Greg is also Co-Director for the Center for Organizational Research on Implementation and Leadership (CORIL); and Director of the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center (CASRC). CASRC is a consortium of over 100 investigators and staff conducting cutting-edge research focused on improving health and developmental services for children and families.

Dr Aaron’s research, funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), focuses on identifying and improving system, organisational, and individual factors that support implementation and sustainment of evidence-based practices and quality of care in health care and public sector allied health care settings. His current work also focuses on developing and testing organisation supports and training supervisors to become effective leaders to support evidence-based practice implementation and sustainment.

Ms Bianca Albers, a political scientist by education, works as a Senior Advisor, Evidence in Practice & Policy at the Centre for Evidence and Implementation, where she is responsible for a portfolio of research synthesis and implementation projects. Ms Albers has worked for more than 10 years with implementing evidence-based practices, programs and policies in child, youth and family services – first in government and non-government organisations in Denmark, and since 2013 in Australia.

Ms Albers Chairs the Board for the European Implementation Collaborative (EIC), and is a co-founder of the Danish Implementation Network. She also heads an international group of implementation specialists planning the 3rd Nordic Implementation Conference to be held in Denmark in 2018.

Ms Albers is currently undergoing a PhD at the University of Melbourne’s School of Health Sciences. Her research focuses on the role of leadership in the implementation of empirically supported treatment in human services.

Implementation science and practice networks: what they are, how they work

Internationally, a number of implementation networks have emerged to gather individuals and organisations around a shared goal of shaping and strengthening the field of implementation science and practice. These cross-sector, multidisciplinary networks drive implementation projects, promote collaboration among implementation specialists, and provide opportunities for professional development and knowledge exchange.

Among them are the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) and the European Implementation Collaborative (EIC).

Ms Albers and Dr Lyon, who are part of the leadership teams of the EIC and SIRC respectively, will provide insights from networking activities in Scandinavia, Europe, the US and Australasia. This includes:

• What are the major trends in this work?
• How does it contribute to the global landscape of implementation science and practice?
• What is needed to take this work to the next level?

Fiona has led major child protection research teams in South Australia and the Northern Territory, and is the Director of the Australian Centre for Child Protection and the former Chair of the Council for the Care of Children.

Professor Arney is an internationally recognised expert in program planning, implementation, evaluation and dissemination and is an experienced mixed-method researcher, having worked on significant projects involving incidence and prevalence studies, randomised and non-randomised controlled trials and other evaluative comparison methods, measure development, administrative data analysis, grounded theory and content and thematic analysis. She has evaluated more than 50 innovations in child and family services during her career.

Professor Arney has a particular desire to promote systems transformation to support the lives of children, and has worked extensively in child protection reform and service evaluation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Waiting for the magic to happen – why child protection reform often fails to achieve intended outcomes for children

My work has been motivated by seeing change for children, but in child protection program implementation and policy reform, unanticipated outcomes are more common than not. In this presentation I'll explore why we have such difficulties in matching activities to outcomes for families in the child protection system, and why implementation of new innovations often falls short of the mark. Drawing on examples of program and policy development and implementation studied over a 20 year career, I will explore a key message of "doing that thing, won't do what you think it will"U when working with families in which child abuse and neglect is a concern. I will also explore how we can develop processes for "Smart System Reform" to better support highly effective policy and program implementation in this field.

Professor Muriel Bamblett is presenting at the AIC as the campaign Ambassador for 'Family Matters – kids safe in culture not in care', Australia's national campaign to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people grow up safe and cared for in family, community and culture. Family Matters is led by the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC), the peak agency representing Indigenous Child and Family Services nationally, and driven by a National Coordinating Group comprising peak Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organisations.

Professor Bamblett is a Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung woman who has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency since 1999. Professor Bamblett was the Chairperson of SNAICC for 10 years and has been awarded a Lifetime Associate Membership.

Professor Bamblett is one of Australia's leading experts on Aboriginal child welfare, and is active on many boards and committees concerning children, families and the Indigenous community. These include the Victorian Children's Council; Victorian Taskforce 1000 Steering Committee; the Aboriginal Treaty Interim Working Group; the Indigenous Family Violence Partnership Forum and the Aboriginal Justice Forum. Professor Bamblett participates in a number of Ministerial Advisory Groups, including for Children in Out-of-Home Care; Aboriginal Affairs; and Roadmap Implementation. Professor Bamblett is also a Board Member of the Aboriginal Community Elders Service.

