Joshua Creamer

Josh is a proud Waanya and Kalkadoon man, a decorated barrister specialising in complex human rights class actions and native title for First Nations peoples, recently appointed as the Chair of the Truth Telling and Healing Inquiry.

Josh most notably appeared in three landmark class actions, Pearson v State of Queensland (No 2) [2020] FCA 619, (Stolen Wages QLD), Wotton v State of Queensland [2016] FCA 1457, (the Palm Island Case), and Cummings v Commonwealth of Australia (Stolen Generations Northern Territory).

In 2023 Josh was appointed as a Commissioner at the Queensland Law Reform Commission; he is Chair of the Indigenous Affairs Committee of the Queensland Bar Association, a member of the Griffith University Council and on the Board for Legal Aid Queensland from 2017-2023. In 2022, along with his wife Kara Cook, together they established the Joshua Creamer and Kara Cook Excellence in Law Award which aims to increase the number of female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander barristers practising in Queensland.

Josh is a devoted husband and loving father to three beautiful kids, and in March 2023, he was a driving force behind the first group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women (the ‘Blaktrekkers’) to make it to Everest Base Camp. Together they raised over $60,000 for the Black Dog Institute’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre.

Professor Susan Harris Rimmer

Professor Susan Harris Rimmer focuses on international human rights law, climate justice and gender equality in the Griffith Law School and is a member of the Law Futures Centre.

Sue leads the Climate Justice theme of the Griffith Climate Action Beacon. She is the founder of the EveryGen coalition (www.everygen.online) which seeks to amplify the voices of current and future generations and highlight the long-term impacts of today’s policy decisions. With Professor Sara Davies, Susan is co-convenor of the Griffith Gender Equality Research Network.

Susan was the 2021 winner of the Fulbright Scholarship in Australian-United States Alliance Studies (funded by DFAT) and was hosted by Georgetown University in Washington DC in 2022. She was named a Top Innovator by Uplink World Economic Forum for the Climate Justice Challenge in 2022 for the creation of the Climate Justice Observatory (www.climatejusticeobservatory.com.au). She won the Bertha Lutz Prize for research on women in diplomacy awarded by the Centre for International Studies & Diplomacy and The Diplomatic Studies Section (DPLST) of the International Studies Association (ISA) in 2021.

Susan provided the independent Human Rights Assessment for the successful FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2032 Bid in 2020 and was the Human Rights Adviser to GOLDOC for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Susan is the editor of Climate Politics in Oceania (MUP 2024 with Caitlin Byrne and Wes Morgan), Futures of International Criminal Justice (Routledge 2022, with Emma Palmer, Edwin Bikundo and Martin Clark), the Research Handbook for Feminist Engagement with International Law (Edward Elgar 2019, with Kate Ogg); and author of Gender and Transitional Justice: The Women of Timor Leste (Routledge, 2010) and over 44 refereed academic works in leading journals.

In 2014 she was named one of the Westpac and Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence in the Global category. Sue was named one of 100 global gender experts by Apolitical 2018 for her work on the G20, and one of 20 Queensland Voices Female Leaders in 2019.

She was the Director of the Griffith University Policy Innovation Hub (from July 2020 – December 2023), and was Deputy Dean (Research) of the Law School. Prior to joining Griffith, Susan was the Director of Studies at the ANU Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy and a Non-resident Fellow at Chatham House. Prior to academia, Sue was the Advocacy lead at the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) and has also worked for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the National Council of Churches and the Parliamentary Library. She currently holds voluntary board positions as President of UNAA QLD and Foundations for Tomorrow.

Session overview: Have your say in the First Independent Review of the Human Rights Act

Join Sue to discuss how your organisation and clients can participate in the Review.

Andrea Kyle-Sailor

Andrea Kyle-Sailor is a proud Ngaro, Giya, Wiri Woman from the Birri Gubba Nation along the Queensland coast of the Whitsundays.

Historically, she is a proud Bwgcolman Woman from Palm Island.

Andrea has worked for the First Nations Women’s Legal Service for seven years as a Community Development Worker/Cultural Advisor.  She is am based on Palm Island and resides permanently on Palm Island.

“My passion has been for women’s rights and justice for our community and I am following in my mother Erykah Kyle’s footsteps.  My mother gives me my strength to to do what I do each day.”

