Meet the staff
Brian Babington
Brian has been the Chief Executive Officer of Families Australia since January 2005. He is an inaugural Member of the Australian Families and Children Council, a body which provides advice on policy and program development to the Australian Government to improve outcomes for children and families. In 2007, he was a Member of the Australian Government Carer Payment (Child) Review Taskforce which reviewed payments for carers of children with a profound disability or severe medical condition.
He was co-convenor of the National Family Wellbeing Symposium (June 2007), the first such gathering of international and national community, academic and government leaders to explore the meaning and measurement of family wellbeing. He is a 2008 Churchill Fellow examining child protection systems in the USA, Canada, the UK and Ireland.
Between 2005 and 2007, Brian was a member of the Australian Council for Children and Parenting, and chaired the 2006 National Child Protection Conference. He has been President of Parentline (ACT) – a telephone counselling and support service for parents and carers – since 2004, and is a counsellor and an author (Come Riprendersi Dalle Mazzate, Sperling & Kupfer, Milan, 2008, and Bouncing Back, Finch Publishing, Sydney, 2004). He is an Ambassador for White Ribbon Day, a campaign which raises awareness about violence toward women.
Between 2001 and 2005, Brian was co-Principal of Corporate Good Works, a national firm which assisted not-for-profit and business organisations to forge long-term relationships and to undertake community development projects. From 1996 to 2001, he was a senior executive in the Department of Environment and Heritage. Between 1988 and 1992, as an Australian diplomat, he represented Australia at the United Nations in New York on human development, public health and environment issues. He ran Australia's aid program in Burma in the early 1980s. His qualifications include BA (Hons), MA (Univ. Sydney), and a Graduate Diploma in Community Counselling (Univ. Canberra).
Eris Harrison
Eris joined Families Australia in January 2007 as a Policy and Projects Manager. Eris most recently worked at the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs as a Section Manager. She has worked in areas including Indigenous children’s issues, child care, child protection, out-of-home care and Forgotten Australians.
Jean Gifford
Jean joined Families Australia in August 2007. Jean is a developmental psychologist who has worked extensively in family-related areas: family support services, children's services, family, child care and early childhood policy and research. She was a founding member of the Canberra Parent Support Service and was for many years an active lobbyist for better child care and work and family arrangements. Before coming to Families Australia, Jean worked in the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs where she helped to establish the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy, the National Agenda for Early Childhood, Family Impact Statements and frameworks for understanding family wellbeing.
Jennifer Horsfield
Jennifer has been the Office Manager and Manager of National Families Week since February 2003. Jennifer has had a long career in office work, being employed by organisations throughout Australia and overseas. She enjoys being part of the team at Families Australia and working to promote the interests of families.
Cassandra Inkley
Cassandra has been a Bookkeeper for over 10 years and has mostly worked within the Not For Profit sector. Cassandra started out working for a CPA who taught her a great deal about accounting, bookkeeping and financial management. Then while having her two beautiful children she worked from home and developed her own successful bookkeeping business. Currently Cassandra works part time for Families Australia which enables her to work during school hours and be available for her children after school.
Grace Concannon
Grace joined Families Australia in April 2006 and is currently our Communications and Consultation Manager. Prior to this she worked as Social Policy and Research Manager for Anglicare Australia and Senior Project Officer with the Family Court of Australia. Her major roles at the Court included work on the Family Violence Committee and the Self-represented Litigants Working Committee. Grace also has extensive experience working in the community sector in a range of family related services.