Delia Donovan is the Chief Executive Officer at Domestic Violence NSW. She brings with her extensive experience in non-government and social services settings across Australia and the United Kingdom.

She has over 25 years’ experience in social work and social care settings spending the last 15 years in the domestic and family violence sector.

Delia has led three domestic violence charities covering a range of work including crisis response, prevention and policy and advocacy.

Delia has been recognised and awarded for her work in both the UK and Australia receiving several awards for her work to innovate and effect change, more recently winning the 2022 Impact 25 Award.

The Hon. Jodie Harrison MP is the Member for Charlestown, and was first elected in 2014.

Jodie was appointed Minister for Women, Seniors and the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault on April 5 following the 2023 NSW State Election.

Prior to her election to Parliament, Jodie served her community in Local Government. She was first elected as a Councillor for Lake Macquarie Council in 2008 and went on to become the first popularly elected female Mayor of the City.

Jodie’s life experience as a member of the Salvation Army in her early years and union delegate helped to shape her passion for social justice.

Jodie is a Charlestown local and proud mother of two adult children – India and Phillip.

The Honourable Natasha Maclaren-Jones
– Member of the Legislative Council
– Shadow Minister for Families and Communities
– Shadow Minister for Disability Inclusion
– Shadow Minister for Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
– Shadow Minister for Homelessness
– Shadow Minister for Youth

The Hon. Natasha Maclaren-Jones was elected to the NSW Legislative Council in 2011 and currently serves as Shadow Minister for Families and Communities, Disability Inclusion, Homelessness, Youth, and the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. She has previously held ministerial office as Minister for Families and Communities and Minister for Disability Services, introducing key reforms in child protection and out-of-home care. Natasha has extensive committee experience and has led multiple parliamentary inquiries. Before entering Parliament, she worked as a Registered Nurse and then a policy and government affairs consultant to multinational companies. A long-standing Liberal Party member, she has also served as State President for the NSW Liberal Party.

Sarah Mitchell was born and raised in Gunnedah where she continues to live with her husband Anthony and their young daughters Annabelle and Matilda.

Since entering parliament in 2011, Sarah has served on numerous committees and held a range of executive roles.

Her first appointment in 2015 was as Parliamentary Secretary for Regional and Rural Health and Western NSW. In 2017, Sarah was appointed Minister for Early Childhood Education, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Assistant Minister for Education. In 2019, Sarah was appointed as Minister for Education and Early Learning, a role she held until March 2023.

Sarah is currently the Shadow Minister for Health, Regional Health and Mental Health and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, and Leader of the NSW Nationals in the Upper House.

Sarah has a deep love for the regions she represents and is particularly passionate about working hard to ensure regional, rural and remote NSW is the best place to live, work and raise a family.

Vince Hurley has 35 years of experience in domestic and family violence, spanning academia, government and policing. He currently lectures in Criminology at Macquarie University on domestic and family violence and has done so for the past 16 years.

Before academia, Vince spent 29 years as a NSW Police Officer, 23 years as a Detective. During this time, he spent 2 years on secondment to the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet developing and implementing policing reforms in domestic and family violence for the NSW Police Force. He later served as the Director of Domestic and Family Violence Policy for the NSWPF. He spent 3 years as a Detective in Child Abuse Squad, investigating sexual and non-sexual violence against children and 4 years as a detective investigating sexual violence against women and children across Sydney’s outer western suburbs.

He has spoken to an estimated 30,000 people across Australia on domestic and family violence at community, state, and federal levels, and has delivered violence prevention education to around 3,000 high school students aged 13–18. He is also an investigator with the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Dr Sabrin Farooqui OAM is a leading advocate for human rights, social justice and cultural diversity, and the Founder and President of Cultural Diversity Network Inc. (CDNI), an organisation supporting migrants and refugees to build belonging, independence and social inclusion.

She has extensive experience in domestic, family and sexual violence prevention, particularly within culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Through frontline support, policy advice and cross-sector collaboration, Sabrin works to strengthen women’s rights awareness, financial literacy, safety and access to essential services. Her programs at CDNI empower migrant and refugee women and engage men from CALD backgrounds to understand their role in women’s safety and contribute to positive, intersectional change.

Sabrin also supports women to build financial independence, helping them recognise and respond to financial abuse—a non-physical form of domestic and family violence –while increasing confidence and long-term security.Her contributions have been recognised across both public and private sectors. She received the Local Women of State Government Award in 2018, and in 2024 was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for her service to community advocacy, higher education, research and policy.

Dr. Mary Jo McVeigh is the founder and CEO of Cara Consultancy. She is a proud Belfast Irish woman, a radical social worker and activist, a dedicated family member, and a friend. She is acknowledged as a committed supporter of young citizens who have endured violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect and experienced the human rights violations inherent in these forms of violence. Since 1983, she has been a professional advocate for younger citizens and their families through her rights-informed interventions.

