This event has gathered play leaders from diverse sectors ensuring something for all!
Our amazing array of speakers represent a broad spectrum of play interest including but not exclusive to peak body advocates, playwork, state school, independent/private school, kindergarten, early years settings, home schooling, design, psychology, nature play and more!
Each speaker will be tackling the topic from the top, sharing their experiences and expertise with the assembled delegates to support their journey’s in the play realm. Learn from this amazing line up as they share their passions, their skills and the trials and tribulations they have faced ensuring PLAY is more than just an institutional after thought.
Tickets available here: https://www.trybooking.com/CXAQK
More speakers to be announced early 2025!
Speaker BIOS
Andrew Barnes has worked for the past seventeen years as Principal at Eagleby South State School. Prior to that, he worked as a Head of Special Education Services with Education QLD.
In earlier work, Andrew was a teacher and professional development presenter with Autism QLD and a secondary school teacher in the UK. In recent years, Andrew has been a strong advocate for play and has engaged in a number of associated research projects. He has enjoyed opportunities to write and to present at conferences in Australia and overseas.
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Annette Anderson, owner and director of Deru Creche Kindergarten and Family Centre, has worked in the early childhood sector for over 45 years. Since obtaining her degree at the original teacher’s college in Brisbane and going on to complete her Bachelor of Early Years Education, Annette has owned and directed two services in Brisbane AU. Annette is known for her successful staff retention and is passionate about the health, well-being, and personal growth of her staff.
Being a Virtues Project facilitator, Annette believes that heart centred relationships are at the core of all quality organisations and is what is lacking in the sector. Alongside her professional life, Annette has raised four daughters and has 8 grandchildren and is passionate about her centre’s herb and vegetable gardens.
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Angus Gorrie is a passionate playworker and committed to advocating PLAY as a fundamental right for children. As a founding member of The Outsiders he does this through consultancy throughout schools, early learning settings, kindergartens and well, anywhere children might play! In addition Angus, through The Outsiders is an Approved Provider for OSHC and is growing an OSHC portfolio that boasts exceptional play and playwork provision across the SE QLD region…
Angus’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Leisure Managment, a Bachelor of Psychology, a Playwork Development Course Certificate and other useful achievements. He does however credit 15 years on the front line of the Camp Hill OSHC Adventure Playground for much of his experiential and intuitively gained perspectives on play, playwork and how to advocate these things to a broad audience.
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Bec Burch founded Bush Kindy Australia to support educators in enriching opportunities for play and learning in nature for children. With an extensive background in early childhood education, she leads Cottonwood Learning, a bush kindy program that takes children into nature spaces in all weather for children to play and learn.
Bec’s experience spans years of training and mentoring educators in nature play and bush kindy, with Nature Play QLD, TAFE NSW, and her own practical applications to shape effective leaders in outdoor learning.
For Bec, nature is essential for children’s holistic development, fuelling her dedication to supporting educators through professional development.
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Carrie Rose has over 30 year’s experience She previously was the Approved Provider and Pedagogical Leader at Rosie’s Early Learning for almost 15 years (2008 – 2022). Rosie Early Learning was rated EXCELLENT from ACECQA in 2016 and then a second time in 2019. Carrie is passionate about advocating children’s rights, in particular through the lens of leadership, pedagogy and environment designs.
She has engaged in 2 study tours to Schools of Reggio Emilia and has visited the work of Geoffrey Canada at the ‘Harlem Children’s Zone’ in New York City. Carrie was selected to join the Front Project Apiary Fellowship (2022) committed to develop, influence and implement change in the early childhood system.
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Catherine Shaw is the founding Head of The Nature School. Situated in Port Macquarie on the beautiful mid north coast of NSW, the award winning school caters for 180 students from Kindergarten to Year 9, with Year 10 to be added in 2026. The School embraces outdoor learning whenever possible across all subject areas and has a strong focus on the importance of play for all ages.
Catherine was a finalist in the 2021 and 2023 Australian Education Awards (Primary Principal of the Year). She sits on the Board of Outdoors NSW/ACT, serves on the ONSWACT Education and Nature Play committee, and has received a National Award for Services to Outdoor Education Australia.
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Daniel Burton is the CEO and co-founder of Educated by Nature, a world leader in play-based nature education since its establishment in 2014. Daniel has a background as a qualified primary school teacher, education consultant, rites of passage facilitator, and passionate nature connection mentor.
Daniel's passion for nature and commitment to holistic education shines through in his work. He combines current research with practical examples, drawing on a lifetime of learning and experience to provide comprehensive programs and transformative experiences for educators, parents, and children alike. Through Educated by Nature, Daniel continues to advocate for the importance of play and outdoor learning, empowering individuals to explore, discover, and thrive in nature's classroom.
Drawing from over ten years of experience working with thousands of Australian children, Educated by Nature has developed a suite of research-based pedagogies aimed at bringing education outdoors and has gained international acclaim for its innovative approach to outdoor learning.
