{"id":3535,"date":"2025-04-17T16:29:51","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T06:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/?p=3535"},"modified":"2025-04-30T15:17:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T05:17:32","slug":"welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome Dr Sonia Sharp: Melba\u2019s New Chair of the Board\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><\/p>\n\n\n    <div class=\"block--custom-layout block_0979f381e9547aec16da6d9fcb3aaca5 custom-wysiwyg blog-wysiwyg\" >\r\n        \r\n        <p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">We\u2019re excited to share some important news about Melba\u2019s leadership. Dr Sonia Sharp has officially stepped into the role of Chair of the Board, following the recent departure of Andrew Cairns, who has relocated to Papua New Guinea. We thank Andrew for his incredible contribution and steady leadership, and we wish him all the very best in his next chapter.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Sonia joins Melba with a wealth of experience and a deep passion for inclusion and human rights.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Sonia brings more than 25 years of experience in executive leadership across education and child and family services and has served on various boards in Australia and the UK. Former roles have included Deputy Secretary for Early Childhood and Schools in Victoria, Chair of the Early Childhood National Policy Group and Chair of the Division of Educational and Child Psychologists, British Psychological Society.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Sonia has a background in educational psychology, working closely with children, young people and their families and championing their rights in the education system.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Sonia has worked with Melba for the past three years and brings a deep understanding of Melba\u2019s journey to date and its ambitions for the future. She is passionate about the work that Melba does and is fully committed to Melba\u2019s values.\u202f\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Please join us in warmly welcoming Sonia to the Melba community!<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\r\n    <\/div>\r\n\r\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019re excited to share some important news about Melba\u2019s leadership. Dr Sonia Sharp has officially stepped into the role of Chair of the Board, following the recent departure of Andrew Cairns. Sonia joins Melba with a wealth of experience and a deep passion for inclusion and human rights.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":3578,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Welcome Dr Sonia Sharp: Melba\u2019s New Chair of the Board\u00a0 | Melba Support Services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We\u2019re excited to share some important news about Melba\u2019s leadership. Dr Sonia Sharp has officially stepped into the role of Chair of the Board, following the recent departure of Andrew Cairns. Sonia joins Melba with a wealth of experience and a deep passion for inclusion and human rights.\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Welcome Dr Sonia Sharp: Melba\u2019s New Chair of the Board\u00a0 | Melba Support Services\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We\u2019re excited to share some important news about Melba\u2019s leadership. Dr Sonia Sharp has officially stepped into the role of Chair of the Board, following the recent departure of Andrew Cairns. Sonia joins Melba with a wealth of experience and a deep passion for inclusion and human rights.\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Melba Support Services\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/melbasupport\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-17T06:29:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-30T05:17:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"627\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emma Southward\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emma Southward\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Emma Southward\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/28bafdf65c275efd59f3d4e2d8be66cc\"},\"headline\":\"Welcome Dr Sonia Sharp: Melba\u2019s New Chair of the Board\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-17T06:29:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-30T05:17:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":11,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Latest News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\\\/\",\"name\":\"Welcome Dr Sonia Sharp: Melba\u2019s New Chair of the Board\u00a0 | Melba Support Services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-17T06:29:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-30T05:17:32+00:00\",\"description\":\"We\u2019re excited to share some important news about Melba\u2019s leadership. Dr Sonia Sharp has officially stepped into the role of Chair of the Board, following the recent departure of Andrew Cairns. Sonia joins Melba with a wealth of experience and a deep passion for inclusion and human rights.\u00a0\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":627},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Welcome Dr Sonia Sharp: Melba\u2019s New Chair of the Board\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/\",\"name\":\"Melba Support Services\",\"description\":\"Disability Support Victoria\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Melba\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/MELBA-LOGO.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/MELBA-LOGO.jpg\",\"width\":360,\"height\":358,\"caption\":\"Melba\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/melbasupport\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/melba_support\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/melba-support-services\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/28bafdf65c275efd59f3d4e2d8be66cc\",\"name\":\"Emma Southward\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50112ac98ee68f95b218c4e7450d3eedb83b909c1f80b1eed4ba188b69f911ad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50112ac98ee68f95b218c4e7450d3eedb83b909c1f80b1eed4ba188b69f911ad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50112ac98ee68f95b218c4e7450d3eedb83b909c1f80b1eed4ba188b69f911ad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Emma Southward\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melbasupport.com.au\\\/author\\\/emma-southwardmelbasupport-com-au\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Welcome Dr Sonia Sharp: Melba\u2019s New Chair of the Board\u00a0 | Melba Support Services","description":"We\u2019re excited to share some important news about Melba\u2019s leadership. Dr Sonia Sharp has officially stepped into the role of Chair of the Board, following the recent departure of Andrew Cairns. Sonia joins Melba with a wealth of experience and a deep passion for inclusion and human rights.