Keynote Speakers

Vince Galvin

Chief Methodologist, Statistics New Zealand

Vince is Statistics New Zealand’s Chief Methodologist and has spent most of his 40-year career with Statistics NZ alongside stints with other national statistical agencies in the UK and Australia. Vince is the inaugural Chair of the Pacific Statistics Regional Methods Board, which works at ensuring the nations of the pacific receive the benefit of advances in Statistical Methods. In recent years Vince has been on the Board of the private sector market research industry board in New Zealand and has been active in the analytics industry. Internationally, Vince is a member of the Executive Committee of the High-Level Group for the Modernisation of Official Statistics.

Hon. Stephen Dawson MLC

  • Minister for Emergency Services; Innovation and the Digital Economy; Science; Medical Research;
  • Minister Assisting the Minister for State and Industry Development, Jobs and Trade
  • Deputy Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council
  • Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region

Arlene Mavratsou APM

Assistant Commissioner, WA Police Force

Assistant Commissioner Arlene Mavratsou APM has enjoyed a stellar career in law enforcement intelligence services across Australia and the USA where she was seconded to work with the Drug Enforcement Administration. She joined the WA Police Force in 2020 as the State Intelligence Assistant Director and also acted in the role of Commander, State Intelligence and Command portfolio since March 2022. In September 2022, Ms Mavratsou’s promotion to the rank of Assistant Commissioner marks the first time a police staff member has been appointed by the Governor to a commissioned officer rank in Western Australia. Ms Mavratsou currently oversees the State Intelligence and Command portfolio of WA Police. She is a dedicated and forward thinking leader, with a proven track record of driving team innovation to solve crime faster.

Russell Thomson

Statistical Consultant, Western Sydney University

Russell is an applied statistician at Western Sydney University (WSU), where he works remotely and resides in Hobart, Tasmania. He has applied statistics in several fields, having worked for various universities and institutes, such as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Menzies Institute of Medical Research and the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies. He now enjoys helping HDR students and staff across all schools of WSU. Russell has more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, garnering an H-index of 44.