Melbourne Branch Hybrid Event - The Value of Traditional Owner Engagement on Contaminated Land Projects

The ALGA Melbourne Branch is hosting a panel of experts who will share their knowledge and answer your questions relating to considerations for Traditional Owner Values and the inclusion of Traditional Owners in our contaminated land projects.

Come and hear directly from individuals involved in developing guidance, researching appropriate criteria, and planning and executing contaminated land works related to Traditional Owner Values. Join in the conversation to gain a better understanding of considerations when planning works, the benefits of early and proactive engagement with Traditional Owners, and the value employment of Indigenous persons and firms brings to our projects.

The event will include a Welcome to Country and an opportunity to network to keep the conversation going following the formal panel discussion.

As this is a hybrid event, please note the fees for on-line attendees:

ALGA Member: $37.00
Student: $15.00
Non-Member: $74.00

Your ticket includes one complimentary drink and a selection of appetizers. Please note that this is not a formal dinner event.

BYO! To minimise our use of plastic, we encourage delegates to bring their own reusable water bottles.

Our Speakers:

Deborah Hollingworth
Manager, Aboriginal Strategy and Partnerships
EPA VIC

Deborah Hollingworth is a senior legal and regulatory practitioner at the Environment Protection Authority, Victoria Australia.

Drawing on her years of legal practice in the community sector and criminal law Deborah has championed the benefits of restorative justice as a way to achieve more effective environmental regulatory outcomes, alongside traditional enforcement actions. Deborah has played a leading role in ground-breaking regulatory, policy and organisational change particularly in the field of environmental justice and the recognition of First Nations cultural values. In 2019 she instigated and has led EPA’s foundational Aboriginal Inclusion program, a complex body of work, now being implemented as an organisational and regulatory commitment. This work has resulted in collaborations with Traditional owners to protect Country and to establish the regulatory pathways which ensure cultural values are enshrined in the practice of environment protection. This work has drawn on restorative justice approaches.

Stuart Wright
Team Leader, Environmental Audit
EPA VIC

Stuart has over 20 years’ experience in contaminated land investigation and remediation. He spent more than 13 years working as an environmental consultant on projects across the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

He has been at EPA Victoria for almost 7 years where he is currently the Team Leader for the contaminated land team within in the Environmental Audit Unit.

Emmylou Cooke
Senior Associate Environmental Scientist
Senversa

Emmylou is a Senior Associate Environmental Scientist with Senversa, based in Sydney, and has 14 years of experience in the characterisation, management, and remediation of contaminated land.

Early in her career, she identified that the ASC NEPM doesn't provide for consideration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people, and went on to characterise the potential exposure of Indigenous Australians to contaminated land as her master's thesis topic. She has presented this at several industry conferences, including within the first ever stream dedicated to "Addressing Contamination in Consultation with Traditional Owners and Tangata Whenua" at Ecoforum in 2023.

Tyler Whitmarsh
Senior Consultant
Nation Partners

Tyler Whitmarsh is a respected heritage practitioner with five years of experience in the sector. Tyler has experience across private consulting, Traditional Owner groups including Registered Aboriginal Parties (RAPs) and state government (First Peoples-State Relations).  Tyler has a particular focus on due diligence assessments, Cultural Heritage Management Plans (CHMPs), Bi-lateral Environmental Effects Statements (EES), Preliminary Aboriginal Heritage Tests (PAHTs), and engagement with Traditional Owners.

Hayden Heta
Managing Director
Wamarra

Hayden Heta is the Managing Director of Wamarra - a self-performing civil contractor that provides meaningful careers to Aboriginal people through long-term and sustainable employment. Hayden is a natural leader and a proud Wiradjuri man with over 15 years of experience working in the public sector.

His passion for exploring and realising opportunities for Aboriginal people stems from his experience working with Victorian Traditional Owners and Aboriginal communities to provide employment opportunities and promote economic participation.

Mitchell Ottaway
Senior Project Engineer
UNYTE

Mitchell has over seven years of experience working in the Civil Engineer and Construction Industry working on projects which range from major infrastructure through to local businesses. Throughout his career, he has had the privilege of working with Traditional Owners to present culture heritage management plans, partake in heritage inductions and deliver projects while supporting Traditional Owner business.

Abe Sharman
Environment & Sustainability Manager
Sustainative

Abe ‘s passionate about bringing the Indigenous wisdom to the forefront particularly highlighting the deep spiritual significance of culture playing a crucial role in creating happier human beings and greener planet. As a co-founder at Sustainative, Abe’s has been able to manifest his desires (life’s purpose) in service to thriving of the First Nations communities and environmental outcomes. Abe’s a specialist in the Corporate Environmental, Heritage and Sustainability, holds MSc Environment and Sustainability from Monash University and Business Graduate from Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne and has years of operations and project management experience in the critical industries such as construction, mining, transport, facilities mgt,

Stephen Thorpe
Director
Sustainative

Stephen is the Company Director at Sustainative. Stephen’s Aboriginal heritage are associated with the Gunaikurnai, Gunditjmara and Yorta Yorta communities in Victoria. Stephen has 17 years’ experience working with the First Nations communities. He specialises in merging the intrinsic connections, profound knowledge and generational Indigenous wisdom into the client’s projects. Passionate about community engagement and development activities to address health, economic, social, and personal challenges of the First Nations People.