Speaker biographies

Carolyn Gallaway, Director, Diversity Dimesiona Pty Ltd

Carolyn Gallaway has 20 years experience in the field of Recruitment/HR Consulting.  Carolyn identified an opportunity for a recruitment consultancy in the burgeoning North West area of Sydney and decided the time was right for her to step out on her own. Gallaway Training & Recruitment commenced operations in April 1993 enjoying immediate success.

With a growing business and young family Carolyn experienced the daily challenge of raising a family while meeting her own career and business goals. From this experience Carolyn identified a growing awareness within corporate Australia of the importance of Work/Life Balance for employees and their families.  Seeing this need she developed a model to deliver training and HR solutions to assist employees and their employers address these issues.

In 2003 Carolyn sold the recruitment side of her business to concentrate on directing the HR consultancy towards the area of Diversity in Australia’s workplace. Diversity Dimensions was born. Today Diversity Dimensions continues to operate in the areas of recruitment, training, consulting and electronic resources.

Catherine Roberts, Legal Policy Officer Human Rights Unit, Department of Justice Victoria

Catherine Roberts is a Legal Policy Officer in the Human Rights Unit at the Victorian Department of Justice. The Human Rights Unit is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the recently enacted Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities across Government. Before taking up this position, Catherine was a senior associate with Blake Dawson Waldron's industrial and employment law group. She advised extensively in employment and discrimination law, and conducted workplace training for clients, including about equal opportunity and diversity at work. Catherine is also a former co-convenor of the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby.

Professor Charmine Härtel, Associate Dean (Staff Research Development) Director, Social and Economic Interface Research Network, Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University

Charmine E. J. Härtel is Professor of Organisational Behaviour and founder and Director of the Social and Economic Interface Research Network (SEIRnet) which is comprised of researchers examining the relationship between organisational activities and important social outcomes and includes among its research units the Social Inclusion and Diversity Research Unit (SIDRU). She has 27 years of industry experience and 14 years of international industry consulting experience for companies such as ANZ, GE, IBM, the State Services Authority and Air Services Australia.

Elizabeth Broderick, Sex Discrimination Commissioner and Commissioner responsible for Age Discrimination, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

Elizabeth Broderick was appointed as the new Sex Discrimination Commissioner in September 2007. She has been a partner at Blake Dawson Waldron since 1995 and was a board member from 2003 to 2006. She has specialised in the application of technology to legal practice and the way legal services are delivered. In 2001, she was Telstra’s NSW Business Woman of the Year and the 2001 Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year in the Corporate Category. In 2003 she received a Centenary Medal for Service to Australian Society through business leadership.



Elleni Bereded-Samuel, Commissioner, Victorian Multicultural Commission and Community Engagement Coordinator for Victoria University

Commissioner Elleni Bereded-Samuel was born in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa). She is Victoria University’s Community Engagement Coordinator as well as Co-founder and Committee of Management member of The Horn of Africa Communities’ Network and Deputy Chair of the Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Coalition. She was a recipient of Victoria University’s Vice-Chancellor’s Citations and Award for Outstanding Engagement with CALD Communities in Australia. She also received a Victorian Premier’s Award for Excellence in Multicultural Affairs – Education, and a Prime Minister’s International Year of Volunteers Award.

Katriina Tahka, Head of Worforce Management, AMP

In her role at AMP, Katriina is responsible for ensuring that AMP is able to attract and retain the workforce that it needs to achieve its business strategy, both now and in the future: that is, to build and maintain a sustainable pipeline of talented employees and future leaders; including people from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences.

Workplace flexibility is a critical focus area given current demographic trends. AMP has been particularly focused on dependent care issues which commenced with a dependent care survey of all employees to better understand what are employee’s current and likely future dependent care responsibilities and workplace flexibility requirements.

Katriina has three young children aged 6, 4 and 1 and works flexibly herself (including part-time hours, work from home, flexible start/finish times and additional annual leave). All the members of Katriina’s team also work part-time!

Margaret Goody, Head of Employment Branding, Hudson Global Resources

Margaret Goody leads the Employment Branding practice with Hudson Global Resources Queensland and is Project Director of the Education Pathways for Community Services Careers Initiative, a workforce development component of the Queensland Government's Strengthening Non-Government Organisations Strategy. Margaret’s expertise and particular interests lie in a number of areas - employment branding; human resource management; strategic and business planning. Professional memberships: Australian Institute of Company Directors, Australian Institute of Management, Institute of Sustainable Regional Development and Committee for Economic Development Australia.



Mark Ney, National Manager Protection, The Australian Federal Police

Mark Ney is an Assistant Commissioner for the Australian Federal Police. He joined the Australian Federal Police in 1984 and has a broad operational police background developed whilst working in general duties, Surveillance, the Australian Securities Commission, the Criminal Investigations Branch, the Drug Squad and the Bureau of Criminal Intelligence.
Mark has recognised for his service to policing in the 2006 Australian Day Honours List. He was awarded the Australian Police Medal for distinguished service, particularly in the field of furthering law enforcement relationships both nationally, internationally and the indigenous community.

Michael Long, former AFL Footballer and spokesperson for Aboriginal people

Michael Long is one of the most talented footballers to have played in the AFL and is respected as a footballer and a spokesperson for Aboriginal people. Michael’s parents had been removed from their families as children and were raised in the Tiwi Islands. His parents’ experiences shaped Michael’s determination to fight racial discrimination. Michael has retired as a professional footballer for Essendon Football Club, but not from working to help Indigenous Australians.

Dr Peter Saul, Futurist and Director, Strategic Consulting Group

Peter has over 20 years consulting experience in both the public and private sectors in Australia and overseas. Amongst his many areas of expertise is Futures Studies, where he assists senior management to "look further and faster" over the business horizon so that they are ready to move quickly to seize opportunities when they arise and can take action to shape the future. In 1997, he was awarded the Australian Human Resources Institute inaugural Pontifex Award for his significant contribution to human resource management in Australia.

Rick Sawers, Group Treasurer, National Australia Bank

Samantha French, Senior Consultant, Australian Employers’ Network on Disability

Samantha French has worked in the disability field for approximately 15 years and has an extensive background in disability policy, human rights, industrial relations and employment issues for people with disability. She has a Degree in Social Work and a Masters Degree in Industrial Relations and is currently working as a Senior Consultant with the Australian Employer’s Network on Disability. Prior to this role Sam worked as a Senior Policy Officer at People with Disability Australia where she was involved in the development of the United Nations international Convention on the Rights of People with Disability, which included co-presenting with the Australian Human Rights Commission (HREOC) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to UN delegates on employment issues. She has also worked in the Australian Government managing employment programs for people with disability and as a Rehabilitation Counsellor with the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service.



Todd Harper, Chief Executive Officer, VicHealth

Todd Harper began as VicHealth’s Chief Executive Officer in April 2007, following many years in tobacco control. Prior to this, Todd was Quit Victoria’s Executive Director and under his leadership, Quit and the VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control developed national and international recognition for their work on tobacco control. Following various positions for Tasmania’s Department of Health and Human Services, including in the area of community housing, Todd worked as Executive Director of the Tasmanian Council on AIDS and Related Diseases.