Micaela Cronin commenced as Australia’s first Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner on
1 November 2022.

Micaela began her career as a social worker in family violence and sexual assault services, and has held leadership roles across the social service sector in Australia and internationally, including President of ACOSS. Micaela was the CEO of an international non-government organisation based in Asia, working to build global service delivery and strategic partnerships to tackle human trafficking and human rights abuses.

In 2014, Micaela was awarded the Robin Clark Leadership award, Victoria’s most prestigious Children’s Protection award, recognising a leader who inspires others in achieving the best outcomes for children, young people and their families.

Ged Kearney is the Assistant Minister for Social Services, Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and the Federal Member for Cooper in the Albanese Labor Government.

She has served in the parliament since March 2018, when she was first elected in a by-election. Ged has previously served as the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health, and the Shadow Assistant Minister for Skills.

Before politics, Ged worked as a nurse for two decades until becoming the Federal Secretary of the Australian Nursing Federation in the early 2000s. She later became the President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) – the peak body of the Australian union movement. At the ACTU she led campaigns for better pay and conditions for workers; including the campaign for 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave.

From nursing to the union movement, to parliament, Ged’s life has centred around caring for others and fighting for progressive politics. She is a strong voice for social justice, workers’ rights, women’s rights, LGBTQIA+ protections, support for refugees, and environmental protections inside Labor and the Parliament.

Ged was the second youngest of nine children, born and raised in working-class Melbourne. Ged lived in Cooper for over 25 years, raising her family here. Ged has four children, two stepchildren and six adored grandchildren.

In her second term in the Queensland Parliament, Amanda Camm serves as Minister for Families, Seniors and Disability Services and Minister for Child Safety and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence.

As a proud Regional Queenslander, she understands the challenges facing communities and plays a central role in the Crisafulli Government. Her focus is on putting victims first, as she continues to lead reform to bolster support and resources for victim-survivors of domestic and family violence – including new BeyondDV HOPE Hubs, GPS trackers for high risk perpetrators, fast tracking the Domestic and Family Violence peak body and turning around the DVConnect answer rate.

Minister Camm is dedicated to making Queensland safer and holding perpetrators to account across the State. Guided by her lived experience, she places strong emphasis on listening to victim survivors to ensure policies deliver practical outcomes.

Conor Pall is a nationally recognised advocate, author, and emerging social work professional whose journey from victim-survivor to systems reformer is reshaping the way Australia listens to and supports children and young people.

Conor brings lived expertise to the forefront of policy and practice, driving survivor-led change with courage and conviction.

Conor is also the author of The Shadow that Follows - a children’s book designed to support conversations about trauma, hope, and healing. His work is a reminder that no child should ever be left to navigate the shadow of violence alone.

Rebecca is the founder of the Centre for Women’s Economic Safety (CWES) and co-founder of the International Coalition Against Economic Abuse.

As an advocate for women’s economic safety, she works globally to raise awareness of economic abuse as a form of family violence and advocate for systems change to support women’s economic safety. She is a Churchill Fellow for her investigation into international service responses to women experiencing or escaping economic abuse.

The Centre for Women’s Economic Safety has been instrumental in driving awareness of economic abuse in this country including by bringing Economic Abuse Awareness Day to Australia, inspiring a Parliamentary inquiry into financial abuse, and calling on banks to address the weaponisation of their products. The Centre directly supports more than 500 victim-survivors a year.

Prof. Kelsey Hegarty, a general practitioner, is the Professor of Family Violence Prevention at the University of Melbourne and Royal Women’s Hospital. She leads the Safer Families Centre aiming to transform the health system to address domestic, family and sexual violence.

She is recognised globally as an expert on screening and early intervention in the health care setting, and health system change to promote trauma and violence informed care. She has provided extensive advice to the World Health Organization, including co-chairing the guidelines group for addressing intimate partner and sexual violence in health settings in 2025.

Nina is a mother of four, a lawyer and former special advisor to the Federal Attorney General.

She was born in Queensland and has spent most of her life living in Brisbane’s eastern suburbs. Nina has a real passion for people and loves the opportunity to provide encouragement and support for the fantastic work being done by charities across Brisbane. Like her husband Adrian, she believes that the sign of a strong, healthy city is a city with a big heart.

