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PACDEFF and AAvPA Combined Conference 2025
Rydges Hotel, World Square, Sydney
16-17 September, 2025
PACDEFF is the largest CRM, NTS and Aviation Human Factors Conference of its type in the world, with around 350 people attending the conference in 2023. The forum is intended as a non-profit, non-partisan opportunity for Human Factors practitioners to meet and discuss contemporary issues in the Human Factors field, with an emphasis on airline training.
PACDEFF offers a conference with a substantial array of CRM, NTS, Aviation Human Factors, and Aviation Psychology topics, which is always of interest to a wide cross-section of Human Factors, Aviation Psychology and Safety professionals, practitioners and academics.
Combined PACDEFF and AAvPA Conference, 2025
In 2025 PACDEFF will once again be welcoming the Australian Aviation Psychology Association (AAvPA), for a combined conference. PACDEFF and AAvPA have run a number of combined conferences in the past and there are many synergies and mutual interests across the two groups. The conference will allow AAvPA delegates to experience a wide range of Aviation Human Factors, and CRM/NTS topics, while PACDEFF delegates will have the opportunity to see some of the research driving greater understanding of Aviation Psychology and Human Factors challenges, across the aviation industry, as well as in other high-risk industries with similar challenges.
We expect a call for speakers for PACDEFF & AAvPA 2025 to open in February, with registrations opening in March. Please stay tuned for updates. We encourage a wide and diverse range of topics which will be of interest to our varied audience, who are largely involved in Aviation Human Factors. We also welcome speakers from outside of aviation, who can provide delegates with interesting and relevant topics, particularly where Human Factors challenges are shared across domains and industries. Please email us here with your ideas.
2024 PRINCIPAL SPONSORS
2024 MAJOR SPONSORS
PACDEFF 2025 – 16 & 17 September, 2025 Rydges Hotel World Square, Sydney
PACDEFF 2025 will be held at Rydges Hotel, World Square, Sydney, Australia over 16/17 September, 2025
The conference will comprise of two days of presentations on CRM, NTS, Aviation Human Factors, and Aviation Psychology. Presentations will include keynote addresses on Day 1 and 2, and some optional workshops on Day 2.
Please also note that the call for speakers for 2025 will open on the 1st of February 2025, however please feel free to email us with an overview of your presentation, or to submit a full abstract prior to then.
Registration for PACDEFF 2025 will open on 1st of March, 2025. Once registrations open, please select the Registration button on the 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.
Provisional Registration Costs (AUD):
PACDEFF/AAvPA Early-bird rate (1 Mar-30 April) – $295
PACDEFF/AAvPA Standard rate (1 May-17 Sep) – $355
Speaker Rate – Free
Single Day Rate – $190
Conference Networking Opportunities
To facilitate opportunities for networking and the exchange of ideas outside the conference proper, two informal social events are planned for 2025. These include a free welcome drinks session in the Cider Bar, overlooking World Square, and a conference dinner to be held at Rydges.
Please note the welcome event for 2025 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 2024 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 2025 sponsors as they come on board.
2025 Keynote Speakers
Dr Steven Shorrock
At EUROCONTROL, Steven is the Senior Team Leader Human Factors in the Network Manager. He has helped to pioneer approaches to learning from everyday work, safety culture, systems thinking and Safety-II, and is the Editor-in-Chief of EUROCONTROL’s HindSight magazine.
Steven is an interdisciplinary humanistic, systems and design practitioner interested in human experience from multiple perspectives, especially in a work context. He likes to work in a way that makes sense to people and respects their expertise and contributions.
Steven is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Centre for Human Factors & Sociotechnical Systems and an invited member of ICAO’s Human Performance Task Force.
Over the last three decades he has provided consulting, research and training services in aviation, rail, chemical, energy, and healthcare sectors, to industry, government and inter-governmental organisations. He works with individuals and groups at all levels of organisations, front-line to CEO. He also works with the judiciary and have advised national governments on matters concerning just culture.
Dr Kimberly Perkins
Kimberly Perkins is an airline pilot and Human Factors specialist with over 20 years of experience in both business and commercial aviation. She earned her doctorate from the University of Washington, where her research focused on optimizing risk mitigation through advanced sociotechnical skills training. Kimberly continues her research as an honorary fellow at the University of Melbourne and a research scientist at the University of Washington.
Kimberly’s current research focuses on leveraging AI capabilities to enhance the resilience of sociotechnical systems, with a particular emphasis on providing pilots with practical tools to operationalize the pilot competencies outlined by international aviation standards.
Kimberly is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and serves on the CAE Human Performance Excellence (hpX) Council. She is an active member of the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, Women in Aviation, and other organizations dedicated to making the aviation industry more inclusive. Additionally, she serves on the board of the non-profit Rise Up and Read. She also co-founded Empirical Aero, a consultancy dedicated to improving aviation safety culture. In addition to her research and advocacy work, she flies the Boeing 787 for a U.S.-based airline.
Angus Mitchell – Chief Commissioner, ATSB
Angus Mitchell has extensive experience in organisational leadership and management, maritime operations and safety investigation.
He joined the ATSB from Maritime Safety Queensland, where as General Manager he oversaw the safe and efficient movement of vessels into and out of Queensland’s 21 ports, and was responsible for compliance activities and safety investigations for Australia’s largest recreational maritime fleet.
During his tenure, Maritime Safety Queensland was recognised with an Australian Industry and Shipping Award for its role in managing international shipping throughout the COVID pandemic and supporting the welfare and safety of international seafarers.
Prior to leading Maritime Safety Queensland, Mr Mitchell was the Executive Director of NSW Maritime, where he oversaw Australia’s largest state’s primary maritime regulatory, investigative and compliance agency. He has also served as Deputy Harbour Master – Operations for Sydney Ports, where he was responsible for managing day-to-day port operations for both Sydney Harbour and Port Botany.
Angus is a former officer of the Royal Australian Navy having seen service in operational, policy and international roles. He is an Indonesian linguist and commenced his five-year term as ATSB Chief Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer on 2 September 2021.
2024 – Nicole Ashcroft, Uber Safety
Nicole Ashcroft
Nicole is Head of Safety at Uber ANZ, and is committed to building solutions to improve safety outcomes for women and vulnerable people.
For the last twenty years, Nicole has worked across a range of industries in a health and safety remit, including construction, mining, rail, defense and technology.
Her role at Uber includes overseeing the prevention of serious incidents as a result of person to person interactions and road safety accidents. This includes developing safety policies and processes, and implementing innovations that support the safety of every Uber app user.
She balances Uber’s value of “Standing for Safety” with spending time with her two young children and volunteering with the Coogee Surf Life Saving Club.