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David Kutcher is the longest serving GM and Board member in The Venny’s history. He has completed well over 10,000 hours of playwork practice primarily with children/young people who are vulnerable or at risk.
He oversaw the The Venny’s transition from a Co-operative to an Incorporated Association and then attained full charitable PBI and DGR status. He facilitated The Venny's expansion and reach across other public housing towers and municipalities. He has travelled extensively to study models of Playwork in the UK, Germany, and Scandinavia.
Importantly, David has a proven track record of building risk taking play spaces and putting children and young people front and the centre of all decision making and play practice.
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Eleanor De Jager is the founder of Homegrown Nature Play; an alternative learning hub in the heart of Central Queensland.
As a registered primary school teacher, Eleanor taught in traditional classrooms for 15 years before pausing to start a family. In her quest to find ‘the ideal learning environment’ for her children, she discovered the concept of self-directed education and unschooling.
Drawing on evidence from psychology, history, childhood development, anthropology, and playwork, the Homegrown Hub was born. Eleanor has created a space where play serves the function of education. She believes that if we want to foster children who will thrive in today’s constantly changing world, we must entrust them to steer their own learning.
Through self-directed learning and intentional community-building, Eleanor and her team are raising curious and well-educated life-long learners.
Eleanor’s passion and commitment to reclaiming education for all children has led her to mentor, train, and guide educators in a variety of different settings.
She encourages participants to step back and empower children with inquiry-based models and open-ended resources. She has guided whole teams to improve outcomes and inspire hearts and minds to the possibilities of natural learning.
She is a fierce advocate of families and young people taking back their learning and protecting their play and curiosity.
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Hannah Powell is a kindergarten teacher and forest school facilitator who is passionate about advocating for children’s rights to play, autonomy, and a joyful childhood.
She is vice president of the Australian Forest School Association and has established four ongoing forest schools in Brisbane, strongly believing in the powerful benefits of nature play.
Hannah's broad interests in neuroscience, psychology, and playwork have provided her with a diverse perspective on the values that are important in education and she shares these with families and services to support the ongoing deepening of understanding and advocacy.
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Julie Ritchey is a theatre artist and playworker who specialises in immersive, participatory theatre for young people and their families. Julie is on a mission to create a world where young people are valued, supported, and included exactly as they are - not as future adults. She believes that art and play are powerful tools for liberation, and that a truly equitable society necessitates the liberation of children.
As an artist, Julie is the founder of Filament Theatre in Chicago, IL, where she created and developed nearly 30 new works for and with young people. Her work has been seen at and supported by the Kennedy Center, the O’Neill Theatre Center, Opera Australia, and other fancy places, as well as the windows of vacant shops, school corridors, gardens, the courtyards of apartment buildings, and street festivals. Her original piece Forts: Build Your Own Adventure has delighted thousands of audience members through over 400 sold out performances, and her SoundLab series created for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has served over 35,000 teachers and students around the world.
As an educator and consultant, Julie has worked with schools, caregivers, and arts organizations as they develop their own pathways to connect with and empower young people. She has presented workshops and lectures on her groundbreaking programs for youth leadership and access at the TYA/USA national festival and conference, IPAY CultureCrew Festival, Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Chicago Theatre (Un)Conference, TEDx, and at colleges and universities across the United States.
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Kylie Keane is a highly experienced Playworker and advocate, business owner and consultant at Keen About and is dedicated to championing children and young people’s right to play.
Kylie grew up attending an OSHC service in Sydney, which she later returned to work at before making the move to Canberra and taking on a role as an Educational Leader. It was there that OSHC became more than just a job. Kylie’s journey into Playwork happened the way it does for so many … stumbling into it and then fuelled by instincts and curiosity. Kylie spent the better part of a decade embedding a Playwork approach, grounded by the Playwork Principles, as the Educational Leader of a team who together achieved an ‘Exceeding’ and ‘Excellent’ rating not once, but twice.
Kylie’s advocacy for Playwork, and play as a fundamental right, has had a lasting impact in Australia, including contributing to the integration of Playwork into My Time Our Place: Framework for School Age Care in Australia (V2.0) . Kylie’s professional journey spans the UK, the US, and Australia, where she has not only presented on but fully immersed herself in the global landscape of play and Playwork. Kylie is passionate about supporting individuals and organizations to create the ideal physical and psychological conditions for play and considers it an absolute privilege to contribute to this field and is honoured that she gets to do this each and every day.
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Lukas Ritson’s passion is all about keeping children curious, creative, and confident through offering the adventurous childhood they deserve - this is the principle that elevates Lukas Ritson's play environments. Lukas believes that play should be a holistic experience for children - one that fosters connection, encourages resilience, and cultivates compassion. His innovative playground designs emphasise sustainable, quality materials, as they create a healthy stage for limitless learning opportunities.
His work has touched the lives of tens of thousands of children Australia-wide. He has ollaborated with childcare centres, schools, and community nature-based events, and also presented keynote talks on the importance of play in Finland, the United States, across Australia, and on the TEDx stage.