\u00a0\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Welcome Dr Sonia Sharp: Melba\u2019s New Chair of the Board\u00a0 | Melba Support Services","og_description":"We\u2019re excited to share some important news about Melba\u2019s leadership. Dr Sonia Sharp has officially stepped into the role of Chair of the Board, following the recent departure of Andrew Cairns. Sonia joins Melba with a wealth of experience and a deep passion for inclusion and human rights.\u00a0\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/","og_site_name":"Melba Support Services","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/melbasupport","article_published_time":"2025-04-17T06:29:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-30T05:17:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":627,"url":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Emma Southward","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Emma Southward","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/"},"author":{"name":"Emma Southward","@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/#\/schema\/person\/28bafdf65c275efd59f3d4e2d8be66cc"},"headline":"Welcome Dr Sonia Sharp: Melba\u2019s New Chair of the Board\u00a0","datePublished":"2025-04-17T06:29:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-30T05:17:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/"},"wordCount":11,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png","articleSection":["Latest News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/","url":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/","name":"Welcome Dr Sonia Sharp: Melba\u2019s New Chair of the Board\u00a0 | Melba Support Services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png","datePublished":"2025-04-17T06:29:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-30T05:17:32+00:00","description":"We\u2019re excited to share some important news about Melba\u2019s leadership. Dr Sonia Sharp has officially stepped into the role of Chair of the Board, following the recent departure of Andrew Cairns. Sonia joins Melba with a wealth of experience and a deep passion for inclusion and human rights.\u00a0\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png","width":1200,"height":627},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/welcome-dr-sonia-sharp-melbas-new-chair-of-the-board\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Welcome Dr Sonia Sharp: Melba\u2019s New Chair of the Board\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/","name":"Melba Support Services","description":"Disability Support Victoria","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/#organization","name":"Melba","url":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/MELBA-LOGO.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/MELBA-LOGO.jpg","width":360,"height":358,"caption":"Melba"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/melbasupport","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/melba_support","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/melba-support-services"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/#\/schema\/person\/28bafdf65c275efd59f3d4e2d8be66cc","name":"Emma Southward","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50112ac98ee68f95b218c4e7450d3eedb83b909c1f80b1eed4ba188b69f911ad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50112ac98ee68f95b218c4e7450d3eedb83b909c1f80b1eed4ba188b69f911ad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50112ac98ee68f95b218c4e7450d3eedb83b909c1f80b1eed4ba188b69f911ad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Emma Southward"},"url":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/author\/emma-southwardmelbasupport-com-au\/"}]}},"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png",1200,627,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png",1200,627,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png",1200,627,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2-300x157.png",300,157,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2-1024x535.png",1024,535,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png",1200,627,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png",1200,627,false],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png",300,157,false],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png",400,209,false],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png",600,314,false],"owl_elementor_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png",600,314,false],"owl_elementor_team":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png",350,183,false],"owl_elementor_testimonial":["https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MELBA-NEWS-LANDSCAPE-LinkedIn-Single-Image-Ad-2.png",100,52,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Emma Southward","author_link":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/author\/emma-southwardmelbasupport-com-au\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/category\/latest-news\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Latest News<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"We\u2019re excited to share some important news about Melba\u2019s leadership. Dr Sonia Sharp has officially stepped into the role of Chair of the Board, following the recent departure of Andrew Cairns. Sonia joins Melba with a wealth of experience and a deep passion for inclusion and human rights.\u00a0\u00a0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/secure-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/secure-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/secure-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/secure-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/secure-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/secure-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/secure-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/3578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/secure-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/secure-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melbasupport.com.au\/secure-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}