For her work, she was a finalist in the NSW Woman of the Year and Citizen of the Year awards in 2019, the Allied Health Social Worker of the Year award in 2019, awarded the Order of Australia medal in 2020, and the Australian Social Worker of the Year award in 2022.

After a lifetime of practice, she turned her gaze to academia and earned her Ph.D. in 2024, but her enduring love is still working with people who have survived violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect, and supporting workers who do the direct work.

Cat Gander has 40 years of experience in the Domestic and Family Violence and Social Justice Sector at a both a policy and practice level. Cat has held numerous advisory roles at the state and national level around reducing Family Violence and Homelessness.

Throughout the 1990’s Cat worked at the frontline as a Refuge Caseworker in Bega, Queanbeyan and the ACT and as Coordinator of the Women’s Resource Centre. Cat went onto work in the Law and Justice Branch for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) to establish the National Family Violence Prevention Legal Services. Between 2003-2012, Cat held the position as CEO NSW Women’s Refuge Movement.

In 2007 Cat was awarded a Churchill Fellowship and travelled to Canada, US, UK and Austria to investigate Children’s Domestic Violence policies and programs. For the past 8 years Cat has held the position as CEO of DV West, an innovative feminist Specialist DFV service that has operated in the Western Sydney and Nepean Blue Mountains area for over 40 years. In 2015 Cat authored the “Children and Young Person’s Framework for DFV Practitioners”. Cat is working on the Children and Young Person’s Training Framework which will be piloted early 2027.

Dale Towns is a Bundjalung Woman, who has lived off Country all of her life on Wongaibon & Wiradjuri Country in Western NSW. She has Diplomas across Management & Community Services & has over 25 years’ experience working in the Central and Far West NSW Region, Managing programs connected to homelessness & the safety of women, children and families.

Dale is responsible for the Management of Mission Australia’s Early Intervention, Child Protection, Domestic & Family Violence and Specialist Homelessness Programs, including three Women’s Domestic & Family Violence Safe Houses and two Men’s Crisis Residential Services in Western NSW. Over the past 25 years Dale has been responsible for ensuring collaborative approaches to service delivery and business development. Her passion relates to women and children’s safety, trauma informed practice & focussing on opportunities to build an optimistic outlook for Regional communities.

Sam Alderton-Johnson is a Yuin and Djaara man and the Managing Director of Impact at Impact Policy, an Aboriginal-owned consultancy specialising in systems reform, co-design, research, and evaluation.

Drawing on lived experience and professional practice, Sam works alongside the public sector and communities to design policies and reimagine systems that shift power, strengthen self-determination, and improve outcomes for Aboriginal people.

Sam recently led significant research for the NSW Department of Communities and Justice exploring Aboriginal-led approaches to preventing domestic, family and sexual violence. The research challenged conventional prevention models, demonstrating that culture, healing, community governance, and self-determination are not complementary to prevention – they are central to it.

Sam is also recognised for his work on healthy masculinities, advocating for approaches that engage men through culture, accountability, and healing rather than blame. As a survivor of child removal and family violence, he brings a unique perspective that bridges lived experience, policy, and practice, with a commitment to creating safer families, stronger communities, and lasting systems change.

Kate is the CEO of Barnardos Australia. Whatever position she has held, from junior sexual assault counsellor with NSW Health to the most senior lead practitioner in the largest child protection and out of home care system in Australia, she has stayed true to her values, championing the rights of children to safety, love, culture and belonging. Kate’s award, in 2019, of the NSW Public Service Medal for ‘outstanding public service to family and community services’ is testament to her achievements.

Kate is a Social Worker with a Masters in Couple and Family Therapy. She has recently completed a PHD at Melbourne University with publications in international journals. Her research investigated the attitudes of the child protection workforce toward domestic violence, determined the impact of worker attitudes on their assessment of children’s safety, and found that combining a therapeutic approach for understanding domestic violence with a standard safety assessment, significantly reduced the likelihood of children being removed from their mothers. In 2010, Kate was awarded a Churchill Fellowship and travelled to the U.K, Norway and the USA researching child protection systems.

Terrieanne is a strong proud Wiradjuri woman who has been raised and lives on Dharug land, with over a decade of experience in Aboriginal program management.

As the Manager of Aboriginal Services and Development at DV West, Terrieanne plays a key role in shaping strategies for reconciliation and cultural understanding for DV West, is the driving force on improving cultural competency, develops policies and oversees the service delivery of Wirrawee Gunya services of crisis accommodation, transitional housing and outreach supports for Aboriginal women and children impacted by domestic and family violence.

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 NSW.

Jade holds qualifications in criminology, and is a proud non-binary queer person with a passion for research they bring deep community insights and a strong intersectional feminist lens to their leadership, research, and advocacy work.

