Uncle Allen Madden

Respected Gadigal Elder, cultural representative for the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council

Uncle Allen is a Gadigal man from the Eora nation, born in Redfern NSW in 1949. He attended Redfern Public School, which is now reformed NTO National CIE, Narwee Boys High School, Newtown Technology High School. At the age of 14, Uncle Allen started working at Ingham Chicken, Shelly soft drinks, City of Sydney Council, Aboriginal Medical Service, Aboriginal Children’s Service, Aboriginal Legal Service and New Careers for Aboriginal People Employment.

Uncle Allen has been on the Board of Sydney Foreshore Authority, SBS, Central Coast Aboriginal Heritage along with various other organisations. At present he is a Board member of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Local Council. Uncle Allen has been involved in television with Redfern Now, Walk on Country, Greatest Cities of the World (BBC), First Australian, Pemulway, First Contact, and Foot Prints.

He is married with 10 children and a life member of Redfern All Blacks RLFC.

Karen Bevan

CEO, Full Stop Australia

Karen was recently appointed to the role of CEO for Full Stop Australia. She has more than 30 years’ experience working across not-for-profit organisations, government and research institutions in roles including executive leadership, strategy, advocacy, research, training, service delivery and community development.

Karen has worked in areas including child and family services, domestic and family violence, homelessness, disability services and mental health. She has worked extensively with culturally diverse communities. As a consultant, Karen has advised federal and state government departments in areas such as program design, procurement and system reform. Having worked at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Karen is a passionate advocate for prevention, recovery and healing.

Karen is currently the Chair of Mary’s House Services, a philanthropically funded domestic violence service in Sydney. She is a past president of the NSW Council of Social Services and previously sat of the boards of Youth Law Australia, the Intellectual Disability Rights Service and the Australian Council of Social Service.

Ryan Park MP

Minister for Health, Minister for Regional Health, Minister for the Illawarra and the South Coast.

Ryan was born and raised in the Illawarra. As a teacher, Ryan worked at Lake Illawarra High School. Ryan is very proud of his community; proud of where it comes from; proud of the “Gong”.
He is enthusiastic and determined to make sure the region gets its fair share of funding for better services and infrastructure.
Ryan is someone with strong Labor values. He believes in well-resourced schools and first-class health services, investment in public infrastructure to drive jobs and support local economies, and helping those who need a hand in our community.

Jodie Harrison MP

Minister for Women, Minister for Seniors, Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

Jodie Harrison grew up in the south-western suburbs of Sydney, moving to the Lake Macquarie region in the early 1990s not long after her parents bought a small marine business in the area. Her commitment to social justice was developed at home, and enhanced while a member of the Salvation Army during her teens.

For fourteen years she worked at Newcastle City Council in organisational change management, organisational performance and governance roles. During that time she became a delegate for the United Services Union, and was the inaugural chairperson of the Council’s Women’s Advisory Panel which lobbied and achieved workplace improvements in women’s equity.
In 2008, at a time of considerable change and development in the Charlestown area, Jodie was elected as a North Ward Councillor on Lake Macquarie City Council. In 2012 she became the popularly elected Mayor of Lake Macquarie as well as being the first female Mayor of the City. She held this position until September 2016. Her proudest achievements during that time include securing the Council’s financial sustainability, the continued independence of Lake Macquarie as a stand-alone local government area during a period of widespread amalgamations, and introduction of the overwhelming successful new waste management system.

Elected as the State Member for Charlestown at a by-election in October 2014, Jodie was re-elected in March 2015. She works hard to gain and keep the trust of her local community, and is keen to listen to the views of people from right across the electorate. Jodie welcomes the opportunity to meet with community groups, and much prefers to be out in the community than being in her office.

Charlestown being the area with the two largest retail centres in the Hunter region and a large growing commercial and health sector, Jodie is passionate about the need to provide jobs for people while balancing these jobs with a quality lifestyle and public services which her constituents deserve.

Angelique Wan

Co-Founder and CEO of Consent Labs

Angelique Wan is the co-founder and CEO of Consent Labs, a youth-led not-for-profit she co-founded when she was 19 years old. Consent Labs works to end gender-based violence through the delivery of evidence-based and inclusive consent and respectful relationships in schools and universities across Australia. To date Consent Labs has delivered programs to more than 60,000 students, parents and carers and educators nationally.
Angelique has been recognised as the 2023 Women’s Agenda Agenda Setter of the Year, the 2022 NSW Young Woman of the Year and a 2022 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australian.