Session overview: Applying First Nations cultural intelligence, knowledge sharing and ways of being & doing

Co-presenting with Florence Onus, Andrea will speak about the ways that knowledge of cultural traumas, inter-generational trauma and First Nations ways of being and doing impact the work you do, and the capacity of your CLC to work effectively for and with First Nations staff and clients.

Florence Onus

Florence is  a descendant of the Birri- Gubba and Kairi/Bidjara clans of north east Queensland.

She currently works with the First Nations Women’s Legal Service in Townsville, which provides legal advice and court support on family law matters including domestic and family violence, and conducts legal clinics at the Townsville Women’s Correction Centre, The Women’s Centre, NQDVRS and surrounding communities of Palm Island, Charters Towers and Ingham.

In her role as a Community Development Worker, Florence conducts community engagement to promote the services of FNWLSNQ to the wider community, delivers community legal education, and supports clients and solicitors within the service.

Bhiamie Williamson

Bhiamie Williamson is a Euahlayi man from north-west New South Wales.

A geographer, Bhiamie has studied and worked with Indigenous communities throughout Australia, Canada, and the United States. He has a history in working, advising, and researching in the disaster resilience sector, publishing regularly on the unique impacts of disasters on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Bhiamie is proud to lead the National Indigenous Disaster Resilience Program at Monash University.

Emma Bacon

Emma Bacon is the Founder and Executive Director of Sweltering Cities. Since the beginning of 2020 Sweltering Cities has connected with thousands of people around the country, working directly with communities in our hottest suburbs to campaign and advocate for more liveable, equitable and sustainable cities.

Emma is a passionate organiser, campaigner and activist. She has worked across movements for social and environmental justice for over 12 years on campaigns including an international asbestos ban, 10 cent deposits on bottles and cans, and union campaigns with shopping centre cleaners. She has run successful political campaigns and been part of winning significant outcomes for progressive change at local to international levels.

Emma is committed to building a broad movement for climate justice.

Emma lives and works on the land of the Wurundjeri Woi wurrung people.

Revel Pointon

Revel Pointon has been a public interest lawyer with the EDO for over 12 years.

During this time Revel has worked on various pieces of climate change litigation in Queensland as well as dedicating many years to primarily focus on law reform advocacy.

Revel has a passion for interweaving litigation and law reform strategy to maximise the public interest benefits of her work for clients.

Neil Graham

I’m thrilled to introduce myself as the Digital Transformation Manager for Community Legal Centres Australia.

I have spent the last decade working in the for-purpose sector with my experience in program delivery ranging from projects within State Government and more recently in the NFP sector working with small to large organisations to develop and enhance their technology so that they can make a greater impact to the communities that they serve.

Throughout my career, I’ve been fuelled by a passion for leveraging technology to drive meaningful change. There’s no place more rewarding for me to do that from that in the for-purpose sector. From streamlining processes to enhancing customer experiences, I’ve delivered, and seen firsthand the power of innovation in transforming organisations.

But beyond the tech stuff, I’m all about building connections and fostering collaboration. I truly believe that the key to successful transformation lies in working together, sharing ideas, and embracing new perspectives.

I’m here to listen, learn, and lead us toward a future where we thrive in the digital age. Can’t wait to get started and make magic happen with all of you!

Skye Forster

Skye is an Implementation Analyst at Federation of Community Legal Centres Victoria and has two decades of experience managing projects, people and stakeholders in a broad range of industries including legal, finance, sales, retail and hospitality.

She has overseen change management and innovation projects at Community Legal Centres and been instrumental in improving infrastructure and business processes. Skye is passionate about streamlining data collection and using clever analysis and insights to design better services for those the sector serves.

Her current role has seen her support 23 (and counting) CLCs in Victoria to implement or improve modern case management systems and build a thriving CLC Data Community of Practice.

Aaminah Khan

Aaminah Khan (they/them) has lived and worked across rural, regional and remote Australia and the United States as a writer, teacher, performer and organiser.

They have contributed reporting and editorial on human rights and social justice to the Huffington Post, The Progressive, Everyday Feminism, YES! Magazine, Black Girl Dangerous and elsewhere.