Dannielle Miller OAM is an educator, author and social innovator who has spent more than three decades working with young people, schools and communities to create positive change.

Beginning her career as a high school teacher, Dannielle went on to develop innovative programs supporting young people at risk of disengaging from education before co-founding Enlighten Education in 2003. Today, Enlighten is recognised as Australia’s leading provider of in-school wellbeing workshops, with evidence-based programs reaching hundreds of thousands of students across Australia.

Dannielle is also Director of Education and Special Projects at Women’s Community Shelters, where she created Walk The Talk, an innovative program connecting schools with local women’s shelters to inspire young people to take action against gender-based violence. She has also developed corporate domestic and family violence literacy programs that centre survivor voices and encourage meaningful workplace change.

A sought-after speaker, Dannielle has presented nationally and internationally on education, leadership and social change. She is the author of five books and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2021 for service to education, women and youth

Tara Hunter is the Deputy CEO and Director of Clinical and Client Services at Full Stop Australia providing leadership for all the helplines, sexual abuse and fee for service counselling services. She also oversees the national training and consulting practice and holds executive responsibility for Full Stop’s clinical Governance Framework.

With a Master of Social Work and various certifications in workplace training and family dispute resolution, Tara brings a wealth of expertise to her role. As a member of the NSW Women’s Advisory Council, Tara also represents Full Stop on various government and non-government advisory bodies

Her background in managing sexual assault support services within the public health network system, guiding teams through complex caseloads, and advocating on key law reform matters, such as sexual consent, positions her as a valuable contributor to the national conversation on ending gender-based violence.

Committed to a client-centred approach, Tara aims to build stable and reliable trauma-specialist systems that are accessible and support clients and front-line workers. Simultaneously, she actively addresses the underlying systemic and social causes of gender-based violence.

As Liberty’s DFV Prevention Manager, Brooke leads and co-facilitates Liberty’s Respectful Relationships education program in local primary and high schools. She also oversees Liberty’s Everybody’s Business domestic and family violence workplace program, which delivers prevention and response training and professional services to businesses, government agencies, and community organisations.

Brooke has more than 19 years’ experience in leadership, coaching and training, and organisational and workforce development in both corporate and not-for-profit sectors. She holds a Bachelor of Training and Development. In her capacity as People & Culture Manager, Brooke leads the ongoing learning and development of Liberty’s staff.

Brooke is the Chair of the Port Macquarie Hastings Domestic Violence Committee and a member of DVNSW’s Sector Development Member Advisory Committee and the NSW Collaboration for Prevention of Gender-based Violence.

Courtney is a project officer at Women’s Health NSW. Her work focuses on supporting the women’s community health sector to implement best practice through capacity building initiatives and data-driven decision-making. She is currently delivering the statewide Sexual Violence Recovery and Healing project, alongside capacity-building work within the women’s community health sector such as the Women’s Health Database update and the WHNSW Learn at Lunch program.

Courtney also led the development of the WHNSW AI Position Paper, Integrating AI into a feminist model of care, and delivered the Pathways Project which focused on improving local capacity to respond to strangulation, sexual choking and brain injury. Her passion and unique understanding of the gendered nature of violence was gained from her work within the international humanitarian aid sector and project implementation in countries suffering from violent conflict, including Iraq and Yemen.

Maria Losurdo is the manager of The Women’s Cottage, a front-line feminist women’s crisis and domestic / family violence centre that operates in Richmond NSW. Maria has worked for over 45 years, as counsellor, advocate, mentor, trainer, team leader and service manager in family crisis work, domestic violence, social justice, women’s services and community development. Maria was instrumental in the design and development of the Reducing Intergeneration Violence (RIV) Project which commenced in 2024.

Maria has also provided management support and clinical supervision to domestic violence, homelessness and other trauma response related workers across NSW for over 15 years.

An Le is the DFV Clinical Lead at Bonnie Support Services. Her professional journey is rooted in her commitment to fairness, equality, and social justice. Early on, she explored these values through work in pharmacy and visual design, focusing on communication and media, and seeking meaningful ways to support and advocate for people. While those experiences were valuable, she wanted to connect more deeply with individuals and their lived experiences, leading her to pursue a career in social work.

An has worked across domestic and family violence, child protection, and mental health, bringing experience in direct practice, clinical leadership, training, and consultation, with a particular focus on supporting culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Her approach is grounded in cultural responsiveness and a commitment to centring the voices, strengths, and choices of victim survivors. Throughout her career, An has contributed to the development of programs, therapeutic interventions, and collaborative initiatives that strengthen support for victim survivors. She also works with practitioners and organisations to build confidence and capability in responding to diverse experiences of communities impacted by domestic and family violence.

