Connect locally with a Network of Passionate Individuals.
6–8 May 2026
The Australasian Land and Groundwater Association (ALGA) in partnership with The Australasian College of Toxicology & Risk Assessment (ACTRA) are pleased to announce its first joint training course.
Earn 34 CPD Points with this intensive short course in Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment (HHERA), focused on assessing the potential risks from exposure to chemicals in the environment.
The course has been developed by senior industry experts and will provide in-depth technical training, while also focusing on practical skills. Key topics to be covered include:
The course will require attendees to complete a range of tutorial exercises, using case study materials provided.
The training is based on current Australian Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment (HHERA) frameworks and guidance, including enHealth, the ASC NEPM, and ANZG, as well as international resources that are commonly relied upon when conducting a risk assessment.
The Risk Assessment Training (RAT) will provide in-depth technical training in Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment (HHERA). Focused on the assessment of chemicals in the environment, attendees will gain an advanced understanding of the overarching frameworks relevant to conducting a HHERA in Australia.
39.5 CPD Points for 3 days of training
23 Continuing Education (CE) points to count towards ACTRA registration / re-registration
9:00 AM – 9:10 AM
Welcome & Introduction
Matthew Potter (CEO, ALGA)
Tarah Hagen (SLR Consulting, ACTRA President)
Platinum Sponsor (Senversa)
Session 1
9:10 AM – 10:00 AM Overview of HHERA Framework
Key guidance and references
Overview of key HHERA components/contents of RAT
Standard HHERA report format
Victoria Lazenby (Terravale Consulting)
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Tier 1 Screening Criteria (Human Health & Ecological)
Sources of criteria
Basis of derivation
Tutorial introduction
Victoria Lazenby (Terravale Consulting)
Morning tea served in the room
Session 2
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Problem Identification & Conceptual Site Model (CSM) Development
Human Health & Ecological context
Start of ecological receptor identification
Carolyn Brumley (Senversa)
12:00 PM – 12:45 PM
Lunch Networking
12:45 PM – 1:30 PM Receptor Identification for Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA)
Carolyn Brumley (Senversa)
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM Tutorial 1: Case Study Introduction & Tier 1 Assessment
Identification of Contaminants of Potential Concern (CoPC)
Victoria Lazenby (Terravale Consulting)
Carolyn Brumley (Senversa)
2:30 PM – 3:00 PM Afternoon Tea
Session 3
3:00 PM – 4:15 PM Human Health Exposure Assessment
Receptor identification & exposure parameters
Intake calculations
Katie Richardson (Senversa, ACTRA Vice-President)
4:15 PM – 5:00 PM Tutorial 2: Exposure Assessment (Case Study)
Katie Richardson (Senversa, ACTRA Vice-President)
Session 3 (continued)
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM Exposure Assessment (Continued)
Additional pathways and exposure factors (e.g. dust, food web)
Katie Richardson (Senversa, ACTRA Vice-President)
Session 4
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Vapour Intrusion: Assessment and Modelling
Dr Jackie Wright (EnRiskS)
Morning tea served in the room
12:00 PM – 12:30 PM Tutorial 3: Vapour Intrusion Modelling
Dr Jackie Wright (EnRiskS)
12:30 PM – 1:15 PM Lunch Networking
Session 5
1:15 PM – 2:45 PM Ecotoxicity Assessment
Review and selection of toxicity data
Uncertainties and sensitivities
Naomi Cooper (Senversa)
2:45 PM – 3:15 PM Afternoon Tea
Session 6
3:15 PM – 4:15 PM Ecological Modelling
Uncertainty factors approach
Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) modelling
Naomi Cooper (Senversa)
4:15 PM – 5:00 PM Tutorial 4: Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) Exercise
Naomi Cooper (Senversa)
Carolyn Brumley (Senversa)
9:00 AM – 9:15 AM Day 2 Refresh
Katie Richardson (Senversa, ACTRA Vice-President)
Carolyn Brumley (Senversa)
Session 7
9:15 AM – 11:00 AM Human Health Toxicity Assessment
Threshold vs non-threshold effects
Selecting Toxicity Reference Values (TRVs)
Tarah Hagen (SLR Consulting, ACTRA President)
Morning tea served in the room
Session 8
11:00 AM – 11:45 AM Risk Characterisation
Unit risk vs hazard index (HI)
Target risk levels
Tarah Hagen (SLR Consulting, ACTRA President)
11:45 AM – 12:45 PM Tutorial 5: Human Health Risk Calculations (Case Study)
Tarah Hagen (SLR Consulting, ACTRA President)
Katie Richardson (Senversa, ACTRA Vice-President)
12:45 PM – 1:30 PM
Lunch Networking
Session 9
1:30 PM – 2:00 PM Ecological Risk Characterisation & Further Works
Hazard index approach
Further investigations (eco surveys, whole effluent toxicity, etc.)
