Nicole is Head of Safety at Uber ANZ, and is committed to building solutions to improve safety outcomes for women and vulnerable people.

For the last twenty years, Nicole has worked across a range of industries in a health and safety remit, including construction, mining, rail, defense and technology.

Her role at Uber includes overseeing the prevention of serious incidents as a result of person to person interactions and road safety accidents. This includes developing safety policies and processes, and implementing innovations that support the safety of every Uber app user.

She balances Uber’s value of “Standing for Safety” with spending time with her two young children and volunteering with the Coogee Surf Life Saving Club.

Karen Bentley, is the CEO of WESNET, Australia’s national peak body for specialist women’s domestic and family violence services. Karen has worked across the Violence Against Women sector since 1997 as a senior executive in the Australian Public Service, as a consultant, in frontline services and in WESNET. Always a tech enthusiast and strong anti-violence advocate, Karen has a particular focus on the intersection of technology and Violence Against Women, and is regularly called upon to provide advice to governments, policy makers and technology companies. Karen has trained thousands of frontline workers and other professionals about technology safety and is a co-founder of the Safety Net Australia project. Karen has a BSc(Hons) from ANU and began her career in a science lab before joining the Australian Public Service where she worked across several agencies. She has also worked as a consultant to numerous non-government organisations and in leadership positions in the health sector. She is passionate about ensuring gender equality and ending violence.

In her four years as a Technology Safety Specialist at WESNET. Sarah Biordi has worked with victim service providers, telecommunication providers, financial institutions, technology companies, app developers, law enforcement and policymakers to improve safety and privacy for victims of intimate partner abuse. She has provided more than 60 face-to-face and online training to over 6,000 practitioners and other interested parties in Australia on issues of technology-facilitated abuse, privacy, and victim safety. She has also participated on national and international committees that address privacy, technology, and safety. Sarah led the ACCAN-funded WESNET App Safety Centre project which, in partnership with Dr Jenna Condie and Dr Garth Neal from Western Sydney University, and Dr Robert Merkel,  impartially reviewed and assessed some popular safety, security and privacy apps. Sarah is currently leading the Commonwealth-funded WESNET training component of the Cyber Safety Pasifika (CSP) project in partnership with the Australian Federal Police (AFP). This presentation will be included in the CSP Tier 2 Cybercrime Investigations course. Sarah feels honoured to be in a position to support women and children suffering family and domestic violence through WESNET’s Safety Net Australia Project.

Chay Brown is born and raised in Mparntwe Alice Springs and works closely with Aboriginal women’s groups in the Northern Territory to prevent family violence. Chay has lived experience of domestic, family, and sexual violence and regularly speaks as a survivor-advocate to inform policy and programming responses. Chay’s doctoral research explored what works to prevent violence against women in the Northern Territory, which led to the development of a Northern Territory specific violence prevention framework. Chay was also the project lead on research exploring experiences of technology-facilitated abuse among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in regional and remote areas and the lead author of the ‘Rante rante ampe Marle and Urreye’ Research Report – the first evaluation of primary prevention projects in the Northern Territory. Chay co-authored Australia’s National Plan to end violence against women and children 2022-2032, and the Global Shared Research Agenda for research on violence against women in low-and middle-income countries. Chay has previously worked in community development in East Africa with a focus on supporting families after HIV diagnosis as well as in safe houses and for anti-trafficking organisations in Southeast Asia, supporting women who have survived sex trafficking. She is the Managing Director of Her Story Consulting.  

Amie Carrington is a passionate and transformative leader dedicated to ending gender-based violence.  As the Chief Executive Officer of the Domestic Violence Action Centre, providing specialist domestic, family and sexual violence services in South East Queensland. She also holds influential positions as a Board Member of WESNET (Women’s Services Network) Inc. and Co-Chair of Ending Violence Against Women Queensland. Amie’s academic background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Communications & Social Inquiry, complemented by certifications in governance, leadership, and coaching.

Joanna Colautti is a Technology Safety Specialist for WESNET where she provides training and technical advice on technology safety issues to front-line service providers. Prior to joining WESNET Joanna worked as a domestic violence solicitor at Djirra (previously known as the Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention Legal Service Victoria), civil law/family law solicitor at Legal Aid NSW, Health Justice Partnership solicitor at Women’s Legal Service QLD and Early Intervention Family Law Solicitor/ Domestic Violence Solicitor at the Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre. Joanna has extensive experience working directly with clients who have experienced domestic and/ or family violence and assisting them with the legal issues that arise as a result of experiencing this abuse. Joanna provided face to face legal advice, casework assistance and court advocacy in the legal areas of family law, child protection, domestic violence orders, debt and victims compensation. Joanna believes education and training is an essential component of helping to enact structural and cultural change by challenging and transforming the social, political, legal and economic structures that allow for gender-based violence to occur.