An is a member of the NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team (DVDRT), where she brings frontline practice insights to support the examination of systemic responses, identify opportunities for improvement, and strengthen prevention, intervention, service coordination, and community safety.

Yang is a lived experience advocate whose path to safety reflects the resilience, courage, and determination required to navigate domestic and family violence alongside Australia’s complex immigration system. As a former visa client, she spent 5 years navigating the visa process while working to rebuild safety and stability for herself and her young son.

When she first sought support through Bonnie Support Services, her son was just four months old. Today, he is 13 years old – a reminder of the years it has taken to reach a place where she feels ready to share her story publicly. Her experiences, including navigating the Ministerial Intervention process (a last-resort visa pathway in exceptional circumstances), have given her unique insight into the barriers faced by migrant women’s experiences and the critical impact of compassionate, responsive support.

After many years of processing her experiences, Yang has chosen to share her lived experience in the hope that it will contribute to better understanding, influence system improvement, and strengthen responses for women and children affected by violence. She believes that lived expertise is essential to creating services and policies that are safe, inclusive, and responsive to the realities of those they are designed to support.

Andrew Collins is Co-Founder of The Digital Safeguard Centre (DSC), a Canberra-based organisation specialising in technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) detection. Since 2022, DSC has conducted hundreds of digital safety audits supporting dozens of domestic and family violence agencies, with case findings contributing to active police investigations. Its tools include Joliro, a trauma-informed digital safety platform developed with case workers and survivors of TFA; and ChainFS, tamper-evident evidence preservation infrastructure with patents pending in Australia, the US and the EU.

Andrew brings more than 25 years of experience across defence intelligence, cybersecurity and senior technology leadership. He founded the precursor to the Australian Cyber Security Centre and has held CIO and CTO roles spanning the healthcare, commercial and government sectors in Australia and New Zealand. He is a Member of the Australian Computer Society and serves as a technical expert with Standards Australia and ISO. With DSC co-founder Rose MacDonald, he received two 2024 AIIA national IT awards, along with the InnovationAus 2024 Software Platform of the Year award and the Embracing Innovation award at the ACT Telstra Best of Business Awards.

I have been working with WDVCAS in the Central West for five years and have been a Multicultural Focus Worker for the past four years. I am very passionate about my role and committed to providing the highest level of support to victim-survivors from multicultural communities. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak again and raise awareness of the challenges that multicultural clients face every day.

Renata Field is a social worker, advocate and sector leader with more than ten years’ experience working to prevent and respond to sexual, domestic and family violence. She/they are the Manager of Sexual, Domestic and Family Violence Services at ACON, where they lead specialist services, partnerships and initiatives supporting LGBTQ+ communities.

Renata holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Sydney and has built a career spanning policy, advocacy, system reform and frontline service development. Before joining ACON, they coordinated Domestic Violence NSW’s led the organisation’s policy team and the organisation’s lived expertise work. Renata has also worked with Our Watch, Women’s Safety NSW and the NSW Education Centre Against Violence.

A strong advocate for survivor leadership and evidence-informed practice, Renata is passionate about creating inclusive, person-centred and culturally safe responses to violence. Her work focuses on strengthening systems, amplifying lived experience expertise and driving meaningful change to improve safety and wellbeing for diverse communities.

Kate is a Domestic Family Violence and Children’s Services Sector Leader with 25 years experience working in the sector in Ireland and Australia. Kate has unique experience of working with both adult and child Victim Survivors of gender based violence and working with men who choose to perpetrate this violence. Kate is an experienced leader in the DFV and Children’s Service sector and has led NSW state programs in operational and clinical leadership in the community and govt sector.

Kate is experienced in practice and clinical leadership, staff development and coaching, practice frameworks and programming. Kate thrives in sector engagement, strategic thinking and advocacy. Kate is a published author, podcast and conference presenter and sits on an editorial board for Children Australia Practice Journal. Kate is a proud Celtic Social Worker (2001), Play Therapist (2006), Clinical Supervisor, Sector Leader and Mum to three young children

Mallory Siemsen is the Senior Manager, Strategy and Practice Development at Youth Off The Streets. She has worked across the community services and government sectors for more than a decade, with extensive experience in domestic and family violence, trauma-informed practice, and complex case management.

Prior to joining Youth Off The Streets, Mallory worked with government agencies in delivering interventions and support for individuals with complex needs, including adults who use violence. Her professional interests include forensic mental health, minority populations, and building workforce capability to respond effectively to domestic, family and sexual violence. She is passionate about recognising and empowering victim-survivors and strengthening collaborative, person-centred responses that promote safety, recovery and long-term wellbeing.

Jo Campbell is the General Manager at DV West. She has worked in the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault sector for over 30 years, in various roles as a Manager, Policy Advisor, Educator, Advocate and Counsellor. Prior to DV West she was the Director of the Education Centre Against Violence. She is passionate about advocating for systems change to enable child and adult victim-survivors greater opportunities to access justice and healing.

