Cairnmillar maintains a consistent vision and a focus on core principles through appropriate governance by its Council and Academic Board and led by our CEO and Provost. Our staff are committed to ensuring we continue to meet the highest standards and remains true to our founding principles.
Professor Kathryn von Treuer
CEO & Provost
Professor Kathryn von Treuer (FAPS) is the 2nd and current Chief Executive Officer and Provost of the Cairnmillar Institute, which she commenced in 2016. She is an endorsed health and organisational psychologist with postgraduate qualifications in psychology, business and education. With 20 years of industry experience, Kathryn’s reputation in leading and improving the quality of education is well established. Her research into teaching scholarship has informed the learning and evaluation of training programs spanning several domains, including aged care. Kathryn has been the Course Chair of the Master of Organisational Psychology at Deakin University.
council
The Council is the Institue’s governing body and is responsible for acting on the Institute’s behalf to promote its objectives and interests.
MA MSc MB BChir DM DCH FFPH FRCP FAFPHM FIPAA FAICD
Professor Emeritus John Catford has specialist medical qualifications in paediatrics and public health. He has been a Professor of Public Health for over thirty years and has held senior academic and health service management positions in Australia and the UK, and with the World Health Organisation. He is a former Chief Health/Medical Officer, and he led the establishment of the Deakin Medical School that opened in Geelong in 2002 Professor Catford has been the Chair of Boards including the Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria; VicHealth/Victorian Health Promotion Foundation and the Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS) which includes FebFast.
BCom CPA
Ms Carolyn Deveny joined the Council of the Cairnmillar Institute in October 2016. She is currently the Chief Financial Officer for Computershare’s Corporate and Global Technology divisions, where she is a key member of the finance and technology leadership teams. Prior to her appointment as Chief Financial Officer, Carolyn was the Group Financial Controller with responsibility for the Group’s external statutory reporting and technical accounting guidance. Prior to commencing with Computershare in 2005, Carolyn began her career with Ernst & Young in external audit. This led to various financial accounting roles, including working with UBS in London and Sydney before returning to Ernst & Young in the financial services audit division in both Sydney and Melbourne.
PhD FAPS FCCLP FCHP
Professor Marita McCabe is a Research Professor in Psychological Sciences at Swinburne University. She is a highly regarded academic who conducts theoretical and applied research in the areas of ageing, body image disorders, depression and sexual health. Professor McCabe has a significant publication record, with more than 400 refereed articles in these areas. In the last 10 years, her research has attracted more than $12 million in Category One funding. She is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society and a member of the Clinical and Health Colleges of the APS.
MBA BSocScPsych
Ms Robyn Seymour is the CEO of the Surf Coast Shire Council; previously she was the Deputy Secretary Network Planning and Head of Road Safety Victoria in the Victorian Department of Transport, and the CEO of VicRoads.
MPsych (Clin), Diploma Project Management, Grad Dip Psych, BComm
Adjunct Professor George Habib is a clinical psychologist. He is the current Associate Director of Wellbeing Services at the University of Melbourne. George also works in private practice and is a non-executive Director at Victorian Legal Aid.
PhD MA GDipEdCouns BA FAPS MACE
Dr Coral Brown is the former Assistant Director at Cairnmillar, where she worked for many years in management and as a clinician. She was instrumental in establishing the Institute as a Higher Education Provider and now plays an active role as a Member of the Council, the Academic Board, and The Human Research Ethics Committee. Dr Brown is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society and has lectured on brief therapy in Australia, the U.S.A. and Turkey. She currently consults, provides professional and thesis supervision, and writes.
Ms Lisa Cusano is a director in the Financial Services Tax practice at Ernst & Young specialising in banking and capital markets and wealth and asset management. Lisa is CA qualified with over 14 years experience in providing tax consulting and tax compliance services to businesses in the corporate and financial services industry. Areas of specialisation include the tax implications associated with Mutual Banks and credit unions, digital banks, ETF's and LICs and AMITs. The application and reporting of operational taxes and obligations including withholding taxes.
Prof Lyn Littlefield has a very strong background in child, youth and family therapy. As many of you know, over the past few years, Lyn has generously contributed time behind the scenes to help Cairnmillar in various ways, including in getting our Child, Youth and Family Mental Health courses going. We are thrilled to have her join us in a more formal capacity.
Lyn’s previous roles have included Executive Director of the Australian Psychological Society, inaugural CEO of the Victorian Parenting Centre, and Head of the School of Psychological Science at La Trobe University. For the past 30 years Lyn has also been the Clinical Practice Director of the Exploring Together Program, a short-term, group intervention program for children and adolescents with emotional and behavioural problems, their parents and teachers. Lyn has a long history of providing advice to government about policy, standards, service development, implementation and evaluation of major national initiatives. She has been a member of many Federal Government Ministerial and Departmental Groups concerned with health and mental health policy, and service delivery.
In 2001, Lyn was awarded an OAM “for service to the welfare of children and families, and the development and advancement of training and education in the field of child, adolescent and family psychology.”
Prof Simon Crowe is a previous Chair of Academic Board at La Trobe University. He served for 30 years at La Trobe in various academic roles, including Head of the School of Psychological Science.
Some of Simon’s other key roles include Chair of the Asia Pacific Psychology Alliance (2019 – present), past President and current Board Member of the Australian Psychological Society, and President Elect of the International Congress of Psychology meeting in Melbourne in 2028. Simon maintains strong research programs into the neuropsychology of neuropsychiatric disorders and a variety of neuropsychological assessment issues. He has published three monographs, more than 140 refereed journal articles and numerous book chapters, conference presentations, notes, and commentaries. He also works in private practice in clinical neuropsychology focusing on medico-legal aspects of acquired brain injury and the neuropsychology of psychiatric disorders.