Christy Ditchburn is a Sustainability Principal in Telstra’s Sustainability, External Affairs and Legal Services team located in Melbourne and leads a team of experts focused on Responsible Business and Digital Inclusion. Christy is actively involved in setting, embedding and executing on Telstra’s Responsible Business strategy which drives Social Impact. Christy is passionate about digital inclusion, accessibility, and the power of corporates and collaboration to drive change in the world.

Christy has extensive experience in both the telecommunications and power sectors, both in Australia and Asia. Prior to her role in the Sustainability team, Christy was a senior lawyer for Telstra in both Australia and Hong Kong. Christy also has experience advising on sustainability, environment, climate change and carbon trading issues in the power sector.

Christy began her career at Mallesons Stephen Jaques (now King & Wood Mallesons) and holds a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry)/Laws (Hons) from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

As a senior communications specialist who has been in the industry for over 16 years, Kirsty has extensive experience leading both consumer and corporate communications, as well as content marketing, across a wide range of industries including ecommerce, technology, travel, retail, government, education and hospitality.

With a reputation for delivering high impact integrated communications strategies, Kirsty currently heads up the PR efforts in Australia for Tinder, the world’s most popular dating app.

Her role joins her impressive professional portfolio, having led communications for globally renowned brands including eBay, Gumtree and Expedia Group to drive market development through awareness and meaningful storytelling.

Since joining Tinder, Kirsty has worked alongside WESNET, experts and other local partners to proactively inform and develop resources to educate media, users and non-users on Tinder’s trust and safety features, and other tools to empower singletons when dating online and IRL. This includes the creation of the Dating Safety Guide, as well as the ongoing Safe Space series of events.

Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon is a Professor of Social Sciences in the Faculty of Arts at Monash University and member of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre (Australia). She also holds affiliated research appointments with the School of Law and Social Justice at University of Liverpool (UK) and the Research Center on Violence at West Virginia University (US). Kate’s qualifications include a Phd in Criminology (2012), Masters of Human Rights Law (2019), Graduate Certificate of Higher Education (2013) and she is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Kate is an internationally recognised scholar in the field of family violence, femicide, responses to violence against women, perpetrator interventions, children and young people, and the impact of policy and practice reform in Australia and internationally. The findings of her research have been published in leading academic journals and books. Kate has advised on homicide law reform, family violence and youth justice reviews in several Australian and international jurisdictions. Her research has been cited by the High Court of Australia. In 2021 she was appointed Chair of Respect Victoria by the Victorian Government.

Dr Asher Flynn is an Associate Professor of Criminology in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University and a Chief Investigator on the ARC Centre of Excellence: the Centre for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW), where she leads the technology workstream. Asher is an award-winning international researcher in policy and prevention concerning gendered and sexual violence, with a key focus on technology-facilitated abuse. Asher has published eight books and over 70 chapters, articles and reports in this field. Her research has shaped policy and practice, including informing the introduction of federal and state laws on image-based sexual abuse across Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Asher is the recipient of a number of prestigious national and international research fellowships and is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Criminology. She is a member of the United Nations’ Advisory Group to co-create a shared research agenda to end technology-facilitated gender-based violence and is the only Australian member of Meta’s Global Women’s Safety Board. Asher has advised the Australian Office of the eSafety Commissioner, the United Nations, Meta and Bumble on policy and prevention of technology-facilitated violence. See her Monash profile here and Google Scholar profile here.

Kayla Glynn-Braun is a proud First Nations Wiradjuri Woman from New South Wales and has lived in Australia’s Northern Territory for over a decade. Kayla has worked within the community and housing sector for over a decade and has worked in frontline services responding to domestic, family, and sexual violence. With a background in housing and social environments, Kayla has previously been involved in homelessness services, housing policy and systems, case management, and program management. Kayla is particularly passionate about the critical and urgent need for Australia to address violence perpetrated against First Nations women. Kayla has seen firsthand the impacts are on colonization on First Nation people and has lived experience with violence, poverty, the justice system, and colonization.

Mia manages policy for Meta in Australia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Pacific Islands. 

Amongst other policy areas, Mia leads engagement with government and stakeholders on safety, privacy, misinformation, and security. Prior to joining Meta, Mia was the Ass. Secretary for Digital Economy and Convergence Strategy at the Dept of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. Mia joined the Department after working in Silicon Valley as Product Counsel for YouTube. She has a Bachelor of Arts and Law from the University of NSW and a Masters of Law from Stanford University.

