As she is affectionately known, Michelle Sheppard, or “Mama Mish”, is a highly respected presenter, advocate, and trainer in the gender equity space. As a transgender woman, she appreciates the difficulties within the grey created by the gender divide, traverses them herself, and willingly takes others on the ride with her.

Michelle brings her experience as a trans woman into her work, running diversity, equity, and inclusion training, mentoring colleagues, and providing extra support to anyone transitioning or affirming their gender. Michelle lays out the sobering statistics around violence and discrimination against transgender people, unemployment, financial troubles, and mental health issues but mixes them with anecdotes and funny stories from her life.

She embodies dignity, grace and the change needed to make a positive difference in others’ lives, empowers women and challenges barriers to inclusion, discrimination, and harassment.

Joe Ball was appointed as the new Victorian Commissioner for LGBTIQA+ Communities in September for a three-year term. The Commissioner for LGBTIQA+ Communities advocates for the rights, safety and wellbeing of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex, queer and asexual communities. Commissioner Ball (he/him) is a proud transgender man. He is a longstanding LGBTIQA+ advocate and former CEO of Switchboard Victoria, with a 25-year career in disability, housing and homelessness, and social services. During his tenure with Switchboard, Joe lead the establishment of the statewide LGBTIQA+ Family Violence and Mental Health helpline Rainbow Door. Throughout his expansive career, Joe has drawn upon the strength and guidance of LGBTIQA+ history and most importantly, the work of activists who have paved the way, the courageous voices with lived experience and the wisdom of LGBTIQA+ elders.

Commissioner Ball is also a member of the Expert Advisory Group for the federal government’s 10-Year LGBTIQ+ Health and Wellbeing Plan and previously participated in several leading social service advisory committees and boards. This includes the Victorian Family Violence peak body Safe and Equal, the community advisory committee for 1800RESPECT, the Victorian LGBTIQA+ Taskforce, the Victorian Family Violence Reform Advisory Group, and the National Suicide Prevention Governance Committee.

In 2020, Joe was honoured as an award recipient in the 50 Outstanding LGBTI+ Leaders in Australia.

Andrew has lived in Canberra for more than 40 years and attended Holt Preschool, Turner Primary, Lyneham High and Lake Ginninderra College, before studying a Bachelor of Arts (Policy Studies) at the Australian National University, majoring in economics and political science.

He was elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly in 2006 and has served in a number of Ministerial portfolios including planning, education, housing, community services and sport.

He is Australia’s longest-serving Tourism Minister and is also the ACT’s Treasurer, Minister for Social Inclusion and Equality, and Minister for Trade, Industry and Investment.

Andrew is passionate about supporting Canberra’s diverse community. Through innovative policies, he has helped shape Canberra to become Australia’s most inclusive city and the most LGBTIQ-friendly city in the country.

The Barr Labor Government is focused on creating a positive, progressive city that provides world-class healthcare, excellent schools and tertiary education, and infrastructure and services that are built for Canberra; built to support the city Canberrans want.

Over the next few years, Andrew will ensure Canberra is a world leader of contemporary urban renewal.

Through nation-leading tax reform, he aims to make Canberra a fairer place to live that leaves no-one behind.

Corey is a proud GunaiKurnai, Boonwurrung and Wiradjuri man, living on Ngunnawal and Ngambri land in Canberra.

Corey’s advocacy journey began shortly after initiating his affirmation journey in 2017, experiencing the gaps in access to essential health care services, adequate policy and protections for Transgender and Gender non-conforming people and a significant lack of visibility and understanding for First Nations people. Most notably, just how difficult access to life saving gender affirming health care services are for people in  remote and regional areas.

In his day job, Corey is a Director at Deloitte leading the portfolio for Cloud Advisory in Government and the Public Sector, Corey is also a member of the Deloitte pride network “StandOUT” and involved in the Trans and Gender Diverse group in that network. Outside of work he is also a Director on the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras board and the first Indigenous full board Director in the history of the organisation.

Tasmania’s own Hannah Gadsby stopped stand-up comedy in its tracks with their multi award winning show, Nanette, which played to sold out houses in Australia, the UK and New York. Its launch on Netflix, and subsequent Emmy win, took Nanette (and Hannah) to the world.

Hannah’s difficult second album (which was also their eleventh solo show) was named Douglas after their dog. Hannah walked Douglas around the world, selling out the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Opera House in Sydney and the Kennedy Center in DC, a sit down run in New York and shows across the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Douglas was an Emmy nominated smash hit, moving beyond the trauma at the centre of Nanette and instead letting the world see the view from Hannah’s brain – one that sees the world differently but with breathtaking clarity. The show covered Hannah’s autism diagnosis, cleared up some confusion regarding a penguin, lectured some great masters, and saw the patriarchy needled with various levels of vigour. Douglas is available throughout the world on Netflix, recorded in Los Angeles.

Hannah has done plenty of other things over the course of more than a decade in comedy, but that will do for now.

