peter Bicknell is currently the Chair of UnitingCare Australia. He is also the chair of UnitingCare Wesley Port Adelaide, Portway Housing Association and Adelaide Brighton Cement Community Liaison Group. Peter has also served as the chair ofthe Council for the Care of Children, was the Chief Executive Officer of UnitingCare Wesley Port Adelaide for ten years and has previously worked for the Department for Family and Community Services in Director roles.
Glenda Blakefield - Assembly representative
Glenda is the Associate General Secretary of the National Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia. She comes to the role with varied experiences across the church; from working as a Presbytery minister with the responsibility for ministers, congregations and strategic planning needs of a region to the work of a congregation minister, concerned the pastoral, missional and life needs of people locally. Glenda has held a number of roles in the life of the church from the local level to the national level including Synod Mission funding committees, Standing committees of Synods and being a member of Synod and National Ministerial Education Boards. She presently sits on a number of committees throughout the church, including the body responsible for overseas Aid and Mission in the Uniting church and the Doctrine commission of the National Uniting Church.
Susan Helyar - National Director
Susan Helyar is a social worker with experience in direct service delivery (mental health, disability and community health services), policy development (in ACT and Federal Governments) and policy advocacy. Susan has worked in high level secretariat roles, managing the work of the COAG Ministerial Council on Gambling and the ACT Government Community Inclusion Board, and has provided expert advice in mental health, early childhood, women’s health social inclusion and gambling policy fields. She has brought a strong social justice perspective to her work in each of these contexts. As Director of Services Development in UnitingCare Australia, Susan has worked with the UnitingCare network to represent the views of service users and the expertise of services providers to key decision-makers in the public sector and federal Parliament, with a focus on policy issues related to children, young people and families, older people, financially vulnerable and disadvantaged Australians, people with disabilities, unemployment and homelessness.
Synod representatives (6)
Anne Cross - QLD
Anne Cross is the Chief Executive Officer of UnitingCare Queensland. Prior to her appointment as CEO in November 2003, Anne was involved in various service development and change projects in disability and aged care across Australia and in Ireland, Scotland and New Zealand. She has over 30 years experience in health and community services and has worked for many years in senior positions in government and non-government organisations that provide rehabilitation and community services. Anne has served on various government and non-government boards, councils and committees. While most of her work has been Queensland based, Anne has also been in involved in projects, teaching and giving conference papers throughout Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, USA and Canada.
John Dunn - WA
Rev John Dunn is the Executive-Chairperson of the UnitingCare WA Forum. The WA Forum provides an opportunity for Synod Agencies to coordinate their work and to plan for future development of community service activities throughout Western Australia. John is a retired Minister of the Word. Following an early retirement John worked for 5 years as a counsellor and program manager within the alcohol and other drug sector. In addition to his role as Executive Chair of the WA Forum John is currently assisting WA agencies and congregations explore options in providing affordable housing.
John is a past Moderator of the Synod of WA; a past member of Assembly Standing Committee and various Assembly Committees. John has experience in ministry as a Synod Consultant (Mission and Justice); and in rural, remote, suburban and CBD based (Canberra and Darwin) congregational ministry. For 12 years John was an RAAF Chaplain and during that time worked in Defence Staff positions developing welfare policy and family sensitive programs for defence families. Throughout his ministry John has been involved in supporting and developing community and congregational based community service activities.
Harry Herbert - NSW.ACT
Rev. Harry Herbert is Executive Director of UnitingCare NSW.ACT which is the Synod Board in the Division of Social Responsibility. UnitingCare NSW.ACT is responsible for the work of social justice advocacy, community services, and chaplaincy within the NSW Synod. It manages some 70% of the total work in this area within the Synod and in 2006/7 had a financial turnover of $395 million. It also acts as the peak organisation for all other community service/social justice organisations within the Synod, including Lifeline, Wesley Mission, Parramatta Mission and the Exodus Foundation.
Harry also serves as the Chair of the NSW Responsible Gambling Fund, is a member of the board of the Legal Aid Commission of NSW, is Co-Chair of the AGL Customer Council, and recently served as a member of the Electricity Privatisation Committee of the NSW Government.
Daphne Read - Northern Synod
Daphne is the Vice Chair of the Somerville Board. Now retired, Daphne had a long and successful career in teaching. She was also the National Executive Director of the Royal Life Saving Society of Australia for five years. Daphne has been the Chairperson of both the Northern Territory Disability Advisory Council and the Northern Territory Water Safety Advisory Council. She has also served on the Northern Territory Housing Appeals Committee.
