

Caroline Homer
Professor Caroline Homer is Co-Program Director, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health at the Burnet Institute in Melbourne and Emeritus Professor of Midwifery in the Faculty of Health at UTS. In the last 2 years she has collaborated on a number of studies on the impact of COVID-19 on pregnant women, partners, midwives, midwifery students and medical doctors and more recently on COVID-19 vaccination. She is a member of the Victorian Consultative Council on Maternal and Perinatal Morbidity and Mortality and co-authored the 2020 COVID-19 Communique analysing the indirect impact of COVID-19 on pregnant women. She worked closely with the Australian College of Midwives to develop new free resources for midwives on COVID-19 vaccination.



Janelle James-McAlpine
Dr Janelle James-McAlpine is a registered midwife, educator, and Women’s Health Research Capacity Building Fellow with the Tropical Australia Academic Health Centre (TAAHC). Instrumental in the coordination and development of a comprehensive and collaborative women's health research network from Mackay to Mount Isa, Janelle also complements her strong early-career research profile with project management and clinical practice experience across multiple jurisdictions in urban, regional, and remote locations. These foundations have resulted in an understanding of the challenges faced by pregnant women and practitioners in terms of continuity of health assessment and the implementation of primary health strategies and evidence-based practice. Responsible for foundational research relating to nutrition and birth outcomes in pregnant women of South-East Queensland, Janelle’s research is now underway in women of Queensland’s Far North, encompassing strategic partnerships between TAAHC, James Cook University, the Cairns and Hinterland Health Services and Mookai Rosie Bi-Bayan, a Cairns landmark facility providing maternity care by mob, for mob to women from Cape York communities.



Tracy Maxted
Tracy Maxted is an experienced facilitator and executive coach. She established her consultancy, The Missing Think, in 2011, and has supported 1000s of leaders and organisations to maximise their potential, clarify their strategic direction and deliver results. Prior to starting The Missing Think, Tracy held a number of senior leadership positions in predominantly People and Culture roles in the UK for organisations experiencing high levels of growth, change and disruption. Every role involved developing great leaders at all levels of the organisation and establishing cultures of high trust, engagement and accountability. Having found herself in a leadership position accidentally at the age of 21, she is pretty proud of the number of critical errors she was able to inflict on her poor staff in those first few years. If the saying is true that mistakes result in the deepest learning, Tracy has had the greatest of teachers! Known for her pragmatic, practical and personable style, Tracy provides leaders with the tips, tools and strategies they need to bring the best out in themselves and those around them. Please see www.themissingthink.com for more information.


Helen McLachlan
Professor Helen McLachlan is Midwifery Discipline Lead at La Trobe University, Melbourne. She has researched and published extensively in a range of areas of maternity care provision including continuity of care, models of maternity care for women having an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander baby, breastfeeding, perinatal mental health, midwifery education and translating research into practice. She has recently led a major partnership project aimed at improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, and is currently leading a randomised trial of caseload midwifery for women with social complexities. Professor McLachlan has received awards for the impact of her research in maternity care provision.


Pamela McCalman
Pam is a Ballardong Noongar woman with European descent and is the third midwife in her recent Ballardong lineage. She has worked clinically in urban, regional and Aboriginal community-controlled settings. Pam was born and raised in Naarm (Melbourne) and her role as a research officer on the NHMRC funded partnership project “Woman’s Journey, Baggarrook Yurrongi & Nurragh Manma Buliana” led her to undertake a PhD focusing on the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (or First Nations) women, who are having a baby in Victoria. She is also involved in a range of other projects focusing on improving maternity service provision and health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
We have secured conference rates with Accor for two of their local hotels. ACM Conference delegates can book rooms by contacting the reservations team directly via the contact information below. Be sure to mention you are attending the ACM conference!
Pullman Cairns International - closest 5 star hotel to the Cairns Convention Centre – a short 400 metre walk to the venue:
Graeme Wellings – 07 4050 2152 or email: [email protected]
Novotel Cairns - approximately a 1km walk to the Cairns Convention Centre:
Jenny Lai – 07 4080 1888 or email: [email protected]
The Benson Hotel- approximately a 600m walk to the Cairns Convention Centre:
Call 07 4046 0300 to book
To see what Cairns has to offer while you are in the area, please see the ACM National Conference pre and post activities here. There are a range of discounted activities available to be booked by delegates including trips to Fitzroy Island, a night out on the Spirit of Cairns, Snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, or a trip the Daintree.