Photo of Rob Ryan

Rob Ryan

Chief Executive Officer

Bachelor of Social Work, Post Graduate Certificates in Family Therapy, Human Resources and Industrial Relations; Master of Professional Education and Training

Rob has been a leader in the community services and charity sector for over 30 years. He has dedicated his life to supporting some of the most vulnerable and at-risk children, young people and families in our community.

Rob’s previous roles included working at Life Without Barriers as National Executive Lead in the Emerging Business Directorate. Prior to this, Rob was Chief Executive Officer of Key Assets, where he had responsibility for operations in the Asia Pacific Region including Japan, New Zealand, India and Indonesia. Rob has also undertaken senior roles with the Department of Child Safety in the Queensland State Government over a period of 19 years.

In 2009, Rob was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study child protection across the United Kingdom, USA and Canada.

Rob’s experience extends to former Chair of the Forde Foundation Board of Advice in Queensland, a foundation established 20 years ago to support Forgotten Australians. He was previously the Deputy Convenor of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Advisory Council and currently sits as a Board Director for the Create Foundation and the National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN).Rob is also the current Chair of the Children in Care Collective. Rob is also a Justice of the Peace (Qualified).

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Christian Thompson

Director

Bachelor of Arts, Graduate Diploma of Psychology, Master of Public Policy and Management

Christian brings 25 years of program delivery, organisational development and not-for-profit management experience to his leadership role at the Parenting Research Centre.

Having joined the Centre in 2008, Christian leads a major implementation project and manages the organisation’s corporate services.

His experience in implementation capacity support, workforce development and strategic management helps Christian ensure that the right resources are deployed to deliver client outcomes and to support our mission.

He has previously worked in a large multinational organisation with a variety of local, regional and national roles.

In 2012, he completed a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Management from Monash University.

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Warren Cann

Principal Advisor

Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Hons), Master of Science (Clinical Psychology), MAPS

Warren is a psychologist and has held the position of Parenting Research Centre CEO since 2002. During this time, the Centre has been recognised nationally and internationally for the quality of our applied research, and our capacity-building strategies and programs.

Warren has extensive experience in helping policymakers and organisational leaders bring scientific rigor to the practical task of improving the effectiveness of services and supports provided to children and families.

Among other things, he has played a lead role in:

establishing the Australian Government-funded Raising Children Network, which connects millions of parents with trusted online information every year

leading the design and delivery of major national parenting support programs

delivering the $8.75 million Early Home Learning Study in Victoria

designing a practice framework for supporting parental behaviour change

co-authoring many information resources and program materials including a program for parents of young adolescents.

Warren has been working with families, training and supporting health and welfare professionals who work with families, and developing and implementing parenting support initiatives since 1986. He has a particular interest in effective supports for parents raising children with complex needs, or who are experiencing significant adversity themselves. He has substantial experience in program and practice design and development, and knowledge and skills in research translation and intervention implementation.

Before joining the Parenting Research Centre, Warren worked in various roles in the Victorian Government Department of Human Services, including stints as a psychologist in early childhood intervention and protective services. He has a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Melbourne.

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Catherine Wade

Principal Research Specialist in the role of Portfolio Lead, Discovery

Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology); Master of Psychology (Education and Developmental Psychology); Graduate Diploma (Applied Child Psychology); Bachelor of Behavioural Science

Catherine is a highly experienced researcher and a long-serving member of our team. Her appointment as Principal Research Specialist was a natural progression from her role as Senior Research Specialist.

In both roles, Catherine’s 20-plus years of expertise have guided the successful completion of projects such as the evaluation of the LINKS Trauma Healing Service in New South Wales and the evaluation of the Focus on New Fathers pilot perinatal mental health screening and referral program.

Other key initiatives that Catherine has led include:

  • the evaluation of two separate intensive family support programs in South Australia, targeted at families at imminent risk of child placement into out-of-home care
  • the Parenting Today in Victoria population-level repeated survey of Victorian parents
  • the developmental evaluation of the HIPPY Age 3 program across Australia
  • evaluation of the Intensive Family Support service in 22 sites across Queensland, working in partnership with the University of Queensland.

Catherine’s areas of expertise cover social policy research and program evaluation including quantitative and qualitative research design, data collection and analysis, continuous practice improvement (CPI), and large-scale longitudinal data analysis. She has research interests and clinical expertise in families affected by vulnerability, disability and disadvantage.

Before joining the Parenting Research Centre, Catherine worked as a psychologist with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and the Victorian Government’s Specialist Children’s Services.

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Fiona May

Principal Research Specialist in the role of Portfolio Lead, Delivery

PhD, Master of Psychology (Educational and Developmental); BA (Hons); Registered Psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency

Fiona has strong research, conceptual and analytical skills, including expertise in Continuous Practice Improvement (CPI) approaches, qualitative and quantitative design and analysis.

