Conference Speakers

Kate Simpson is an acclaimed children’s author and former chemical engineer whose books combine science, history and storytelling for young readers. Her recent titles, including How To Move a Zoo and Unreal: Can you tell fact from fake?, have been recognised in the 2025 CBCA Book of the Year Awards.

Sarah Armstrong is an award-winning author, former ABC Radio journalist and writing mentor whose novels for adults and children have been widely acclaimed, including Salt Rain, shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and Run shortlisted for the CBCA 2026. Through dynamic school presentations and workshops, she inspires young writers with practical writing strategies and insights into the writer’s craft. 

Lachlann Carter is a children’s author and former primary teacher whose books include the Big Trouble series and a picture-book series published by Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing. A recognised leader in creative literacy education, he previously co-founded 100 Story Building and has worked with thousands of teachers and young writers across Australia. 

Margo Neale is an acclaimed Aboriginal curator, historian and author of Gumbaynggirr and Wiradjuri heritage, internationally recognised for her work exploring Indigenous knowledge systems and songlines. She is co-author, with Lynne Kelly, of the award-winning Songlines series, including Songlines: First Knowledges for Younger Readers, shortlisted in the 2024 CBCA Awards. 

Joanne Rossbridge is an independent language and literacy consultant who has worked with schools across Australia for more than 15 years, specialising in sustained school-based professional learning and classroom literacy practice. She is the author and co-author of several PETAA publications, including Conversations About Text and Put it in Writing. 

Emina McLean is a language and literacy expert, lecturer and education consultant who works extensively with schools and education systems across Australia to strengthen curriculum, assessment and literacy instruction. Recognised nationally for her contributions to education, she leads major literacy implementation projects and hosts the podcast Heavy is the English Head. 

Dr Bronwyn Parkin is a literacy consultant and former lecturer in Linguistics whose work focuses on improving literacy outcomes for Aboriginal students and students from low socio-economic communities. With more than 30 years’ experience working alongside schools, she is the co-author of several influential PETAA publications on academic language, mentor texts and literacy instruction. 

Associate Professor Jon Callow is an experienced educator and literacy consultant whose work focuses on primary English, visual literacy, multimodality and student engagement. He has worked alongside teachers in classrooms across Australia and the United States, supporting equitable and creative approaches to literacy learning. He is the author of The Shape of Text to Come (2nd edition).

Dr Margery Hertzberg is Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney and a PETAA Life Member recognised for her longstanding contribution to literacy education and the organisation’s national leadership. Her work has focused particularly on EAL pedagogy, language and literacy development, and supporting teachers and students in socio-economically disadvantaged communities. She is lead author of Teaching EAL/D Students in Mainstream Classrooms (2nd edition).

Speaker bios to come. 

Karen Rogers is Head of Literacy P–6 and Teacher Librarian at Radford College, and a former Literacy Leader at PETAA. She is passionate about children’s literature, teacher and student agency, and building teacher confidence and capacity through meaningful literacy learning. 

Libby Baker is a classroom teacher, teacher librarian and literacy educator specialising in functional grammar and contextualised approaches to literacy instruction. She presents nationally on literacy education and mentors teachers across the ACT, with research focused on critical literacy and multimodal texts in the primary years.