SHARC Management

Emer brings 30 years of experience in the not-for-profit sector to her role as APSU Manager at SHARC including as a campaigner, policy advisor, fundraiser and project lead in Australia and overseas.

She has worked on diverse issues and projects in health, disability, education, labour rights and corporate responsibility. Emer studied Community Development and tackles all projects through a lens of collective action. inclusion, social justice, human rights, and empowerment.

She combines these broader skills and experiences with her own lived experience as a supporter. Emer is passionate about working with individuals and communities to ensure lived experience drives service and system change.

Catherine is an NFP finance professional with credentials from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) Australia. With a robust career as a CFO in the not-for-profit sector, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise in implementing advanced financial systems and improving processes, significantly transforming financial and shared service operations. Her leadership in executing projects has led to notable cost savings and business process enhancements, establishing her as a key driver of financial efficiency and innovation.  Catherine’s professional experience spans several significant roles, including her role as CFO for TaskForce Community Agency and Bayley House, where she managed financial and IT operations.

Andrew is the Manager, Organisational Support and Development.

Andrew has a Bachelor of Business (Human Resources/Industrial Relations) and is a Fellow of the Institute of Management and Leaders, and is a Certified Member of the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI).

He has worked in human resources environments in public health and not-for-profit organisations for more than 20 years.

Clare Davies is the CEO of Self Help Addiction Resource Centre (SHARC). SHARC is a peer-led organisation that has co-produced programs to support people impacted by alcohol and other drugs, and more recently, gambling. Although the influence of lived experience is increasingly recognised in Australia, SHARC has been promoting and advocating for lived experience through services, programs and policies for more than 25 years. Clare joined SHARC in 2022 having held leadership positions in the non-profit sector for over 15 years. She has qualifications in social work, governance, psychology and AOD work. Clare is a Harvard Club of Victoria Non-profit Fellow and she is thrilled to be a current board member for VAADA.

Matthew, as Manager of Lived Experience Workforce & Advocacy, leads the Association of Participating Service Users (APSU) and Peer Projects – reflecting the continuum of lived and living experience from consumer engagement to professional roles. This includes driving the consolidation and expansion of the lived/living experience workforce in the AOD sector, ensuring the consumer voice is engaged and represented in the design and delivery of AOD services and working to evolve the broader community’s awareness and understanding of people who use AOD services. Matthew has over 30 years’ experience in program/project leadership and training across a number of sectors. Having worked at SHARC for the last five years, he has combined these broader skills and experience with his owned lived experience. He’s passionate about engaging with and serving AOD service consumers and their families/loved ones, and developing lived experience as a fundamental skillset in all relevant areas within sector organisations.

Nicole Thompson is the Manager of Residential Peer Programs at SHARC.  Nicole has completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Community Sector Management, Diploma of Welfare Studies and a Diploma of Community Services. She has worked within the Alcohol and Other Drug Sector for the past 20 years in a range of roles but primarily as an Alcohol and Other Drug Counsellor.  She spent 4 years at ACON (the Aids Council of New South Wales) as the Team Leader of a Project focused on improving the organisations ability to respond to members of the LGBTIQ, Sex Worker and Injecting Drug user communities living with co-occurring Mental Health and AOD issues.  This project utilised a range of Peer Based Health Promotion and Harm Reduction initiatives.  Most recently she has spent 6 years at VincentCare as the Manager of Health and Treatment services providing residential and community based alcohol and other drug treatment for people experiencing co-occurring Homelessness and Substance use issues.

Rob has been working in the human services field for over twenty years across a number of fields including alcohol and other drugs, men’s behaviour change and family violence, couple and family work, community health, brain injury, and acute and ambulatory services.  His qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Social Work in Management and Human Services, Master of Counselling, Graduate Certificate in Family Therapy, Certificate IV in Alcohol and Other Drugs and Certificate IV in Work Place Training.  He has also been involved in research projects with Beyond Blue, Deakin University and ARBIAS.