Patricia Karvelas is the presenter of Q+A on Monday nights on ABC TV and the host of ABC News Afternoon Briefing at 4pm weekdays on ABC News channel.

She is also the co-host of the weekly Party Room podcast with Fran Kelly and the host of the ABC’s new politics and news podcast Politics Now.

Previously she was the presenter at Radio National for a decade, anchoring both RN Drive for seven years and RN Breakfast for three years.

She has been a prominent senior journalist in the Australian media for more than 20 years, beginning her professional career in broadcast journalism at the ABC and SBS as both a producer and presenter.

She has also worked for The Australian newspaper covering federal politics in the press gallery, also as the Victorian Bureau Chief and Editor and Senior National Affairs Journalist. Patricia specialised in Indigenous affairs and social affairs policy reporting for more than 10 years.

Karvelas was also appointed Honorary Professor with RMIT’s School of Media and Communication, building on her existing engagement with RMIT and continuing to work with students and staff in various capacities.

Patricia Karvelas is the presenter of Q+A on Monday nights on ABC TV and the host of ABC News Afternoon Briefing at 4pm weekdays on ABC News channel.

She is also the co-host of the weekly Party Room podcast with Fran Kelly and the host of the ABC’s new politics and news podcast Politics Now.

Previously she was the presenter at Radio National for a decade, anchoring both RN Drive for seven years and RN Breakfast for three years.

She has been a prominent senior journalist in the Australian media for more than 20 years, beginning her professional career in broadcast journalism at the ABC and SBS as both a producer and presenter.

She has also worked for The Australian newspaper covering federal politics in the press gallery, also as the Victorian Bureau Chief and Editor and Senior National Affairs Journalist. Patricia specialised in Indigenous affairs and social affairs policy reporting for more than 10 years.

Karvelas was also appointed Honorary Professor with RMIT’s School of Media and Communication, building on her existing engagement with RMIT and continuing to work with students and staff in various capacities.

Lill Healy was appointed Deputy Secretary, Service Systems Reform in June 2019. Her group is responsible for working in collaboration with other departments to support the design and delivery of reforms that address issues of complexity and disadvantage with a focus on place-based initiatives.

Lill was previously Deputy Secretary of Inclusion at the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions. Before that Lill held a variety of senior leadership roles in the VPS and across the private and community sectors.

Michael West, pronouns he/they, is the current Director, Senior’s Policy, Equality and Elder Abuse Reform, for the Victorian Government. Michael is responsible for leading the whole of Victorian Government response to equality reform as outlined in the 10 year LGBTIQA+ strategy 2022-2032 Pride in our future. Michael has worked across a variety of social and public policy areas including alcohol and other drugs, HIV, sexual and reproductive health, multicultural, inclusive communities and LGBTIQ+ policy areas. He is a graduate of the Benevolent Society’s Social Leadership Australia Program and has held leadership roles such as past Chair National Blood Borne Viruses and Sexually Transmissible Infections (BBVSTI) standing committee, co-chair of the Victorian Expert Advisory Committee for Addiction Medicine, co-convenor, Twenty10 LGBTIQA+ Youth Homeless Service.

John Bradley is the Secretary of the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA). DEECA’s 6500 staff work in the portfolios of Energy and Resources, Environment, Climate Action, State Electricity Commission, Water and Agriculture across 82 locations to support thriving, productive and sustainable communities, environments and industries.

John was previously CEO of Energy Networks Australia representing gas distribution and electricity transmission and distribution businesses. He also served as CEO of the Queensland Water Commission and Director General of the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management and Department of Premier and Cabinet.

John holds an MBA from QUT and BA from the University of Queensland. He is the President of IPAA Victoria and serves on the Victorian Secretaries Board. He is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has served as a Director on the Boards of the Australian Gas Industry Trust, Infrastructure Victoria, Greening Australia Ltd, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Australian and New Zealand School of Government, the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership, Families Responsibility Commission and on the University of Queensland Senate.

Tony’s birth name (and legal name) is Antoinette.  When she was born at the Altona Hospital, doctors noticed some lumps in her groin.  After many medical tests to determine what they were, doctors confirmed Antoinette was female, the lumps in her groin were her gonads and that she was born with an intersex variation called Androgen Insensitivity.  Despite a childhood involving much medical intervention and lies and old fashioned attitudes about what it means to be a girl, Antoinette succeeded in her professional and personal life.  However, after a life changing experience she decided to go public about her true self and that she was born with biological sex characteristics that are mainly female, but with some internal male traits too; that is, she was born with an intersex variation. The impact of this decision had major consequences on her life, but still led to her being elected as the first openly intersex public official in the world.

Tony has been a public intersex human rights advocate for 25 years and served the board of Intersex Peer Support Australia (formerly the AIS Support Group Australia) for 22 years (including approximately 10 years as President).  Tony is also a Vice Chair of Intersex Human Rights Australia (and a former Co-Executive Director) and the former Intersex Chair of ILGA World. 

