Janise Mitchell is the CEO of the Australian Childhood Foundation and Director of the Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Arts and Social Sciences with Southern Cross University. Janise has more than 38 years’ experience in the field of child trauma. She completed a Master of Social Work (Research) in 2008 in therapeutic foster care having been instrumental in the implementation of therapeutic care for more than 21 years. Janise is a founding Board member of the National Centre for Action on Child Sexual Abuse and Board member of the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare. Janise has extensive experience in the development of innovative therapeutic programs for traumatised children and young people. Janise has provided consultancy to many governments on the issue of therapeutic services for children and young people and regularly participates on state and national Advisory Groups seeking to address the needs of children and young people in the child protection, out of home care, secure care and youth justice sectors. Janise has a commitment to evidence informed practice and believes strongly in the participation of young people in the development of services, policies and programs that seek to support them. Janise has presented nationally and internationally and has a range of publications including: The Handbook of Trauma-Transformative Practice: Emerging Therapeutic Frameworks for Supporting Individuals, Families or Communities Impacted by Violence: Edited by Joe Tucci, Janise Mitchell, Stephen W Porges and Ed Tronick, 2024, London: Jessica Kinglsey Publishers. The Handbook of Therapeutic Care for Children: Evidence-Informed Approaches to Working with Traumatized Children and Adolescents in Foster, Kinship and Adoptive Care edited by Janise Mitchell, Joe Tucci and Ed Tronick, 2019, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Kara R. Finck directs the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School’s Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic. Previously, she was the Managing Attorney of the Family Defense Practice at The Bronx Defenders, where she created a groundbreaking interdisciplinary legal practice for parents in Family Court. Her areas of scholarship include child welfare, parents’ rights, interdisciplinary practice and preventive lawyering models. She has presented widely on best practices in child advocacy, collateral consequences of child welfare involvement, immigrant families and the ethics of interdisciplinary collaboration. Her scholarship includes the textbook Social Work Practice and the Law (Springer Publishing, 2011) and Youth and Families Matter: Reconstructing the System One Youth at a Time From the Expertise of Youth Advocates (Columbia Journal of Race and Law, 2022) co-authored with youth advocates in foster care.

Pei is a clinical psychologist and a PhD candidate at the Sydney Law School, University of Sydney. Her PhD research investigates the role of court-appointed experts in facilitating child participation in child protection proceedings in New South Wales, Australia. Pei is a research assistant within the University of Sydney and a practicing clinical psychologist. Pei’s research interests include promoting therapeutic jurisprudence and advocating for children’s rights through social justice frameworks. Her clinical psychology experience includes assisting a court-appointed expert in conducting expert assessments over the last 12 years. She has special interests working with culturally diverse and ethnic minority clients.

Eliza Tiernan was called to the Victorian Bar in Australia in 2016. She holds a First Class Honours degree in Arts and a Juris Doctor degree in Law from the University of Melbourne, where she was awarded the Melbourne Law School Prize for Legal Research. In 2017, together with solicitor Louise Cooney, she presented their paper "Certain Unions Are Not Marriages: Predicting Outcomes on Separation for Same-Sex Couples Married Overseas" at the World Congress on Family Law and Children's Rights in Dublin. Eliza is frequently briefed to appear in matters involving all aspects of family law, including the provision of written advice, and appellate work. She has a particular interest in high conflict parenting matters, including international relocation cases and briefs to appear for the Independent Children’s Lawyer, as well as complex property matters. Eliza is a member of the Victorian Family Law Bar Association, and the Women’s Barristers’ Association.