As a solicitor with the First Nations Women’s Legal Services QLD, Aaminah is particularly interested in improving access to justice and service delivery for marginalised people living in rural and remote communities

Session overview: Live Behind the Laws: Impact of Anti-Discrimination Reform through a Lived Experience Lens 

A discussion of amendments to the Anti-Discrimination Act which came into effect on 29 April, featuring CLC lawyers and volunteers, focusing on:

• the new/updated protections for transgender, gender-diverse and intersex people
• using the amendments to protect and support clients who present to CLCs
• creating an inclusive and welcoming service for transgender, gender-diverse and intersex clients
• embedding a culture of human rights in the workplace

Caxton Community Legal Centre

Presented by Caxton Community Legal Centre

Session overview: Working with Users of Violence – Workshop

Daniel Scoullar

Daniel is director of Social Change Projects, a policy and communications consultancy that works with community organisations and campaigns. His focus is on social and policy change that makes our community fairer, more equal and more sustainable.

Most recently, he has supported Community Legal Centres Australia and CLCs across the country to advocate for increased funding in the 2024 Budget and next NLAP Agreement with federal, state and territory governments.

Session overview: Stakeholder and Government Relationships

Increase your understanding of the political landscape and how CLCs can influence key decision makers through carefully targeting their messages and the recipients of that message.

This session will involve a 30 minute panel discussion with three experts on government relations and advocacy followed by a workshop where you will learn how to implement the panels insights into advocacy strategies.

Edwina Yasso

Edwina Yasso is of Aboriginal and Australian South Sea Islander descent, from North Queensland. Edwina holds a degree in Applied Science in Indigenous Community, Management and Development.

Edwina has worked mostly in the public service, specialising in community engagement. Edwina’s ways of working is centred around being relational.

For Edwina this means that when collaborating with her it will entail a two-way conversation, which goes from the ‘You, the I’ to the ‘we’. When she is at home, Edwina loves to hang out with her family, play music and watch Korean TV series.

Session overview: CLE Collaborations – Blurred Borders

Do you have clients who struggle to understand legal processes they’re involved in or their court obligations?

This session will provide an overview of the Blurred Borders Queensland tool kits—two new sets of resources which use images, storytelling and plain language to help you break down complex legal concepts and explain processes step-by-step.

The session will explore what’s in a tool kit, who can use it and which client groups may benefit from using it. The session will also include examples of how to use the resources in your practice

Evan Moorhead

Evan is an experienced political strategist with a diverse range of expertise across strategy, communications and stakeholder relations, having served as a Member of Parliament, Director of Strategy to a Queensland Premier and ALP State Secretary

Evan lead Labor’s 2015 and 2017 Queensland State elections. Along with David Nelson, Evan founded Anacta in 2019.

Anacta is a leading public affairs firm, providing polling and market research, campaigns and strategic communications and government engagement. Anacta has worked closely with the community sector on advocacy campaigns across Australia.

Session Overview: 

Increase your understanding of the political landscape and how CLCs can influence key decision makers through carefully targeting their messages and the recipients of that message.

This session will involves a 30 minute panel discussion with three experts on government relations and advocacy followed by a workshop where you will learn how to implement the panels insights into advocacy strategies.

Graham White

Graham is an Iman descendent who grew up in the Rockhampton region. He is currently Director of Sector Engagement and Communications at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service, Brisbane.

Graham has extensive experience in the areas of Strategic and Operational Planning and Project Management, after working with across government and non government organisations. Graham is currently a skills-based director with Kambu Aboriginal Corporation, and a Director of PCYC QLD. He has also been a board member of the ‘Iman Native Title Company’ at Rockhampton and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service Brisbane.

Session overivew: CLE Collaborations – Whichways 

This session will be a yarn between some of the organisations involved in the creation of the  Community Legal Education (CLE) resources Which Way – Protect Your Legal Rights!  born out of collaboration between members of the Queensland Legal Assistance Forum, including Legal Aid Queensland, Queensland Indigenous and Family Violence Legal Service and Community Legal Centres Queensland, as well as Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak.

It will focus on the process of collaboration between the organisations and the commitment to working in a way which promotes the rights of First Nations peoples, working in a way that centred culturally appropriate best practice ways of working.

Click here for more information

Helen Blaber

Helen has conducted public interest litigation on behalf of people in prison for more than a decade. She holds a Master of Laws specialising in Human Rights and has a particular interest in promoting awareness of the experiences of people in prison through empirical research. In collaboration with academics from the University of Queensland, she has recently co-authored publications relating to solitary confinement and parole suspensions, which rely on de-identified data extracted from PLS client files. As the Director of PLS, she designs and oversees CLE projects aimed at overcoming the barriers created by imprisonment which prevent people in prison from obtaining legal assistance.

