Professional Development Program
Keynote Speakers

Darren Flanagan

Sponsored by AIG

"The Gun” behind the Beaconsfield mine rescue

Darren Flanagan was crucial to the rescue of Todd Russell and Brant Webb from the infamous Beaconsfield mine disaster.

Nicknamed “The Gun” by Todd and Brant, he was the man who charged and fired 65 shots of explosives that eventually released them from their tomb 925m underground. Flanagan’s electrifying, emotional and detailed story about one of Australia’s most dramatic mine rescues inspires and impresses!

Darren Flanagan is a humble and reluctant celebrity who passionately communicates his story of planning, test blasting and finally exploding the rescue path to within 35 cm of Todd and Brant, an incredible 1km beneath the earth’s surface. Darren’s story has captivated and inspired audiences of programs including Sunrise at Seven, The Today Show, A Current Affair and Sixty Minutes.

Darryl Lovegrove

The Three Waiters

Sponsored by ING

“An idea whose time had come”

The inspirational story of how two blokes in Redfern created the world's biggest corporate entertainment act performing over 8,000 times in more than 65 countries and turning over more than $30 million! Against all odds Darryl Lovegrove and his business partner Mark Bradley revolutionised entertainment in the corporate world and in the process gave birth to "The Three Waiters" - a phenomenal success that has transcended international gender and cultural differences. In this highly entertaining and informative session, the co-creator and founder of "The Three Waiters", Darryl Lovegrove will tell you exactly how they did it, what keeps them going and why they continue to succeed in an industry particularly hard hit by the worldwide economic crisis. You may even learn to sing!

By age 27 Darryl had starred in musical blockbusters Les Miserables and Chess and Jesus Christ Superstar, . He has performed with theatre greats Sarah Brightman, Rob Guest and Anthony Warlow; and received rave reviews as John Lennon in the acclaimed Looking Through a Glass Onion.

Aged 30, he co-created the worlds’ leading operatic Corporate Entertainment Act “The Three Waiters”. Within 10 years they employed 80 opera singers worldwide and had performed over 7,000 shows in 65 countries.

Peter Baines

Sponsored by MLC

The Crisis Clock

Hope is not a plan

Fail to plan, then plan to fail”. This saying is fine if you have the time to plan, but what happens in a crisis? In crisis management, the Crisis Clock starts ticking as soon as the event unfolds.

In this keynote presentation Peter tales the audience on a journey through each stage of the Crisis Clock, showing that each stage is transitional and sometimes without clear endings or beginnings. As the Clock ticks on, so do the challenges and the emotions surrounding each stage.

Whether you are an experienced project manager, or a junior team member working on your very first project, The Crisis Clock increases awareness of each of the stages you will experience during the project’s life cycle. This enables you to better prepare for challenges and manage the emotions and morale of yourself and your team.

Peter Baines is an expert at creating successful results starting from nothing – no time, no money, no staff, but as Peter says, “No worries”. Throughout almost two decades Peter has experienced and led people through some of life’s most challenging events.

During a police career spanning over two decades, Peter came up against some of the most confronting natural disasters and acts of terrorism in recent times; making him one of Australia’s most experienced disaster management specialists. His roles have included leading both national and international teams following the Bali bombings, the Waterfall train disaster and the Boxing Day Tsunami.

These experiences enable Peter to offer a rare insight into what it takes to lead powerfully and with compassion, within the most extraordinary of circumstances. Taking his audience into a world that many would never dare to tread. Peter provides a journey into the fascinating world of crisis leadership and forensic science; in addition to his own experience of what it really takes to achieve results amidst unrelenting change

Alischia Ross

Turning Tragedy into Triumph

Training the Next Generation of Australians who know how to say 'YEAH'

• Key moments from my personal story of growing up with HIV in a ‘regular’ Australian family, the loss of my mum, sister and step father and how my greatest challenge has lead to the greatest rewards.
• The role of mentors and the importance of surrounding yourself with great people, but remembering that everyone has their own agenda and to never lose site of your own vision.
• Commitment; it’s a long road to creating change, staying on track, finding motivation, being inspired, inspiring others.