Julie is a proud Gumbaynggirr woman from Corindi Northern New South Wales. Julie is the Chief Executive Officer of Gurehlgam – Many Rivers and brings almost three decades of leadership across Aboriginal community-controlled organisations in law and justice, family violence, homelessness, early intervention and behavioural change programs. She is a strong social justice advocate, committed to advancing culturally grounded, community-led responses to family, domestic and sexual violence. Julie holds an Associate Degree and a Bachelor of Laws, and has received numerous awards recognising her leadership, advocacy and contribution to the sector, including national and state union awards whereby Julie is on the Executive of the NSW/ACT ASU SACS division, Chair of the First Nations Committee and the ASU rep on the national First Nations ACTU Council . Julie is a passionate union advocate, working to improve conditions and recognition for the community and disability workforce. Julie sits on a number of NSW Committees and was recently appointed chair of the National First Nations Advocates Against Family Violence. She is dedicated to ending violence and addressing systemic power imbalances through culturally informed approaches led by First Nations communities. She is deeply committed to strengthening families and communities, championing self-determination and equity; ensuring the next generation has opportunities to thrive.

Monique Dam is the CEO of Lucy’s Project, a national charity which creates systems change to improve the safety and wellbeing of people and animals experiencing domestic and family violence.

Previously she was the Advocacy and Prevention Manager at Domestic Violence NSW. She has also worked for the Commonwealth and NSW Governments on legal assistance, early childhood, and access and inclusion policy.

She is grateful for the opportunity to advocate for change alongside survivors, researchers, policy makers, politicians, and practitioners across the domestic and family violence, community, homelessness, animal welfare and veterinary sectors.

Earlier this year, she undertook a Churchill Fellowship to learn from initiatives supporting people and animals experiencing domestic and family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand and the USA.

Monique is inspired by the courage, strength and resilience of human and animal victim-survivors and the love they have for each other.

She believes that by working together, we can create a future where every person and animal across Australia is safe and supported to heal and recover from violence.

Nikki Reece is the Team Leader for Child & Family Programs at CatholicCare Social Services Hunter-Manning, leading teams across domestic and family violence services. With a background in psychology and over 10 years’ experience in the social services sector, Nikki has worked across program leadership, training, and frontline roles. Her experience spans domestic and family violence and family preservation services, supporting families, strengthening parenting capacity, and assisting young people transitioning to independence. Nikki is passionate about working in regional communities, fostering strong relationships and cross-sector collaboration to improve outcomes for children and families

Regan is a proud Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal woman born, raised I and lived most of her life in the community of Cowra, NSW.

Regan has extensive lived and professional experience as a front-line domestic violence specialist that includes providing long term, intensive, and culturally responsive casework support for women and children experiencing domestic violence and abuse. She draws on this experience to inform her approach to primary prevention at Our Watch in her role as Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Strategy.

Joy is an experienced counsellor with over five years of practice supporting individuals and families from migrant and refugee backgrounds within the multicultural and settlement sector. Her work has given her a deep understanding of the intersection between migration, cultural identity, trauma, and the challenges of settlement, including social isolation, systemic barriers, and rebuilding a sense of belonging.

Over the past two years, Joy has specialised in supporting migrant and refugee women and children recovering from domestic and family violence. Her practice is grounded in trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and intersectional approaches that prioritise safety, empowerment, and long-term recovery.

Joy is passionate about strengthening culturally safe responses to domestic and family violence and advocating for equitable access to support for culturally and linguistically diverse communities. She also facilitates community education and professional workshops that promote awareness of trauma, healthy relationships, and culturally responsive practice. Through her clinical work and community engagement, Joy is committed to amplifying diverse voices and contributing to more inclusive, compassionate, and effective service systems.

Simone Tunbridge is Director of Strategic Projects and Training at People with Disability Australia (PWDA). She is an experienced leader with a background in strategic project management, disability inclusion, learning and development, and storytelling.

At PWDA, Simone leads a team delivering a diverse portfolio of disability-led projects, training and consultancy work. Her portfolio includes work relating to domestic, family and sexual violence, leadership and employment, self-advocacy, and organisational accessibility. She oversees the development of accessible education, training and resources that promote the rights, safety and inclusion of people with disability.

Before joining PWDA, Simone led learning, inclusion and storytelling initiatives at the ABC, including leadership development and mentoring programs, the ABC’s partnership with International Day of People with Disability, and the Regional Storyteller Scholarship.

She is committed to creating practical, accessible programs informed by lived experience and designed to contribute to lasting change.

Rachael Martin has been the principal solicitor of Wirringa Baiya Aboriginal Women’s Legal Centre for over 25 years.