Tony’s story has featured on numerous television programs, radio programs and articles including twice on 60 Minutes (2000 and 2005), the Project and ABC.  Tony has spoken at numerous conferences focusing on diversity, resilience, disability, human rights, LGBTI issues, intersex rights, trans / transgender issues, sex & gender, LBTI women, multicultural issues and local government leadership and services.  Tony has also provided training and consultancy services to many government departments and other organisations, and has received numerous awards such as the “Top 50 LGBTI Leaders Award” in 2017.

Tony is married to Manja (having married in New Zealand in 2013 prior to Australia permitting marriage equality), a proud parent of an adult son, Maltese, and an aviation specialist (Engineer, auditor, consultant and instructor) in their professional life.

A global engagement leader, Kylie has almost 30 years’ experience in communication and stakeholder engagement. She specialises in helping clients to maintain and regain their social licence through mitigating social risk and managing community outrage.

Kylie was the Global IAP2 Chair from 2017-2022 and was on the Australasian IAP2 Board from 2011-2021. She currently chairs the Australian National University’s Advisory Board for the Institute for Infrastructure in Society (which oversees the NextGen research into community engagement trends).

Earlier this year Kylie was named one of three inaugural Honorary IAP2 fellows across Australia and New Zealand. She was named a Deloitte Outstanding 50 LGBTI+ leader in 2020 and the Consult Australia Female Champion of Change in 2018.

Over the last seven years the Aurecon engagement team has won more than 16 coveted industry awards including IAP2 International Engagement Project of The Year.

Glenn is the Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Bank in Australia and has over 30 years’ experience in the financial services sector. Glenn is a member of the Asia-Pacific Regional Oversight Committee (previously ExCo) – the main governance body for Deutsche Bank’s business in the region. Glenn is also a Board Member of the Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA) and serves on its Audit & Risk Committee.

Prior to his current role, Glenn was the Head of Equities for Australia with responsibility for Deutsche Bank’s equity sales and trading, flow derivatives and prime broking businesses.

Before joining Deutsche Glenn was a Director at J.P. Morgan, where he ran the Sydney equity sales desk. He also held roles at Commonwealth Bank, initially within equity capital markets and subsequently building and running the bank’s top-ranking Hybrid Security Team.

Glenn is very committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace and is proud to be the Executive Sponsor for Deutsche Bank’s APAC dbPride employee network and a Board member of the Pride in Diversity Executive Advisory Group.

Glenn holds a Bachelor of Economics degree with Honours from Monash University.

As Executive General Manager, Parcel, Post & eCommerce Services, Gary is helping to transform Australia Post into a customer-led, solutions-based organisation.

Gary leads the design and delivery of compelling products and customer experiences for Australia Post’s diverse range of business customers – from small privately run businesses to large corporations and government agencies. Gary also leads the product lifecycle management of Australia Post’s Parcel and Mail Products.

With a focus on innovation, customer centricity and world-class go-to-market capability, Gary has ensured Australia Post continues to delight its customers – even through periods of unforeseen global disruption.

Gary is an accomplished business leader with more than 30 years’ of experience in the telecommunications and technology sectors. During this time, Gary has held a range of senior leadership roles across sales, marketing, operations and executive management.

Prior to joining Australia Post in 2016, Gary spent a decade at Motorola. In this role, he led Motorola Solutions’ business across South East Asia, with a particular focus on the public safety, transportation, retail, supply chain and manufacturing sectors.

Gary is a board member of Mount Scopus College and a member of its Audit and Risk Committee. As the Senior Executive sponsor for LGBTQIA+ inclusion, Gary is passionate about recognising and celebrating Australia Post’s diverse workforce.

Sally is responsible for leading workforce transformation and initiatives that ensure the Company’s culture and practises are focused on safety, sustainability and performance outcomes to deliver the Company’s vision and strategies. This includes ensuring there are the skills and capabilities for today and the future, and our workplaces are anchored in our values of We Deliver, We Care, We are One Team and We are Fearless. She is also the Executive Sponsor of NBN Co’s Pride network.

Prior to joining NBN Co, Sally led Human Resources functions and change transformations in Australian based and global enterprises in financial services and commodities, which saw her based in Australia, the United Kingdom (UK) and New Zealand (NZ).

Sally holds a Master of Business Administration from Henley Business School in the UK, a Bachelor of Business Studies from Massey University, NZ, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

Budi is a well known community advocate in the LGBTIQA+ communities, an experienced group facilitator and trainer, a researcher, an educator, and an engaging public speaker. They have worked with organisations across multiple disciplines and sectors, using their knowledge on intersectionality to guide organisations to move beyond the diversity thinking and to embody an intersectional framework. They have continued to use their lived and living experiences, academic knowledge, and passion to influence meaningful and sustainable organisational change. 

Budi is reflexive, analytical, passionate, knowledgeable, and curious, with a commitment for on-going reflection, learning, and collaboration. 

Budi’s work has been featured in ABC, SBS, and The Age. In 2022, Budi was named as LinkedIn Top 20 LGBTIQA+ Voices in Australia.