Childlight East Asia & Pacific Hub

Professor Michael Salter is the Director of the Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub in the School of Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He is an expert on child sexual exploitation, gender-based violence and complex trauma, including intersections with technology. 

Professor Salter is the Past President of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation where he has served on the Board of Directors since 2018. He is the Chair of the Grace Tame Foundation, which is dedicated to the prevention of child sexual abuse. Dr Salter sits on the editorial boards of the journals Child Abuse Review and the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation. 

Dr Delanie Woodlock is the Deputy Director of the Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub. She holds an honours degree in Women’s Studies, a Master of Social Work, and a PhD in Sociology. As a feminist researcher, she is committed to advancing the understanding of men’s violence against women and children. She has conducted pioneering research into the use of technology by perpetrators of domestic violence and child abuse, shaping government policies and strategic directions in Australia. 

Dr Woodlock continues to expand the field of technology-facilitated abuse through her research on child sexual abuse material as a specific form of gendered violence. Her research has broadened theoretical understandings of violence against women and children, particularly concepts like coercive control, by linking the use of technology to tactics used by perpetrators. She also provides support and training to academics and students on minimising the risks of vicarious trauma, particularly concerning the impacts of researching domestic and sexual violence.

Tyson is a Senior Research Fellow at Childlight, University of New South Wales. He was awarded his PhD in Criminology from Griffith University, where he also completed his undergraduate degree in Criminology and Psychology. Tyson’s research expertise spans criminology, public health, and mental health, with a strong focus on using administrative and record linkage data to inform policy and program evaluations. 

Tyson collaborates extensively with government agencies and non-profit organizations to evaluate criminal justice and public health programs that impact vulnerable young people, influencing policy and program development

Professor Jan Breckenridge is Head of the School of Social Sciences, UNSW and the Co-Convener of the UNSW Gendered Violence Research Network, UNSW.  She is also a Research Fellow of the UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute (AHRI).

Professor Breckenridge has undertaken extensive work and research in the areas of gendered violence, including child abuse and domestic, family and sexual violence. Professor Breckenridge’s research is oriented towards maximum impact in innovative social policy development, service provision and outcome measurement of effectiveness

Mailin manages the Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub and the Gendered Violence Research Network, UNSW Sydney. She brings considerable experience in research and knowledge translation in both government and non-government management, training, education and research in gendered violence.  Managing a policy portfolio for the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is a notable career highlight.

Professor Jon Rouse dedicated 39 years to the Queensland Police Service, specialising in child protection from 1996. In 2001, he joined Task Force Argos, where he pioneered Australia’s first proactive operations against internet child sex offenders. In 2019, Professor Rouse joined the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) to establish critical teams, including covert online operations and victim identification, and he chaired INTERPOL’s Covert Internet Investigations Group until 2023.

Professor Rouse’s service has been recognised with six Commissioners’ Certificates, multiple commendations, and the prestigious Champion for Children Award from the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children in 2018. Named Queensland Australian of the Year in 2019, he also holds the Queensland Police Medal, National Service Medal, Exemplary Conduct Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, National Police Medal, and Australian Police Medal. He is an ambassador for key child protection organisations, including Act for Kids, Bravehearts, the Carly Ryan Foundation, and the Daniel Morcombe Foundation and is on the Board of Directors for the Daniel Morecombe Foundation and ICMEC Australia.

Professor Paul Griffiths spent 15 years as Child Victim Identification Manager for Queensland Police Service, and was previously a police officer in the United Kingdom for over 18 years. Much of that time was spent investigating online child abuse, with Greater Manchester Police, the National Crime Squad (NCS) and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre. Professor Griffith is a long-standing member of the INTERPOL Specialist Group on Crimes against Children. He was chair of both the Computer Facilitated Crimes against Children and the Child Victim Identification sub-groups, before serving as overall chair for six years

Dr Amy Young has a passion for promoting children’s rights, participation and protection, and addressing domestic and family violence. She has worked in Australia and the Asia-Pacific, recently leading a multi-disciplinary project looking at the impacts on women and children of forced Labour and climate change in Central Java, Indonesia. Dr Young’s PhD work in Brunei Darussalam examined Islamic and Western understandings of child wellbeing. Since completing her PhD, she has worked on a diverse range of violence related research projects including innovative responses to men using violence, adolescent to parent violence, violence against children in Afghanistan, whole-of-community responses to violence, and children in outside hours school care. Dr Young has supervised students on topics relating to child sexual abuse, adolescent violence, sibling violence and culturally appropriate child protection strategies. She enjoys collaborating with external partners and has worked with DVConnect, Queensland, the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak (QATSICPP), Micah Projects, Raoul Wallenberg Institute, and Terre Des Hommes. 

Rafaela Pandolfini is the Administration and Communications Officer for Childlight (East Asia and Pacific Hub) and the Gendered Violence Research Network based at UNSW, Sydney. In addition to this role she is an organiser and artist. She has worked for the past 5 years in Widening Participation and Outreach and Student Equity at UNSW and the University of Sydney as a project officer in administration and communications. Rafaela was recently a councillor on Randwick Council. She is a PhD candidate at RMIT and the founder of a small independent art gallery.