ABOUT US

centre for excellence in therapeutic care

The CETC mobilises knowledge about “what works” in out-of-home care to better resource carers and organisations supporting children and young people living in all forms of care, including foster and kinship care, residential care and secure care.

our vision

Our vision is that organisations and carers can be better equipped with the knowledge, skills and networks to ensure that children and young people experience safe, meaningful and resilient relationships in every form of out-of-home care.

About the team

meet the team

Janise Mitchell

DIRECTOR

Janise is the Director of the CETC and the Deputy CEO of the Australian Childhood Foundation. She completed a Master of Social Work in 2008 in which she researched the implementation of therapeutic foster care in Victoria. In doing so, she researched best practice elements in therapeutic models of care and looked at the change process required to move an existing way of delivering care to a therapeutic model of service delivery. Janise has 30 years’ experience in the field of child protection and therapeutic care. She has extensive experience providing consultancy to governments and organisations, policy analysis, program development and evaluation. Janise is the lead editor of a Handbook on Therapeutic Care to be published in September 2019 by Jessica Kingsley.
Noel Macnamara

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Noel is the Deputy Director of the CETC, and the Executive Manager, Research and Policy at the Australian Childhood Foundation. Noel brings 30 years of experience to the Centre in therapeutic out of home care and child protection having worked in operational and senior management roles, policy and organisational consultancy. In 2013, Noel’s contribution to the field was acknowledged in his being awarded the Robin Clark Award in Victoria for his contribution to the field of child protection and out of home care. He has a particular interest in supervision and leadership and organisational development.
Glenys Bristow

Senior Residential Care Advisor

Glenys is a Senior Residential Care Advisor for the Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care in NSW and brings over 35 plus years experience in therapeutic residential care as a residential care worker, manager, trainer, and consultant. In 2003, Glenys was awarded the Robin Clark Award and later the Residential Care Learning & Development Strategy (RCLDS) Leadership Award in Residential Care for demonstrating achievement and innovation having significant impact on residential care systems and outcomes for children and young people. Glenys is passionate about providing relevant and up to date industry informed training and caring for the workers who care for the young people. Glenys recently completed her Doctor of Education researching what makes a good residential worker – Artistry Fact or Fiction?
Kelly Royds

Head of Knowledge Mobilisation & Innovation

Kelly Royds is the Head of Knowledge Mobilisation and Innovation with the Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care, where she works to mobilise practice and research knowledge into training, education and policy resources. Kelly works in close partnership with therapeutic care providers, practitioners and other key government and non-government stakeholders to progress the goals of the CETC. She has spent the past 15+ years developing child and youth-centred policies, evaluation systems and programs that lift up and respond to the voices of children and young people across human services and not-for-profit sectors in Australia, South-East Asia and the United States. Kelly has a particular interest in the power of storytelling to improve systems and outcomes for young people.
Dr Lynne McPherson (SCU)

Director of Research

Dr McPherson brings a strong professional and academic background in child protection and out of home care spanning more than 30 years in practice, management, training and research. She has considerable research and organisational consultancy experience, including but not limited to evaluation of therapeutic care programs, numerous organisational consultancy and development projects and leadership, supervision and change management. In 1997, she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to examine international best practice in child protection. In 2017 Dr McPherson and Noel Macnamara released a book ‘Supervising Child Protection Practice: What Works?’ An Evidence Informed Approach. This book was published and distributed internationally by Springer Publishers. Alongside Dr Lynne McPherson is an SCU based Research Team: Kathomi Gatwiri – Senior Research Officer (SCU) Nadine Cameron – Research Officer (SCU) Natalie Parmenter – Research Assistant (SCU).
Janise Mitchell

Director of CETC, CEO of Australian Childhood Foundation

Janise is our Director, and the CEO of Australian Childhood Foundation. She leads the CETC across all knowledge mobilisation, research, practice, government relations, and stakeholder engagement activities.