Professor Bamblett has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Centenary of Federation Medal; the 2003 Robin Clark Memorial Award for Inspirational Leadership in the Field of Child and Family Welfare; the Women's Electoral Lobby Inaugural Vida Goldstein Award; and in 2011, was inducted into the 2011 Victorian Honour Roll of Women and was a finalist for a Human Rights Medal with the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Professor Bamblett was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2004 Australia Day Honours for her services to the community, particularly through leadership in the provision of services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. In 2009, she was appointed by La Trobe University as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Work and Social Policy within the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Ms Micaela Cronin is the CEO of Hagar International. With 10 country offices across the world, Hagar provides trauma-informed recovery services to people who have experienced significant human rights abuses across South East Asia and Afghanistan.

Ms Cronin has worked in the community sector for more than 25 years and become a recognised leader at state and national level in Australia.

Before her recent appointment as CEO of Hagar International, Ms Cronin was CEO of McKillop Family Services since October 2009, a Catholic community agency that provides services to over 5000 people across three Australian states. Across the last six years she has introduced pioneering program models in the Auustralian context. She was President of the Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) from 2007, and until recently, also the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS). She currently serves on the Board for Catholic Social Services Australia (CSSA).

In 2014, in acknowledgement of her significant contribution, Ms Cronin was awarded the Robin Clark Memorial Award for service and leadership in the children, youth and family services sector.

Ms Cronin holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Social Work, a Graduate Diploma in Community Development and a Master of Business Administration.

Leadership and culture – how they make or break any implementation process
As a leader I am now most interested in how we move from research to practice – how do we take what we know about the impact of trauma on individuals and systems and use this to both address the corrosive impact of trauma on individuals and organisations, and create a healthier and more effective organisation? Why are we so often ineffective at driving change?

Learnings from a five-year process of leading the implementation of an organisational change model.

• Mobilisation of knowledge – turning what we the evidence tells us works into practice
• Steps in the implementation process, what can and did go wrong – and how we responded
• Key elements that contributed to success - and how we defined success
• What accommodation to our context did we need to make and why? What was our analysis of the impact of the larger system on implementation and embedding?

Dr Aaron R Lyon is a clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in the University of Washington’s (UW) Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He is also Director of the UW School Mental Health Assessment, Research, and Training (SMART) Center.
Dr Lyon’s research focuses on increasing the accessibility, efficiency, and effectiveness of interventions for children, adolescents, and families; delivered within contexts (for example, schools) that routinely provide care to chronically under-served populations (for example, low socio-economic status and ethnic minority youth).

Dr Lyon is Principal Investigator on grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Justice, Institute of Education Sciences and various local and national foundations in the United States. He is a member of the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC), and serves as its Communications Chair.

Implementation science and practice networks: what they are, how they work

Internationally, a number of implementation networks have emerged to gather individuals and organisations around a shared goal of shaping and strengthening the field of implementation science and practice. These cross-sector, multidisciplinary networks drive implementation projects, promote collaboration among implementation specialists, and provide opportunities for professional development and knowledge exchange.

Among them are the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) and the European Implementation Collaborative (EIC).

Ms Albers and Dr Lyon, who are part of the leadership teams of the EIC and SIRC respectively, will provide insights from networking activities in Scandinavia, Europe, the US and Australasia. This includes:

• What are the major trends in this work?
• How does it contribute to the global landscape of implementation science and practice?
• What is needed to take this work to the next level?

Dr Martin Parkinson commenced as Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet on 23 January 2016.

Prior to this Dr Parkinson was a professional Non-Executive Director, serving on the boards of ORICA, O’Connell Street Associates, and the German-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce. He also served as a member of the Policy Committee of the Grattan Institute and on the Australian Federal Police Future Directions Advisory Board
From March 2011 to December 2014, Dr Parkinson served as Australia’s Secretary to the Treasury. Prior to this, he was the inaugural Secretary of the Department of Climate Change from its establishment in December 2007. Between 1997 and 2000 he worked at the International Monetary Fund on reform of the global financial architecture.