Lukas’s extensive knowledge as an outdoor educator heavily influences his design style: green open spaces scattered with native plants for free-range exploration; recycled timber structures to climb and welcome risk; secluded zones for quiet moments. A background in the culinary arts drives him to ignite a positive early relationship with food by incorporating garden beds and chicken coops into early educational centres and schools.
He currently calls the Gold Coast Queensland, Australia, his home - specifically a house in the hinterland with distant views of the ocean. When he’s not on his surfboard, recentring among nature, he is reminded of the importance of play while wrangling his two adventurous children alongside his wife and Wearthy co-founder, Vanessa.
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As a beneficiary of a happy, healthy childhood, Robyn Monro-Miller has made her life’s work advocating the same for all children. Her career has spanned 35 years, encompassing senior leadership roles in education, local government, children’s services, and the not-for-profit sector. Her advocacy and
leadership have been recognized with a number of awards, including the Australian Commonwealth Centenary medal and an AM in the Australian Honours List.
Robyn is passionate about achieving reform that enhances policy and planning for Australia’s children. Robyn served on successive Ministerial Advisory Councils and played a significant role in the reform of the school age care sector in Australia between 1996 and 2018. Her advocacy work, undertaken with the National peak body, included securing the first Quality Assurance system and qualifications for the sector, followed by the development of the first Australian school age care framework "My Time, Our Place.
She is currently CEO of Play Australia, the national advocacy organisation for play and since 2017, President of the International Play Association (IPA World) . Robyn has represented IPA World on the UN working group for the development of the General Comment on Article 31, and the global working group for the International Day of Play campaign. Active in the media, she speaks regularly at international and national events on the importance of play as a biological imperative, critical for healthy development and essential to build social cohesion, and most recently, was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to undertake an international study of Governments with recognised play initiatives to support children’s health and wellbeing that is hoped to shape a national agenda for play in Australia.
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Sandi Phoenix, founding director of Phoenix Support for Educators, is a thought leader in blending psychological science with education and care. Her focus on empowering educators through leadership has transformed practices across Australia. Creator of The Phoenix Cups framework, Sandi merges theory with practical strategies to enhance children's wellbeing. Presenting nationally and internationally on education and care, Sandi inspires meaningful change through visionary leadership.
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Scott Gibson is a Pedagogy and Practice Consultant based in Tasmania and has been working with children, educators, teachers, and community for over 20 years advocating and highlighting the positive impact risk has on children’s play,
engagement and development.
Having delivered countless workshops and engaging over 10,000 children in risk-based experiences, Scott brings a practical and insightful approach to rethinking how risk can enrich both children's and educators' experiences.
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Steve Kanowski is the Principal at Berrinba East State School, and in his time their has done incredible things for play! Along with opening up and endorsing multiple incredible play spaces including bmx tracks, natural forests, constructed nature play, edible gardens and epic loose parts spaces, Steve has opened up more TIME to use these spaces, an often overlooked but critical aspect to support play.
While there may have been sceptics at the beginning wondering when the children would be learning with all this extra play, the data at Berrinba East clearly shows improvements across the board from attendance levels, academic achievements and behaviour.
Steve, in addition to his teaching degree boasts a Masters in Autism Studies and is the new Chair of The Playmakers, a SE QLD network group of school leaders dedicated to improving play for children in their settings.
The Venue
For 2025 we have upped the anti due to the growing interest in this event. The Brisbane Convention & Exhibition center has been chosen due to its central location and capacity to increase the number of play enthusiasts in attendance! The event will be spread over 4 main rooms ensuring a wider variety of break out speakers and opportunities are available to delegates.
Traditionally nearly half the event delegates have been from outside of the larger SE QLD region. With this in mind we are delighted to disclaim that this also contributed to the location choice for the 2025 event. For those requiring accommodation there are ample options and the Southbank Precinct where the venue resides is full of life and energy with plenty to do for delegates of all predispositions.
THE BUS TRIP
Tickets for the Adventure Play Bus Tour are available and seats are limited: https://www.trybooking.com/CZLFE
This bus tour is designed to show a wide range of "Adventure Play" spaces. The locations have been selected to show a range of contexts and deliveries to suit different age groups and locations. One thing they all have in common is exceptional practitioners who will be on site to ask questions and enquiries!
Meeting outside the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre at 8:00am, delegates will head off to visit:
Camp Hill OSHC Adventure Playground
Berrinba East State School
Joomunjie Land Adventure Playground (on the site of Eagleby South State School)
Curious Me
Each site has a lot to offer!
The bus will drop you back where you started between 3:15pm and 3:30pm.
Morning tea and lunch included!
Hope to see you there!
SATURDAY NIGHT SOCIAL
For those wanting to kick on and keep up all the inspiring conversations we have secured a private space at The Plough which is a very easy walking distance from the venue! We welcome anyone to join us as many a solid connection and lasting play alliance has come from Planning For Play post socials previously!