Fiona’s practice and research expertise focus on parenting support, disability, student well-being, inclusive education and workforce development.

In her role as Senior Research Specialist for the Research and Evaluation Portfolio, Fiona’s skills are utilised across CPI projects such as the national ForWhen Perinatal Mental Health Support initiative; Outcomes Framework development and implementation (for example, Barnardos Australia Outcomes Framework project); and process and outcomes/impact evaluations (for example, the evaluation of the Queensland Intensive Family Support Service).

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Catherine Murphy

Principal Research Specialist in the role of Portfolio Lead, Design

Bachelor Science, Psychology (First Class Honours); Registered Psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency

Catherine has extensive experience designing and implementing evidence-based practice across early childhood service, schools, early intervention services and the out-of-home-care sector.

She has worked in communities that face disproportional disadvantage and in regional and remote communities.

Before joining the Parenting Research Centre in 2012, Catherine worked as a school psychologist and with adults living with mental illness.

Catherine is motivated to make an impact for children and young people by supporting adults who care for them.

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Derek McCormack

Director, Raising Children Network in the role of Portfolio Lead, Digital Parenting

Bachelor of Science (Hons), Master of Science (Science Communication)

With a long-standing passion and aptitude for clear, simple and effective communication and applying research, Derek is a natural fit for the role of Director, Raising Children Network.

Derek leads a skilled team in the knowledge translation and online delivery of evidence-informed resources supporting parents and carers around the healthy development of children.

He also leads Raising Children Network’s collaborations with the Australian and state governments, non-government organisations, businesses and community organisations and he regularly contributes to the media on issues of raising children in Australia.

As a collaborative knowledge translation professional, Derek has more than 15 years of experience working with the Parenting Research Centre in consultation, strategy development and managing the development of digital resources for a wide range of stakeholders.

Learn more about Derek’s role as Director, Raising Children Network

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Roger Lam

Finance Manager

Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting), Master of Law (Government and Commercial), Fellow of CPA Australia (FCPA)

Roger has extensive financial management and corporate restructuring/change management experience. Roger manages the finance and payroll of the PRC, Raising Children Network (RCN) and Smart Population Foundation (SPF). He is the Company Secretary of the RCN and SPF.

In his role at PRC, Roger oversees the ISO management system and regularly acts as a business partner. Over the years, Roger has been involved with implementing new financial, payroll and project management systems for the PRC.

Prior to joining PRC, Roger worked with multi-national organisations in Asia, focusing on corporate restructuring and change management. He has worked extensively within the Not-For-Profit sector, including at international and national public benevolent institutions and with education and community health organisations.

Photo of Stephanie Childs

Stephanie Childs

Strategic Communications Manager

Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Public Communication) and Bachelor of Arts in International Studies

Stephanie is an experienced media and public relations adviser and a strategic external and internal communicator with extensive expertise across the health and community sectors.

In her Strategic Communications Manager role at the Parenting Research Centre she oversees the team providing marketing and communications support for projects and programs such as MyTime, ForWhen, smalltalk, the Raising Children Network and the Raising Healthy Minds app.

Stephanie and her team take a collaborative approach, working with partners from across the sector to clarify and amplify messages that support those who support families, and to provide great evidence-based information to parents and carers so they can help their children thrive.

Photo of Benita Sandiford

Benita Sandiford

Human Resources Manager

Bachelor of Business (Human Resource Management and Marketing)

Benita is an experienced Human Resources professional who has worked across various industries including, education, financial services and the non-profit sectors. Benita provides strategic and operational HR support to the Parenting Research Centre and Raising Children Network, driving initiatives in talent acquisition, employee relations, engagement, talent management and legislative compliance.

Prior to her current role, Benita held several key positions including human resource business partnering, leading strategic HR projects and managing HR services teams.

Benita is passionate about creating a workplace environment where every employee feels valued, engaged, and empowered to reach their full potential and her ability to build strong relationships at all levels of the organisation has been instrumental in driving change and supporting organisational growth.

Photo of Verica Mitricevic

Verica Mitricevic

Human Resources Manager

Master of Business (Human Resource Management)

Verica is an experienced Senior Human Resources professional with more than 18 years of experience across diverse sectors including research, healthcare networks, tertiary, environmental, engineering, product design, marketing, and more. Her expertise spans organisational design, executive search, recruitment, professional placements programs, learning and development, change management, and driving transformational growth.

Combining strong business acumen with an emphasis on strategy and leadership development, she stays up to date with HR best practices to support innovative and collaborative workplace cultures. She is passionate about creating inclusive and empowering environments where both staff and families can thrive.

Verica’s commitment to the Parenting Research Centre’s mission is inspired by her role as a mother to an adventurous and inquisitive daughter.

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