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Noel Macnamara

Deputy Director

Noel is our Deputy Director and informs and shapes the research, policy and education agenda of the CETC, with a current focus on evolving research and support for foster and kinship carers.

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Lynne McPherson

Chair, Out-of-Home Care Research

Professor Lynne McPherson is the Chair of Out-of-Home Care Research, a pioneering role jointly held between the Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care and the Centre for Children and Young People, Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University.

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Kelly Royds

General Manager

Kelly is our General Manager, leading efforts to equip organisations and carers with the knowledge, skills, and networks to improve the lives of children and young people in out-of-home care and youth justice settings.

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Dan Howell

Senior Manager, Training

Dan is our Senior Manager of Training, managing the training activities of the Centre including the redevelopment of accredited qualifications and non-accredited training to high quality online offerings.

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Belinda Lorek

Senior Manager, Practice Leadership and Development

Belinda is our Senior Manager of Practice Leadership and Development, leading the production of practice resources and other projects that enhance the capacity of providers to best support and care for children and young people in out-of-home care and youth justice.

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Tanya Bilka

Senior Manager, Digital Experience and Learning Design

Tanya is the Senior Manager, Digital Experience and Learning Design. Her role covers the production and streamlining of the CETC’s numerous online courses and tools, to ensure our learners receive the best experience possible while learning online.

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Billy Black

Training and Communications Specialist

Billy is our Training and Communications Specialist, focusing on messaging and storytelling that empowers the voice of children and young people in care through the design and development of training, resources, and special projects.

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Cyra Fernandes

Senior Specialist, Therapeutic Care

Cyra is our Senior Specialist, Therapeutic Residential Care. Her work with the CETC is focused on evolving understanding and education around harmful sexual behaviours and sexual exploitation.

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Masha Mikola

Senior Research and Project Officer

Masha is the Senior Research and Project Officer, supporting CETC projects by collating research evidence and elements of best practice in out-of-home care, youth justice and broader trauma-informed care practice space.

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Jayne Turner

Support Officer, Training

Jayne is our Support Officer for Training. She supports the delivery of both accredited and non-accredited courses, assisting our students through their learning journey.

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Glenda Kickett

Cultural Advisor

Glenda is our Cultural Advisor and works to deepen knowledge of cultural safety for children and young people and cultural supervision for staff in out-of-home care.

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about us

Highlights

spotlighted stories

About Stories
  • All blogs
  • Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander
  • Behaviours that challenge
  • Care system
  • Care teams
  • Child & youth development
  • Child sexual exploitation
  • Cultural safety
  • Disability
  • FASD
  • Foster care
About Us

Can AI improve how we care for children and young people?

Kelly Royds explores how AI offers promising support for professionals in child-facing sectors by easing admin burdens, but its use in client documentation poses serious ethical and privacy risks.

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About Us

Empowered Consent: The shift towards affirmative

Affirmative consent is key to supporting young people. CETC is excited to launch our new "When Yes Means YES" course to help carers and professionals navigate trauma-informed consent conversations.

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About Us

Building digital resilience: a relationship-based approach to online safety in out-of-home care

Young people in out-of-home care face unique challenges online. The Online Safety Practice Guide equips carers and professionals with practical, relationship-based strategies to foster trust, support digital resilience, and empower young people to navigate the online world with confidence.

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Get involved

jobs, research, writing

Working at the CETC

As a division of the Australian Childhood Foundation, the CETC primary aim is to mobilise knowledge to improve outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care.  If you have a commitment to hard work and would love the opportunity to support system change, we would love to hear from you.

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Participate in research

Our research relies on strong partnerships with practitioners, organisations and those with lived experience of out-of-home care. If you would like be involved, please read more about our latest research project. 

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Share your knowledge

We believe in the common saying, “none of us is as smart as all of us”. If you are a carer, practitioner, policy maker or researcher with knowledge to share, we would love to hear from you.

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Partners

advisory groups

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CONTACT​

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