Alison Clark is Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN) and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Thomas Coram Research Unit, UCL Institute of Education, London. Together with Professor Peter Moss, she developed the Mosaic approach (Clark & Moss, 2001; Clark, 2017), a methodology for listening to and engaging with young children’s views and experiences—now widely developed and adapted by researchers and educators. Her book Slow Knowledge and the Unhurried Child was published by Routledge in 2023 and named Professional Book of the Year in the Nursery World Awards that same year. Alison is currently engaged in research with practitioners about ‘slow practices’ in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Scotland, Norway, Iceland and Japan. Based in Orkney, Scotland, Alison is also a practicing artist.

Paul Leseman is Professor of Educational Sciences at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, where he teaches courses on child development, educational neuroscience and early childhood education and care (ECEC). He was Principal Investigator of pre-COOL, the Dutch national cohort study on the long-term effects of ECEC on children’s development, and Scientific Coordinator of two European Union comparative research projects: Curriculum and Quality Assessment of European Early Childhood Education and Care (CARE) and Inclusive Education and Social Support to Tackle Inequalities (ISOTIS). He is currently Principal Investigator of the Dutch national Daycare Quality Monitor and the longitudinal study Impact Evaluation of Preschool Education: A Natural Experiment (EVENING). He is also currently working with the  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on their latest commission, Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey, and identifying characteristics of resilient ECEC systems in an international perspective.

Iram Siraj (OBE) trained as an early childhood teacher and worked in preschools in England. She is currently Professor of Child Development and Education at the University of Oxford, and Distinguished Research Professor at Maynooth University, Ireland and the University of Melbourne. Iram loves Australia, and as a committed Thought Leader for Goodstart Early Learning she has helped to shape policy in Victoria, NSW and South Australia. She has led on longitudinal studies, including the Effective Early Educational Experiences (E4Kids) and the Fostering Effective Early Learning (FEEL) studies in Australia and the Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education Project (EPPSE) in the UK. She led the influential Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY) study, which first developed the concept of sustained shared thinking—a key construct in the Early Years Learning Framework (V2.0). She is the co-author of several complementary scales that measure academic, social-emotional, physical and pedagogical leadership quality in settings with young children—the Movement Environment Rating Scale (MOVERS) (2024), the Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Wellbeing Scale (SSTEW) (2024), Early Childhood Quality Rating Scale—Emergent Curriculum (ECQRS-EC) (forthcoming) and the latest Pedagogical Leadership in the Early Years (PLEY) (forthcoming), all published by Routledge.

Aunty Denise Proud is a renowned educator, author and artist, and a proud Aboriginal woman who was born and raised on Cherbourg (Wakka Wakka Country). She has connections to the Koa people of the Winton area through her grandmother, and to the Kuku­Yalanji people of North Queensland through her father and grandfather

Aunty Denise has been raising awareness of the importance of early childhood education since the late 1960s, when at age 16 she was appointed ‘teacher in charge’ of the first kindergarten in Cherbourg. During this time her employment fell under what is now known as the ‘Stolen Wages’.

She has a long and diverse professional career, including working for over 20 years in various prisons and youth detention centres where she delivered cultural and educational programs. Aunty Denise is a board member at Reconciliation Queensland, an Honorary Senior Fellow of the University of Sunshine Coast, and an Honorary Research Senior Fellow of The University of Queensland. In August 2022 she received the Excellence in Educational Leadership award from the Queensland branch of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders. Most recently Aunty Denise was honoured with the ECA Barbara Creaser award for her work in the early childhood sector. She is also on the publications committee of Early Childhood Australia.

Dr Melinda Miller is a registered teacher, education researcher and consultant. Over a 20-year career, Melinda has worked in early childhood services, schools, higher education and government

Melinda’s doctoral research focused on racism and whiteness in early childhood education curriculum and service delivery. She delivers professional learning on unconscious bias, whiteness, and cultural responsiveness in educational programs.

Melinda is a member of the Early Childhood Australia (Queensland) Reconciliation Committee, the Queensland Reconciliation Industry Network Group (RING), and was recently appointed as a member of the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) First Nations Expert Reference Group.

Joe Brumm is the creator of Bluey, an animated preschool series that has won numerous awards— including two Logies, an Emmy, and a Bafta—and made it into Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Sitcoms of All Time. Ostensibly written for four- to six-year-olds, the show has reached beyond this demographic to include a passionate fan base of parents, grandparents and 20-year-olds—with or without children.

Bluey counts among its fans the likes of Lin-Manuel Miranda and Natalie Portman (both who have guest-starred) as well as Elijah Wood, Rose Byrne, Joel Edgerton and many more. It has broken all ABC iview viewership records and was the seventh most streamed show (of any genre) in 2022. Bluey is also the most streamed show on Disney Plus.

Joe worked as an animator for 20 years before starting Bluey, which is created and produced under one roof in Brisbane, Queensland.

Anne Hollonds is the current Australian National Children’s Commissioner. Prior to this role she was the Director of the Australian Institute of Family Studies. For more than 23 years Anne was a chief executive officer of government and non-government organisations focused on research, policy and practice in child and family wellbeing. As a psychologist Anne worked extensively in frontline practice including child protection, domestic and family violence, mental health, child and family counselling, parenting education, and family law counselling. Anne currently contributes to several expert advisory groups, including the Family Law Council, Australian Child Maltreatment Study, NSW Domestic and Family Violence and Sexual Assault Council, National Plan Advisory Group (NPAG), and Early Years Strategy Advisory Panel.

