About
Our Team
Staff
We have a specialist paid staff of part-time employees.
Chief Executive Officer: Daile Kelleher
COUNSELLING TEAM
Counselling Team Leader: Nicole Huig- Bachelor of Human Services
Senior Counsellor: Maureen O’Regan- Bachelor of Social Work, Bachelor of Art (Visual Art)
Senior Counsellor: Brinda Taparia –Bachelor of Arts Honours (Humanities and Social Sciences), Post Graduate Diploma in Liberal Arts and Leadership, Masters of Counselling
Counsellor: Katrice Bulgarelli- Bachelor of Social Work
Intake Worker: Shelby Mahoney – Completing Bachelor of Social Work
EDUCATION TEAM
Education and Training Team Leader: Christy Fischer – Bachelor of Human Services, Masters of Social Work
Education and Engagement Worker: Amelia Busuttil –Bachelor of Arts (Anthropology and Psychology) Currently completing a Masters of Social Work
Education and Engagement Worker: Nia Arteta –Bachelor of Marketing Communications and Advertising
Senior Research Assistant: Kari Vallury- Bachelor of Arts (Anthropology and Spanish), Masters of Health and International Development, PhD Candidate, Public Health
Finance and Operations Coordinator: Sarah Rogers – Bachelor of Business, Bachelor of Creative Industries & Masters of Professional Accountancy
Management Committee
Our Management Committee are all volunteers and we greatly value the dedication and expertise they bring to the governance of the organisation.
Dr Nicola Sheeran
BPsych(Hons), PhD(Clinical Psychology)
President
Dr Nicola Sheeran is a Clinical Psychologist and Lecturer. Her research has looked at the transition to motherhood and long term outcomes for adolescent mothers, communication between adolescent mothers and health professionals, factors affecting service utilisation and the relationship between stereotypes/attitudes of adolescent mothers and outcomes in Australian. Nicola also has worked as a community educator at Children by Choice and has 10 year experience providing non-directive unplanned pregnancy counselling.
Selvin Kwong
Diploma of Accounting
Treasurer
Selvin Kwong is a community worker and researcher with experience in financial inclusion, welfare reform, labour rights and women’s equity. Within the women’s sector, she has held roles advocating for and supporting women around domestic and sexual violence, and women’s rights at work. She has also worked within community finance and other non-profit organisations pursuing sustainable development and economic justice within Australia and the Asia Pacific. She holds a Diploma of Accounting and is passionate about furthering the financial capacity and well-being of women on both individual and organisational levels.
Carmen Seaby
BA / BJ
Secretary
Carmen Seaby has a degree in Women’s Studies and a long-time commitment to women’s reproductive health and the goals of Children by Choice. Her career in administration has taken her into the private and not-for-profit sector in both the UK and Australia.
Dr Claire Mohr
MSSB FRACGP
Committee Member
Claire Mohr is a GP working at Victoria Point and enjoys providing all aspects of care to a wide range of patients. She also works for Marie Stopes Australia providing reproductive health services in the Brisbane area. She has a keen interest in promoting access for women to reproductive health options.
Carly Hanson
LLB, B.Jus, GradDipLegPrac
Committee Member
Carly Hanson is a qualified Lawyer and Trainer with over 15 years’ experience in the legal, not-for-profit and tertiary education sectors. Carly’s current role is Sector Sustainability Coordinator with Community Legal Centres Queensland, where she supports community legal centres to provide effective, high quality services to their communities by facilitating professional development opportunities, undertaking projects to promote innovation and collaboration, and strengthening governance, quality assurance and legal practice risk management frameworks. Carly is passionate about providing holistic support to people experiencing disadvantage and advocating for the rights of women and pregnant people.
Fiona Martin
Committee Member
Fiona Martin is a Registered Nurse and Midwife who has worked in various health settings within metropolitan, regional and remote areas of Australia. Fiona’s professional interests have always been women’s health and midwifery. In addition to paid employment she has held volunteer roles with the Fremantle Women’s Health Centre in Western Australia and Children by Choice in Brisbane.
Fiona is currently employed as a Registered Nurse / Midwife by Marie Stopes Australia and provides peri-operative nursing care to people of childbearing age seeking termination of pregnancy and/or access to contraception. The role requires woman centred, non-judgemental, pro-choice clinical practice and includes education, counselling, patient advocacy, and referral to additional support services (relative to issues of domestic violence, sexual assault, child protection, cultural awareness, drug and alcohol use and abuse, and mental health).
As a Registered Nurse and Midwife working in abortion care Fiona practices with a pro-choice ethos based on two fundamental beliefs; that every woman has the right to choose what happens to and within her own body, and that women are capable decision makers. She believes that as community we must protect and support every woman’s right to reproductive autonomy and recognise that women are the experts in their own lives.
Volunteers
We have a team of volunteers who regularly commit their time and energy to helping us carry out the work of Children by Choice, in areas including counselling support work, policy and resource reviews, event support, and advocacy work. We’re incredibly grateful for all the support they continue to offer our staff and clients. If you’d like to join them, you can fill out an application form over here.
Student Placements
We love to accept university student placements where possible. Due to our limited capacity, only third or fourth-year students in Social Work, Human Services or Psychology will be considered for counselling team placements. Depending on capacity, we may also accept students from Public Health, Communications, or related fields, for non-counselling placements. You will also need to work from or be familiar with a feminist framework, and be pro-choice. If you are interested in doing a placement with us, please contact us.
Our Patrons
Children by Choice is proud to have the support of our three patrons – Senator Larissa Waters, and former Senator Sue Boyce and Claire Moore.Their ongoing support of the work and aims of Children by Choice is invaluable.
Claire Moore
Claire Moore is a former ALP Senator for Queensland. Claire is very active in the community, playing an active role in groups like Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) and was a founding member of both the Australian Workers Heritage Centre and Emily’s List.
Sue Boyce
Sue Boyce is a former Liberal Senator for Queensland. Sue has a background in journalism and the manufacturing industry, and is very committed to improving the political participation of women. She is a disability advocate and a past president of the Down Syndrome Association of Queensland (DSAQ), and of Lifeways Inc., a Queensland organisation designed to assist ageing parents to plan for the long-term future of their adult child with a disability. Sue is also a past president of the Liberal Women’s Council (Qld).
Senator Larissa Waters
Larissa Waters became Queensland’s first Greens senator to the Federal Parliament at the 2010 federal election. Larissa’s background is in environmental law, where she spent eight years practising in the community sector. Her policy portfolio areas for the Greens while in parliament included environment and biodiversity; women; resources, mining and coal seam gas. She was also a Deputy Leader of the Greens during her time in parliament.