As the Chair of the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust, Nina is devoted to ensuring the Trust not only continues supporting grassroots charities that are having such a big impact in our community, but also to enhance Brisbane’s reputation as a friendly and compassionate city that will host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Alison is a proud Noongar from Boorloo (Perth), with strong family connections throughout the South West of Western Australia. She is a passionate advocate for Aboriginal empowerment and for improving the lives of all Australians impacted by family, domestic, and sexual violence. Drawing on both personal and professional experiences, she educates communities and champions systemic change.  

Nationally, Alison serves as Co-Chair of the inaugural National Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Lived Experience Advisory Council. At the state level, she was inducted into the WA Women’s Hall of Fame in 2024 and recognised as an Honorary Fellow of the School of Indigenous Knowledges at Murdoch University.

Through her business, Kwobap Consultancy, she leads several significant community safety initiatives, including the development of Australia’s first Aboriginal Family Violence Risk Assessment Tool and Karlup Aboriginal Corporation’s Aboriginal Family Safety Project, which has established an advisory panel with Elders and leaders in the City of Swan - the local government area with the largest Aboriginal population in Western Australia.

Alison is deeply committed to healing and recovery from trauma, believing that without this critical work being acknowledged, understood, and properly resourced, both those experiencing and those using violence remain at risk of repeating harmful cycles and facing poor life outcomes. She shares her own journey in the hope that others can see the possibility of a life free from violence — one that is safe, happy, and fulfilling.

Geraldine Bilston is the Chief Executive Officer of Kara Family Violence Service and a committed advocate for safer, more responsive family and sexual violence systems.

She has held several leadership and board roles, including serving as Deputy Chair of the Victim Survivors Advisory Council.

In 2022, Geraldine received an Australia Day Local Champion Award for her work to prevent and address family violence.

Tessa was born and grew up on unceded Gadigal land (Sydney), where she lives again after living overseas including in England, China and India.

Prior to joining ANROWS as CEO in 2024, Tessa was the founding CEO of Health Justice Australia, the national centre for health justice partnership. Originally a criminologist, she has worked in health, criminal justice and human rights organisations in Australia and internationally.

She was previously Deputy CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service and was the inaugural Fulbright Professional Scholar in Nonprofit Leadership.

Tessa’s PhD looked at the detention and release of mentally disordered offenders.

Tessa is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and combines her passions for enabling young people to thrive and for arts and culture as Chair of the Board of Gondwana Choirs, the leader in Australian choral performance. She is also the Chair of the Australian Pro Bono Centre and a Board Director of Australian Communities Foundation.

Tessa’s TEDx on health justice partnership explains why seeing a lawyer might be good for your health and her TEDx on philanthropy through partnership argues against ‘bizsplaining’ and builds on her work as the inaugural Fulbright Professional Scholar in Nonprofit Leadership

Nadia is the CEO of Women’s Legal Service Queensland.  Nadia has qualifications in law and business and is passionate about access to justice, legal services, and women's rights and safety. Nadia has a broad range of experience across a diverse range of roles in the corporate, profit-for-purpose, and community sector.

Nadia is focused on legal and social issues affecting women and working with a network of organisations and supporters who are united by a shared belief in protecting the rights of women.

Caroline Brunne is a survivor coach, breathwork facilitator, author,  professional speaker and Founder of INSupport Community.

From her lived experience of incest, child sexual abuse, family and domestic violence, Caroline has shifted her trauma into transformation. Caroline shares her healing journey and guides both survivors and supporters by teaching them the power of being allies whilst walking beside survivors as they face the complexities of their journey of healing.

Representing incest survivors, she is paving the way for survivors to remove the shame that has silenced them by owning their voices and knowing that they are more than what has happened to them.

Kara Cook is the Federal Member for Bonner, a former domestic violence lawyer and Brisbane City Councillor who has been a long-time advocate for women’s safety and justice.

Before entering Parliament, Kara worked in the Community Legal Sector and founded Australia’s first expert domestic violence law firm, supporting women through some of the most challenging moments of their lives. Her career has spanned law, small business and local government, always grounded in a deep commitment to community and equality.

As a member of the Albanese Government, she continues to champion stronger laws, better services, and real accountability to end violence against women. Kara lives in Brisbane with her husband Josh, their three children, and much-loved dog Milton.

Adjunct Professor Sandra Creamer AM, CEO of the Australian Women's Health Alliance, lawyer with an Order of Australia for her leadership for First Nations women and peoples on issues of health, climate change, rights and self-determination. Sandra Creamer is also an Adjunct Professor of Public Health at the University of Queensland.