Uncertainties
Carolyn Brumley (Senversa)
Session 10
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM HHERA Conclusions and Reporting
Interpreting risk outcomes
Management and next steps
Reporting
Victoria Lazenby (Terravale Consulting)
Afternoon tea served in the room
2:45 PM – 3:30 PM Tutorial 6: Case Study Wrap-Up
Victoria Lazenby (Terravale Consulting)
Session 11
3:30 PM – 4:00 PM Wrap-Up & Conclusions
All Presenters
Interested in sponsoring this event? Contact Michael Seller, michaels@landandgroundwater.com.
ALGA Member – $990
Non-Member – $1,250
Concession Member – $495
Student – Not Applicable
All prices include GST.
*Concession – must be a Member to receive this pricing.
Concession Ticket includes: Parental leave, Retired, Unemployed.
Early Career Professionals with less than 3 years of experience in the contaminated land and groundwater industry are not eligible for this event.
To receive your dedicated 50% off, please contact events@landandgroundwater.com
Recommended for:
Attendees must have:
Attendees will:
Join ALGA and receive the member price! Click here for more information on ALGA membership or contact membership@landandgroundwater.com.
Members of AIOH, EIANZ, and FAMANZ receive the ALGA Member price. Please select your association during registration.
ALGA reserves the right to request proof of eligibility for any discounted pricing at any time.
Victoria is an environmental health risk assessor with over 20 years of professional experience across consulting, research, academia, and government. Her primary work focuses on the assessment of the human health and ecological effects of chemicals in the environment, with a particular interest in assessing novel or emerging contaminants.
Victoria currently runs her own consulting firm, Terravale Consulting, while also being active in academia and industry roles. These additional roles currently include working on a PhD, teaching M.Sc. (Public Health) students at La Trobe and in PNG since 2013, reviewing new guidance documents for WHO, and developing risk assessment training materials for ANZ practitioners. Victoria was made a Fellow of ACTRA in 2018 and is regularly invited to present technical seminars, workshops, and training events across Australia and internationally.
Katie Richardson leads Senversa’s risk assessment practice, bringing over two decades of expertise in human health and ecological risk assessments. She has extensive recent experience in developing efficient and pragmatic assessment approaches for contaminants which accumulate in food. Katie is recognised by the Australasian College of Toxicology and Risk Assessment (ACTRA) on their Professional Register and currently serves as ACTRA’s Vice President.
Tarah is a certified toxicologist and fellow of the Australasian College of Toxicology and Risk Assessment (ACTRA) who has over 17 years’ experience in conducting screening and detailed human health and ecological risk assessments for a variety of industries and government. Included are industrial emissions, contaminated land and water, consumer goods and food. She has written and co-written numerous major reports, which have been influential in shaping Australian health risk assessment methodology and policy decisions in relation to environmental issues. Included are guidance documents for undertaking risk assessments, complicated risk assessments dealing with a variety of emissions to the environment, deriving the scientific basis for workplace exposure standards, interpretation of biological monitoring results for chemical exposures, toxicological reviews on various chemicals in relation to work and public health and safety, as well as research into clearance and distribution of per- and poly-fluorinated alkylated substances (PFAS) in livestock. She has also acted as an expert witness in a number of legal cases involving chemical emissions.
She is currently President of ACTRA and has been actively involved with ACTRA for over 12 years. She is a ministerial appointed member of the Industrial Chemical Environmental Management Standard (IChEMS) advisory committee and has regularly taught University Masters students in the fields of toxicology and epidemiology.
Dr Carolyn Brumley is a senior principal at Senversa, specialising in human health and ecological risk assessment. She is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Toxicology and Risk Assessment and the co-chair of the ALGA Specialist Interest Group for Risk Assessment. She has focused on all things contaminant and risk-related throughout her career and is committed to using risk assessment to support overall environmental benefit.
Naomi is an environmental toxicologist with over 20 years’ experience in private and university sectors. Naomi’s key experience has included designing and overseeing site contamination assessments on large sites and for clients with multiple sites, development of water quality guidelines, development of risk matrices, and ecological risk assessments on a range of contaminants in soil and water in both local and regional areas across Australia.
The Yarra River Room
623 Collins Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Pedestrian access is available from Collins Street.
The closest train station is Southern Cross Station – 160m
Bus numbers 232, 235 and 237, Southern Cross Station/Collins Street – 75m
Tram numbers 11, 12, 48 and 109, Spencer Street/Collins Street – 50m
Batman’s Hill on Collins has onsite parking available. ALGA discounted rates available – $30 per day, or $40 overnight
*Public transport is free to the public from 31 March 2026 to 30 April 2026 under the Transport Victoria initiative.
Melbourne offers a large range of accommodations close to the venue.
We have current deals with specific hotels below. However, as pricing changes rapidly, we strongly recommend you book your accommodation (and flight tickets) as soon as you book your ticket for the conference!
Stay at the same venue as the event
623 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Special Delegate Rate using the link.
509 Flinders Ln, Melbourne VIC 3000
20% off Best Available Rate using the link.
480 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000
15% discount off the Best Flexible Rate using the link.
