Dennis Altman is a Professorial Fellow in the Institute for Human Security at La Trobe University, Melbourne. He remains active as an author and commentator on politics, gay rights and global HIV AIDS issues amongst many other topics. He was listed by The Bulletin as one of the 100 most influential Australians ever in 2006 and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2008.
Alexandra Joy Blackwell is a former Australian women’s cricket captain and standout player, known for her enduring career that spanned 15 years and included 251 international appearances across Tests, One Day Internationals, and T20 Internationals. She was the first Australian woman to play over 200 matches for her country and was a key figure as a specialist batter for Australia, New South Wales and the Sydney Thunder WBBL team.
In 2012, Alex Blackwell publicly came out as a gay athlete, marking a pivotal moment in her career. Since then, she has been a vocal advocate for diversity and inclusion in sports, focusing on gender equality and the rights of LGBTI individuals. Her advocacy efforts culminated in her leadership role at the 2015 Mardi Gras parade, where she marched alongside other openly gay athletes Daniel Kowalski, Jai Wallace, and Matthew Mitchem, further solidifying her impact on sports and society.
Ruth is a general practitioner specialising in LBTQ health and women’s health. She is also an Honorary Associate Professor at the Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne; where she conducts LGBT research and develops training.
Ruth has advised the Victorian Government on LGBTI issues since 2000. She was the founding Convener of the Fertility Access Rights Lobby from 1999 to 2004, formed the Rainbow Families Council in 2005, and was Convener of the Australian Lesbian Medical Association from 2002 to 2005.
In 2007, she was made a life member of the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights lobby, and in 2017 a life member of the Victorian AIDS Council. She was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2017 for her academic, clinical and advocacy work, and made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2019.
Steven’s career in Finance and IT with BHP started in Newcastle and later in a range of locations around the world. Steven was one of the founding members of BHP’s LGBTIQA+ group called “Jasper”.
Since then he has volunteered for a range of organisations including the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, The Grattan Institute, Beyond Zero Emissions, The Greens, Bush Heritage and is Treasurer and board member of Speak Australia.
Damian is a senior IT professional in Perth. Damian was convenor of Gay and Lesbian Equality WA (GALE) from the late 90s to 2004 and was a key public face for the gay community in WA during that time as WA was amending its laws to remove discrimination for gays and lesbians.
Damian was on the WA Attorney General’s Ministerial Advisory Committee into Lesbian and Gay Law Reform. He was a board member of LGBTQIA+ Retirement Association Inc. (GRAI), an advocacy group for LGBTQIA+ retirement and aged care issues.
He has also previously been on the boards of Australian Marriage Equality, and of Human Rights WA Inc.
Living in Adelaide, Catherine trained as an actor at Flinders University Drama Centre (1979 -1982) and has worked as an actor, director and writer working in alternative, community and main stage theatre as well as in film and TV. She was Artistic Director of Feast Festival, Adelaide Queer Cultural Festival (2013 – 2015), Associate Director at State Theatre Company of South Australia (2011-12), Artistic Director of Vitalstatistix National Women’s Theatre (1996-2002), Artistic Director of Mainstreet Theatre based in the South East of South Australia in early 1990s. Catherine is currently a free- lance artist and spreads her time between directing and writing gigs around the country. She recently developed, dramaturged and directed Say No More – a multi-arts, multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-lateral 3 country collaboration for Tutti Arts, The Georgetown Festival and OzAsia Festival.
In 2003 she was awarded The Centenary Medal for ‘the development of women artists in South Australia through Vitalstatistix’.
Catherine has been a member of the Management Committee of International Women’s Playwrights (2009-15) and was appointed as a Governor of the Board for State Theatre Company of South Australia (1996-2011), she is currently a Port Adelaide Arts Forum Board Member.
Sarina is a partner of a law firm based in Sydney and Melbourne. When living in Melbourne, she was on various boards of the ALSO Foundation including a time as President. She has been involved with Joy 94.9, HIV/AIDS Legal Centre and Victorian AIDS Council. Sarina is aware of the issues relating to same sex attracted individuals and couples in Australia and feels strongly and passionately about changing those issues. Sarina’s experience in her legal practice and her knowledge of the community compliment that of the other trustees of PFA.
Peter is widely recognised internationally as one of the world’s leading telecommunications lawyers.
Prior to joining Gilbert+Tobin, Peter worked in a Washington DC law firm on international trade and tax issues, as a consultant to the Commonwealth Minister for Social Security on the design of child support scheme, as a law reform officer at the Australian Law Reform Commission, as a clinical education tutor at the University of New South Wales and as Associate to Justice Elizabeth Evatt, Chief Judge of the Family Court of Australia.
Peter was the sponsor of Gilbert+Tobin’s LGBTIQ+ group. He organised the marriage equality campaign in his home town Murwillumbah, and featured in a program run by the Tweed Museum Small Town Queer.
Peter chairs the Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Foundation and is a director of the Asylum Seeker Centre. He is co-chair of a working group established by the Federal Government to review promoting digital technologies in Australia agriculture.
Alison is a governance professional specialising in corporate governance, compliance and risk management in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.
She is currently the CEO of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine, as well as having held governance roles at Myer Family Investments, David Jones and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
She has been an active volunteer in the LGBTQIA community, having been involved with the Ankali Project, ACON, Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, Mardi Gras, Chillout Festival, and the Aurora Group, where she was Chair from 2015 to 2018 and awarded life membership.
