New co-chairs for ARACY Great to Eight project – Michael Hogan and Gillian Calvert

Former South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has stepped aside from his role as Chair of ARACY’s Great to Eight project, in order to focus on his role as Chief Executive of the Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five initiative. 

 

Mr Weatherill will remain involved in the project, as a member of the Governance Committee, and has been replaced as chair by both Michael Hogan and Gillian Calvert, who will share the role. 

 

Ms Calvert has had an extensive career providing leadership in the human services sector across government and non-government roles, including having served as the New South Wales Commissioner for Children and Young People from 1999-2009. 

 

In 2009, Ms Calvert was awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia for her service to the community as a leading advocate in the protection of the rights and welfare of children and youth. Ms Calvert holds a Bachelor of Social Work, Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Business Administration and is currently serving on the Board of Directors for Life Without Barriers.

 

Mr Hogan is the Director-General for the Queensland Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women. He has over 20 years’ experience in senior government roles in QLD, NSW and at a federal level. Mr Hogan has served on the Boards of the NSW Council of Social Service and the Consumers’ Health Forum of Australia, and was chair of the Community Services Review Council in New South Wales. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a Bachelor of Laws.

 

In making the announcement of the new co-chairs, ARACY thanked Mr Weatherill for his hard work getting this project off the ground. 

 

Timeframes for the Great to Eight project have been reviewed with the support of key funder, The Ian Potter Foundation, with ARACY aiming to have a draft Priority Setting Mechanism available for comment by the end of the year.

 

As work in that domain continues “behind the scenes”, ARACY asked those interested in the Great to Eight work to “please keep bringing your ideas to the Ideas Wall and sharing your thoughts with us”, 

 

“We will be posting regularly and asking your views on key questions as the Priority Setting Mechanism develops, along with sharing the latest developments from related ARACY projects focused on children aged from birth to eight years of age,” a spokesperson for ARACY said.

 

More information about Great to Eight is available here.