Marty Wilson works with organisations that want resilient people who power through change, stress and disruption. He is a TEDx Speaker, Author, International Business Award Winner and registered Pharmacist, but he’s also a former Australian Comic of the Year so he balances proven scientific data with laugh out loud stories.

Julian Pace is Australia’s emerging voice in happiness, emotional
wellbeing, and lived-experience mental health. The founder of Happiness Co, he has the goal to positively impact 10
million lives in 10 years. An engaging presenter that uses his own story to create the best environment for your team to gain an understanding of what it really takes to create fulfilment and happiness.
He has keynoted at the three largest mental health conferences in the country, he is an Australian of the Year finalist, Mentor of the Year award winner, a National Small Business Champion and is dedicated to using his powerful story to inspire others to overcome everyday challenges in order to create and sustain their own happiness.

Cassie Rowe is a local mum, who is heavily involved in the Belmont community. Cassie, her husband Patrick and their two young daughters live in Kewdale.

As a local mum, Cassie is passionate about education and school funding, infrastructure projects, community groups, health services and training facilities to deliver jobs for the community of Belmont.

Cassie was elected as the Member of Belmont in the 2017 WA State Election.

Previously Cassie was a Financial Planner with an Industry Super Fund, the Assistant State Secretary of WA Labor and a community activist with the Belmont Community Group.

Cassie has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne and a Diploma of Financial Services from the Securities Institute of Australia.

She also holds a Diploma of Screenwriting from the Film and Television Institute of Western Australia.

David Locke commenced as Chief Ombudsman and CEO at the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) on 25 June 2018.

David was previously Assistant Commissioner Charity Services at the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).

Prior to the ACNC, David was the Executive Director of Charity Services at the Charity Commission of England and Wales, with responsibility for the strategic leadership and operational delivery of the Commission's one-to-one services to charities.

David has also worked as an adviser to several international governments on the regulation of non-government organisations.

David is a qualified lawyer in the UK, and he started his career in community legal centres where he spent over 10 years managing the delivery of services to the public. David has served as a Board member and volunteer of a number of charities and not-for-profits.

Mr Newcombe has 40 years' experience working in the Commonwealth and State public sectors and for the Western Australian Parliament, primarily in the areas of legal services, corporate investigations, policy development, community education and service delivery.

He has served for 21 years as a Director with Consumer Protection, including numerous periods in the Commissioner's role. During this time, Mr Newcombe led the establishment of Consumer Protection's consumer education program, the implementation of FuelWatch, the development and implementation of the Australian Consumer Law in WA and the creation of the Consumer Protection Awards.

Suanne Russell is Lead Ombudsmen, Small Business, with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). In this role she oversees the handling of small business complaints about financial services and products. In addition, Suanne has oversight of banking transactions including scams complaints. She also works closely with the Lead Ombudsman, Banking and Finance. Suanne, a banking and finance lawyer, joined AFCA from Westpac in 2021, bringing her experience in the small business and consumer banking sector.

Suanne’s past roles have included as Head of Institutional and Business Banking Legal for St George Bank, Practice Leader for Business Banking with Westpac, and Head of Business Legal for Westpac. There, she had oversight of business lending disputes, business bank remediation projects and regulatory projects, and worked with industry bodies and regulators. Suanne was part of the Westpac team that worked on the development of business relief packages and special facilities for small business and consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trish Blake is currently the Acting Director of Retail and Services within Consumer Protection and worked in the Legislation and Policy Directorate of Consumer Protection for more than 12 years. Trish is a great advocate for residential tenancies, scam prevention, human rights and product safety. Trish is a regular guest on ABC Perth’s Drive program, 6PR’s Perth Live program and often features in Consumer Protection television interviews.

Trish has a law degree and is admitted to practice in Western Australia. She also has a degree with Honours in Social Work and a Post Graduate qualification in Public Policy and taught in the Murdoch University’s International Human Rights program for a number of years. Prior to working for the Department, Trish spent many years working in Community Legal Centres in WA.