Dr Parkinson is a member of the Male Champions of Change and has previously served as: a member of the Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia; Chair of the Board of the Australian Office of Financial Management; and as a member of Prime Minister Abbott’s Business Advisory Council and Prime Minister Gillard’s Australia’s Asian Century Strategic Advisory Board. He has also served as a member of the Board of Infrastructure Australia, the Council of Financial Regulators, the Board of Taxation, and the Board of the Sir Roland Wilson Foundation.

In 2008, Dr Parkinson was awarded the Public Service Medal for his contribution to the development of economic policy. He is a life member of the Australian Business Economists, National Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration of Australia, Fellow of the Australian National Institute of Public Policy, recipient of the ANZSOG Institute of Governance Public Sector Award for Excellence, and was awarded the Australian National University’s inaugural Alumnus of the Year in 2013.

Dr Parkinson holds a PhD and a MA from Princeton University, a MEc from the Australian National University and a B.Ec (Hons 1) from the University of Adelaide. In May 2015, Dr Parkinson was awarded the degree of Doctor of the University (honoris causa) by the University of Adelaide.

Think again – the changing nature of policy implementation

Within a changing framework of citizen-expectations, competition and a tight fiscal environment, policymakers must consider new ways to implement policies and deliver services. As the head of the Australian Public Service, Dr Martin Parkinson will consider the impact of this shifting landscape for the nature of service delivery across government and the social services sector.

In doing so, he will discuss: how we can use new information available to us to improve implementation; and how – by updating the traditional way we think about implementation – government can work better and smarter with providers to deliver services to Australians.

Ms Faye Parriman is an Implementation Specialist at the Parenting Research Centre (PRC) and an Yumatji woman from the Nhanda tribe whose language is Wajarri. Ms Parriman comes from the wildflower country in the western desert area of Western Australia.

Ms Parriman has gathered a wide range of knowledge based on life experiences and travels. Much of this knowledge was gained through sharing from her family, elders, and friends in urban and remote communities and in her work experiences.

As a young child, Ms Parriman was identified as a 'Destitute Child' and was raised and lived under Western Australian Native Welfare laws. She was committed to an institution until the age of 18 and had many experiences – both positive and negative – living under the Native Affairs Act.

During this time, Ms Parriman experienced many difficulties voicing her concerns. These experiences have since shaped Ms Parriman's determination to help others articulate their own problems, as well as ensuring that the services and organisations providing support have the right and accurate information. By developing the resources to help achieve these aims, Ms Parriman believes it is possible to prevent history repeating.

In her past work experience, Ms Parriman has worked with many vulnerable families with complex issues, and she has seen many examples of communication barriers jeopardising better outcomes for families. Ms Parriman first designed resources for a domestic violence program in the Northern Territory and, more recently, developed the 'Yarning Mat', a visual resource that enables people to talk about their lives and concerns for children in a safe, non-shaming, practical and culturally sensitive way.

Ms Parriman developed the 'Yarning Mat' after joining the Parenting Research Centre as a Practice Coach on the Intensive Family Support Services (IFSS) Implementation Team. In keeping with traditional Aboriginal practice of yarning or storytelling circles, the Yarning Mat tool is applied by IFSS workers as a space to prompt discussion between family members about child neglect, and to support the development of strategies to address these concerns.

Previously, Howard was the founding Executive Director of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie). Before starting 3ie, Howard led the impact evaluation program of the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group. Prior to that, he was an academic at the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, and Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex.

Howard also spent a year at the UK National Economic Development Office, and two years at the Central Planning and Development Office in Lesotho.

Howard’s academic work has engaged the evaluation research-policy frontier, seeking to bring rigorous evidence to discussions of aid effectiveness, macroeconomic policy reform, and poverty reduction. He has worked extensively on development-related issues in countries across Africa and Asia, and made important contributions to program evaluation, policy research, and research synthesis.

Why implementation matters for impact and why impact matters for implementation

Recent years have seen a huge rise in the use of randomised control trials and non-experimental impact evaluations to assess the effectiveness of programs in achieving their objectives. Whilst implementation clearly matters for results, most of these studies adopt a black box approach which neglects analysis of the causal chain which would identify implementation and design failures underlying weak performance. Indeed implementation evaluations should not only be a part of but also precede impact evaluation at the pilot stage. But, beyond formative pilots, it is not sufficient to assess implementation alone.  The importance of implementation issues can only be properly assessed together with evidence of impact. These points are illustrated drawing on experience conducting, managing and funding impact evaluations around the world over the last three decades.