An Arrernte/Luritja woman from Central Australia, Catherine has been a leading advocate in upholding the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on a national, regional and local level. Catherine has held senior management positions in First Nations organisations including First Nations Media and Jawun Indigenous Corporate Partnerships, as well as within the Northern Territory Education Department, the ABC and NITV/SBS. A journalist by trade, Catherine’s motivation has always been to drive change that leads to positive outcomes and options for First Nations people.

Gabrielle Sinclair is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), which is the independent national authority for the early childhood education and care sector’s National Quality Framework. Gabrielle commenced her career as a teacher and has held senior executive positions in several Queensland Government portfolios including Education, Infrastructure, Planning, Local Government and Corrective Services. Before her appointment to ACECQA in January 2017, Gabrielle was Deputy Director-General, Early Childhood and Community Engagement in the Queensland Department of Education and Training.
Gabrielle has degrees in teaching and education, a Master’s degree in Education, and an Executive Master’s degree in Public Administration.

Daryl is Director of the Institute of Child Protection Studies at Australian Catholic University (ACU). A registered psychologist, he has been researching child abuse prevalence, impacts and prevention for over 30 years. He is one of the chief investigators of the Australian Child Maltreatment Study, and leads numerous projects for the Institute. He has an extensive publishing record of articles, papers and reports that have made a significant impact on policy related to child maltreatment, both in Australia and internationally.

Leanne brings more than 30 years’ experience in the health, mental health, and non-government social service sectors. She started as a clinician and then a leader in child and youth mental health settings, moving into government policy leadership and then into advocacy at a national level. She brings expertise in system, program and policy design, service development and commissioning, organisational strategy and risk management—and she has sought to amplify the voices of those with lived experience throughout all of this work.

Leanne’s professional qualifications are in Occupational Therapy and Family Therapy and she holds a Master of Business Leadership degree and a Master of Laws degree. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds a PhD in Psychology in organisational dynamics. Committed to strong, sound, strategic and accountable governance, Leanne has expertise as a non-executive director including as a past Board Chair with Eating Disorders Victoria, a Deputy Chair of the Board of Tweddle Child and Family Centre, and a Director of the Western Alliance Academic Health Science Centre. She has recently been appointed to the Board of PANDA (Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia).

Marie is a well-respected, strategic leader from the early childhood sector, with a 30-year career spanning across public and not-for-profit sectors. As a demonstrated specialist in early childhood, Marie utilises her extensive experience to provide consulting services, which contribute to the delivery of quality outcomes for the sector. Over the past three years she has worked with ECA to deliver a Victorian state government project designed to embed Child Information Sharing practice across the early childhood sector. This work included the development of case studies and video resources, the hosting of a one-day conference and the production of a podcast.

Susan Irvine is Head of the School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education at Queensland University of Technology. Her research interests include early childhood education and care (ECEC) policy, quality standards and the workforce. Susan is the Chair of the Queensland Early Childhood Teacher Education Network (QECTEN) which promotes quality teacher education and evidence-informed ECEC policy and practice.

Andi Salamon is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Canberra. She draws on decades of interdisciplinary professional experience as a practitioner and leader in ECEC contexts in her work. She has been an investigator on two major research projects, about children’s digital practices in digital societies and documenting the evocative, intentional and playful ‘emotional capital practices’ very young children use in the first year of life. Taking a respectful, reciprocal and participatory approach, Andi uses the theory of practice architectures in her research. She is keenly interested in sophisticated infant cognitive, social and emotional development and how these come together in holistic communicative practices. A passionate advocate for the reality of young children’s lives as the starting point for transformational ECEC pedagogy, Andi incorporates her research into her current teaching to uphold infants’ rights to quality ECEC.

Katey De Gioia is Engagement and Impact Director (Early Childhood) at the Australian Education Research Organisation, Australia’s independent education evidence body. Katey’s extensive experience in the early childhood sector has influenced the skills and insights she brings to her work. She began her career as an early childhood teacher and centre director, working across long day care and preschool services. Throughout her career, Katey has held several leadership roles across academia and in the sector—most recently with a large not-for-profit provider, leading a program to support the career lifecycle of teachers across Australia. Katey has written in the areas of practitioner inquiry to effect educational change and transitions into educational institutions for children from immigrant and refugee backgrounds.

Melanie Thomas is a Lecturer in the National School of Education at the Australian Catholic University. She is an experienced researcher and practitioner within the early childhood education and care sector, having worked in various roles including early childhood teacher, early childhood service director, pedagogical and educational leader, and early childhood advisor. Melanie has most recently worked for the Australian Education Research Organisation as a Senior Researcher working on actions within the Early Childhood Workforce Strategy in the areas of induction, mentoring and professional networks in early childhood education. Melanie’s research focuses on perspectives of play and play-based learning in the lives of young children.

Rod Soper has over thirty years’ experience in education as a teacher and head of school. He is the co-founder of Thinkers.inq, an early learning school celebrating wellbeing, and Personhood360, an online platform designed to help teachers program, track and measure the development of wellbeing in children. Rod is also the chief investigator of The Playing with Gratitude Research Project, a wellness endeavour supporting change in about 4,000 Australian children, families and teachers. In his spare time Rod likes to read, write and share his passion for educational change through coaching and leading his team of learners.