The Family Inclusion Network of Australia is made up of:
Committee
Chair – Bobbi Robertson – Bobbi is a parent with lived experience of the Child Protection system in Queensland. In 2014 Bobbi started a career in counselling and achieved her Diploma of Counselling and Diploma of Community Services. In 2016 Bobbi started her Bachelor of Social Work Degree at James Cook University in Townsville.
Bobbi is the President of FIN Townsville and has worked alongside parents, grandparents, carers, and professionals to make a change in people’s lives. Joining the Queensland Parent Advisory Committee as a founding member in 2019, she has been a part of meeting the in-office Ministers, development of the Charter of Rights for Parents, and multiple workshops and conferences. Bobbi is also on the International Parent Advocacy Network board, after attending a forum in 2018.
Professor Ros Thorpe - Emeritus Professor of Social Work at James Cook University, and, since her retirement at the end of 2010, she has been Secretary of and a volunteer community social worker with Family Inclusion Network Townsville, a service user support and advocacy organisation in which families and supportive professionals work together to achieve greater social justice for children and families caught up in the child protection system.
Ros qualified as a social worker in 1967 in the UK and migrated to Australia in 1978. She has had significant practice experience in family casework and group work in child welfare. She has an international reputation for her research with children in out-of-home care, their parents, and their foster carers.
Nadia Bergineti has a Bachelor of Psychological Science and Masters of Social Work, University of South Australia and is a dedicated advocate and compassionate leader in the field of child protection. With over 9 years of experience in advocacy and therapeutic support, Nadia has emerged as a trusted and influential voice in the industry and as the CEO and Co-Founder of the Reily Foundation, she has played a pivotal role in transforming the lives of countless individuals and families.
Nadia’s journey has a profound passion for helping others navigate the often complex and challenging child protection system. Motivated by a deep sense of empathy and a drive for positive change, she is on a mission to create a lasting impact and empower individuals and families to overcome adversity.
The Reily Foundation has become a place of hope and support for those involved in the child protection system. Through unwavering dedication and commitment to advocacy, Nadia has successfully developed innovative programs and initiatives that address the unique needs of individuals and families, ensuring their voices are heard and their rights are protected.
Nadia’s expertise extends beyond advocacy and support, as she is also a co-contributor of the “Showing Up for your Kids” workshop series which is exclusively delivered by The Reily Foundation.
Dr. Kate Fitt – Kate is a lecturer at RMIT University who has a strong passion for research into child protection and people living with a disability, particularly parents. Kate is a member of FIN Vic.
Libby Cramer: In July 2021 I joined the Fin WA family as the incoming CEO, as Debbie retired. I came to Fin WA from Yorganop, Western Australia’s only Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation providing foster care, as the Executive Manager of the Out of Home Care Program. I have worked both within the Community Sector, supporting families, and the Department (of Communities – Child Protection and Family Support) in various roles, including frontline child protection and as a foster carer, both metropolitan and regionally based. I hold a Bachelor of Social Work, a Graduate Certificate in Child Protection Practice and a Diploma of Leadership and Management. It is an honour and a privilege to be accepted into this role. I have a strong commitment to the Fin WA mission to have a child protection system that is respectful and inclusive of parents, family and community as key stakeholders; and will honour the values of Fin WA, that align with my own. As Debbie has said in previous years, the future challenge remains meeting the demand for service with limited resources, although I am hopeful and confident that we will continue to work alongside the Community, the Sector, the Department and the Minister to increase our ability to meet this need and elevate the voice of parents and families.
Secretary – Jessica Cocks: I am a social worker and researcher with a lot of experience in child protection and out-of-home care. I am also a mum to two young men. They were both primary school aged boys when I began working with other social workers and with parents with lived experience to form FISH in 2014. We were increasingly distressed about the way parents and families were treated and how damaging this was for them and their children. We felt parents and families needed to organise together to make change and to address the underlying causes of child removal. As time has passed, I have become even more committed to supporting parent and family leadership in the child welfare system here and around the world.
Social worker: Debbie Henderson, was the inaugural CEO of the Family Inclusion Network of WA (Fin WA) from 2008 to 2021. Debbie has worked in the community welfare sector for over 30 years with a focus on vulnerable children, women and families. Debbie was the chairperson of the Family Inclusion Network of Australia (FINA) from 2013 to 2021 and remains a board member in her retirement. Over the years Debbie has been an active board member of the Child and Family Alliance of WA, the Ministerial Advisory Council for Child Protection (WA), the state-wide Community Sector Roundtable and various state-wide task groups focused on the safety and wellbeing of children and their families. Debbie continues to be involved in supervision of staff, including peers with lived experience of the child protection system, and is a member of the Care Plan Review Panel - a ministerial appointment. She is also a co-founder and member of the Protection and Care Advocacy Network (PCAN) which advocates for a fair and equitable system, and promotes the rights of parents to quality legal representation when involved in protection and care proceedings.
Treasurer - Jenny Whitworth - Jenny is the Coordinator for Family Inclusion Network (FIN) Southeast Queensland. Jenny has a passion for true early intervention that empowers people, and holds them strongly away from harmful crisis-focused systems. She also has a strong focus on advocacy and human rights. In 2019, Jenny was instrumental in helping parents form the Queensland Parent Advisory Committee with the Minister of the day. Jenny has worked in and around human services’ social policy and service systems for over 30 years. She has worked in policy, training, and project implementation roles in government and non-government organisations: including 15 years in the Queensland department responsible for child protection. She also held statewide social policy manager roles at QCOSS, and at the Crèche and Kindergarten (C&K) Assoc of Queensland.
Leanne Claussen: Leanne is a parent of kids in care. Leanne created Leanne’s Gift because she wanted to help other parents who are involved in Child Protection in Queensland. The information she shared with parents she gathered after being in the system for more than eleven years.