Sandra was the previous Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council to inform the development of the next National Plan to end family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia and support the implementation of the Closing of the Gap Target 13.

Sandra is the Chair of the Indigenous Peoples Rights International, and a Board member of the International Indigenous Women's Forum (FMI) and is an advisor the Seventh Generation

Principal Consultant & Founder, Fearless Future

Lived Experience Advisor & Co-Designer Consultant, Beyond DV

Dilene has more than 50 years’ experience in Corporate and Community Services working with multicultural organisations and communities.

She has used her lived experience to assist individuals experiencing violence within the local community for positive growth. Removing violence is Dilene’s passion as it is behaviours that can be changed.

Dilene is a valued contributor on a Deakin University Panel that collects and analyses data to support those suffering from violence within multicultural environments.

Dilene uses her time to volunteer with organisations and use her voice to highlight the need to live a non-violent life. She believes in embracing the process of recovery and is eager to make a difference.

Dilene is a recognised author, having published two books and written several industry specific papers.

Anne Hollonds is CEO of the Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA).

Anne recently concluded her term as Australia’s National Children’s Commissioner, a role based at the Australian Human Rights Commission. This role monitors policy and legislation to ensure that the human rights of children are protected and promoted, and provides advice to governments.

Her report ‘Help Way Earlier!’ How Australia can transform child justice to improve safety and wellbeing’ was tabled in the Australian Parliament in August 2024, and was closely followed by a Senate Inquiry into Youth Justice reform.

Formerly Director of the Australian Institute of Family Studies, Anne was Chief Executive of government and non-government organisations focused on research, policy and practice in child and family wellbeing for 23 years.

As a psychologist Anne has worked extensively in frontline practice, including in child protection; domestic, family and sexual violence; mental health; child and family counselling; parenting education; and family law counselling. Anne currently contributes to several expert advisory groups and boards.

Yumi Lee has worked on women’s rights and violence against women for over 30 years. She began with advocacy for women’s rights in armed conflict and nuclear disarmament.

Prior to returning to Sydney and working for the Older Women’s Network, she was based in Hanoi with an organisation supporting street children and rescuing women trafficked to the sex trade in China. She has also supported organisations in Nepal working with marginalised women when she was living there.

As the CEO of OWN NSW she is now advocating and lobbying on issues impacting older women, including housing insecurity and homelessness as well as violence against older women, especially in aged care.

Yumi received the 2025 Cath Leary Social Justice Award; as well as the Advocacy and Reform Bright Sparks Award of 2021 of the NSW Women’s Legal Service for her work in advocating for the safety of older women; and is a member of the NSW Ageing and Disability Commission’s Advisory Board and the was a member of the Federal Attorney General’s Lived-Experience Expert Advisory Group on Sexual Violence.

Elizabeth is the Partnership Broker for The Priority Project in SE Qld and has held this role since the commencement of the Pilot in late 2023. The Priority Project is an innovative idea operated in partnership with Mission Australia and The Salvation Army. We have also secured the support of the REIQ.

The Priority Project (TPP) involves the prioritisation of private rentals for women who have experienced domestic and family violence. This involves partnership with real estate property managers to secure private rental homes, plus providing transition and ongoing tenancy sustainment support for women housed.

Prior to working at The Priority Project, Elizabeth worked in the real estate industry, predominantly within property management. This background has been invaluable in building relationship with property managers and being able to support case managers with housing requirements.

Dr Sam Monteiro is an educator, author, and advocate whose work centres on the long-term recovery of children following domestic violence.

After escaping 17 years of coercive control alongside her three children, Sam has spent the last decade navigating the complexities of healing from total isolation. Her advocacy highlights the often-overlooked reality that children are primary victims who require specific, trauma-informed support to move beyond survival.

By sharing her family’s journey—from school disclosure to raising three thriving young adults—she offers a roadmap for reclaiming agency and ensuring that the next generation is defined by their resilience, not their past.

Jade Parker (they/them) is the Team Leader - Sexual, Domestic and Family Violence Programs at ACON Health.

They lead a dedicated team delivering statewide health promotion initiatives to support LGBTQ+ communities across New South Wales.

Jade holds qualifications in criminology, and is a proud non‑binary queer person with lived experience of SDFV, they bring deep community insights and a strong intersectional feminist lens to their leadership and advocacy work.

