AUSTRALIAN COMPASSION COUNCIL

In Australia, the Charter for Compassion is governed by the Australian Compassion Council.

Dr Lynne Reeder

is an Adjunct Research Fellow at Federation University Australia, and a Board Director of the public interest think tank, Australia21. She completed her PhD at Monash University, and now undertakes research into the evidence base of empathy and compassion. She is Founder of the Mindful Futures Network, a network of over 700 people who are interested in applying the evidence base of mindfulness, empathy and compassion within Australian organisations; the National Director of the Australian Compassion Council, and a member of the Compassionate Ballarat Steering Group.

Terry Ayling

is a spiritual entrepreneur, consultant, inter-spiritual care practitioner & compassion advocate. He is Facilitator of the ‘Compassionate Cities Gold Coast’ Initiative; Spiritual Care Co-ordinator of Palliative Care Queensland; (formerly of) Gold Coast Health Spiritual Care Services; and Creative Director of Spirited Communities p/l. A spiritual care practitioner for almost 40 years, in a variety of settings, Terry is committed to the creation and animation of spirited and compassionate communities, with a special interest in compassion in healthcare and compassion at the end-of-life. He is the Council’s Lead for the Compassionate Cities initiative.

Mark Crosweller

is the Director of Ethical Intelligence, and has 35 years of experience as a senior executive, practitioner and policy maker in the areas of crisis, disaster and emergency management, mitigation and resilience. Between 2012 and 2019, he was the Director General of Emergency Management Australia, the Australian Government’s lead agency for disaster and emergency management. Mark is currently completing a PhD on compassion at the University of Western Australia.

Dr Debbie Ling

is a lecturer in the Social Work Department, Monash University and key contributor to the Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies. Debbie is also a member of the Epworth Monash Rehabilitation Medicine Research Unit. Debbie’s PhD research on compassion produced empirical evidence that the perception of common humanity leads to an increase in compassion in healthcare workers. She also trialled and evaluated a single session compassion training intervention which has been published and has attracted international attention. Debbie is also a senior clinician social worker at Epworth HealthCare, an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker in private practice and sits on the Australia21 Mindful Futures Network Advisory Group.

Dr Susan Sumskis

is Head of Health and Social Wellbeing Programs at the Nan Tien Institute of Higher Education. Sue is a credentialed mental health nurse who focuses on education in compassion, contemplation and ethics for health care professionals. Sue is researching the impact of a contemplative education on the development of student compassion and is also supervising PhD students who are researching the effects of compassion based higher education on student personal development. Sue delivers compassion based continuing professional education for the purpose of reducing burnout and empathic distress in health professionals and for facilitating self-care.

Gwen Pinnington

Gwen Pinnington is the Director of Gwen Pinnington Consulting & Coaching, and has over 20 years of experience in leadership, coaching, change & transformation, personal and organisational effectiveness. Gwen is a certified facilitator of Compassionate Integrity Training and co-creator of Compassionship – Compassion Based Leadership TM (a framework and practice for conscious shared leadership and effectiveness). Gwen works with individuals and teams across all sectors and industries, and connects people with their highest selves and each other through shared humanity and compassion. Gwen is committed to reducing the suffering in workplaces and increasing wellbeing and consciousness so that individuals, cultures and communities can thrive.