• Tamara Seif – Founder, Gravitas Consulting Services/CICA, Diversity, Inclusion and  Workplace Wellbeing consultant
• Annabelle Leray –  Yoga, Personal growth, Spiritual guidance and Mental Health Coaching
• Jan Cocks-Salvemini – Family Disability Coach & Parability Advocate
• Melissa Ogden – Director of Inclusive Business Solutions, Disability inclusion advocate
• Michael Bloyce, MC – Managing Partner, Critical Incident Counselling Australia, (CICA)

The Wellbeing space continues to attract a lot of attention, as more and more people and organisations are seen to be more active in this area, with more efforts being invested in developing a whole suite of programs and actions to support their staff in being healthier and thriving in the workplace.

Despite these efforts and a vast amount of research on the subject, organizations are still scraping for answers in certain areas. What is perhaps lacking is having more conversations around how we can create a happier environment for employees and create better and healthier versions of ourselves in the process. This also means being prepared to work on ourselves and give ourselves a space to Restore – Realign and Rebalance so that we minimise the chance of slipping into serious Burnout. Particularly, as research tells us most of us spend more than a third of our waking lives at work!

Given that work shapes our schedules, relationships, our identities and our economies – each and every one of us can benefit from better understanding the impact of well-being and the interplay between better ‘self-care’, resilience and prevention and management of burnout . We know that there is a direct correlation between happiness at work, our own resilience ‘threshold’, work performance and safety at work. Being ‘well ‘and ‘happy’ at home or at work requires a deeper understanding of a number of integrated elements that determine how we think about our work and ourselves as a ‘whole’ and how we ‘feel’ while doing it.

One in five Australians are living with a disability and/or chronic illness.  The modern workplace has not necessarily been designed to accommodate people with disabilities, and often the simple steps for disability inclusion are overlooked.  Workplace disability inclusion is possible and through insights drawn from lived experience, some of the barriers commonly faced by disabled people will be explored. 

There are simple, practical steps that can be adopted to reduce these barriers.  Building strategies for fostering a more inclusive and supportive work environment will allow organisations to reduce the barriers and actively seek the unique skillsets that disabled people bring to the table.

Speakers

• Tamara Seif

Tamara is the founder of Gravitas Consulting Services  - www.gravitasconsultingservices.com

Gravitas is a boutique management and counselling consultancy, founded in London and now operating in South Australia. It offers a range of niche services, including HR management Consulting, Counselling, Workplace Mediation & Conflict Resolution, Diversity Inclusion Coaching and Workplace Wellness. Tamara is a prolific social justice, gender equity advocate and multicultural and migrant communities ally, with a background in Organisational Psychology.

She brings a highly empathetic, human-centred design approach to her work, with an intersectional focus. Tamara works with leaders across a range of industries including the public, private and SME sectors, government agencies, NFP’s, defence, healthcare, mining, construction and engineering industries in Australia, UK and Europe. Her work focuses on the Care, Connect and Grow model of leadership.

• Annabelle Leray

Annabelle is the founder of Annabelle Leray – Holistic Therapy, established in 2013. With over 20 years of experience teaching yoga and meditation, first in France and now in Australia, she brings a deep passion and insight into her work, particularly through her ongoing study of ancient Vedic philosophy and Indian spirituality. Annabelle facilitates Women's Circles, Healing workshops, and Wellbeing sessions in corporate settings and schools. Currently studying Mental Health, she also draws on her lived experience as a parent of a neurodivergent child with ADHD, enriching her practice with empathy and a deep understanding of what “special needs” means.

• Jan Cocks-Salvemini

Jan is the author of “Thanks Mosquito for the Great Ride”, a powerful memoir that shares her personal journey, beginning at just 10 months old when she was bitten by a toxic mosquito. The bite resulted in a partial disability in her right arm and leg, along with a chronic lung condition.

Drawing from her lived experience, Jan created the Hope Program, a transformative initiative designed to support people with disabilities and their families in navigating the future with strength and optimism. Jan is an author, keynote speaker and Parability (Disability) Advocate, educating businesses, parents and carers on how to engage more effectively and empathetically with clients with disabilities, focusing on the principles of comfort, safety, and inclusion.

• Melissa Ogden

Melissa is deeply passionate about strategic planning, change management, complex problem-solving, and project management, having built a successful career in procurement and contract management. She is the founder of the Adelaide Women in Procurement Networking Group, and has led several impactful change management initiatives. In 2024 she founded Inclusive Business Solutions (https://www.inclusivebusinesssolutions.com.au/services) to focus on  assisting organisations to become more inclusive of people with disabilities, drawing from her lived experiences as a profoundly deaf person.  Services she provides include consultancy, coaching and bespoke training programs focusing around improving systems and more accessible inclusive design.

• Michael Bloyce - MC

Michael A Bloyce, our MC this morning, is Principal Counsellor for Gravitas Consulting Services and founder of Critical Incidence Counselling Australia: www.criticalincidentcounselling.com.au

Critical Incident Counselling Australia delivers professional, timely support to help staff recover and adjust following critical incidents at work. The goal is to quickly restore safety and well-being and protect employee well-being; helping teams and organizations to recover quickly, with as little disruption as possible.