In celebration of World Compassion Day, Friday 28 November 2025, the Charter for Compassion Australia, interviewed three (3) eminent Australian’s whose research and practice has contributed profoundly to our understanding of common humanity, compassion and wisdom, in our context. In these candid interviews, Debbie, Lynne & Mark spoke about how they become involved in the compassion movement, the importance of their current work and their sense of the values, research and practices, which may best help us in navigating these fast-changing times.
In so doing, we introduce our inaugural Charter for Compassion, Australia Awards, which will be awarded annually, on World Compassion Day, as the:
Dr Debbie Ling – Common Humanity Award
Debbie is a member of the Australian Compassion Council and Co-Lead of the global Charter’s Healthcare Sector; Debbie is a compassion and common humanity researcher and educator at Monash University. Her PhD research investigated the relationship between the perception of common humanity and compassion in healthcare workers. The study produced empirical evidence that viewing common humanity scenarios increased healthcare worker compassion and led the development of the Monash University “Compassion Training for Healthcare Workers” self-paced online course which was launched in 2022. As of May 2025, over 3,000 healthcare workers and students have completed the course, which was also piloted on 500 final year medical students in 2023 and is now core compulsory curriculum in the Monash University and Warwick University (UK) medical degrees. Dr Debbie Ling’s work in drawing attention to the significant role common humanity plays in facilitating the practice of compassion is truly insightful.
More about Dr Debbie Ling.
Dr Lynne Reeder – Compassion Award
Lynne was the inaugural lead of the Australian Compassion Council, of the Charter for Compassion in Australia. She has served as a Trustee of the global Charter for Compassion, leading their Science & Research Group, as a Board Member of the Global Compassion Coalition and as a Director of the public interest think tank, Australia21. Lynne is Founder of the Mindful Futures Network, co-launched the Australian Scholars Forum and a member of the Compassionate Ballarat Steering Group. An Adjunct Research Fellow at Federation University, she completed her PhD on the ethical aspects of the international relations theory of global interdependence. Her widespread research into the science of compassion coupled with her practical application has included working with councils and in politics, CEO’s and organisations, researchers and academics, children and young people. In 2024, with a colleague Lynne reviewed and revised the Oxford Handbook on Compassion and recently she co-authored a special edition of the Australian Journal of Management on ‘Compassion in Organisations’. Lynne’s leadership and contribution to the science and practice of compassion in Australia is incalculable.
More about Dr Lynne Reeder.
Dr Mark Crosweller AFSM – Wisdom Award
For more than four decades, Mark has served communities in some of their most difficult moments. From disaster response and recovery to national security, Mark’s work has always centred on leadership in complex, uncertain and often tragic contexts.
Over time, Mark found a consistent truth emerged: technical excellence is not enough. What matters most in moments of crisis is our relational capability and how we treat one another.Mark’s career has included senior executive roles in emergency management and national resilience, including roles as Commissioner, Director General, and head of the National Resilience Taskforce. But it is the human dimension of leadership that now drives him: ethics such as compassion and the courage to act with wisdom and integrity.
Currently serving as Director of Ethical Intelligence, and until recently a member of the Australian Compassion Council, of the Charter for Compassion, Australia, Mark works with senior leaders and organisations facilitating deep conversations about the essential ethics of relational leadership. Mark says his ‘work is not for everyone, but it resonates deeply with those willing to reflect, to listen and to lead with both heart and intellect’. Mark’s capacity to connect organisations and leaders to the human experience and vulnerability of suffering and,to help them to determine and facilitate compassionate action, with mindfulness and wisdom, has been enormously transformative in individual lives and whole communities.
More about Dr Mark Crosweller.
Award Criteria, Process and Nomination forms will be available on the Australian Charter for Compassion website, by 01 February 2026 and we encourage your mindful nominations, as together we seek to further the work of common humanity, compassion and wisdom in our aspiration for ‘Australia – a Continent for Compassion’.
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