Dr Diarmaid Harkin is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Deakin University. In 2020 he authored the book ‘Private Security and Domestic Violence: The Risks and Benefits of Private Security Companies Providing Services for Victims of Domestic Violence’. He also has a developing expertise in the intersection of technology and domestic violence. In 2019 he co-led a research project into the threats of the consumer spyware industry. He has worked with WESNET and the Office of the eSafety Commissioner on research into technology-facilitated forms of abuse. He is currently researching technology-facilitated abuse in the Pacific and is leading a project into the use of CCTV by domestic violence organisations.

Angela first joined CBA in 2010 as a member of the bank’s dispute resolution team, managing complaints about share trading, financial advice, superannuation, insurance and retail products. In 2014, Angela undertook a CBA secondment with the Jawun program to North East Arnhem Land, which then resulted in her leaving the bank to take up a role as Town Administrator for the remote mining town of Nhulunbuy, NT.

Angela returned to CBA in 2016 to help create the Office of the Customer Advocate. As Head of Advocacy, Angela was responsible for the creation of the CBA’s first vulnerability framework, and the establishment of CBA’s Community Council.

Angela was subsequently appointed to the role of CBA’s Group Customer Advocate in September 2019 and leads the Group Customer Advocacy and Vulnerability team which is focused on improving customer outcomes across the CBA Group – particularly for those customers in vulnerable circumstances.

Angela sits on the boards of One Door Mental Health (NSW) and Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities (AMRRIC – NT), and is a mum of one child, two dogs and four fish.

Julie is the Chair of the WESNET Board and has worked in the anti-violence against women sector for more than 30 years. 

In June 2021, Julie was awarded a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia “For significant services to women and children experiencing family violence”.  She is also the Chief Executive Officer of Annie North Inc. women’s refuge and domestic violence service and has led innovative and good practice responses to women and children experiencing violence for almost three decades.  Julie is passionate about educating the community about the drivers of violence against women so that everyone can contribute to the social change needed to prevent it.  Whilst any violence is wrong, and can be perpetrated by anyone, gendered-based violence against women is particularly prevalent with high levels of resulting harm.  The social context of violence against women is gender inequality and how that intersects with other social inequalities.  She believes that if we all do our bit to challenge violence against women, challenge rigid gender stereotyping, challenge dominant unhealthy forms of masculinity, and support women and girls to have more independence and decision-making in public and private life, the world will be a better place for everyone.

Jasmine Opdam is a consumer credit lawyer in the community legal sector who is passionate about using the law to improve women’s financial security and combat the hidden epidemic of financial abuse. She currently leads Redfern Legal Centre’s Financial Abuse Service NSW, a free legal service which assists victim survivors of financial abuse in intimate partner relationships to remedy coerced debt and achieve financial independence.

Jasmine coordinates the Economic Abuse Reference Group, a national network of over 50 community organisations which identify systemic issues and work to improve government and industry responses to this widespread but under-reported form of domestic abuse.

Prior to joining the community sector, Jasmine worked in commercial regulatory litigation in the financial services sector and in human rights and international criminal law.

Jasmine was awarded the 2021 Lawyers Weekly 30 under 30 Award in the Community Legal Centre category and was a finalist for Community Lawyer of the Year in the 2023 Women Lawyers Association of NSW Achievement Awards.

Marie’s work focuses on the intersections of border, migration, exploitation and gendered violence.

Marie has been a key researcher with the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre and the Migration and Inclusion Centre. Marie has worked with state governments, policing agencies and international organisations such as the International Labour Organization and UN Women. Marie has led major studies, including the national Migrant and Refugee Women’s Safety and Security Study in partnership with Harmony Alliance: Migrant and Refugee Women for Change. Marie works as a researcher and advocates to work towards policy reform that will enhance women’s access to safety, regardless of their migration status.

Carolyn Wilkes is a Manager of the Gender and Tech section at eSafety. The team provides a policy advice and delivers projects and  resources focused on preventing technology-facilitated gender-based violence. Prior to joining eSafety in 2022, Carolyn was responsible for Australian Government programs that fund independent advocacy support for people with disability. Other roles have been in local government community development teams, including community safety roles, and in the non-government sector.

Jen has worked for the last decade in Security and Privacy at top ASX companies, tackling problems from protecting banking information to migrating 30 year old systems to the cloud. Jen followed the rabbit hole into Google, chasing interesting stories about how Google handles your data and what happens when things go wrong. Jen now works as a Senior privacy engineer in Privacy, Safety and Security, a team featured in the recent Hacking Google series on Youtube.