Tickets available here

Presentations & Program

The Appetite for Change Conference will explore eating disorders, differences, and difficulties, and relationship with body, amongst neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+SB, chronically ill, disabled, and otherwise marginalised folk.

Drawing on lived and/or living expertise, professional experience, and community wisdom, presentations will centre the voices, needs, and experiences of marginalised folk who are often pathologised and discriminated against by mainstream narratives, frameworks, services, and systems. In doing so, they will:

  • Share unique insights and considerations essential for supporting multiply marginalised folk with eating disorders, differences, and difficulties

  • Explore practices that are truly affirming, accessible, and intersectional

  • Unpack harmful assumptions and examine “gold standard” approaches

  • Debunk myths, stigma, stereotypes, and misinformation

  • Discuss practical strategies, tools, and considerations for care

  • Create opportunities to connect, reflect, and learn

  • And (of course!) much more

Presentations will be streamed live on March 12th & 13th 2026 AEDT, and will also be accessible on-demand via recording for 90 days post-live event.

For a full list of presentation topics (and who’s presenting them), you can click the dropdown under “Presentation Topics 2026” below, or scroll down a bit further to check out the final program!

Presentation Topics 2026

    • Adultification, Misidentification, and the Cost of Missed Neurodivergence in Black and CARM Children - Hibak Hassan (she/her)

    • Affirming Autism Assessments for Adults with Eating Disorders - Esther Fidock (she/her)

      • Please note: Due to an unexpected change in circumstances, Esther has since needed to step back from presenting this year, but we’re excited to have her present on this topic at the 2027 conference!

    • ARFID, Neurodivergence, and the Harms of Feeding Therapy (Panel Discussion) - Kevin Green (they/them), Margo White (she/her), & Eve Skliros (she/her)

    • Beyond Body Image: Exploring the Complexities of Desire for Weight Loss - Ari Spanos, they/them

    • Bipolar, Eating Disorders, Eating Difficulties, and Their Intersections - Majella Jones (they/them)

    • Complex Sensorimotor Landscapes: Intersections and Shared Mechanisms in Trauma, Neurodivergence, Eating Disorders, Psychosis, and Catatonia - Rosiel Elwyn (they/them)

    • Cultural Understanding for Eating Disorders: Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People - Hayden Moon (he/they)

    • Daddies and Twinks and Bears, Oh My! Body Image and Eating Disorders in Sexual Minority Subcultures - Dr Fran Beilharz (she/her) & Tom Scully (any pronouns)

    • Eating Challenges and ARFID in Autistic Adults: Understanding the Impact of Stress and Chronic Health Conditions - Marie Camin (she/her)

    • Eating Disorders and Appearance Pressures Amongst Trans Women and Trans Femme Folk (Panel Discussion) - Aaron Roldan (she/her), Juniper Muller (she/they), & Liz Duck-Chong (she/her)

    • Eating Disorders, Gender Diversity, and Body Justice (Panel Discussion) - Kai Schweizer (he/they), Hayden Moon (he/they), & Lumen Gorrie (they/them)

    • Exploring the Invisible: The Complex Intersection of Energy-Limiting Chronic Illnesses, Eating, Feeding, and Body - Dr Jason Lam (he/him), Lumen Gorrie (they/them) & Majella Jones (they/them)

    • Fat, Neurodivergent & Misdiagnosed: How Bias, Rigid Diagnostic Criteria and the “Complex” Label Create Harm in Eating Disorder Care - Zabe Sharpcat (ze/zir)

    • From Partnerships to Power: How Lived Experience Participation Forms the Foundations for Community Building and Civic Action - Tharindu Jayadeva (he/him)

    • “Gold Standards” by Whose Standards? Unpacking How Traditional Eating Disorder Formulations Overlook Autism and Fail Autistic People - Isobel Kelly (she/her)

    • The Intersectionality of Eating: A Lived Experience Perspective - Khadija Gbla (they/them) & Chelsea Luker (she/her)

    • It's All Connected: Untangling the “Complex Client" Sitting at the Intersection of Eating Disorders, Chronic Illness, Neurodivergence, Gender Identity, and Minority Stress - Claire Weiss (she/her)

    • Lived Experience Wisdom, Perspective, and Story-Sharing: The Lifelong Impact of One Diagnosis‍ - Amelia Tang (they/them)

      • Please note: Due to unexpected circumstances, Amelia can no longer deliver their presentation during the live conference itself. They’ve worked phenomenally hard on it, though, and will be recording it post-conference when capacity permits, at which point it'll be made available to all registered attendees to access on-demand.

    • Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Eating Disorders in Prisons - Amy Woods (she/her) & Tina McPhee (she/her)

    • Partnerships and Eating Support: Partners as Carers in Eating and Feeding - Annelil Desille (she/they)

    • Plurality and Disordered Eating: Ensuring Affirming Care for All Parts - Steph Robertson (she/they)

    • Queering the ED Narrative: Neurodivergence, Gender, Transness, Disordered Eating, and Colonisation - Jasper Peach (they/them)

    • Reclaiming the Nourished Body: Exploring Interoceptive Awareness in Neurodivergent and Trauma-Affected Lives - Courtney Vinck (she/her)

    • Relationships and Eating Support: Exploring the Role of Kink in Eating Support and Eating Disorder Recovery (Panel Discussion) - Annelil Desille (she/they) & Majella Jones (they/them)

    • “Too Complex to Treat”: Navigating the Public Eating Disorder System as a Queer, Neurodivergent, Chronically Ill, Non-Binary Person - Brody Hayes (they/them)

    • Treatment Trauma: Understanding the Harms and Negative Experiences from Eating Disorder Treatment - Sandi James (she/they)

    • The Trouble with “Anorexia”: Towards Inclusive Understandings of Eating Distress - Yasmine Hooper (she/her)

    • Weight-Based Discrimination and Dismissal: How Society’s Biases Impact Eating, Safety, and Access to Care (Panel Discussion) - Annie Crowe (she/her) & Zoe Simmons (she/they)

    • When Food is Not Just Food: Applying a Cultural and Relational Lens - Sandhya Menon (she/her)

    • When Words Are Not Enough: Visual Narratives for Clinicians Supporting Neurodivergent People with Eating Disorders - Maud Achard (she/they)

    • Where to From Here: Moving From Hyper-Individualistic, Pathologising Frameworks, Toward Intersectional, Humanising, Liberatory Care - Lumen Gorrie (they/them)

Conference Program 2026

The full conference program (for folks attending live) is displayed below, with all times are in AEDT (Naarm-time)!

Program accessibility & download

You can download a PDF copy of the program via this link! The download contains six versions of the program, to support accessibility. These include:

  • Full colour (pink, teal, and white colour scheme), with presenter names

  • Full colour (pink, teal, and white colour scheme), without presenter names

  • Dark mode (low contrast)

  • Black & white (high contrast)

  • Plain text (screen reader and AAC-friendly), with times/dates written using words

  • Plain text (screen reader and AAC-friendly), with times/dates written using numbers

The download will be initially in a .zip file which, when unzipped, contains five separate PDF documents.

About the program

There will be two streams running on both days of the conference, but this doesn’t mean you have to pick a stream and *only* follow that one. Instead, it means you can choose tune into whichever presentations you like (at their scheduled times) regardless of the stream they’re in!

All presentations are also being recorded, and will be available to everyone who’s registered for the conference, for 90 days post-live event. Anything you don’t catch live, you can catch up on at a time and pace that’s best for you.

There are short (approx five minute) breaks between every presentation, plus a longer break just after 12pm AEDT/Naarm-time. I’m hoping this helps with pacing and accessibility for folks, as it’ll better allow for moments of pause, food, hydration, bathroom breaks, giving undivided attention to pets, and whatever else your vibe may be, without having to duck out mid-presentation.

I’m also creating a program version with content notes for any sensitive topics, so that you can make an informed decision about what’s best for you on the day. I’m in the final stages of finalising this, and will have it available soon!

And now, without any further ado… the program!

Day One Program

Day Two Program

Please note, some presentation times, delivery format, and/or other program details may change slightly closer to the event. This is a necessary accommodation to support presenters’ wellbeing, capacity, and accessibility needs, and we all appreciate your understanding of this. In the event of any changes, updates will be provided here, via social media, and via email, as soon as is possible.