Office of the Public AdvocateOPA's Volunteer conference was held on 11 October 2024.
More than 160 volunteers as well as OPA staff and guests, had the pleasure of joining together to celebrate their service to the community and hear from experts in the field at the 2024 Volunteer conference in Melbourne.
The conference marked the last day for Dr Colleen Pearce AM, who retired as Public Advocate after 17 years in the role. Colleen was thanked for her service by Linda Peterson representing both the Community Visitors Program and the Combined Board and also by Pat O’Donnell representing the Independent Third Person and Corrections Independent Support Officers Program.
We heard from The Hon. Bill Shorten MP, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) about his experiences within government and the future of the NDIS. Bronwen Write, from Beyond Blue spoke about their lived experience as someone who is neuro-diverse and has battled with depression.
Following lunch, there were break-out sessions featuring presentations by a range of experts from organisations including OPA’s Healthy Discussions Project, Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault, Independent Mental Health Advocacy, Second Psychiatric Opinion Service, Mental Health Tribunal, Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission and the Social Services Regulator.