Chris Wheatcroft has the role of Chief Executive Officer for Rural West.
Chris has a background across business and community services including a period as a Rural Financial Counsellor.
Underpinning his experience are eight years of Tertiary studies.
Executive study includes being a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and receiving a Certificate of Management Excellence from Harvard (CME)

Daniel is a Superannuation and General Insurance lawyer, based in Maurice Blackburn’s Hamilton Hill office. He assists ill, injured and permanently disabled client’s access various forms of life and disability insurance, and assists those who have suffered other forms of loss such as property, contents and financial loss to claim their rightful entitlements. Prior to his current role, Daniel acted for workers and claimants within the workers’ compensation, public liability and professional negligence practice areas. As such, Daniel has significant experience assisting injured and disadvantaged people achieve justice by enabling access to and equity in our modern legal system.

Prior to completing his Juris Doctor degree at the University of Western Australia, Daniel was an accredited Exercise Physiologist, working within both the Western Australian and Victorian workers’ compensation schemes.

As a Practice Leader and Lawyer in the Abuse Law team at Slater and Gordon, Ciara is proud to help people whose lives have been drastically and adversely affected by the actions of others.
She understands that the legal system can be daunting and extremely stressful, so makes sure to help her clients navigate their way through this process so that they can experience closure.

She is passionate and committed to supporting her clients throughout this journey and will do everything in her power to achieve a successful outcome for them

David holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Juris Doctor from the University of Western Australia. David was admitted as a lawyer shortly after joining CCLSWA in 2018.
David is a passionate consumer advocate and frequently contributes to CCLSWA’s law reform submissions. He also supervises the Telephone Advice Line where he regularly speaks to Financial Counsellors. David has presented to FCAWA members through the ongoing Hot Topics series and Essential Skills training for new Financial Counsellors, as well as at the FCAWA Conference in 2018 and 2021.
David last presented on unregulated credit, including BNPL and Cigno, to Financial Counsellors in 2019 and is looking forward to providing updates on CCLSWA’s advocacy work and practical tips for dealing with unregulated credit providers.

Colm holds a Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor from the University of Western Australia. Colm started as a volunteer paralegal at CCLSWA in 2019 and has held various roles since then. In November 2021, Colm was admitted as a lawyer.
Colm mainly supervises the Telephone Advice Line where he is able to support CCLSWA paralegals at the start of their legal journeys. Colm also contributes to presentations that CCLSWA delivers such as the Hot Topics webinar on Reverse Mortgages for FCAWA members in 2022.

Alison practices in a wide variety of civil law matters including consumer law, credit and debt, civil judgment enforcement and social security law.

Arna Plaisted is a lawyer in the Elder Rights WA team, which is part of the Civil Law Division of Legal Aid WA. As part of the Elder Rights WA service, Arna regularly provides advice to clients in relation to guardianship and administration matters, and often appears as Counsel in the State Administrative Tribunal. Arna also provides legal advice and assistance on a wide range of legal matters for clients who are experiencing elder abuse or are at risk of elder abuse.

Merissa joined ASeTTS in 2020. She has over 20-years of experience in human services including hands-on, leadership and governance roles within for-purpose community and disability service organisations, state government, and with the national peak for the disability services sector, most recently she oversaw the Quality Safety Health and Environment portfolio at Activ Foundation, and remains the Deputy Chair of Midlas. Merissa is passionate about supporting people, families and communities; and energised by supporting people to access quality supports to improve their wellbeing, safety, agency and their enjoyment of human rights. Merissa has tertiary qualifications in Fine Art, Psychology, a Masters of Human Rights and is currently completing an MBA.

Tevita is an experienced communities engagement specialist, accredited financial counsellor and supervisor with a comprehensive work history in the banking, insurance, telecommunications, small business and community services sectors. He is currently completing a Masters in Research focussed on enhancing the financial well-being of the Kimberley mob. Tevita is a passionate advocate of strong financial well-being for indigenous people being a key to self-determination and economic empowerment.

