ACA Victoria Summit: "Working Well Living Well"
The ACA Victoria Summit 2025 is a one-day event designed for leaders within the early childhood education and care sector. This year’s theme, Working Well. Living Well., focuses on the ultimate balance— between work life and personal well-being, emphasising strategies for staff retention and fostering a healthy workplace culture.
Designed for Approved Providers, Centre Directors, and senior leaders, the Summit offers expert insights into creating sustainable, high-performing teams while promoting work-life integration. Whether you are a seasoned executive or stepping into a senior leadership role, this event provides the tools and connections to help you navigate the evolving landscape of the sector.
Stay tuned for more exciting speakers and a panel discussion that will deepen your understanding of leadership and organisational well-being.
Speakers
Nigel Ward
CEO and Director Australian Business Lawyers and Advisors
Nigel Ward is one of Australia’s leading advocates and practitioners in employee and industrial relations with more than 30 years of strategic business planning experience. He has been at the forefront of modern negotiations since the late 1980s. This in-depth experience has given him a holistic understanding of workplace strategy, bargaining tactics and law.
Paul Mondo
ACA National President
Paul plays a crucial role in advocating for the ECEC sector at Federal and State Government levels and is well respected by Ministerial Members of Parliament. Paul has over 25 years of experience as an early learning service provider, including building and managing his own services. This extensive knowledge of the challenges families and the sector face has contributed to his success in making an impact.
Karen Maher
Founder of SmartCulture® I WHS & Culture Consultant
Karen Maher is a leading Australian work health and safety consultant and keynote speaker specialising in enhancing workplace culture and the reduction of psychosocial risks and hazards, such as bullying, harassment and sexual harassment. Karen presents at conferences and panels and to all levels of organisations across Australia and internationally, including boards of directors, management teams including senior leaders, and employees. Her experience in this field spans over 20 years, firstly as an employment and safety lawyer in Australia and the UK, and then as a work health and safety consultant, investigator, trainer and keynote speaker. Karen has worked at firms including Sparke Helmore Lawyers, Lovells LLP, Aon, the UK Treasury Solicitors Office and The Brief Group, a WHS consultancy which has now merged with Deloitte. Karen has also acted as a legal advisor to the RailCorp NSW Workplace Conduct Unit. Karen has worked with a diverse range of industries and clients. From government agencies (at federal, state, and local levels) such as the Australian Productivity Commission, Parliament of New South Wales, WorkSafe QLD/WorkSafe TAS and Tourism Australia, to the NRL, emergency services, tech companies, health, hospitality, legal and accounting firms, private schools, oil & gas, construction and mining. Her experience includes working on over 300 cases from all parts of the process, including advisory; drafting allegations; coaching managers; developing strategies/processes/reviews; conducting workplace investigations/Inquiries into serious allegations involving bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination and workplace fatalities; and defending cases in the courtroom. She has seen it all!
Eugenia Voukelatos
Executive Director, Service Delivery and Engagement
Eugenia Voukelatos is the Executive Director of Service Delivery and Engagement in the Kindergarten Expansion and Pre-Prep Reform Division (KEPPR) of the Department of Education. KEPPR works collaboratively across the department and with the sector to deliver the expansion elements of the Best Start, Best Life reforms, including the continued roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten and the transition of Four-Year-Old Kindergarten to Pre-Prep.