Alyssa is a youth advocate committed to strengthening responses to domestic, family and sexual violence. She has contributed to the Illawarra Women’s Trauma Centre co-design process and the Change-Makers Collective, a trauma-informed leadership and advocacy program.

Alyssa is currently studying PPE at UNSW and is committed to ensuring young advocates meaningfully shape the policies and services that affect them. Her community leadership has been recognised through the Order of Australia Association Youth Community Service Award and as an international finalist for the Zonta Young Women in Leadership Award. Her Community Problem Solving project addressing gender-based violence was also awarded first place internationally.

Her advocacy centres on recognising young people affected by violence as victim-survivors in their own right and ensuring they are valued not merely as voices of the future, but as contributors and decision-makers today.

Dr. Lubna Alam is an Associate Professor of Information Systems at The University of Sydney, co-founder of the award-winning volunteer-run, not-for-profit ALO Enlightened Women Inc., member of the ACT Advisory Council on Multiculturalism and a member of NWEA: Policy & Advocacy Advisory Committee.

As an interdisciplinary researcher, she specializes in socio-technical studies with a focus on how digital technologies empower/disempower vulnerable communities including women. Her recent research interest lies in technology-facilitated abuse for victim survivors. She is highly skilled in qualitative methodologies, including focus groups, interviews, co-design, and action design research, to capture user stories, identify needs, and foster value co-creation aimed at enhancing wellbeing. ALO empowers culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) women and broader multicultural communities. For her advocacy and significant contributions to diversity and inclusion, she was honoured with the 2023 ACT Government Outstanding Excellence Award and was a finalist for the 2024 ACT Woman of the Year Award.

Through her extensive experience, Dr. Alam has developed valuable insights into the needs of multicultural communities and cultivated access to key networks within the ACT. These connections, combined with her demonstrated ability to secure funding and deliver impactful research make her uniquely positioned to lead impactful research initiatives.

Maryanne Brown is based in Lismore, Northern NSW. She is a proud Wailwan/ Gumbainggir women, identifies as She/her and is queer.

Maryanne has worked in several services within the DV space over the last 25 yrs as an advocate, support, mentor and leader. She has also worked in youth services and worked with the elderly.
Maryanne remains very committed to equality and justice and doing the right thing.

She has a strong voice when needed and continues to speak out about racism sexism homophobia and trans phobia which unfortunately is alive and strong in our communities and its not ok.
Maryanne comes from a Stolen Generation space and has done lots of healing for herself and others to find their way home.

Maryanne currently sits on the DVNSW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Steering Committee and has participated in other committees over the years.

Nemat Kharboutli is the Manager for Strategy, Policy and Programs at Muslim Women Australia, which is a representative body for Muslim women working to enrich humanity, advocating for equality and the rights of all women. Established in 1983, MWA now provides frontline specialist domestic violence, homelessness and settlement support for multicultural communities as well as community development, educational and recreational initiatives for Muslim communities.

Nemat works collaboratively across the womens’ sector to advocate for a sexual, domestic and family violence free and inclusive Australia. Her key areas of interest are the gendered nature of violence and Islamophobia. As part of her work at MWA, Nemat hopes to contribute to policy reform that enhances culturally, linguistically and religiously appropriate service provision to facilitate women’s agency and greater accessibility of support to women.

Nemat has a Bachelor of Social Science (Criminology and Social Policy) from University of New South Wales, she is passionate about social justice, social inclusion, diversity, policy and women’s issues.

Nina Shahi is the Chief Executive Officer of Stepwise Community Services (formerly Metro Assist and Community Action for Better Living), a leading community organisation supporting individuals, families and communities across Greater Sydney. With more than 20 years of executive leadership experience in the community, social enterprise and not-for-profit sectors in Australia and internationally, Nina is recognised for her strategic leadership, commitment to social justice, and dedication to building stronger, more inclusive communities.

Since joining Metro Assist in 2009, Nina has held several senior leadership roles before being appointed CEO in 2023. She led the successful integration of Metro Assist and Community Action for Better Living (CABL), bringing together two respected organisations to form Stepwise Community Services and expand their collective impact across diverse communities.

Nina is passionate about strengthening communities; empowering women, migrants and refugees; advancing diversity and inclusion; and ensuring people can access the support and opportunities they need to overcome barriers and thrive.

Nina is committed to working alongside local communities and sector partners to strengthen community-based and systematic responses to domestic and family violence. She is a strong advocate for cross-sector collaboration and integrated service delivery, recognising the critical role that services play at different stages of a victim-survivor’s journey. Her focus is on fostering culturally responsive, trauma-informed approaches that enhance safety, wellbeing and empowerment for victim-survivors and their families, while supporting sustainable behaviour as well as systemic change and stronger community outcomes.

