Guest speakers
Selina Walker
Emerging Ngunnawal Elder and community leaderSmoking ceremony, Welcome to Country and Plenary 1: First Nations justice
Selina is the proud granddaughter of Senior Ngunnawal Elder Aunty Agnes Shea OAM, who passed away in March 2023.
She has worked in the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and surrounding regions for over twenty years in various roles.
Selina has kincare of three godsons, five and one of their girlfriends, totalling nine teenagers. She supports two other godsons in foster care and provides respite for other children in out-of-home care in the community.
In 2017, Selina was recognised for her efforts as a carer and was named the ACT Barnardos Mother of the Year. She was awarded the 2024 ACT Australian of the Year Local Hero for her work towards Reconciliation and as one of the founding members of Yerrabi Yurwang Child and Family Aboriginal Corporation.
Selina is a community representative on many different boards and committees. She is a strong advocate for young people, with a passion and drive for mental health issues and suicide prevention and awareness, following the deaths of six family members. She is a proud Aboriginal artist and is studying psychology at University of Canberra
Zoe Daniel
Speaker, consultant, author, journalist, former federal MP
Plenary 2: Will we ever win fair funding?
Zoe Daniel is a respected journalist and author, and is the former independent MP for Goldstein, after making history in 2022 as the seat’s first female representative. In Parliament, she championed reforms in women’s safety, economic equality, student debt, healthcare, climate legislation and digital safety, and support for eating disorder services. Known for her integrity and people-first approach, Zoe continues her advocacy through public speaking, advocacy, consulting and community engagement.
Before politics, Zoe spent nearly 30 years as a foreign correspondent for the ABC, covering global events across Africa, Asia and the United States, including climate disasters, conflicts and the Trump presidency. As ABC’s Washington Bureau Chief and a correspondent across Africa and Asia, she became a trusted voice on international affairs.
She is the author of Storyteller, Angel and Greetings from Trumpland.
Based in bayside Melbourne with her family, Zoe remains a passionate advocate for robust democracy, equity and climate action.
Daniel Scoullar
Policy, advocacy and communications consultant
Plenary 2: Will we ever win fair funding?
Daniel is a policy, advocacy and communications consultant who partners with community services and campaigns to win funding and policy reform. He has a long history in the community legal sector, including supporting Community Legal Centres Australia’s national funding campaign ahead of the National Access to Justice Partnership Agreement. Daniel is Chair of Inner Melbourne Community Legal.
Justice Louise Taylor
Justice of the ACT Supreme Court
Welcome Reception
Louise Taylor was sworn in as a judge of the ACT Supreme Court in August 2023. Justice Taylor, a Kamilaroi woman, was the first Aboriginal woman in Australia to be appointed to a superior court. In 2018, Justice Taylor was appointed as a magistrate and coroner after almost two decades of legal practice in the ACT which included a period as a specialist family violence prosecutor and as Deputy CEO of Legal Aid ACT. For ten years, Justice Taylor was Chair of the Women’s Legal Centre ACT board.
Bee Charika
Peer worker, Vixen
Plenary 3: The personal is political
Bee is an asian migrant sex worker who works at Vixen, a peer sex worker organisation in Victoria, where they focus on outreach and advocacy for Asian migrant sex workers. They are also a member of the Asian Migrant Sex Worker Advisory Group, organised by Scarlet Alliance.
Bee is a strong advocate for migrant sex workers, speaking at national and international forums on anti-slavery and human rights. They are particularly vocal in calling for an end to Australian Border Force (ABF) workplace raids, which continue to target Asian migrant sex workers in Victoria, even after decriminalisation.
Bee supports reforms that centre migrant voices, challenge racial profiling and uphold labour rights, working toward the full decriminalisation of sex work in Australia rooted in justice and self-determination.
Robin M Eames
Poet and historian
Plenary 3: The personal is political:
Robin Eames is a queercrip poet and historian living on Gadigal land. Their research focuses on trans histories of nineteenth and twentieth century Australia, particularly medical and carceral interactions. Robin is a founding member of the Disability Justice Network of Australia, a proud unionist in the NTEU, and is currently organising with Crips for Palestine Australia, alongside other local queer and disability grassroots collectives.
Erin O’Dwyer
Journalist, author and editor
Closing session
An award-winning journalist, writer, author and editor, Erin’s 30 year career spans print, digital, broadcast and publishing media. Her work has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Good Weekend, The Saturday Paper, The Guardian, Australian Geographic, Vogue, and on ABC Radio National. She won an Australian UN Media Peace Award for her social issues reporting and is a Walkley Awards finalist.
Erin wrote best-selling true crime memoir Accessory with Felicia Djamirze (2025) and Swellbeing with Blake Johnston (2025). She has lectured in journalism at the University of Sydney for two decades. Erin holds a PhD (UTS) and BA/LLB (Hons), is a qualified lawyer and has served in executive and board roles in media and not-for-profit sectors. She is a former editor of Fitzroy Legal Services’ The Law Handbook.
Through her consultancy Good Prose Studios, she specialises in narrative strategy, helping people, businesses and brands tell better stories.
Felicia Djamirze
Author, advocate and CEO
Closing session
Felicia Djamirze is a trauma therapist, researcher, writer and the author of Accessory. A proud First Nations woman and CEO of Neuro Vitality and The Trauma Recovery Network, she is also the creator of the Growth-Focused Trauma Model. Felicia brings both academic expertise and lived experience as a woman with a conviction history and domestic violence survivor.
She’s been published in Women’s Agenda and Mamamia, and writes a monthly mental health column for About Time, Australia’s first national prison newspaper. She has led Australia’s first all-female, Indigenous-led, lived experience research into adverse childhood experiences in the justice system, and has visited women’s prisons abroad for cross-cultural learning and knowledge sharing.
Felicia works at the intersections of trauma, poverty, and justice, supporting women with conviction histories, survivors of violence and people with complex mental health needs. Her work challenges the status quo with bold, culturally-informed solutions. In 2024, she was named Most Innovative Woman of the Year at the International Business Awards.