NCETA's staff come from a range of health and human service backgrounds, including public health, psychology, sociology, education, medicine, nursing, information management, administration and pharmacy. This page provides further details about individual staff members, including contact details and information on their current projects.
- Professor Ann Roche
- Dr Ken Pidd
- Allan Trifonoff
- Stacey Appleton
- Karen Brandon
- Dr Petra Bywood
- Amanda Carne
- Vinita Duraisingam
- Tania Steenson
- Chelsea Todd
- Amanda Tovell
- Donna Weetra
- Paula Wilson
Professor Ann Roche
Director
Ann is Professor and Director of the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction at Flinders University. Previously she was the Director of the Queensland Alcohol and Drug Research and Education Centre (QADREC) at the University of Queensland for five years. She has over twenty five years experience in the field of public health and has worked as a researcher, educator, and policy analyst in various public health areas and has held academic posts at the University of Sydney, the University of Newcastle and the University of Queensland. For the past 20 years her interests and professional activities have focused exclusively on alcohol and drug issues. She has published extensively in alcohol and drug and related public health areas, including over 100 papers and reports including several book chapters. In addition, she has worked as a temporary consultant to the World Health Organization, undertaken numerous consultancies for government and non-government bodies and has acted as an adviser on a wide range of committees in the alcohol and drug field.
She has developed numerous educational programs and resource materials, including a course in Addiction Studies delivered in distance education mode and offering eight separate alcohol and drug-related subjects, the Queensland Needle Availability Training package, which contains an award winning video, a training program on Smoking and Indigenous Australians, a National Needle Availability Training Package and a comprehensive program designed for frontline workers dealing with alcohol and drug issues.
Contact Details
Ph: +61 8 8201 7535
Fax: +61 8 8201 7550
ann.roche@flinders.edu.au
Dr Ken Pidd
Deputy Director (Research)
Ken has been associated with NCETA since 1999. He holds a PhD in psychology which addressed the area of work-related alcohol and other drug (AOD) use of adolescent apprentices and has an ongoing research interest in this area. Ken has produced numerous publications concerning the workplace and AOD use and provides consultancy and advice on this issue to government and non-government organisations, unions, employer groups, and individual employers. His other research and practice interests include training quality and training transfer, and workforce recruitment and retention.
Prior to working with NCETA he worked for a number of years in the construction and mining industries in roles which included an occupational health and safety officer, trainer, and manager of a AOD safety and rehabilitation program for the South Australian Construction Industry.
Ken is the South Australian representative and chair of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia’s Workplace/Industrial Occupational Health and Safety Reference Group and represents NCETA on several other committees including the Construction Industry Drug and Alcohol Program Management Committee.
Contact Details
Ph: +61 8 8201 7692
Fax: +61 8 8201 7550
ken.pidd@flinders.edu.au
Allan Trifonoff
Deputy Director (Program)
Allan commenced at NCETA in January 2008 where he is responsible for identifying, developing and implementing a range of alcohol and other drug related projects and associated activities that have a law enforcement focus.
Allan has over 15 years experience working in the alcohol and other drugs field both in the health and law enforcement sectors. Prior to working at NCETA, Allan was most recently employed in the Drug and Alcohol Policy Section at South Australia Police for seven and half years. During that time, Allan provided ongoing policy advice and support to senior executive members and was also involved in and contributed to the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) data collection program and the Illicit Drug Diversion Initiative in South Australia. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Community Nursing Service at the Adelaide City Watch House.
Allan holds a Bachelor of Arts, an Associate Diploma in Social Work and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Studies.
Contact Details
Ph: +61 8 8201 7511
Fax: +61 8 8201 7550
allan.trifonoff@flinders.edu.au
Stacey Appleton
Administrative/Finance Officer
Stacey joined NCETA in November 2005. Her role is to the day-to-day management of the financial affairs of NCETA. In this capacity, Stacey maintains records of expenditure and produces the financial reports and budgets for all NCETA projects.
Prior to working at NCETA, Stacey worked as an Administration Manager in various medium size businesses in the building and manufacturing industries. She has had 15 years experience of working in administration and accounts.
Stacey is currently studying a Bachelor of Business at Flinders University.
Contact Details
Ph: +61 8 8201 7578
Fax: +61 8 8201 7550
stacey.appleton@flinders.edu.au
Karen Brandon
Reception / Administration Assistant
Karen joined NCETA in November 2007. Her role is to provide administrative support to the Director and Centre Staff.
Karen and her family moved to South Australia in June 2007 from the UK. Over the past 15 + years Karen has worked mainly in the fundraising sector in the UK, providing administrative support to various local and national charities. Her last position was with the University of Leicester Students Union, providing support and advice to the student led association RAG (Raising and Giving) which gave students the opportunity to raise money for charity whilst developing skills they could use in later life.
Contact details
Ph: +61 8 8201 7535
Fax: +61 8 8201 7550
karen.brandon@flinders.edu.au
Dr Petra Bywood
Senior Research Officer
Petra joined NCETA in 2005 and has worked on a number of different projects, including a systematic literature review on dissemination and diffusion strategies relevant to frontline workers and practitioners in the alcohol and other drug field; analysis of the patterns and prevalence of illicit drug use in the Australian workforce; examination of the cultural drivers of alcohol use in young people; and an evaluation of drug detection programs and alternatives to drug testing in schools.
Prior to working at NCETA, Petra completed a PhD in neuroscience at Flinders in 2002. Her research involved the development of an experimental model of neuronal degeneration. After a brief postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuroscience in Gothenburg, Sweden, Petra returned to Adelaide and took a position in the Department of Public Health at the University of Adelaide, producing systematic reviews and horizon scanning reports on a wide range of public health issues for the Department of Health and Ageing.