Session overview:

The capability of people in prison to address their legal needs is severely restricted by a range of physical factors associated with incarceration, including lack of access to phone calls and the internet. These barriers are compounded for people with complex needs, who are often not able to take the proactive steps needed to seek assistance.

This session will discuss the Legal Information Fairs Project PLS is currently designing for Townsville Correctional Centres. The aim of this project is to provide people in prison with a holistic opportunity to connect with the different legal services available to them and overcome the barriers created by incarceration. PLS will discuss the practicalities associated with successful implementation of this project and the goal to expand Legal Information Fairs to the 14 prisons across the State.

Josephine Allan

Josephine Allan joined LawRight in January 2022. Prior to joining LawRight, Josie worked for one of Australia’s top law firms and was a Judge’s Associate at the District Court of Queensland.

Since joining LawRight, Josie has led LawRight’s embedded partnerships with Micah Projects and Multicultural Australia. Josie has a particular interest in resolving civil law issues arising from the relationship between an experience of homelessness and violence and on removing barriers for newly arrived Queenslanders from multicultural backgrounds to understand their rights and engage with the Australian legal system.

Josie overseas LawRight’s Homelessness Consumer Advocacy Project and its Multicultural Law program.

Session overview: Effective Collaboration with Frontline Agencies: lessons from 20 years delivering outreach legal partnerships 

LawRight’s Homelessness Law and Multicultural Law has worked collaboratively with frontline community, health and homelessness agencies since 2002 and 2007 respectively.

Reflecting on over 20 years of collaborative legal outreach, Josephine Allan, a Senior Lawyer in Community & Health Justice Partnerships | Homelessness Law and Multicultural Law team will:

• discuss what works and what doesn’t;
• reflect on the benefits of embedded multidisciplinary practices; and
• provide guidance on resolving common concerns of working with and in multidisciplinary agencies.

Katherine Gorter

Katherine Gorter is the community legal education (CLE) and engagement program lead at Legal Aid Queensland where she works to improve people’s awareness of their legal rights and responsibilities and raise awareness about Legal Aid Queensland’s services and how to access them.

The new Blurred Borders Queensland tool kits—a set of resources to help you talk about the law with clients and community members—are a key focus of her work.

Katherine has worked in corporate communications and engagement in the tertiary education and public sectors for almost 20 years. She has degrees in journalism and marketing and an MBA in corporate communication. She also produces wonky pottery in her spare time.

Session overview: CLE Collaborations – Blurred Borders

Do you have clients who struggle to understand legal processes they’re involved in or their court obligations?

This session will provide an overview of the Blurred Borders Queensland tool kits—two new sets of resources which use images, storytelling and plain language to help you break down complex legal concepts and explain processes step-by-step.

The session will explore what’s in a tool kit, who can use it and which client groups may benefit from using it. The session will also include examples of how to use the resources in your practice.

Margaret Hornagold

Margaret is a Barada & Kabalbara woman from Central Qld.  She is the Manager of the Strategic Policy team, First Nations policy, at Legal Aid Qld.

Margaret has worked in and across Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy at a local, state and national level in policy design, strategic implementation, community education and service delivery for over 40 years.

She holds a Bachelor of Law, a Bachelor of Arts, a Diploma in Business, Government and Community Service Coordination, and has held countless leadership roles as a Director, Manager, CEO, Board member, Native Title Applicant.

Margaret is a Traditional Custodian and a member of several committees including:  Caxton Legal Service First Nations Working Group; Qld Law Society First Nations Policy group; member of the National Legal Aid First Nations Working Group and the LAQ Yadaba Working Group.

Session overivew: CLE Collaborations – Whichways 

This session will be a yarn between some of the organisations involved in the creation of the  Community Legal Education (CLE) resources Which Way – Protect Your Legal Rights!  born out of collaboration between members of the Queensland Legal Assistance Forum, including Legal Aid Queensland, Queensland Indigenous and Family Violence Legal Service and Community Legal Centres Queensland, as well as Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak.

It will focus on the process of collaboration between the organisations and the commitment to working in a way which promotes the rights of First Nations peoples, working in a way that centred culturally appropriate best practice ways of working.

Click here for more information

Monica Taylor

Monica is a lawyer who recently joined the CLCQ team to lead a project on developing a climate and disaster resilience community of practice and sector capacity building.

She is currently completing her PhD (QUT) on climate justice, where she is examining the impact of climate change on legal need and the Legal Assistance Sector’s readiness to respond.