Sarah Williams

Survivor-Advocate and Founder of What Were You Wearing? Australia

Sarah Williams is 22y/o proud Awabakal woman and the founder of What Were You Wearing Australia (WWYW). WWYW is a not-for-profit organisation providing education, awareness and advocacy on sexual violence. Sarah since starting WWYW has established Australia’s first ever exhibition and music festival on sexual violence awareness. Sarah also created the first ever Survivor Advocates Advisory Group at University of Newcastle, to ensure student lived experience contributed to institution change and advocacy.

She recently successfully amended the NSW RSA certificate to include drink spiking awareness. She collected over 20,000 signatures and recieved cross party support in NSW government.
Since beginning her advocacy journey she was awarded 2023 Newcastle Woman of the Year, Young Achiever of the Year NSW/ACT 2023 Community Service Award & currently is a finalist for the Australian Human Rights Commission Young people’s award 2023.

Jade Parker

Program Coordinator, Sexual, Domestic and Family Violence at ACON

Jade Parker (they/them) is the Program Coordinator (Sexual, Domestic, and Family Violence) at ACON. Jade works mainly in primary prevention and response projects including campaigns, content creation, website management advocacy and event coordination.

Jade is also co-convenor of the NSW LGBTIQ+ DFV Interagency and they hold a Bachelor of Social Science (Criminology) Class 1 and Deans Merit List Honours Degree, their research focused on the nexus between LGBTQ+ survivors of intimate partner violence and help seeking pathways regionally.

Amani Haydar

Author, Artist, and Advocate

Amani Haydar is an author, visual artist, and advocate for women’s health and safety based in Western Sydney. Amani’s ground-breaking feminist memoir The Mother Wound (Pan Macmillan) explores the effects of domestic abuse and state-sanctioned violence on women in her family and has received several awards including the 2022 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Non-fiction. In recognition of her advocacy against domestic violence, Amani also received the UTS Faculty of Law Alumni Award in 2021 and was named Local Woman of the Year for Bankstown in 2020. Drawing on both her legal background and lived experiences, Amani consults with domestic violence organisations on improving access and outcomes for victim-survivors and has served on the boards of Bankstown Women’s Health Centre and the Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights. As an active visual artist and former Archibald Prize Finalist, Amani has also collaborated with organisations like SSI and the Older Women’s Network to facilitate visual arts workshops for women and young people from migrant communities.

Emily Dale

Head of Advocacy at Full Stop Australia

Emily is a law reform advocate, public policy expert and lawyer, who is committed to making the legal system fairer and more responsive to the needs of vulnerable people.

As Head of Advocacy for Full Stop Australia, she engages in advocacy aimed at improving legal and justice system responses to sexual, domestic and family violence. Previously, she worked as a lawyer at Minter Ellison and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, and in law reform for the Department of Communities and Justice.
Emily holds a Bachelor of International and Global Studies and a Juris Doctor in Law.

Jayne Doherty

Detective Superintendent, Commander of New South Wales Police Sex Crimes Squad

Detective Superintendent Jayne Doherty is currently the Commander of the New South Wales Police Sex Crimes Squad and head of Discipline for Modern Slavery. Detective Superintendent Doherty joined the NSW Police Force in January 1992 and has worked in a variety of areas of Policing including General Duties, General Criminal Investigation, Property Crime, Drugs & Firearms, Covert Professional Standards investigations, Sex Crimes and Child Abuse.
Detective Superintendent Doherty directs serious and complex criminal investigations involving adult sexual assault, abductions with the intent of sexual assault, on-line child exploitation, the management of Registerable Child Sex Offenders and the Management of Serious Violent Offenders across the State of NSW. She also holds responsibility for the NSW Police response to Modern Slavery including Human trafficking and Forced Marriage.
Detective Superintendent Doherty has been a committee member on the Australasian Council of Women and Policing for the past 5 years.

