Supporting the loss and grief of families and relatives of those in aged care as a result of COVID 19

Mr Christopher HALL
MA, GradDipAdol&ChPsych, BEd, CertIVTAE, MAPS, MACE, FAIM

For the past 23 years Christopher Hall has held the position of Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement, a government funded specialist bereavement service, which is based in Melbourne, Victoria. He is a psychologist who has developed a specialisation in the field of grief and bereavement over the past 25 years. Chris has trained many health and education professionals in grief theory and interventions and has keynoted at conferences throughout North America as well as Europe, Asia and Australia. He has a strong interest in complex bereavement experiences, the organisational impact of grief and loss and bridging research and practice.

Christopher was elected President of the Association for Death Education and Counselling in 2015. In 2007, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Work Group on Dying, Death and Bereavement and served as chair from 2010-2013. He currently serves as the Secretary/Treasurer of the work group. The Association for Death Education and Counseling in 2018 awarded him the ADEC Service Award for his commitment to the field and advancing the study of dying, death and bereavement.

A Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, Christopher is also an Honorary Fellow of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne. He serves as the Editor of the journal Grief Matters: The Australian Journal of Grief and Bereavement and is a former Associate Editor of Death Studies. In 2010 Christopher was appointed to the Coronial Council of Victoria.

Associate Professor Lauren Breen
BSc(Hons), GradCertEd, PhD, MAPS, FCCOMP, FT, FHEA

Lauren is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia. Lauren's PhD thesis on bereavement won the 2007 Australian Psychological Society’s Psychology of Relationships Interest Group Thesis Award. Lauren was successful in the inaugural round of the prestigious Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Awards and has been a chief investigator on over $2.5million of external research funding from competitive sources such as the Australian Research Council, Medical Research Future Fund, MND Research Institute, Wellcome Trust, WA Cancer and Palliative Care Network, Cancer Australia, Department of Health (WA), Australian Rotary Health, Department of Local Government and Communities, Silver Chain, and the Cancer Council WA. Lauren is a Registered Psychologist, a Fellow of The Australian Psychological Society, and an Assessor for the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council. Lauren is a Board Member for the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement and Lionheart Camp for Kids. In collaboration with Road Trauma Support WA and Sirens of Silence, Lauren has also developed workshops for emergency services personnel on grief, trauma, and self-care. More recently, Lauren has delivered workshops (with Angela Ryder) on Aboriginal loss and grief. Lauren is the Managing Editor of Death Studies, a Fellow in Thanatology: Death, Dying and Bereavement, and a member of the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement and the Association for Death Education and Counselling.