154 facilitators. 2.5 days. Endless ideas.
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This is the facilitation conference you’d been waiting for.
Three+ Days. 150+ facilitators. The only conference in Oceania built entirely around the practice of facilitation.
This is where facilitators came to sharpen their craft, expand their impact, and find their people.
Picture this…
You’re by the ocean on a clear spring day in Geelong.
You’re surrounded by people who get what you do.
You’re deep in a hands-on workshop — not just listening, but doing.
Testing ideas. Learning new tools. Seeing what’s possible.
Every session is run by facilitators who’ve collectively delivered 20,000+ workshops, written books, featured in podcasts and are here to share what actually works
You look around and think:
“How good is this.”
20+ HOURS PD
Real development
ONCE EVERY 3 YEARS
A rare opportunity
150 FACILITATORS
Your people
Where our Session Facilitators attended from
Session facilitators are travelling from across Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, South Asia, Europe, North America, and South Africa. Click any pin to see who's coming and where from.
Session Facilitators — IAF Oceania Conference 2026
Facilitation in Action · 14–16 October 2026, Geelong, Australia · 53 facilitators from 10 countries
WHY THIS MATTERED
Because opportunities like this don’t come around often.
This conference runs once every 3 years in Oceania.
20+ hours of professional development in 2.5 days. That’s nearly 70% of your annual PD in one experience!
And more importantly…
Everyone left better at what they do.
WHO IT WAS FOR
Facilitators | Consultants | Leaders | Change-makers
Whether you’re an experienced facilitator deepening your craft, a consultant or coach sharpening your client toolkit, an L&D, HR or OD professional building facilitation capability across your organisation, a leader who wants to run better rooms and more effective teams, or a community engagement or public sector practitioner navigating complex, multi-stakeholder environments — this conference was designed with you in mind.
WHAT EVERYONE WALKED AWAY WITH:
✔ Practical workshop tools and methods you can use immediately
✔ Greater confidence facilitating complex groups and difficult dynamics
✔ New frameworks for design and in-the-moment decision-making
✔ Genuine connections with practitioners who understand this work
✔ A renewed sense of purpose and energy for your practice
THE EXPERIENCE:
Forget the standard, sit-and-stare conference format. This experience was designed for those who prefer to be in the driver’s seat of their own professional development. Rather than enduring a series of passive lectures, we dived into a dynamic environment defined by interactive sessions where your voice and participation are the primary catalysts for the conversation.
Customisation was at the heart of the event, offering a choose-your-own-adventure program that allowed you to tailor the schedule to your specific interests and goals. Every workshop and discussion was set in real-world application, ensuring that you walked away not just with inspiration, but with a practical toolkit you can implement the moment you return to the office.
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
The program was brilliant! 40+ hands-on workshops across three learning journeys, led by facilitators who collectively bring 20,000+ workshops of real-world experience.
See the CONFERENCE PROGRAM sessions (or get the pdf of the program).
The conference was held at the stunning Geelong Waterfront campus of Deakin University. Just an hour from Melbourne, the venue is ideally situated, overlooking the picturesque Corio Bay, in the heart of Geelong's CBD, within walking distance of the city's hotels and restaurants.
Originally built as wool stores in the 19th century, the buildings have been beautifully renovated to create a modern and technologically advanced campus, while retaining all the charm and character of its Victorian heritage.
Geelong was chosen for its awesome venue, top location and regional roots, complemented by the style and energy of a growing and developing regional city.
Conference streams
Foundations — Build your tools, confidence and core skills
Start here if you’re building your facilitation foundations or want to strengthen your practical toolkit. Sessions include:
After the Brainstorm: Tools for Prioritising and Decision-Making with Groups - Emily Physick & Sarah Bishop
Drawing Out the Magic: Getting Your Groups on the Same Page - Ben Crothers
Restorative Practices as a Framework for Facilitation - Andrew Ballin + and more...
Crafting your Practice— Refine your presence, design and delivery
For facilitators with an established practice who want to sharpen their design thinking, in-room decisions, and client impact. Sessions include:
• Unified Debate - a Different way to Find Common Ground - Joel Levin
• The Science of Engagement: How to Design Sessions the Brain Can’t Ignore - Michelle Tocci
• Power in the Room: How Power Shows Up in Facilitation - Nancy Nuñez + more…
Transformational — Explore deeper change, systems and leadership
For facilitators ready to go deeper into systems change, the inner work of facilitation, and what it means to hold space for genuine transformation. Sessions include:
The Facilitator Stripped Bare - Michelle Howard
The 1 More Q Practice. Finding the Opening When Change Gets Hard -Lilian Wang, Yvonne Yam
Barri Marruma: A Country-Centric Facilitation Framework - Carol Vale + more…
Pre-conference professional development workshops
The pre-conference workshops provided a practical, high-value learning opportunity for people who want to deepen their facilitation capability before the main conference. We’ve brought in some of the best local, national and international providers to ensure you get maximum value from your participation.
Each full-day workshop had a distinct focus, enabling you to choose the experience that best aligns with your role, level of experience and professional development goals. They offered a strong mix of core facilitation skills, evidence-based insight and highly practical methods.
Advanced facilitation: the neuroscience of leading any room
Led by Sue Langley, this workshop showcased the science behind every activity you run. Drawing on 25 years of facilitating, Sue revealed what's really happening in the brains in the room, and what to do about it, turning neuroscience, emotional intelligence and positive psychology into tools you can use with your next group.
Everyone left with practical tools to read the emotions in a room and respond with intent, sharper judgement in the moment, and the language to guide a group towards what matters.
Experiential Facilitation
Facilitated by Michelle Cummings, this highly practical workshop focused on how to use experiential activities to create meaningful outcomes. Participants experienced, practised and deconstructed high-impact activities, learning how to frame them professionally, sequence them for impact and debrief them in ways that connect to communication, collaboration, leadership and accountability.
Everyone was buzzing and skipped away with a toolkit of 20+ ready-to-use activities, stronger confidence to facilitate in the moment and clearer design principles for experiential learning.
Imagine this - everyone's ideas, already on the board…
AloeLuma was the Title Sponsor of the IAF Oceania Conference 2026, and we are proud to be working together.
AloeLuma is an AI-native, human-led platform for facilitators running sessions and solving problems. AloeLuma makes it easier to arrive at better solutions, and to see them through.
Everyone wins with AloeLuma. The organization gets a better outcome for less of its people’s time. All session participants get heard, and what they say lands on the board. Facilitators get active, effective support from preparation through follow-through.
