Belinda holds a Master of Social Change and Development (Organisational Leadership and Capacity Building) and is an experienced social justice practitioner and leader, having worked across government, higher education and community organisations for over twenty-five years.

Belinda commenced in the role of Executive Officer at Karinya House in February 2020, after having been a volunteer since 2011. As a volunteer Belinda had been involved in a range of fundraising activities along with strategic planning and grant writing. Belinda held the position of Chief Executive Officer – Interim, from March 2022 to February 2023, pending Ms Lavinia Tyrell formally commencing in the role in March 2023.  From March 2023, Belinda joins Catherine O’Halloran as Services Director. Belinda will continue to take responsibility with Catherine for day-to-day operational management, with a focus on leading the Care Team and ensuring Karinya’s Practice of Care remains in focus and continues to develop and respond to the challenges of changing times.

Prior to commencing at Karinya House, Belinda was the Associate Director at the Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Education, University of Newcastle. A role which saw Belinda play a key role in establishing links with leading practitioners and researchers both locally and globally. Belinda also provided a practitioner voice to several social justice research projects. In her current role as Executive Officer, Karinya House, Belinda leads the operational and strategic management of the service, including ensuring principles of social justice are embedded within the service delivery and the organisation has a voice in the development of social policy and sector development.

Belinda is currently undertaking a PhD in Sociology & Anthropology. The ethnographic study seeks to bring to light the types of approaches and practices to casework that can create a sense of hope and possibility for women who have experienced a period of ‘homelessness’. Implementing a collaborative methodology, the project aims to explore how caseworkers, navigate social policy and funding regimes in their daily work, how these are understood and what this navigation means for the practice of ‘care’.