After 30 years as a humanitarian, Josephine Hutton is an optimist.

From her first job in the humanitarian and development sector in the 90s working for AusAID (the former Australian government agency for international aid and development), Jo went on to work in humanitarian leadership roles across the globe.

From Iraq and Kosovo to Palestine and Sri Lanka, she has worked in conflict zones, a tsunami response and everything in between, and currently leads Oxfam Australia’s international programs.

And despite the challenges, her optimism for positive change has only grown.

Jo is a valued member of the RedR Australia family. She joined us as an associate trainer in 2002, and she has served on our board twice—first from 2011-2012, and again from 2024 to the present.

In this episode, Jo chats with Sally about the challenges of working in conflict zones, the dangers of decision paralysis, and the importance of having difficult conversations.

She explains why she’s continued to train on RedR Australia’s courses for more than two decades, and she shares wise counsel on when to give advice—and when to simply listen.

Host: Sally Cunningham

Guest: Josephine Hutton

Producer, engineer and composer: Jill Farrar

Read the transcript here.

You can join our conversations on LinkedIn and Facebook.

You can find out more about RedR Australia’s training courses here.

When the Indian Ocean tsunami hit in 2004, hundreds of thousands lost their lives—and millions more were forever altered.

For Tai-Ring Teh, a civil engineer, the tsunami recovery set him on an unexpected path as a humanitarian. Using his engineering skills to help provide clean water for communities who had lost everything in Aceh, Indonesia, he has since devoted his career to supporting people affected by crisis.

From the Solomon Islands to Rwanda, from Nepal to South Sudan and beyond—Tai-Ring has used his engineering skills to help communities gain or regain access to safe water and improved sanitation.

Today, Tai-Ring shares this wealth of experience as a RedR Australia roster member and associate trainer, where he is passionate about mentoring the next generation of humanitarian engineers.

In this episode, Tai-Ring chats with Sally about his formative experiences in the humanitarian sector, the life-sustaining value of water, and why mentoring is essential to developing our next generation of humanitarian and development leaders.

You can read the episode transcript here.

You can join our conversations on LinkedIn and Facebook.

You can find out more about RedR Australia’s training courses here.

Host: Sally Cunningham

Guest: Tai-Ring Teh

Producer, engineer and composer: Jill Farrar

If you’ve worked in the humanitarian sector, it’s likely you’ve supported refugee communities—either directly or indirectly. And with humanitarian emergencies growing around the world, it’s never been more important to discuss the families and communities who suffer most during crises.

In this special episode of Humanitarian Conversations, Sally talks with RedR Australia roster members Ozlem and Greg about their journeys into the humanitarian sector and their experiences supporting refugees.

Originally recorded as a webinar to mark World Refugee Day in June, these two experienced humanitarians share wisdom about working with refugee communities and why quality training is essential when operating in dangerous contexts—from civil wars to cyclones.

You can read the transcript here.

You can find out more about RedR Australia’s training courses here.

Host: Sally Cunningham

Guests: Ozlem and Greg

Producer, engineer and composer: Jill Farrar