Draft program

See the draft program: NADA Conference 2023 Creating safe spaces [PDF] Last updated 9.05.2023

This program will be continually updated.

Keynote speakers

Vikki Reynolds (PhD RCC) is an activist/therapist who works to bridge the worlds of social justice activism with community work and therapy. Vikki is a white settler on the territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam nations. Vikki’s people are Irish and English folks, and she is a heterosexual woman with cisgender privilege. Her experience includes supervision and therapy with peers and other workers responding to the opioid catastrophe, refugees and survivors of torture—including Indigenous people who have survived residential schools and other state violence, sexualized violence counsellors, mental health and substance misuse counsellors, housing and shelter workers, activists and working alongside gender and sexually diverse communities. Vikki is an Adjunct Professor and has written and presented internationally.Vikki will be speaking live from Canada.

Professor Jioji Ravulo is the Professor and Chair of Social Work and Policy Studies in the Sydney School of Education and Social Work at The University of Sydney. His research, writing and areas of interest include mental health and wellbeing, alcohol and other drugs, youth development, marginality and decoloniality. He has been involved and invited to author over 60 publications, including peer reviewed journal articles, scholarly book chapters, research reports, and opinion pieces. Professor Ravulo is passionate about dynamic and meaningful inclusion of cultural diversity and attendant perspectives and practices. Throughout his career he has found himself enhancing service delivery models, as well as contributing to various community based research and co-design initiatives and promoting diversity in educational settings.

Felicity Ryan is a Wadi Wadi woman. Her mother’s family are freshwater people from the Mallee area of Victoria, specifically around Miilu (the Murray River). She also has strong family connections to the Wemba Wemba and Yorta Yorta people around this region and her father was of Scottish background. The name Big River Connections reflects Flic’s deep connectedness to her family, her people, her ancestors and her country. She has over ten years of experience within the AOD sector, including time on the frontline. Flic is highly respected within the field for her workshops including Aboriginal Cultural Awareness, Aboriginal Health and Employment, Lateral Violence, and Self-Care for Aboriginal Workers. She also works on various projects as a consultant, assisting organisations to become more culturally inclusive in developing their cultural literacy.

Dr Diana Kopua began her journey in the health industry, first training as a nurse, then completing specialist training in psychiatry in 2014. She is a Fellow of the Royal Australia New Zealand College of Psychiatry. In 2010, she was awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC Manakura Award. It is awarded to those who display characteristics of the 28th Maori Battalion; strength of character, ambition, courage and original thought. Dr Di and Mark are teaching communities of practice an alternative to the Western model, using a culturally sensitive new therapy to address mental distress and suffering amongst Maori.

Mark Kopua – Tohunga Mark was raised in Mangatuna, by his old people and is considered a historian by his East Coast tribes. He is renowned for his expertise as a master carver; he has practiced for 44 years, and has completed 7 ancestral meeting houses in this time. Mark has dedicated 31 years working at the forefront of moder Moko (traditional Maori tattoo), training moko artists, while working as a moko artist and design consultant. Mark has been employed in many national and international roles. One unique role has been his involvement in Moko Ihorei (tattooed head) repatriation work and domestic and international provenance of traditional Maori carvings.

Dan Howard is the former Commissioner for the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug ‘Ice’, and is an advocate for drug law and policy reform. A Senior Counsel at the NSW Bar for many years (now retired), Dan has held academic positions as a Visiting Professorial Fellow with the School of Law at the University of Wollongong, and as a Conjoint Associate Professor in the School of Psychiatry at the University of NSW. He is a past President of the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal and a former Acting Judge of the District Court of NSW. Dan is a NSW Patron of the Justice Reform Initiative. He believes in the intersection of health, social and criminal justice issues, and has advocated strongly for increased funding and support for the alcohol and other drugs sector.

Teddy Cook (he/him) is ACON’s Director, Community Health, where he oversees client services and LGBTQ+ health, equity, and harm reduction programs. Teddy specialises in community development, health promotion and program delivery, he is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Kirby Institute UNSW and a queer man of trans experience.

Kevin Street is a member of several consumer advisory groups (CAG) and committees, including for NADA, Kirketon Road Centre, the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) and the Ministry of Health. He is part of a steering committee to encourage GPs and pharmacists to prescribe and dispense Buvidil, an opioid replacement therapy. He is a volunteer with the Uniting Fair Treatment campaign and is supporting the development of training modules for AOD nursing students with the University of Technology Sydney. He has presented at APSAD on two occasions and is a peer worker at NUAA needle and syringe program. Kevin is a passionate advocate for the decriminalisation of personal possession and use of all drugs.