With over 10 years’ experience in the domestic and family violence sector, Samantha is passionate about supporting women and children, strengthening communities and contributing to long-term social change. Samantha’s career has included working in women’s refuges, Love Bites Coordinator and specialist domestic and family violence services, and she currently works as an Assistant Manager within a Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service.

More recently, Samantha completed a secondment in managing a primary prevention project for 18 months, which broadened her understanding of the social and structural drivers of violence and strengthened her interest in preventing violence before it occurs. Samantha has a passion for community campaigns and awareness-raising initiatives focused on building trust, encouraging conversations and supporting communities to recognise the role they can play in creating change.

Samantha believes that meaningful change occurs when communities are supported to have honest conversations, challenge harmful attitudes and behaviours, understand their role in prevention, and become active participants in creating safer and more respectful communities. She brings a combination of frontline experience, leadership, prevention knowledge and community engagement, with a strong commitment to building safer, respectful and equitable communities.

Bio Skye Cannon is a domestic and family violence practitioner based in the Southern Highlands, NSW, with extensive experience supporting women, children, and families through specialist DFV services. She currently works in the Staying Home Leaving Violence program, helping victim-survivors rebuild safety, stability, and independence after leaving violence.

Skye combines professional expertise with lived experience, bringing a unique perspective to trauma-informed practice, service improvement, and systems advocacy. In 2025, she was appointed to the NSW Minister for Women’s Safety Lived Experience Advisory Body, contributing to survivor-informed policy and promoting the meaningful inclusion of lived experience in decision-making.

Her career has included roles across specialist DFV, family support, education, intake, and regional outreach services. She is committed to using both her professional and lived expertise to strengthen the DFV sector, amplify survivor voices, and support lasting systems change.

Sparrow Katekar (she/her) is a frontline DFV practitioner, technologist and queer feminist working at the intersection of gendered violence, AI and social justice.

With more than a decade of experience in community development and technology, Sparrow has been studying and building AI since 2022. She currently works at Carrie’s Place in a frontline capacity, and has partnered with Carrie’s Place on the Safe and Ethical Technologies (SET) project. The pillars of this project are innovation, intersectionality and integrity.

Her work focuses on privacy, consent, technology-facilitated abuse and the ways algorithmic bias can reproduce existing inequalities. Drawing on both lived and professional experience, Sparrow advocates for technology that is safe, ethical transparent, and grounded in the realities of victim-survivors and frontline workers.

Lili Greer is the founder of The Tina Greer Project, an educational and advocacy platform focused on domestic and family violence, homicide and missing persons. She is the author of Why Elle Spoke Up, a children’s book that encourages conversations about domestic and family violence. Lili is also a Master of Research candidate investigating the systemic experiences of families of long-term missing persons. At 13, Lili’s mother, Tina, was reported missing in circumstances of intimate partner homicide. She brings this lived experience to her advocacy, research and professional work.

Kristie Burge is a proud Noongar woman, Founder and Executive Director of Bunmabunmarra Services, and an experienced practitioner, researcher and advocate working across homelessness, domestic and family violence, justice, social disadvantage and Aboriginal community services.

Kristie leads the development and delivery of culturally safe, trauma-informed and person-centred programs across regional NSW, supporting people experiencing homelessness, violence, disadvantage and complex social issues. Her work spans frontline service delivery, program design, organisational leadership, research and systemic advocacy.

Drawing on lived experience, community knowledge and frontline practice, Kristie is passionate about challenging systems that create or reinforce disadvantage and influencing policy and service responses that lead to stronger, fairer outcomes for Aboriginal people, families and communities.

Carly has over 20 years’ experience in the Community Services sector working for NGO’s in Domestic Violence, Homelessness and the Child Rights space, with extensive experience in program development and service management. She is currently the Sector Development Manager at DVNSW.

Carly is passionate about working with communities to highlight Domestic and Family Violence and improve systems change as we as a community strive for social justice. She adopts a feminist approach to her work and has a long-term commitment to women and children being safe, valued and happy.

After a 20-year corporate career spanning the UK, Asia, UAE and Australia, Leila Botham tired of making average men look brilliant and billionaires even richer. So she let a mid-life metanoia guide her skills, knowledge and talent toward a crusade she actually cared about – dismantling the patriarchy. While surviving late-stage capitalism and brutish boardrooms, she built trauma-informed transformation frameworks at Australian Red Cross and Beyond Blue, negotiated a joint venture with a Qatari billionaire so he could open a chain of restaurants in Dubai as a 50th birthday gift to his wife (to be fair, the calamari was life changing) and wrote travel articles for business travel publications in Asia – in her “down time”.

But COVID, a mid-life AuDHD diagnosis and perimenopause set her on a new path, where she led the digital and operational transformation of The Deli Women and Children’s Centre, and then developed a revenue diversification strategy at No to Violence while also delivering client projects for Corrections Victoria, Lyca UK and standing up NTV’s new LMS. Now she’s landed at DVNSW as Project Manager for the Good Practice Guidelines – no stranger to DVNSW, having led one of the key services involved in Project CHRISTIE.