Session overview: CLCs and Disaster Resilience

CLCQ will lead a session on deepening our sector’s disaster and climate resilience. It will include a recap on CLC achievements under the 2023/4 Disaster Resilience and Capacity Building Project.

Michelle Cutler

Michelle brings globally acquired expertise across the commercial and not-for-profit sectors to assist CEOs and Boards deliver on the outcomes and impact they wish to generate.

She helps leaders with effective strategic planning, change management, operational efficiencies, organisational culture, stakeholder engagement as well as governance and risk issues.

Her approach is always practical, commercial, considered and people focused.

Prior to consulting Michelle led for-purpose businesses and member associations in Australia for over 10 years, including a stint as the acting CEO and COO of Community Legal Centres Australia.  She has spent six years in London and the US in strategic advisory and business development roles and before that worked in Hong Kong as a lawyer with two “magic circle” law firms.

Session overview: Tools and Techniques for effectively working with your board

A look at how Centre CEOs and the leadership team members can work effectively with their Board to build a highly productive and supportive relationship that enhances a Centre’s service delivery and culture.

An empowering session with lots of practical tips and advice, discussion and templates.

We will cover:

• How to set up a productive relationship between the Board and the CEO/leadership team
• How to encourage board member engagement
• How to leverage the board members’ skill and expertise for the benefit of the Centre
• Board meeting agendas and board papers
• How to get focus on matters of strategic importance (rather than operational issues)
• What information should/should not be in board papers
• How to positively impact Board and Centre culture through the board relationship
• Common issues and problems – and suggestions on how to fix them.

Renee Shike

Ren Shike (they/them) is a queer, nonbinary Japanese-Australian Lawyer at MinterEllison in Meanjin (Brisbane).

In 2023, they completed a secondment at the LGBTI Legal Service, helping to build the capability of the Service’s free legal advice clinic. As part of this experience, Ren leveraged their connection to and knowledge of community to help kickstart a project developing resources for drag performers to know their rights.

Ren is fiercely passionate about law reform, having successfully advocated to make admission to the legal profession in Queensland more inclusive for gender diverse people. Outside of work, Ren volunteers as the Queensland State Director at Out For Australia, an LGBTQIA+ charity empowering people to be out at work.

Ren’s intersectional identity, and their experiences as a result of this, have made them passionate about making change to ensure systems and services are inclusive and accessible. Ren is a finalist for LGBTQ+ Role Model of the Year for the 2024 Australian Workplace Equality Index Awards.

Stacey De Calmer

Stacey De Calmer is the Executive Director for Sector Workforce Planning and Development at QCOSS.

Stacey has spent over 16 years working with stakeholders across the community services sector to identify opportunities to strengthen community services sector capacity. She has designed and managed the delivery of a range of learning programs and resources, spanning many content areas.

Session overview: Supporting a Diverse Workforce 

With sector workforce shortages at crisis point, QCOSS is delivering a program designed to support organisations to re-evaluate their human resources practices to ensure they promote genuinely inclusive hiring processes and workplaces.

Funded by the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training, this 5-part series has been delving into a range of functions of human resources capability. This session specifically will unpack diversity and inclusion strategies to reveal the aspects that really make them come to life, and will outline QCOSS’ key learnings in delivering this project to the sector. We will run through some of the practical resources developed through the project, including the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Guide.

Terri Butler

Terri Butler is an Industrial Commissioner of the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission. Before her appointment Commissioner Butler operated her own consultancy business, providing policy and advisory advice on a range of policy areas including employment, skills and jobs-related matters, and held a variety of non-executive positions. She is a former federal MP and shadow minister, and a former solicitor practising in employment and industrial law.

Tim Leach

Tim Leach is an old community-sector hack, currently CEO of Community Legal Centres Australia.

He is a former lawyer who has worked in community-based organisations and anti-discrimination and human rights agencies for 30 years.

He has had a side hustle as an international development worker, mostly in the Asia/Pacific, and has a doctorate in community-based human rights movements in PNG.

Session overview: Sector Update

Post federal budget, all eyes will tun to the drafting and funding of the next National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP). We’ve six months to secure a better deal than the one we’ve got, so we’ll be advocating around the architecture of the partnership (including federal/state responsibilities), funding, data and more. Aside from NLAP, we’ve a new Impact Strategy that will be shaping the way the national peak works, including work to promote reform of the sector’s digital landscape. I’ll be covering NLAP, money, our Impact Strategy and more.