Charles Gibson - VIC/TAS
Charles Gibson is the Director of the UnitingCare Victoria and Tasmania (UCVT) Unit. Prior to his appointment Charles has been the Assistant Director. He first came to the Unit as Social Policy Advisor in 2003. Charles is an active member of the Uniting Church in Australia and began his career as a social worker in child protection. Charles remained with the Department of Human Services in a variety of senior management roles in regions in Melbourne and Geelong where he was responsible for a range of programs including out of home care; child, youth and family services; regional planning; indigenous services; primary health care; public health and communications. Charles is currently a member of UnitingCare Australia’s Children, Young People and Families Network and a board member of Uniting Housing Victoria.
Michaela Tiller - SA
Michaela is currently the UnitingCare Synod Director in SA, a position she has held since 2005. Prior to taking up this position she was UnitingCare Synod Director in WA for 5 years from 2000-2004 and before this Minister at Kwinana Parish Mission for 3 years. Michaela has had a long involvement in Uniting Church committees at a state and national level as well as involvement in committees beyond the church. She has been a member of the UnitingCare Australia National Committee (and its predecessors) since 2000, was a member of the last National Assembly and is currently a member of the Assembly Church Polity Reference Committee.
Appointed members (5)
Robyn Batten
Robyn Batten is the Executive Director of Uniting Aged Care Victoria & Tasmania, the chair of the UnitingCare Aged Care Network and represents the network on the Ministerial Ageing Advisory Committee. Robyn is also a member of the Senior Leadership Team of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania. Prior to her current role Robyn was the Chief Executive Officer of Dental Health Services Victoria, the statewide provider of public dental care for all eligible Victorians. Over the past 20 years Robyn has held executive management positions in both health and local government in Victoria and South Australia, many of these roles have involved management of major system reforms. Robyn is also Director of Barwon Water a major regional water authority.
Keith Garner
Keith had a twenty-five year career in the Methodist Church in the UK before emigrating to Australia in 2004 to became the Superintendent/CEO of Wesley Mission Sydney. His links with Wesley Mission Sydney go back to working in mission projects in the UK with Sir Alan Walker. Keith was actively involved in supporting the initiative "Mission alongside the Poor" and "Churches Action against Poverty" in the UK. He chaired the North-West of England response to "Make Poverty History". Keith was minister at Elm Ridge in Darlington. Keith also hosts a weekly television program on Channel 9.
Chris Hall
Chris is the CEO of West, based in Perth. UnitingCare West is a diverse organisation delivering services across the Perth metro area and beyond with a focus on providing supports and services to those who need them most. Chris has a long history of significant contribution to the community sector across Australia including as the first Director of the Uniting Missions Network and the CEO of Relationships Australia WA. Chris is President of the Western Australian Council of Social Services (WACOSS); Deputy Chair, WA Human Services Industry Round Table; Member, WA Social Inclusion Reference Group; Member, Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) Board of Governors; Member, Director General Department for Child Protection Community Sector Child Protection Advisory Group; Member, Director General Disability Services Commission Chief Executive Officers' Round Table; and Member, UnitingCare Western Australia Board.
Jill Wilson
Jill has a strong national and international profile as a researcher and academic in social work and human service practice. An inaugural member of the Queensland Synod Commission for Community Service established at Union in 1977, Jill chaired the Commission for 10 years from 1996 to 2006. Jill is a Professor in the School of Social Work and Applied Human Sciences at the University of Queensland. Jill was recently appointed UnitingCare Chair in Social Policy & Research (a joint appointment with the University of Queensland). She has significant understanding of governance within the Church, having been Chair of the UnitingCare Board and previous commissions for about 15 years in the Queensland Synod. She has served on both Council of Synod and Synod in Session.
Jane Woodruff
Jane’s original training was in Social Work and she worked in NSW Health with families with children and young people with disabilities as both a direct services worker and manager. She has held a number of senior positions in the NSW public service in the areas of disability and women and was the first Director General of the Ageing and Disability Department (now known as DADHC) She was part of the senior management team for the Sydney 2000 Olympics before taking up the role of CEO at Burnside and is now also the Director, UnitingCare Children, Young People and Families, a Service Group of UnitingCare which incorporates Burnside, Unifam Counselling and Mediation and UnitingCare Disability. She was until November 2008, the Chair of the NSW Association of Child Welfare Agencies and has served on a number of government advisory bodies relating to legislation, policy and program development in the areas of child welfare and government/non-government relations |