Alison is a Registered Psychologist who has experience at a senior level in a range of government policy and primary mental health care roles. As Manager of the Perth Suicide Prevention Coordinators (funded by the Mental Health Commission) she works with colleagues in the North South and East metropolitan regions and across the State to build community capacity to prevent and respond to suicide.
Alison also manages Neami National’s Working with Suicide and Sudden Loss program an organisational planning tool to support staff with safe and sustainable skills/practices when working with suicide and sudden loss.

Before working for HelpingMinds, Andrea was a mathematics teacher in the Hills teaching secondary students. Whilst she loves maths, she is also passionate about wellbeing and neuroscience. As a member of the community with lived experience of recovery from mental-ill health, increasing mental health literacy is particularly meaningful for Andrea. When she is not out delivering Mental Health First Aid courses, you might see her running after her naughty poodle Banksy (named after the elusive Street Artist) and eating pasta with her Italian family.

Fiona started her career in consumer advocacy as a voluntary financial counsellor at Caxton Legal Centre in Brisbane, and in 1990 helped set up the Financial Counsellors Association of Queensland.

She has now been involved with the consumer movement for over 30 years, including a number of years on the executive of the Consumers’ Federation of Australia. She’s a former board member of Energex Retail, the Insurance Ombudsman Service and the Financial Ombudsman Service, and a former chair of ASIC’s Consumer Advisory Panel.

She joined FCA as CEO in mid-2009, is a member of the boards of Way Forward Debt Solutions, consumer advocacy group, Choice and the Queensland Competition Authority. She also represents FCA on the ACCC’s Consumer Consultative Committee. She holds a B.A., L.L.B and M.B.A. and in 2017 was a recipient of an Order of Australia for significant service to the community through social welfare and financial counselling roles.

Fiona’s passion for fairness and belief that everyone deserves a fair go drives her work. Her vision is to strengthen FCA’s role as a trusted voice around financial hardship, and to secure adequate and sustainable funding for financial counselling.

Donna de Zwart is a highly motivated leader with over twenty years’ experience in consulting and the education sector. She has worked with a range of Vocational and Education Training (VET), Higher Education and commercial organisations, including many of Australia’s top 200 companies.

Donna has a proven track record of creating organisations that are commercially successful and provide a meaningful service to those who are experiencing disadvantage. She has held a number of executive roles, which have centered on the development of innovative strategies that empower diverse groups.

Donna believes in a collaborative leadership approach and encourages a sense of fun and creativity. She understands from a personal perspective how important it is not only for a woman to experience the dignity that work brings, but also how employment impacts family, the wider community and the growth of the Australian economy and society.

Ciara is the Chief Executive Officer Thriving Communities Partnership, with over 15 years’ experience working across government, corporate and the community sector addressing issues around hardship and vulnerability. Her experience, extensive network and vision for a better future for people experiencing vulnerability has catalysed the Thriving Communities Partnership.

Serene is a dedicated clinical supervisor at Holyoake, Victoria Park with over 10 years of professional experience in counselling, including working with young people, adults, couples, and providing group therapy to individuals impacted by alcohol and other drugs.

Before taking up her clinical role at Holyoake, Serene worked for the Department for Child Protection as a case manager, and as a counsellor with the International Health and Medical Services (IHMS), providing psychological care to detainees in Western Australia.

Estelle Amelia is a First Nations Elder, specialist in sound healing, biofield tuner, energy alignment coach, published author and founder of Soulavita. With over 33 years experience, Estelle helps business owners, executives and high performers take their businesses, careers and personal life to the next level, by clearing unconscious and conscious energy blocks. Through harnessing a variety of ancient healing techniques, Estelle helps her clients to realign their physical energy and rebalance their subtle energetic systems, so they can set clear boundaries, speak their inner truths and create more abundance without the hustle.