In 2020 Detective Superintendent Doherty was acknowledged for Excellence in Criminal Investigation by the NSWPF Detectives Board, having led Strike force Myosoti in relation to the illegal sale of firearms on the black market with her investigation resulting in organisational change in how firearms are tracked nationally.
In 2022 Detective Superintendent Doherty was awarded the Australian Police Medal in the ‘Australia Day’ Honours list for distinguished service.

Detective Superintendent Doherty is proud to be a working mother who, along with her husband Danny who is the Commander of the NSW Police Homicide Squad, has raised 2 daughters during her career.

Ellen Quinn

Detective Sergeant, New South Wales Police State Crime Command, Sex Crimes Squad, Investigations Manager

Detective Sergeant Ellen Quinn is the NSW Police Force State Crime Command, Sex Crimes Squad, Investigations Manager. She has spent most of her 21-year policing career investigating sexual violence and related offences, including child protection offences, in State Crime Command and in criminal investigations offices throughout the Sydney metropolitan area.
Ellen has provided expertise to partner agencies on trauma-informed victim care and detailed the victim experience in the documentary film Ghosthunter. Ellen has long been an advocate for a victim-centric and trauma-informed approach to sexual violence investigations, to not only ensure better outcomes for victim-survivors but to produce higher quality criminal investigations.

Due to her background and passion for victim-based crime Ellen was selected as a Project Officer to transform the NSW Police response to sexual violence to ensure a victim centric and trauma informed response.
Ellen is a proud working mother who has raised two fabulous daughters during her career.

Dr Hannah Tonkin

NSW Women’s Safety Commissioner

Hannah commenced as the inaugural NSW Women’s Safety Commissioner in February 2023. In this role, she provides leadership on whole-of-government policies and programs on domestic, family and sexual violence, as well as advice and support on cross-sector initiatives to improve women’s safety.

Previously Hannah worked at the United Nations, as Disability Rights Director at the Australian Human Rights Commission, and as a barrister in London and Adelaide.

Harrison James

Survivor-Advocate and Co-Founder of the #YourReferenceAintRelevant campaign

Harrison James is a survivor, award-winning activist, and Co-Founder of the ‘Your Reference Ain’t Relevant’ campaign. After being sexually abused by his stepmother from the ages of 13 to 16, Harrison has become driven by his personal experiences and is dedicated to reforming Australia’s legal system for survivors. For years he carried the weight of this secret in silence but now, at 23 years old, his tireless activism fuels legislative reform and spotlights survivor-led initiatives, showcasing resilience and determination in pursuit of justice and healing.

Harrison’s extraordinary journey has been a beacon of hope for countless individuals and his unwavering commitment inspires a safer world for all.

Dr Ellie Freedman

Manager of Medical Forensic Portfolio at New South Wales Education Centre Against Violence

Dr Ellie Freedman is a medical forensic examiner and a sexual health physician with extensive clinical experience in management of adult sexual assault. She is passionate about the provision of trauma informed, patient centred health care.
She is currently the manager of the medical and forensic portfolio at ECAV, (NSW Education Centre Against Violence) and is also the acting senior clinical advisor (adult sexual assault) to NSW Health PARVAN Branch. In these roles she provides state-wide workforce and training advice to NSW Health services and to a range of external stakeholders involved in the response to people who have experienced sexual violence.

She qualified in the UK in 1995 and has postgraduate medical qualifications from both UK and Australia. She moved to Australia in 2003, and has worked in Sexual Health, Medical Education and Sexual Assault Services.

Karen Iles

Founder and Principal Solicitor of Violet Co Legal & Consulting

Karen Iles is a lawyer, consultant, board director, sexual assault survivor and Dharug Aboriginal woman.
Karen Iles is the Founder and Principal Solicitor of Violet Co Legal & Consulting - a woman-led, Indigenous-led, social enterprise. Violet Co’s purpose is to create radical solutions and just outcomes for women and First Nations people.
In 2023 Karen was awarded Private Practitioner of the Year by Women Lawyers Association of NSW. In 2022 Karen was awarded the inaugural NSW Law Society Pro Bono Service Award (2022) in recognition of her outstanding service to the NSW Legal Profession and the Community. Karen’s advocacy work was recognised in the Australian Human Rights Commission 2022 Annual Oration delivered by Professor Larissa Behrendt.