Dr Lea Nunn is the Primary Prevention Officer at DVNSW. She has over 25 years’ experience as a psychologist working in clinical, management and training roles. Prior to her psychology career, she worked in IT particularly in data communications, project management, and training.

Lea has her own lived expertise of gender-based violence from growing up in family violence and later being exposed to abusive relationships. Her first psychology roles were in NSW sexual assault services and she has worked with women that have experienced intimate partner or sexual abuse extensively throughout her career, both individually and in groups, across private practice, hospital and community settings.

Lea completed a PhD in sociology at the University of Tasmania in 2024 with research focused on the recognition and progression of the earliest warning signs of intimate partner abuse, the aim of which was to inform best practice prevention of gender based violence. DVNSW assisted in identifying participants for this research. Her book, Ending Intimate Partner Abuse: Blending Psychological and Sociological Solutions will be published in early 2027. She has published one article on her research findings and has another in development.

Cecilia McKenzie is a proud Wiradjuri woman, Mother, domestic, and family violence and sexual violence survivor, and a nationally recognised advocate committed to driving systemic reform.

In her role as Aboriginal Policy, Engagement and Advocacy Manager at Domestic Violence NSW, the peak body for specialist domestic and family violence services across New South Wales, Cecilia works in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations to influence policy, strengthen systems and advance culturally safe responses to domestic, family and sexual violence.

Cecilia serves on the Board of WESNET, Australia’s national peak body for specialist women’s domestic and family violence services, and is Chair of the ACT Government Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Expert Reference Group.

Drawing on her lived, cultural and professional expertise, Cecilia is a respected advocate working across policy and practice to strengthen responses for Aboriginal women, children and communities impacted by domestic, family and sexual violence. She is passionate about embedding lived experience and ensuring Aboriginal voices are not only heard but actively shape the systems, legislation and decisions that affect their lives.

Grounded in the strength of Country, culture and community, Cecilia brings a collaborative, solutions focused approach to leadership, championing culturally safe, trauma-informed and evidence-based reform that delivers lasting change.

Kellie is the Program Manager for Specialist Homelessness Services and the Staying Home Leaving Violence program with Mission Australia, providing leadership across rural and remote communities throughout Central North New South Wales. With more than 18 years of experience in the community services sector, Kellie has dedicated their career to supporting people through some of life’s most challenging circumstances, working across domestic and family violence, specialist homelessness, and intensive family support programs.

Today, Kellie leads a network of vital services, including two Core and Cluster women’s safe houses, a women’s shared refuge, and two men’s refuges, ensuring the delivery of compassionate, trauma-informed accommodation and specialist support that helps individuals and families rebuild their lives and create pathways to safety and stability.

Kellie’s connection to regional Australia has been shaped by years spent living and working alongside Aboriginal communities across New South Wales, as well as six years on an Aboriginal-owned property in Cape York, Queensland. These experiences have fostered a deep respect for culture, community, and resilience, and continue to inform a collaborative and culturally responsive approach to service delivery.

Passionate about creating meaningful change, Kellie is committed to strengthening partnerships, expanding access to specialist support in rural and remote areas, and helping build safer, stronger futures for women, children, families, and communities across the region.

Fatima Abou-Abdallah is a community services professional and emerging leader with 5 years’ experience across Specialist Homelessness Services. A graduate of Western Sydney University’s School of Social Sciences, Fatima brings a multidisciplinary interest in psychology, sociology, anthropology, and health, alongside a deep commitment to lifelong learning and community development. Fatima also has a Graduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy.

Her leadership approach is grounded in empathy, integrity, and cultural awareness. She has experience mentoring and supervising staff, supporting performance development, engaging stakeholders, and contributing to the delivery and continuous improvement of culturally responsive services. Fatima is particularly passionate about creating safe and empowering environments for Muslim women, families, and communities, and believes meaningful leadership is rooted in service, collective responsibility, and the cultivation of strong communities.

Grounded in her Islamic values, Fatima approaches her work with curiosity, reflection, and a commitment to social justice, seeking to bridge professional practice with lived experience, spiritual insight, and community wisdom.

Dr Kate Seymour is a social worker and criminologist, recognised internationally for her scholarship in the field of gender, masculinities and violence, in particular the socio-cultural contexts for men’s use of violence. Between 2021 and 2025, she led an Australian Research Council funded project into the domestic and family violence (DFV) workforce in Australia. The project focused on the nature of DFV work, how it is understood and experienced, and the structural and organisational contexts that shape the work. Kate is a skilled qualitative researcher with a background in direct practice across a range of settings, including work with men who use violence.