Gunjan is a financial services leader focused on addressing domestic and family violence and financial abuse, and improving financial wellbeing for people and communities experiencing vulnerability.

Since 2020, Gunjan has played a key role in CommBank Next Chapter, a program committed to helping end financial abuse and providing specialist support to anyone impacted, regardless of who they bank with. His work centres on building organisational and community capability to support victim‑survivors of domestic and family violence, alongside migrants, refugees, and multicultural and CALD communities. This included establishing the Financial Independence Hub at Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, which supports the long‑term recovery of victim‑survivors of financial abuse.

Gunjan was a finalist in the 2019 Australian Human Rights Awards for work strengthening the financial capability of newly arrived refugees, and in the Australia India Business & Community Awards for advancing Australia–India ties.

Elise is a Registered Psychologist who joined the Illawarra, Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre as its CEO in 2025. She brings strong skills in leadership and advocacy, including experience championing improvements to services and systems for people impacted by domestic, sexual, and family violence. Elise has extensive experience supporting children, couples, and families as a caseworker and counsellor, as well as supervising and leading teams and organisations.

She finds her work most meaningful in walking alongside people, listening to their stories, and helping create positive change. Integrity is central to her practice, and she is passionate about doing what she says she will do and ensuring diverse voices are heard and respected.

Juliette Playford is an advocate, survivor, and emerging legal professional dedicated to driving change in the domestic and family violence space.

Drawing on her lived experience, she has contributed to national conversations across Australian media, bringing attention to systemic gaps and the need for stronger protections and support for survivors. Juliette is passionate about justice, reform, and amplifying survivor voices to influence meaningful change.

She currently works as a law clerk, building her expertise within the legal sector while advocating for improved responses to violence, with a focus on accountability, prevention, and long-term recovery.

Over the past decade, Priyanka has advanced health equity for multicultural communities through national advocacy, program leadership and systems-level reform.

In her current role as Executive Director of the Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative, she leads national strategies to address systemic racism and health inequities, shape federal policy, and elevate multicultural voices through partnerships, governance structures and the National Multicultural Health and Wellbeing Conference.

In previous roles, she has strengthened access to chronic disease care across low-resource settings, influenced major policy reforms in India and African countries, and delivered evidence-based advocacy that improved outcomes for disadvantaged and under-represented communities.

Rose is a 35-year-old registered nurse and survivor of domestic violence. Five years ago, she survived a kidnapping and attempted murder by her former partner—an experience that profoundly shaped her life and career.

Drawing on both her clinical background and lived experience, Rose is committed to shifting the focus from crisis response to primary prevention. She advocates for early education, healthy relationship awareness, and evidence-based intervention for people who use violence.

Rose also supports the creation of safe spaces where men can seek help, express vulnerability, and access support before harm occurs, helping prevent first-time violence and reoffending.

Carolyn Robinson is the Founder/Managing Director of Beyond DV, a Brisbane-based charity established in 2017 after her family’s experience of domestic violence. Carolyn is also currently Chair of the Australian Domestic, Family & Sexual Violence Recovery Alliance.

Beyond DV is focused on supporting women and children as they rebuild their lives, through programs underpinned by their evidence-based “Recovery Pillars” Frameworks, delivered from recovery centres across Brisbane and from Hannah’s Sanctuary, their transitional housing complex for nine families.

In 2022, Beyond DV established the first HOPE Hub at Westfield Carindale, a safe space where community members can access information, referral and support for DV matters. This model is now being rolled out across Queensland.

A former Educator for over 35 years, Carolyn is also the creator of the highly innovative primary prevention tools for young women and men - the “Love&Learn” and “Ask a Mate” apps.

Lata Satyen is an Associate Professor in Psychology at Deakin University. She is the Founding Co-Convenor of the Deakin Network Against Gendered Violence. She is also the Victorian State Lead for the Australian Domestic, Family, and Sexual Violence Recovery Alliance.

She has received over $7.5 Million of research funding and she has published extensively on the prevalence prevention, intervention and recovery after family violence, especially in multicultural communities.

She has received theGovernment of Victoria Award for Excellence in Multicultural Affairs, the Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Award, and the Janet Blackman Prize from the Journal of Gender Studies.

Anna Scott is Operations Manager at Zonta House Refuge Association and a Director of the Australian Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Recovery Alliance.

A national leader in advancing long‑term, multidisciplinary recovery supports for victim-survivors, Anna brings more than 20 years’ experience across the FDV sector in Australia and the United Kingdom.