Karen holds a number of current Non-Executive Director board roles - The National Justice Project, First Australians Capital and Marist180. She was appointed to the Australian Catholic Safeguarding panel in 2022 to review claims of sexual assault within the Catholic Church institutions and is a current appointee to the NSW Law Society Employment Law Committee and advisor to Teach Us Consent (Chanel Contos).

In 2022, Karen was featured in the Guardian Australia, A Current Affair, ABC 7.30, ABC News, ABC Radio and Mamamia.
Karen was born and raised on Darkinjung land and now lives on both Darkinjung and Gadigal Land, Australia. Karen is a Dharug Aboriginal diyin (woman) and has family connections to the Gunanday (Rainbow River) area of Dyarubbin (the River - the Hawkesbury River). Karen has Scottish and English heritage and is hopeful of an Independent Scotland one day!

Yumi Lee

CEO of Older Women’s Network NSW

Yumi Lee has worked on women’s rights and violence against women for over 30 years. She began with advocacy for nuclear disarmament and women’s rights in armed conflict, and led the Australian NGO response for one of the 5 Critical Areas of Concern in the Beijing Platform for Action. More recently, she worked for an anti-trafficking organisation in Vietnam which rescues street children and women trafficked to the sex trade.

As the CEO of OWN NSW Yumi is now advocating and lobbying on issues impacting older women. The two main issues the organisation is focusing on are housing insecurity and homelessness of older women; and violence against older women including in aged care. There are 50 sexual assaults taking place in aged care every week and the response has been totally underwhelming. Yumi received 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.

Emily Horsley

Training and Development Specialist, Sexual Violence Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Unit at Settlement Services International

Emily Horsley is a registered psychologist who currently works at Settlement Services International (SSI). Prior to becoming a psychologist Emily worked as a child protection caseworker for the Department of Communities and Justice. Over the last 5.5 years Emily has worked almost exclusively in the out of home care sector, working with many children and young people who are victim survivors of child sexual abuse.

Emily has also worked extensively with young people who are victims of, or are vulnerable to, child sexual exploitation. Emily currently works in a specialist role at SSI, training and developing frontline staff in how they respond to disclosures of sexual violence.

Keynote Speaker

Yumi Stynes

Broadcaster, Author and Speaker

Yumi Stynes is a broadcaster and author. She has been working in Australian media for more than two decades, first as a music reporter, arts reporter and pop culture interviewer to working now as a writer and authority on sex education, consent, women’s issues, race issues, food and art.

She is the face and voice of the hugely popular ABC podcast, ‘Ladies, We Need to Talk’, ‘I Heart Trivia’ on I Heart Radio, the podcast ‘SEEN’ on SBS, and the popular food podcast ‘5 Minute Food Fix’.
Yumi is the co-author of the acclaimed ‘Welcome To’ book series which shot to fame (and best-seller lists) in 2023 when right-wing fascists tried to have ‘Welcome to Sex’ withdrawn from sale.

She also released a spin-off book from her food podcast in 2023, called The Food Fix.
An accomplished MC, facilitator and speaker; Yumi hosted recent events including the 2023 Sydney Writers Festival Great Debate, the Newcastle ‘New Annual’ multicultural arts and music festival in 2023, She Leads Conferences, Art After Hours at AGNSW, Rural Sexual Health Conference, Women in Leadership Symposium and NSW Western Region Primary Principals Association.

This year (2024) you will continue to hear Yumi on her podcasts while she works on her next two books.
2018 - Lifestyle and Health Podcast of the Year: winner, Ladies, We Need to Talk
2020 - ABIA Children’s Book of the Year: winner, Welcome to Your Period
2020 - Asian Television Awards, Best Documentary Programme: winner, Is Australia Sexist? SBS TV
2023 - ABIA Children’s Book of the Year: finalist, Welcome to Consent
@yumichild instagram
@yumichild Threads
@5MinuteFoodFix instagram
@5MinuteFoodFix Tik Tok

Tara Hunter

Director of Clinical and Client Services at Full Stop Australia

Tara Hunter is based on Gadigal Land (Sydney) and is the Director of Clinical and Client Services at Full Stop Australia, first established in the 1970s and now one of the country’s most recognised sexual, domestic and family violence response services.
With a Master of Social Work and various workplace training and family dispute resolution certifications, Tara’s approach to leadership is trauma-informed and backed up by over 20 years of experience in the sector, from front-line client work to high-level strategic advisory roles.