Isaac is a rural generalist, general practitioner, anaesthetist, medical administrator and is the Director of Medical Services for several Queensland Hospitals.
Isaac’s special interests include improving healthcare and healthcare delivery to LGBTIQ Australians living in rural and remote areas and to Australia’s Indigenous peoples.
Isaac has previously spent several years as a general practitioner in the Kimberley region of Western Australia and with the Royal Flying Doctor service based in Alice Springs. Isaac has served on the board of the Gay Auckland Business Association and formed the Derby (Kimberley, WA) rainbow youth mentoring group.
Isaac and his husband live with their two children in Kingaroy Queensland.
Mollie Hewitt is experienced in strategic management, arts leadership, cultural project management and community development. She is co-founder and director of Walk Through Walls, a company that helps individuals and organisations overcome the financial, logistical and bureaucratic barriers they face in delivering projects with powerful positive outcomes. As a fundraiser, producer, and strategic adviser she assists communities across Australia with wide-ranging projects.
At FORM as Regional Manager (2010-2018) she negotiated corporate partnerships, delivered extensive community consultations, managed arts spaces, visitor centre services and a major Aboriginal art centre in the Pilbara. As a Curator she has delivered creative programming, residencies and exhibitions across regional WA.
As General Manager of Western Australian Youth Theatre Company (2018-2021) she delivered major projects with young people, Aboriginal communities, the queer community, and people living with disability. She continues to support WAYTCo through Board membership and on supporting committees.
Ayan Dasvarma is a proud gay man, second-generation migrant and person of colour, currently working as a senior manager and leader in the tertiary education and medical research sectors. He has held various roles managing and leading academic units and coordinating corporate and administrative services across two major Victorian universities for over 20 years, building on previous training and work as a medical researcher in Australia and the UK.
Alongside his work in the tertiary education and medical research sectors, Ayan has nearly 20 years of experience in community service, advocacy and development, specifically in Melbourne’s LGBTQIA+ community, across organisations including the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Gay and Lesbian Switchboard, ThorneHarbour Health, Midsumma and the ALSO Foundation before its closure. He has also held roles in several arts organisations, including the Melbourne International Film Festival, Melbourne Fringe, the Melbourne Comedy Festival and the Melbourne Writers’ Festival.
Ayan undertakes capacity-building in both professional and community spheres through active roles on multiple committees and groups. He carries out his work, service and advocacy with respect and accountability, striving for equity, inclusion and agency for diverse groups and individuals, including those impacted by structural inequalities and discrimination.
Brendon Oliver-Ewen received training as a lawyer and opera singer, and has dabbled in both. He performed regularly with Opera Australia in his 20s and focused on law in his 30s, currently working with Australia’s leading Medical Indemnity firm.
Throughout his training, Brendon had a passion for the rights of refugees, spending time with the Refugee Review Tribunal and assisting in redrafting the Migration Act to amend the need for refugee status to only be granted in an application was able to display ‘persecution’. He also wrote his thesis and completed higher research on LGBTQIA+ rights and sexual harassment. He also has a passion for queer representation in sport, and in moving to Tasmania in 2017 helped found Tasmania’s first home-grown LGTBQIA+ sporting club, Hobart Out Tennis. His dedication to this club has seen him take a leading role in advocating for Queer rights and inclusivity in Sport, resulting in recognition from Tennis Tasmania as the Volunteer of the Year in 2023, winner of the Newcombe Medal for Tennis Australia’s Volunteer of the Year in 2023, and he was one of four national finalists for all sports at the Australian Sports Commission Volunteer of the Year Awards in 2024.
Brendon and his husband Rod, Dalmatian Paddington, and a full aviary of cockatiels live in Hobart.
Penny is a Melbourne-based freelance digital marketer, working under the business name Twopence Social. After earning her chops in creative spaces like The Jacky Winter Group, Gorman and Spotlight, she now works predominantly with small local businesses, non-for-profits and charitable organisations, with a particular interest in queer and refugee and asylum seeker spaces.
Penny’s work for Pride Foundation Australia aims to increase the organisation’s overall reach and reputation through social media management, website management and other related marketing tasks.
Briar Rolfe (he/they) is a queer and trans cartoonist and graphic designer. Since completing his Bachelors in Creative Arts in 2017, Briar has worked a variety of contracts across the Australian not-for-profit sector, gaining a knack for taking minutes, grant administration, and communication strategy. Briar is currently working on his debut graphic novel, ‘Get Your Story Straight’, for publication by Hachette Australia and Levine Querido (US). They live on Latji Latji and Barkindji Country in Mildura with their fiancé, a totally normal number of cats, and Vogue, the bearded dragon who always makes it into the end of their bios.
Pride Foundation Australia acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we operate, in so-called Australia. We acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and that it always was, and always will be Aboriginal land. We pay our respects to the Elders past and present.
Pride Foundation Australia pays respect to the traditional custodians of the land and sea on which we live, work and play, we pay our respects to Elders past and present, acknowledging that sovereignty was never ceded.
Pride Foundation Australia commits through the resources we have available to us, to work with, for, and alongside Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and South Sea Islander LGBTIQ+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy peoples and communities to embed a self-determined future.
We further commit the contribution of a significant proportion of grant funding received to Aboriginal Torres Strait South Sea Islander LGBTIQ+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy led initiatives to improve social outcomes.
Australia was, and always will be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land.