At Zonta House, Anna oversees fourteen service arms spanning prevention, crisis response, recovery, and healing.

She is a strong advocate for improving outcomes for Aboriginal women, children, and families, actively contributes to reform initiatives across Western Australia, and is a long‑standing champion of Response‑Based Practice theory.

Anna is known for her strategic leadership, systems reform expertise, and commitment to culturally safe, person‑centred practice.

Hannah Stephen has been working in the human services and development sector nationally and internationally for the past 20 years. Her career has involved extensive experience in the delivery of services in the areas of child protection and development, gender equality, family violence crisis response and recovery, settlement services and disaster recovery.

Through her work with international organisations like the UNICEF, non-governmental organisations and the State Government, Hannah has influenced policy and programs specifically on gender equality, family violence service system responses and women’s empowerment.

She is currently the State Manager for the Salvation Army Specialist Family Violence Services across the Northern Territory and Queensland. In this role, she works with a remarkable team to support victim survivors of family violence, keep perpetrators accountable and influence systemic changes.  

With a keen interest in community-based interventions to promote gender equality and prevent family violence, Hannah is currently doing her PhD with the Deakin University on addressing gender equality in the Indian diaspora through transformative approaches with an aim to prevent family violence.  

Alongside other advocates, feminists and like-minded individuals, Hannah is committed to creating a world free from gender-based violence and where gender equality is a norm and not an exception.

Beth serves as the Head of Impact and Lived Expertise at the Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre. Bringing a unique blend of strategic leadership, front line experience and profound personal understanding to the vital work of trauma recovery for women affected by domestic, family, and sexual violence.

With 20 years’ experience in the Community Services and Impact sectors, Beth is dedicated to transforming systemic responses through innovation and by embedding and amplifying the voices and insights of victim-survivors into every facet of program design, implementation, and evaluation.

Debra has been a leader in the health and community services sector for well over 20 years driving innovation in service delivery and policy reform, in the areas of Housing and Homelessness, Family Violence, Mental Health, AOD and Community Legal Services. She is committed to the work of creating an equitable and just community for all. 

As CEO of Ruah, Debra has led impact collaborations, most notably in the work of ending homelessness and made significant contributions to the Government’s long-term policy initiatives including its 10-year Strategy, as well as being a founding member of the WA Alliance to End Homelessness. In her leadership at Ruah, she has continued to champion the work of wholistic and integrated supports across the organisation and recently opened the first youth suicide service in Australia, a collaboration with Samaritans and Telethon Kids Institute.  

Debra has a strong vision and a strategic approach to ending areas of significant injustice in our community, requiring support and action from across Government, the community services sector, corporate Western Australia, and the wider community.   She is currently a Director on the State Training Board, Ministerial Housing First Homelessness Advisory Group, Member of the Australian Psychosocial Alliance and Chair of the Australian Alliance to End Homelessness and Co-Chair of Reconciliation WA.

Sue and Lloyd Clarke are the founders of the Small Steps 4 Hannah Foundation, established in 2020 in honour of their daughter Hannah Clarke and grandchildren Aaliyah, Laianah, and Trey, whose lives were tragically taken in an act of domestic violence.

Since its inception, the Foundation has played a vital role in raising awareness, advocating for change, and supporting victims and survivors of domestic and family violence. To date, it has distributed over $380,000 in community grants to grassroots organisations across Queensland. The Foundation also delivers key initiatives including the HALT (Hannah, Aaliyah, Laianah, Trey) Education program for High Schools and Hannah’s Story.

In recognition of their tireless advocacy and profound impact on the ommunity, Lloyd and Sue were named Queensland Australians of the Year in 2022, and in 2025, they were awarded the Order of Australia for their outstanding service to domestic violence prevention and victim support.

Arjita Sharda is a Doctor of Psychology (Clinical) candidate at Deakin University and a provisional psychologist. Her thesis is examining the impact of holistic trauma informed interventions on recovery and healing from domestic, family or sexual violence. 

In her work as a research assistant and associate research fellow at Deakin University, Arjita has worked in various projects related to domestic, family and/or sexual violence. Some of these include mapping service access and uptake in regional Victoria, examining the impact of an economic empowerment program on victim-survivor’s wellbeing, evaluating a holistic recovery framework and designing a model for victim-advocacy and integrated response to sexual violence.