PACDEFF 2023 – 12 & 13 September, 2023, Rydges Hotel South Bank, Brisbane

PACDEFF 2023 will be held at Rydges Hotel South Bank, Brisbane, Australia over 12/13 September, 2023.

The conference will comprise of two days of presentations on CRM, NTS, Aviation Human Factors, and Aviation Psychology. Presentations will include several keynote addresses on Day 1 and some optional workshops on Day 2.

Please also note that the call for speakers is now open. Please feel free to email us with an overview of your presentation, or to submit a full abstract.

Registration for PACDEFF 2023 is now open. Please select the Registration button on right side of this page above, or via the ‘Registration Info’ tab on the Top Menu to take you to the Trybooking site which will walk you through the various options.

Registration Costs (AUD):

PACDEFF Early-bird rate (until 30 May) – $235

PACDEFF Standard rate – $295

Speaker Rate – $50

Single Day Rate – $160

Conference Networking Opportunities

To facilitate opportunities for networking and the exchange of ideas outside the conference proper, two informal social events are planned. These include a free welcome drinks session, and a conference dinner.

Please note the welcome event on the evening of 11 September will be sponsored by Southpac Aerospace.

PACDEFF is one of the least expensive conferences of its type in the world. This is only possible because of the generous support of our sponsors. PACDEFF would like to thank our sponsors for their generous support for the 2022 conference and we hope that you will continue to support them.

We always appreciate the amazing contribution our sponsors make to flight safety and look forward to sharing the 2023 sponsors as they come on board.

2023 Keynote Speakers

Gail Iles, PhD, is currently a faculty member of the physics department at RMIT University in Australia. Her research focusses on the uses of radiation as both a characterisation tool and in its interactions with spacecraft and astronauts.
In the US she is a member of the NASA Human Research Program Working Group as a specialist for radiation and in Australia she is a member of the Australian Space Agency ‘Life Sciences and Space Medicine’ Technical Advisory Group.
From 2007 to 2011 she worked for the European Space Agency first as a post-doctoral researcher, conducting experiments in microgravity on the Novespace A300, and then as an ISS Expedition crew trainer at the European Astronaut Centre.
She has extensive time spent experimenting in microgravity, having amassed over 500 parabolas on board the ESA parabolic flight program including moon and Mars gravity. She has been Principal Investigator on the nanoparticle agglomeration device, operating the device in microgravity, and acting as a stand-in operator for other condensed matter experiments. An applicant to the ESA astronaut selections in 2008 and 2021, she has experience in survival in extreme environments including desert, jungle, glacier and altitude. She is a certified open-water diver and has recently obtained her flying wings as a private pilot. She is also an award-winning STEM ambassador, receiving the WISE (Women in Science & Engineering) in the UK in 2010 and a frequent public speaker in national media outlets and outreach events.

Professor Rhona Flin – Emeritus Professor at the University of Aberdeen and Professor of Industrial Psychology at Robert Gordon University.

Prof Flin has conducted applied research for several decades, including research examining non-technical skills and safety climate. She has written several textbooks on non-technical skills, including the key text: Safety at the Sharp End: A guide to Non-Technical Skills.

She is a fellow of several societies, including the British Psychological Society and the Royal Aeronautical Society. She is a member of multiple groups, including the Military Aviation Authority. She is also on the editorial board for several applied academic journals.

Her research interests include human performance in high risk work settings focusing on safety, organisational culture, and non-technical skills (situation awareness, decision making, teamwork , leadership, coping with stress and fatigue), and also psychological factors influencing the adoption of new technologies.

Dr Mike Walker -Director, Transport Safety at Australian Transport Safety Bureau

Dr Mike Walker has been a transport safety investigator with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and its predecessor (Bureau of Air Safety Investigation) since 1995, also serving as an investigations team manager since 2010 and an investigations branch director since 2020. His primary role has been investigating human and organisational factors, and he has played a lead role of several of the ATSB’s high-profile systemic investigations. Mike has also been actively involved in developing and teaching analysis and other investigation methods at the ATSB. He has a Ph.D., Masters, and Honours degrees in psychology / human factors.