See Tom's webpage at

http://hofstra.academia.edu/GThomasCouser

Tim Costello has long been the voice of social conscience for many Australians, having led debates on issues such as gambling, urban poverty, homelessness, reconciliation, and substance abuse.

Tim first studied law and education at Monash University, followed by theology at the International Baptist Seminary Rueschlikon in Switzerland, and a Master’s in Theology at the Melbourne College of Divinity. He has been a Baptist Minister in St Kilda, and in the city at Collins St Baptist Church. Tim continued to serving the local community by successfully running for Mayor of St Kilda in 1993, ending with the State Government's disbanding of councils shortly afterwards. He founded Urban Seed, a not-for-profit Christian outreach service for the urban poor.

As CEO of World Vision Australia, Tim leads an organisation of about 560 staff, with an annual income of about $350 million, and 400,000 children overseas sponsored by Australians. Tim has witnessed the worst of humanitarian disasters and seen the most inspiring human responses to suffering.

In 2004, Tim was named Victorian of the Year. In June 2005, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), for “service to the community through contributions to social justice, health and welfare issues, international development assistance, and to the Baptist Church”.

Tim is currently Chairman of the National Australia Bank's community advisory council, a member of the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation, and Chairman of the Community Council for Australia, a peak body for the Not For Profit sector.

At York University, Toronto, Marcia Rioux is a Professor in the School of Health Policy and Management; in the MA and PhD (Critical Disability Studies) and in the M.A./PhD in Health Policy and Equity.  She is also the Director of the York University Institute of Health Research.  She has taught at the University of Zagreb, Croatia and at La Trobe University in Melbourne.  

With Bengt Lindqvist, she is the co-Director of Disability Rights Promotion International, a multi-year project to monitor disability rights nationally and internationally under the CRPD and other international instruments. DRPI now has regional centres on five continents.  Professor Rioux’s research includes health and human rights, universal education, international monitoring of disability rights, the impact of globalisation on welfare policy, literacy policy, disability policy, and social inclusion/participation.  
Dr Rioux has lectured throughout the Americas, Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. She has been an advisor to federal and provincial commissions, parliamentary committees, and international NGOs as well as United Nations' agencies. She has edited a number of collected volumes and nearly 70 book chapters and articles on disability rights.  

Her PhD is in Jurisprudence and Social Policy from Boalt Hall Law School at the University of California, Berkeley.

Paul Smyth is Professor of Social Policy at the University of Melbourne, and General Manager of the Research & Policy Centre at the Brotherhood of St Laurence, Fitzroy, Australia. This joint position involves leading research and the development of policy around partnership solutions to Australia's social problems. His work combines policy development and research at the BSL with teaching and research at the University's Centre for Public Policy.

Paul's diverse career combines academic and social action experience. He was previously the Director of Social Policy in the School of Social Work and Social Policy at the University of Queensland. Prior to this he was senior researcher at Uniya, the Jesuit social research and action centre at Kings Cross, Sydney. A former Catholic priest, he also worked for 20 years in youth and family care.
As Professorial Fellow in Social Policy, Paul is coordinator of the Masters of Social Policy program. Co-funded by the Brotherhood of St Laurence and the University of Melbourne, Paul's chair appointment is to lead research and development policy around partnership solutions to Australia's social problems.

Paul's research areas include contemporary Australian social policy, local governance and social inclusion and international perspectives on social inclusion.

He is on advisory councils for the Centre for Work and Life, University of South Australia, the Australian Institute of Family Studies, and Volunteering Australia. 

Guy is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, at RMIT University. He has been involved in the area of homelessness for almost two decades, initially as a practitioner and more recently as a researcher. Guy has extensive knowledge of existing homelessness research, current homelessness policies, and is well acquainted with the homelessness service system. Guy’s research involves close collaboration with NGOs and he has established relationships with peak agencies that represent homelessness organisations across the country. Guy has published extensively on homelessness is a co-author of ‘On the Outside: Pathways in and out of homelessness’.

In 2009 Guy and Chris Chamberlain were awarded the Norman Smith Publication Award for the best research article in Australian Social Work. Homelessness and substance abuse: Which comes first? He is currently working on three major longitudinal studies.