Having managed sexual assault support services within the public health network system, led and mentored teams of clinicians through complex caseloads, spoken publicly and in parliament on key law reform matters, including sexual consent, Tara offers an important client-centred approach to the national conversation on ending violence and abuse.
Tara is committed to building stable and reliable trauma-specialist systems that support clients and front-line workers, while also addressing the underlying systemic and social causes of gender-based violence.

Anna Coutts-Trotter

Survivor-Advocate and Co-Founder of The Survivor Hub

Anna Coutts-Trotter (she/her) is a survivor-advocate based on Gadigal Land. Anna experienced domestic and sexual violence as a young person. With this lived experience, the 22-year-old co-founded and is an inaugural director of The Survivor Hub (TSH). The charity provides holistic peer support to survivors of sexual assault through MeetUps. MeetUps are located across New South Wales, Victoria and online.

Anna is extremely passionate about the self-determination of survivors. Through her personal advocacy and TSH, Anna wants survivors to feel empowered to make informed decisions about their healing and is committed to building safe and respectful communities for survivors to connect, vent and ask and answer questions.
Anna is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts and Social Work. Anna also works in disability support, with young people and in aged care.

Kellie McDonald

Senior Solicitor at Women’s Legal Service NSW

Kellie McDonald is a Senior Solicitor at Women’s Legal Service NSW. She primarily assists vulnerable women who have experienced domestic and sexual violence, providing advice, advocacy, and representation in the areas of family law, AVOs, care and protection and victims support.

Kellie has worked as a solicitor in the community legal centre sector for the past 14 years advising disadvantaged community members, developing and delivering community legal education and advocating for a just and fair legal system.

Emily Lachevre

Senior Clinical and Client Services Manager

Emily Lachevre has over twenty years’ experience as a clinical social worker. Throughout her career there has been a strong emphasis on justice whilst working in the legal and social service sectors. Emily joined Full Stop Australia in 2016 as a Trauma Specialist Counsellor, before progressing into a Senior Clinical and Client Services Manager role.

She has extensive experience providing frontline clinical intervention to people who have experienced sexual, domestic and family violence. Emily is a qualified Clinical Supervisor and is committed to working towards ending gendered based violence.

Nanushka

Survivor-Advocate and Founder Member of Survivor Connections

Nanushka is a Survivor Advocate and founding member of Survivior Connections, a lived experience support group for survivors of Modern Slavery. They are passionate about supporting survivors with multiple intersectional identities, including people living with disability, migrants, LGBTQIA+ communities and sex workers.

Natasha de Silva

Board Member of Full Stop Australia

Natasha de Silva has 20 years of experience as a senior manager in the government sector and has led significant national policy reforms including Set the Standard: the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces (2021); Respect@Work the National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces (2020); Everyone’s Business: the Fourth National Survey on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace (2018); and Change the Course: Report on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment at Australian Universities (2017) as Senior Executive at the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Natasha has an international and national profile as a human rights and gender equality expert, working with governments and agencies in the region to build knowledge and technical capacity. Currently the Principal of Intersection, a consultancy specialising in the rights of women at work, Natasha brings to this a holistic and intersectional understanding of disability rights, age discrimination and racial equality. Recent publicly available work undertaken includes a Safe, Respectful & Inclusive Behaviours Review at Chevron Australia; Independent Cultural Review of the Productivity Commission and Unlocking Leadership: Conversations on Gender and Race in Corporate Australia for Chief Executive Women.

As the Director of the NSW Office for Women, Natasha led the NSW Government response to domestic and family violence under the NSW Blueprint for Reform. From 2011-2014 was seconded to the Review into the Treatment of Women in the Australian Defence Force as a member of the leadership team. The Review was a wide-ranging examination of systemic barrier to women’s participation in senior leadership roles in the ADF as well as incidence of sex discrimination and sexual abuse.

Natasha is a Justice of the Peace in NSW and has degrees in Arts and Commerce in International Development and Economics and a Master of Global Law from the University of Sydney. Natasha sits on the boards of Full Stop Australia and Plan International Australia.