In this interactive workshop, participants will engage in a series of discussions and activities to get a deeper understanding of how their communication style influences and impacts their audience. Whether the communication is between a clinician and a patient/family member of a patient, or it is between colleagues or between the Alliance members, ineffective communication can have adverse consequences and poor outcomes for service users.
Karen Thrussell has been affected by cancer through her own experience as a liposarcoma survivor as well as a carer for a parent and another family member. These multiple roles provide Karen with unique experiences of surgery, radiation therapies for herself, and of palliative care and as an advocate for family members during treatment. In 2020, Karen joined the Australian & New Zealand Sarcoma Association (ANZSA) in a new and developing role as a consumer representative to increase sarcoma awareness and education. This role has involved proofreading research and clinical trial proposals to ensure the patients perspective has been included, being a consumer voice during the ANZSA strategic plan and conferences, investigating educational opportunities for Sarcoma and selecting merchandise for fundraising activities. Professionally, Karen is an MBA-qualified marketing consultant and facilitator, currently lecturing at university and as a private consultant in retail marketing.
Born in Iran, Pirooz migrated to Australia in the late 1990’s as an ambitious photographer, holding a Bachelor of Visual Arts. His passion for social justice and human rights compelled him to pursue law and upon successful completion of a Bachelor of Laws at University of Wollongong, he worked in the community sector and local government both in NSW and Victoria for over two decades.
Over the years, Pirooz has offered his services as a pro bono lawyer at several community legal centres including Refugee Advice & Case Work Service in NSW, and Western Suburbs Legal Service and Refugee Legal (formerly known as Refugee & Immigration Legal Centre) in Victoria.
Pirooz ran his own migration law practice for over 5 years specialising in asylum seeker and humanitarian cases. This experience enriched his understanding of people’s challenging experience of gross violations of human rights.
Pirooz is committed to bringing critical conversations to the Geelong region and has hosted three major forums in Geelong: Diversity & Inclusion, Done Right! (2021), Racism, Raw & Real (2022) and Gender Equality, A goal within reach? (2023). With over 20 years’ experience in the legal arena, community development, community engagement, project management, and policy development within the human rights framework, Pirooz is versatile and capable of taking on challenging projects.
Pirooz is also a writer and a storyteller, as such, has a unique set of skills and sensitivity to capture people’s stories and voices, his debut novel Forty Nights was published by Ultimo Press in 2022 and was long listed for the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2023.
