Safeguarding the future conference - Canberra, 23-24 May 2024

Learn more and register now

Safeguarding the Future conference

Safeguarding the future conference banner

Join us in Canberra as we explore what it means to safeguard the future of a family member with disability.

Our society tends to shy away from discussing the one certainty in life: our inevitable demise. It is a sensitive topic that often stirs up strong, uncomfortable emotions, and people usually want to avoid it.

And yet, we find our thoughts sometimes drifting to those terrifying questions:

  • How can I be sure my family member with disability will remain safe, loved, and working toward their goals if I am no longer around?
  • What do I need to put in place now to safeguard their future?
  • Who can I trust to support my family member to make decisions?

It’s not our intention to cause anyone discomfort. However, we do believe that if we can initiate and encourage conversations around what preparations we need to have in place for our loved ones, with or without disability, it can better safeguard their future.

Safeguarding is a conversation we think is important to have, no matter how old you and your loved one are. It’s as critical to safeguard the future of a very young person as it is for an adult.

At the Safeguarding the Future Conference, we aim to provide a safe environment for you to think challenging thoughts and start making difficult decisions. You might even find that by being in the company of like-minded, supportive families and professionals, you’ll leave with greater clarity and peace of mind.

We’ve invited speakers from Australia and across the globe to talk about

  • Vision building and vision keeping
  • Safeguarding for all ages
  • Supported decision making
  • Moving out of an institutional setting and creating a home of one’s own
  • Safeguarding in hospital settings
  • Building networks and strengthening freely given relationships
  • Circles of support
  • Wills, trusts, and guardianship
  • Employment
  • And much more.

Invited speakers include Josey McMahon, Ann Greer, Paul Kruger, Sarah Faulkner, and Marg Ward, with many more yet to be announced.

Jump down the page to see details of the conference presenters

Three brilliant pre-conference webinars

Your registration will also include access to three pre-conference webinars in early May. These webinars will set the scene beautifully for the main conference. You can even choose to purchase a pre-conference webinar only ticket if you can’t make it to Canberra for the main event.

The pre-conference speakers include:

Portraits of Janet Klees, Jo Massarelli, Cathy Ludlum, and Darcy Elks

Janet Klees | Decision-making in everyday life

  • Wednesday, 1 May 2024 from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm

Jo Massarelli and Cathy Ludlum | Medical safeguarding: Addressing vulnerability in medical settings

  • Wednesday, 8 May 2024 from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm

Darcy Elks|  Now is the time for vision

  • Wednesday, 15 May 2024 from 9:30 am to 11:30 am

Two-day conference details

  • Thursday, 23 May to Friday, 24 May
  • 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on both days
  • Optional networking event from 5:00 – 7:00 pm on Thursday, 23 May
  • Hotel Realm Canberra

Register now

Ticket prices

Registrations are now open.

Understanding your ticket category

Please read these options carefully before you register. If you have any questions about ticket pricing, please contact Anne at anne@imaginemore.org.au

There are three categories of tickets available.

  • People with disability and their family members: People who are attending to learn how to safeguard their own future or the future of a family member with disability.
  • Professionals: Anyone attending this conference for the purpose of their work. This category will include education and service professionals, support workers, service providers, government representatives, and people who are attending as employees of other organisations.
  • Everyone else: This category is for allies and friends of people with disability, students, Circle of support members, and community members.

People with disability and family members

*To ensure the price is no barrier to attendance at this conference, we invite people with disability and their family members to nominate their own ticket prices. Pay what you can easily afford.

This flexible pricing is strictly available to people with disability and members of their families only.

Indicative pricing: People with disability and their families are welcome to contribute any amount between $0.00 and the prices below.

  • Conference (includes pre-conference webinars) – $0.00 – $210.00*
  • Conference (includes pre-conference webinars) + networking event – $0.00 –  $225.00*
  • Pre-conference webinars only – $0.00 – $150.00*

Register now

Professionals

This pricing is for support workers, teachers, service providers, government representatives, etc.

  • Conference (includes pre-conference webinars) – $350.00
  • Conference (includes pre-conference webinars) + networking event – $365.00
  • Pre-conference webinars only – $0.00 – $150.00 (flexible pricing is available for professionals for pre-conference webinar tickets)

Register now

Everyone else

This category is for allies and friends of people with disability, students, Circle of support members, community members, and anyone else who doesn’t fit into the previous categories.

  • Conference (includes pre-conference webinars) – $210.00
  • Conference (includes pre-conference webinars) + networking event – $225.00
  • Pre-conference webinars only – $0.00 – $150.00 (flexible pricing is available for everyone for pre-conference webinar tickets)

Register now

More about the conference

The conference and networking events are fully catered events with limited places. No matter which category of ticket you have purchased, we ask that you give us as much notice as possible if you are unable to attend. You can read our refund policy here.

We have been able to keep the ticket prices low (and flexible for people with disability and their family members) thanks to funding from the Australian Government Department of Social Services.

Our conferences are awesome!

At least, that’s what people have told us 🙂

Here are some lovely things that previous attendees have said about our conferences.

“To hear other parents’ stories and what actions they have taken to make sure their children have full inclusion. It made me think outside the box and gave me a lot of different ideas.” – Parent attending the National Inclusion Conference in 2018

“The conference provided valuable information regarding different aspects of living with a disability. Presenters shared their information with enthusiasm and passion.The focus on everyone being a valuable member of society came across in all presentations.A strong vision of what is possible if the right strategies and supports are in place was shared.Students must have agency in their learning was a strong point and their are many ways we can achieve this.We need to work as a team: students, parents, teachers and other stakeholders.” – Educator attending the Get That Good Life! Conference in 2021

“Thank you so much for an absolutely incredible two days!” – Parent attending the Opening Opportunities conference 2023

“Everything was run really well, Thank you for putting on such a wonderful, positive and informative conference.” – Parent/Disability employment sector worker attending the Opening Opportunities conference 2023

Conference presentations

The conference speakers and presentation topics will be added to this page in the coming weeks, so keep checking back!