Carer Advisory Service
For information, referral, advocacy, problem solving, developing options,
counselling appointments and workshops.
1800 242 636*
Commonwealth Respite & Carelink Centre
For information on community aged care and disability services in your
area and all respite enquiries.
1800 052 222*
For emergency respite after hours call: 1800 059 059*
Carers ACT Belconnen Office
Ground Floor
Churches Centre
54 Benjamin Way
Belconnen ACT 2617
Ph: (02) 6296 9900
Fax: (02) 6296 9999
Carers ACT Torrens Office
1 Torrens Place
Torrens ACT 2607
If you are interested in Membership please Click
here
*An Australian Government Initiative. Free local call. Mobile phones charged at mobile rates.
MEET OUR staff
Key management contacts include:
Dee McGrath |
Chief Executive Officer |
6296 9933 |
Helen Denning |
Operations Director |
6296 9927 |
Annemarie Ashton |
Policy Advisor |
6296 9952 |
| Felicity Cotterill |
Manager – Commonwealth Respite & Carelink Centre |
6290 7404 |
| Pauline Dunk | Manager – Respite Cottages | 6285 2082 |
| Helen Walker | Manager – Carer Support Services |
6296 9912 |
| Jenny McArthur |
Manager – Carer Programs |
6296 9929 |
All Carers are welcome to drop in to either of our offices to meet with our staff, and chat about how we may be able to support you.
Belconnen OfficeGround Floor Churches Centre |
Torrens Office1 Torrens Place |
Alternatively you can contact our staff via email or direct phone or ring our switch board on (02) 6296 9900.
MEET OUR BOARD
President
Brett Walker, LLB, BA, LLM 1st Class Honours, FTIA, Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW and the ACT and the High Court of Australia and is currently a Senior Legal Counsel with the CSIRO. Brett has had 20 years experience as a commercial lawyer in both private practice and in-house counsel roles across a wide ranging legal commercial and banking sector. Brett has a special interest in respite care and was appointed President of Carers ACT at the 2006 AGM and he has been on the Board for the past three years.
Vice President
Janet Moore played a key role as a founding member of Carers ACT in 1991 and has overseen the development and growth of the Association as well as gaining wider recognition for Carers by governments and community. Janet is a health professional specialising in gerontology with a background in nursing and community health. She is a past Carer of a relative with dementia for many years.
Treasurer
Robert (Bob) Cotton, B.Ec, MA, FCPA, GAICD, is currently employed as a consultant and Visiting Fellow at Crawford School ANU. Bob has had extensive public sector leadership and management and also diplomacy in his extensive career. Bob is the current Treasurer and has been on the Board for three years, having joined in 2004.
Secretary
Libby Smith has held senior positions with the Australian Public Service and has been working as a consultant over the last three years. She has worked in education, and the arts in ACT . She has also been a past Carer and brings personal insight and understanding to caring. Libby has served on the board for four years.
Board Members
Tim Moore, BA, MChild&AdolWelfare, MYouthStudies. Although he has had some caring experience of his own, Tim’s main involvement with the carers movement has related to his work with young carers and their families. Over the past ten years Tim has had the pleasure of meeting and working with young carers locally and nationally as a youth worker, researcher and advocate. He has helped establish a number of local young carer programs and in 2005 managed the national Supporting Young Carers program for Carers Australia. Tim is currently working as a research fellow at the Institute of Child Protection Studies where he has continued his research with young carers, most recently those with a parent with an alcohol or other drug issue. He sits on a number of local and national boards, including Carers Australia. In his spare time he is completing a PhD looking at research with vulnerable children.
Brian Joyce (Past President) Brian has served on the
board for a number of years. Brian is a Director of Joint Strategies,
a Canberra based management consultancy whose clients include a number
of key Australian Government agencies. As such he brings a wealth of
high level management skills to the board and has provided invaluable
advice to Carers ACT in a range of management and organisational issues
during his term. Brian and his wife Lyn are Carers to their son.
Conny Ehlers is mother and Carer to her son. She has
held a number of senior positions in the Australian Public Service,
has a financial management background with Westpac as a former consultant
and has had many years experience working in the private sector at the
management level. She has been President of a highly respected disability
respite community organisation, FaBRIC (now Tandem), as well being involved
in the community sector for some time. She has been actively involved
in advocating for better outcomes for carers and people with disabilities.
Bruce Mackay has worked in marketing and advertising
for over thirty years. He commenced his career at Sydney advertising
agency Hertz Walpole, before moving to Bayer Australia for a three year
stint as Advertising Manager of their Animal Health Division. At the
age of 26, he accepted the offer of starting an advertising agency in
Canberra for a Melbourne based agency. Through a series of mergers and
acquisitions, that entity evolved into Grey Worldwide Canberra. After
leading the agency for nearly 25 years, Bruce now runs a specialised
marketing and advertising consultancy in Canberra called Cutthrough.
Richard Bialkowski, M.Bus, B.Bus, Grad Dip Applied
Corporate Governance, FAICD, FCHSE. Richard has extensive leadership,
governance and executive level management experience in the community
sector at ACT and national levels. He is a board member of a number
of state and national level organisations, and has extensive experience
in advocacy and stakeholder relations at both state and national levels
with government and non-government agencies.
Chris Huet served twenty years in the Air Force as
a pilot and officer before starting his current career as a management
consultant. He currently works in project management with SMS Management
& Technology, consulting to government departments in Canberra.
His particular skills are in leadership and communication. Having settled
with his family in Canberra, Chris joined the board of Carers ACT to
make a contribution back to the community.
