Disaster preparedness and response:
Supporting children and infants through trauma
Going Live: Thursday, 6 August 2026, 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM AEST
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Meet Our Panellists
Panellists have generously contributed to our CPD webinars. Please note that they are not employed by MHPN, and we are unable to contact them or provide referrals on your behalf. Please do not send us patient details.
Michelle Roberts
Facilitator
Churchill Fellow and co-founder/co-chair of the National Infant & Child Disaster Mental Health Advisory Committee, Michelle Roberts, is a nationally respected psychologist and subject matter expert in child trauma, disasters and disaster psychosocial recovery. She was previously the Director of The Australian Child and Adolescent Trauma, Loss and Grief Network (ACATLGN) at the Australian National University.
In her career, Michelle has led government teams, shaped national policy, developed sector leading professional learning programs and co-authored Infants and Children in Disasters: A Practice Guide (with Emerging Minds and The National Workforce Centre for Child and Mental Health). She also established and managed the Student Critical Incident Recovery Unit, Department of Education (Victoria).
Karleen Gribble
Researcher
Karleen Gribble is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Western Sydney University. She is also the author of more than 80 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters on infant feeding, child protection, and child rights, and is a world-leading researcher on infants and young children in emergencies.
In her career, Karleen has provided advice on protecting infants and young children in emergencies to UN organisations, INGOs, health professionals, emergency responders and government bodies in many countries. She was Project Lead for the Australian Breastfeeding Association’s Community Protection for Infants and Young Children in Bushfires Project, which worked to improve emergency preparedness and response in Australian emergencies.
Karleen advocates for recognition of the importance of mothers to their infants and works to create environments that support the mother-infant relationship.
Assoc Prof Campbell Paul
Psychiatrist
Associate Prof Campbell Paul is a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist who has been at the Royal Children’s Hospital for many years in psychiatry and infant mental health. Over the last 15 years he has worked with many children and young people experiencing gender dysphoria, and their families, and he was involved in the establishment of the original RCH Gender Service. Transgender children and young people have endured sometimes profound distress and may feel very alienated. It has been very exciting to see the further development of the Gender Service driven by colleagues from RCH Adolescent Health and the formation of many new support networks and services for young people and their families. There is an increasing community awareness and acceptance of gender diversity for children and young people. An understanding of the development of a child’s identity, especially gender identity, is important for all clinicians.
Dr Sharleen Keleher
Educator
Dr Sharleen Keleher is the ECEC Infant Mental Health Statewide Coordinator at the Queensland Centre for Perinatal and Infant Mental Health, Children’s Health Queensland, where she leads the Birdie’s Tree Early Learning Program. Drawing on her PhD in early childhood disaster resilience and extensive cross-sector experience, she works to strengthen the capacity of early childhood settings and communities to support young children and families through disasters.
Dr Julia White
Psychologist
Dr Julia White is a Senior Clinical Psychologist, clinical supervisor and discipline lead on the multidisciplinary Disaster Recovery team within the Schools and Early Years unit at Royal Far West. She has extensive experience supporting children’s wellbeing following natural disasters and developmental trauma, and has worked across not-for-profit, public health, and private practice organisations. Julia adopts a systemic, attachment-focused, strengths-based approach, with the aim of fostering secure connections between children and their carers, educators and community. She has worked with communities impacted by bushfires and floods around regional and rural NSW, delivering group programs for children and carers, professional development for educators, assessments, and individual therapy for children and carers..
Resources
Check back during the webinar for available resources.