Alischa Ross, founder and CEO of YEAH, Australia’s first youth focused HIV/AIDS organisation, is a 28 year old woman who has dedicates herself to empowering young people to realize their place in the global response to HIV and AIDS.

Her work in the international arena has enabled Alischa to gain the experience of working with international health authorities and leadership networks including the Global Youth Coalition on AIDS (GYCA), UNAIDS, The National Institutes of Health and The Waldzell Institute. In 2007 Alischa was nominated as a finalist for the Young Australian of the Year award in recognition of her work.

Alischa has worked as a professional public speaker for the past eight years, presenting on the international stage in academic forums, teaching workshops and in an advisory context to local and national governing bodies. Her strength of communication has allowed her to engage with a variety of radio, television and print media throughout various roles and assisted in growing the public profile of YEAH. Alischa is currently undertaking her Masters in Public Health.

Chris Browne

Sponsored by Asteron

The 1 Percent - "If it's possible, do it!"

The dynamic experience that 14 people within the financial planning community (The 1 Percent) undertook in January 09 to build 2 homes for the underprivileged over 2 weeks. The experience takes the audience through the practicalities of the initial fundraising, difficulties of working through forming the two teams and working within different cultures, how the team connected with local communities which lead to dramatic changes from the original plan. The 1 Percent team originally set out to build 2 houses but their time in Cambodia lead to a very personal change and the ongoing support of The Green Gecko Orphanage.

This presentation is an ‘outside the box’ session with a focus on the experience that the advisers went though and the amazing personal/professional growth that they experienced. I have an ongoing commitment to ensuring that others in our industry get the opportunity to have a similar experience and believe it would be especially valuable to AFA members to see how you can give back in times of stress and economic downturn when it is often easier to do nothing at all.

The top three things attendees will learn from this session:

1. Leadership – the difference it makes when driven by the vision of making a sustainable, positive change
2. Motivation – showing how the planning community how 14 people selflessly and unconditionally helped those less fortunate. This proved to be the tip of the iceberg.
3. Balance – successful businesses and happy clients is just the beginning. Satisfying personal relationships and helping those less fortunate is ultimately the main game.

Craig James

Sponsored by Commonwealth Bank

On leaving school Craig James joined the (then) Rural Bank, whilst undertaking university studies. He received his Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) at University of NSW in 1984 and then a Master of Commerce (Economics) at the same university in 1988.

He remained at the Rural Bank, which became the State Bank over time and then Colonial, working in branches, Corporate, Planning and Economic Research.

He became chief economist of Colonial Group in September 1987, before becoming chief economist at CommSec in August 2000 with the Commonwealth takeover of Colonial.

In 2002 Craig had a sea-change, joining the Australian Financial Review. He had always wanted to pursue a role in journalism and enjoyed the role as an economic commentator and analysts, finding that he couldpursue a journalistic-type role as well as doing more electronic media work at CommSec and rejoined the group in 2003.

On taking the reigns of chief economist at Colonial, Craig endeavoured to style their research in a “user-friendly” way – something that set their research apart and still does today. The approach has been successful in their media work and in promoting Colonial, and then CommSec, to the general public. CommSec is the most quoted economic group in the mainstream media.

CommSec economic reports are a bit different in that they devise tools such as the ‘Mums and Dads’ share index and the iPod index, and undertake research on the weather and demographic changes to show how they affect the economy.

Craig currently does around 2-3 regular TV crosses a day, ad hoc radio and newspaper interviews and writes regular commentaries as well as presenting to staff, clients and external organisations.

Outside work, Craig's main interests are athletics (cross country in winter), weight training, reading widely across a range of newspapers, magazines and electronic media, and trying to keep up with the children.