2024 Volunteering NSW State Conference

Annabel Crabb (Keynote)

One of Australia’s most beloved journalists. Annabel is an ABC writer and presenter who has covered Australian politics for 20 years but also is nationally well-known for her insightful and humorous analysis on gender and current affairs.

She has written and presented six seasons of the ABC’s enormously popular Kitchen Cabinet, as well as the groundbreaking documentary series on life inside Parliaments, The House, With Annabel Crabb. 

Read more about Annabel Crabb.

David Brett

David has extensive experience in developing policies and strategies across Commonwealth and State Governments in various portfolios, including central agencies, community services, fair trading, housing, and disability. 

David has worked for the Office of Sport in the NSW Government for seven years, where he has worked on initiatives regarding high performance sport, combat and motor sport regulation as well as supporting the Office’s involvement in CASRO and MSRM. 

David Brett is on LinkedIn.

Laura Bueti

Laura Bueti is a Senior Solicitor in the Work and Development Order (WDO) Service with Legal Aid NSW. Laura services the Sydney Metro region, delivering legal advice to vulnerable clients, and community legal education to community members and organisations about fines and WDOs. 

Michelle Chate

Dedicated leader with over a decade of experience in connecting compassionate volunteers with meaningful opportunities. Passionate about fostering connections that provide a sense of purpose, emphasising the value of time, care, companionship, and making individuals feel they truly matter. 

Inspired by the beautiful connections forged through volunteerism, Michelle continue to lead and support those who share in this mission of making a positive impact in the lives of older individuals. 

Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn.

Bijinder Duga

Bijinder Dugal is the Co-founding Director of AASHA Australia Foundation, a not-for-profit charity that was formed in 2017 to assist the health and wellbeing of older members from the Indian community. Volunteers fully run it. 

Bijinder is passionate about educating and empowering seniors to live rich cultural lives through activities and events steeped in Indian music, dance, and art knowing that these promote health and wellbeing. 

As a former Assistant Principal and specialist teacher working in Australian schools, Bijinder continues her belief in the power of education to transform the lives of both young and old. 

Bijinder is also a voluntary Hindi teacher at a Sydney community language school and has been the former Vice President of Australian Hindi Indian Association.  

Bijinder has instigated monthly AASHA ‘social hubs’ across Greater Sydney targeting seniors. She has also initiated forums on dementia awareness, elder abuse, cancer screening, digital literacy, and diabetics prevention. Bijinder has also supported newly recently arrived migrants as they make Australia home.  

Spread the love to AASHA Australia Foundation

Stephanie Georgy

Stephanie has worked within the NFP Space for just over 6 years and then moving to Local Government in Volunteer Management.

• Ronald McDonald House Westmead – House Manager (2 years and 2 months)
• Ronald McDonald House Randwick – Volunteer Coordinator (1 year and 2 months)
• Lifeline Macarthur and Western Sydney – Volunteer Program Manager (3 Years and 4 months)
• Camden Council – Volunteer Program Coordinator ( 1 year and 5 months) 

Stephanie started her journey in Volunteering through volunteering herself as a young adult and the passion stemmed from there. She believes in the power of volunteering from an organisational sense, but also how transformative volunteering can be for an individual.

Stephanie believes the volunteering space is evolving and we need to continue to increase capacity for all, especially in terms of Inclusive Volunteering. Having lived experience with disability, with her Dad having MS. This has stirred a passion in Stephanie to ensure access equity for all opportunities especially when it comes to volunteering.

She endeavours to lead the way in making these opportunities more accessible in a Local Government setting by educating and creating processes that ensure staff and volunteers are appropriately supported. 

Jo Johnston

Jo Johnston, co-director of Collappor8, excels in business transformation, restructuring, and corporate finance.

With a Bachelor of Economics and a knack for small business management, Jo’s brain ticks with analytical genius and boundary-pushing ideas.

She’s the mastermind turning complex challenges into actionable triumphs at work.

Follow Jo on LinkedIn.

Kellie May

Ms May has been involved in the implementation of the NSW Government’s volunteering strategies since 2016. During this time, she has been responsible for the implementation of a range of initiatives, including volunteer recruitment initiatives, promotion campaigns, and volunteer recognition programs.

Ms May led the development of the NSW Volunteering Strategy 2020-2030, where she worked in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure the voices of the sector were reflected in the Strategy.

Ms May is intrinsically involved in the implementation of the NSW State of Volunteering Research Initiative and the NSW Volunteering Taskforce as Secretariat.  

With over two decades experience in community focused development, Ms May lead the development of the NSW Volunteer Charter, and the NSW Youth Volunteering Guidelines. Ms May is also a volunteer herself, with experience as a sport-based volunteer and emergency services volunteer in both metropolitan Sydney and regional NSW. 

Clare Pearson

Clare Pearson, CEO at Little Wings, has dedicated her career to the not-for-profit sector. Clare is a qualified psychologist, specialising in child and adolescent welfare, and passionate about working on community-based projects that make a difference in the lives of children and their families.

Find Clare Pearson on LinkedIn

Danielle Plumb

Danielle Plumb is a Community Engagement Officer with the Work and Development Order (WDO) Service at Legal Aid NSW.  

Danielle is based in Wollongong but services the Southern and Far West of NSW, assisting vulnerable clients with their fines and supporting organisations to engage with and administer the WDO scheme.

Catriona Rose

Catriona has over 10 years’ experience across sport, academia, health and medical research, and government. As well as governance and leadership experience as a previous Board Director for Disability Sports Australia (DSA) and member of the Research Advisory Group for Invictus Australia. Current Senior Program Manager – Volunteering at the ASC. 

Learn more about Catriona Rose.

Adam Weir

Appointed in 2018, Adam is the current CEO of SLSA and holds additional roles as Chair of the International Life Saving (ILS) Rescue Commission and a member of the ILS Rescue Operations Committee.

Adam is a leader in aquatic public safety risk management, and innovation, advancing the operational capacity of SLSA to aspire to the mission of saving lives, creating great Australians, and building better communities.

Connect with Adam Weir on LinkedIn