Contact Details
Ph: +61 8 8201 7546
Fax: +61 8 8201 7550
petra.bywood@flinders.edu.au
Amanda Carne
Research Assistant 
Amanda joined NCETA in August 2009 as a Research Assistant to provide research and project support to NCETA projects, namely, supporting Workforce Development projects, such as, VET and workforce development in the community and services and health industries, and Young workers and alcohol and drug related OHSW risk.
Prior to working at NCETA, Amanda worked at the Flinders Human Behaviour and Health Research Unit (FHBHRU), Flinders University, on the FHBHRU-DVA Better Health for Vietnam Veterans Research Project in a research support capacity as well as collating the Flinders Chronic Condition Management Program data and writing evaluation reports, including publications admin support. She also tutors for the School of Social Work, Flinders University, assisting Social Admin students with the statistical package SPSS ©.
Amanda comes from a leisure and recreation management background and has managed recreation centres in regional and metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia.
She completed a Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psychology) at the end of 2007. Amanda was accepted part-time into the BHlthSc Honours Program with the School of Medicine, Flinders University, and is currently enrolled in postgraduate studies in Public Health Research and Evaluation.
Contact Details
Ph: +61 8 8201 7545
Fax: +61 8 8201 7550
amanda.carne@flinders.edu.au
Vinita Duraisingam
Project Manager / Psychologist
Vinita first began working at NCETA as a placement student in March 2004 and was subsequently employed as a Research Assistant in August 2004. During this period, she was mainly involved with the evaluation of the Police Drug Diversion Initiative Assessor training.
She is now a registered psychologist and a project manager at NCETA. Utilising her background in organisational psychology and business management, she continues to collaborate on various projects that relate to workforce training and development within the AOD field.
Vinita holds a Master in Organisational Psychology from the University of South Australia. Her previous work experience has been in the areas of journalism, public relations, marketing and research.
Contact Details
Ph: +61 8 8201 7535
Fax: +61 8 8201 7550
vinita.duraisingam@flinders.edu.au
Paula Wilson
Project Officer
Paula commenced work with NCETA in September 2006 as Project Officer and provides general project support across the centre. The main focus of Paula's present activities is the Comorbidity Professional Development Scholarships project.
Paula has worked across health areas within the higher education sector for the past 11 years. Her background is in Project and Human Resources Management involving tasks such as policy and procedure development, industrial relations, staffing, writing tenders, strategic planning and business and administration systems.
Paula has been involved in projects such as the Police Drug Diversion Initiative (PDDI), Indigenous Alcohol Clinical Practice Guidelines (IACPG) and the National Primary Care Collaboratives (NPCC).
Contact Details
Ph: +61 8 8201 7565
Fax: +61 8 8201 7550
paula.wilson@flinders.edu.au
Amanda Tovell
Project Officer
Amanda commenced work with NCETA as a Project Officer in early 2007. She works on various projects and is the key NCETA contact person for the joint partnership projects with the South Australian Network of Drug and Alcohol Services (SANDAS). These partnership projects include mapping the South Australian Non Government Organisation (NGO) Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) Workforce Profile and Creating a Healthy Work Culture Forum on November 30th 2007.
Before joining NCETA full-time in April 2007, Amanda was the Project Coordinator for the development of the Alcohol treatment guidelines for Indigenous Australians with Flinders Consulting Pty Ltd, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
Amanda holds a Master of Social Work (by Coursework) from Flinders University. Prior to entering the AOD field, she worked with consumers in disability and mental health services, and has a strong interest in mental health and AOD comorbidity.
Contact details
Ph: +61 8 8201 7543
Fax: +61 8 8201 7550
Donna Weetra
Aboriginal Project Officer
Donna commenced work with NCETA in June 2008 as the Aboriginal Project Officer for the Indigenous Worker Wellbeing, Stress and Burnout Project.
Donna has experience conducting Aboriginal Health research at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Unit (SAHS., Donna has expertise in a range of aspects of Aboriginal Health research, including project management, evaluation and report writing.
Donna has previous experience working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and previous experience in project management, research, evaluation and Aboriginal service delivery.
Donna will play a key role in the project and will be the main researcher liaising with the Project Reference Group, networking with organizations, recruiting participants, conducting field work to collect data and be a major contributor to the data analysis and report and publication writing.
Contact details
Ph: +61 8 8201 7538
Fax: +61 8 8201 7550
Chelsea Todd
PhD Candidate (School of Medicine)
Chelsea joined NCETA in February 2004 as a Research Assistant. Chelsea has provided support across a range of projects, primarily the "Workforce Development TIPS (Theory Into Practice Strategies)” resource kit.
Chelsea is currently doing a PhD examining the prevalence and aetiology of stress and burnout amongst the AOD workforce, and evaluating the effectiveness of workplace interventions to address stress and burnout. Her PhD is supported by an Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation (AER) Workforce Development scholarship.
Chelsea completed a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) at Flinders University in 2003.
Contact Details
Ph: +61 8 8201 7732
Fax: +61 8 8201 7550
chelsea.todd@flinders.edu.au
Tania Steenson
Administration Officer
Tania joined NCETA as administrative assistant in March 2007. Her role is to undertake administration duties as required, provide assistance to the Centre’s Director, contribute to the development of NCETA's marketing plan and to provide project support to all Centre projects as needed.
Prior to working at NCETA, Tania was employed in the entertainment and hospitality industries. She has overseen the coordination of large functions as a Function Supervisor at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre and has assisted in the organisation of large-scale events as an Event Coordinator.
Contact details
Ph: +61 8 8201 7541
Fax: +61 8 8201 7550
tania.steenson@flinders.edu.au
