Speakers

Tony Benbow from South Vermont, Australia, was elected to serve as
international third vice president of Lions Clubs International at the association’s
107th international convention held in Orlando, Florida, July 13 through 17, 2025.

Vice President Benbow is a retired head of operations in banking.

A member of the South Vermont Lions Club since 1985, he has held many offices
within the association, including International Director, Club President, District Governor, Council Chairperson and GMT Area Leader.

In recognition of his service to the association, he has received numerous awards,
including a Membership Advancement Key, Club President Excellence Award,
two International President’s Certificates of Appreciation and nine International
President’s Awards. He is also a Progressive Melvin Jones Fellow.

In addition to his Lion activities, Vice President Benbow has been active in
numerous professional and community organisations, including an associate
member of the Institute of Community Directors, chairman of Lions House
Foundation and chairman of the Australian Lions Foundation.

Professor Jordan R. Hansford is a mid-career clinician specialising in the treatment of paediatric brain tumours. He is the lead of Paediatric Neuro-Oncology at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, lead of the Paediatric Neuro-Oncology Research Group at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and has honorary affiliation with the South Australian ImmunoGENomics Cancer Institute (SAiGENCI) at the University of Adelaide.

He has collaborative preclinical and clinical projects nationally and internationally and has published widely in paediatric neuro-oncology with over 120 papers cited >10,000 times. He is Chief Investigator on several national and international brain tumour studies including early phase studies. He currently runs the Paediatric Brain Cancer Biobank in South Australia. He is a director of Australian & New Zealand Children’s Haematology/Oncology Group (ANZCHOG) and is the chair of the Neuro-Oncology group. He has led or contributed to many paediatric brain tumour trials leading to disease specific improvements to clinical care and outcomes in many disease types.

Most recently his ANZCHOG team has been focused on the translation of methylation profiling to the upfront diagnostics of paediatric brain tumours that is now offered nationally as a NATA approved pathology test. This has led to changes in clinical practice across the country.

Chris Burns CSC is the Chief Executive Officer of Hutt St Centre, a leading homelessness service in Adelaide providing essential support, care, and pathways to rebuild lives.

After a distinguished military career spanning over 30 years, Chris transitioned into advisory roles across government and private sectors, specialising in defence and international relations.

Chris was later appointed as the inaugural South Australian Mental Health Commissioner. In this role, he led the co-design and co-production of the state’s first mental health strategic plan. The plan focussed on prevention and early intervention while ensuring the voices and needs of people with lived experience were embedded at every level.

Chris is deeply committed to ensuring that every person impacted by homelessness is treated with dignity and respect, and has access to the support needed to find safety, stability, and independence. His leadership at Hutt St Centre focuses on strengthening partnerships, improving service delivery, and advocating for systemic change to end homelessness in South Australia.