There are 10 reference group members. Each member brings broad perspectives and lived experience to the role. Their experience will support progress on gender equality in Victoria.
The reference group convenes two to three times per year. The first meeting took place on 10 October 2024.
The reference group’s term will end in 2028, aligning with the lifespan of Our equal state.
Our equal state: Victoria’s gender equality strategy and action plan 2023-27 was released in August 2023. It outlines the next four years of action and investment in gender equality for Victorians.
Members
Dr Belle Lim is a diversity and inclusion consultant, advocate and speaker. She is an Associate Director at MindTribes, a diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm, specialising in intersectionality of race, culture and gender.
In 2018, Belle founded Future Forte, a leading diversity and inclusion initiative that supports international students. She serves as the Chair and Co-CEO of the not-for-profit charity organisation since 2023. Future Forte has welcomed over 2,500 women from around the world, promoting diverse women and youth leadership, particularly in the Asia Pacific region.
Belle also served as the National President of the Council of International Students Australia from 2020-2021 after serving two years as the National Women’s Officer. In this role, she represented over 550,000 international students nationally and was a member of the Ministerial Council for International Education.
Belle obtained a PhD degree at Monash University and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre on the topic of breast cancer genetics, a condition that affects one in seven women in Australia.
Carly Myers is the Gender and Disability Advisor at Women’s Health Grampians where she contributes to the development and delivery of projects that seek to address the gendered and ableist drivers of violence against women with disabilities.
As a passionate gender and disability practitioner, Carly uses her lived experience of disability to advocate for the voices of women with disabilities to be centre stage when decisions are being made on issues directly affecting them. She sees this as fundamental to respecting their human rights.
Carly has successfully developed local and regional partnerships within women’s health organisations, local government, disability organisations and the community sector.
She has a breadth of experience in project delivery of co-designed inclusive and accessible resources, training materials, community engagement events and campaigns focusing on the prevention of violence against women with disabilities, sexual and reproductive health and advocating for inclusive and accessible health services for women with disabilities.
In 2024, Carly was appointed the Order of Australia Medal in community service for her volunteer work and disability advocacy.
Dr Erin Hoare is a psychologist, Senior Research Fellow and a former professional Australian footballer. She has been a board member of Disability Sports Australia since 2023 and is an educational and developmental psychologist registrar. She has supported neurodivergent women and girls in rural and regional Victoria across the disability and education sectors.
Erin has over 10 years of experience as an athlete across Australia's premier netball league and the Australian Football League Women’s competition. She was the Mental and Health Wellbeing Research Lead at the Australian Football League (AFL) and has contributed to the development of the first AFL Research Governance Framework to guide the safe and ethical conduct of research throughout the industry.
Erin has an extensive research track record focusing on the structural and systemic drivers of poor mental health.
She holds a PhD and Bachelor of Psychology (Hons) at Deakin University, Master of Public Health at University of Sydney, and a Master of Educational Psychology at University of Melbourne. She has also completed her post-doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, where she worked in supporting adolescent mental health and wellbeing in school settings through physical activity.
Hacia Atherton is the Founder and Executive Chair of Empowered Women In Trades (EWIT). EWIT is dedicated to promoting female representation in skilled trades and driving cultural change in trade-based industries. In this role, she amplifies the voices of women in skilled trades and advocates for workplace wellbeing and inclusivity.
Hacia is also the founder of Hacia Atherton Thrive, a service initiative that specialises in coaching, keynote speaking and delivering workshops designed to address the challenges faced by women through the principles of positive psychology.
With a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Melbourne, she uses evidence-based strategies with real-world applications to foster leadership resilience, enhance organisational wellbeing and promote inclusive cultures.
Hacia is also a member of the School Broadcasting Network, a youth charity that empowers young people to develop their skills and is an advisory board member at La Trobe University, where she provides strategic guidance on the needs of students and educators.
Kristine Olaris is a highly accomplished and influential leader in the not-for-profit sector, with expertise in legal, women’s, community and health organisations. She is a longstanding gender equality advocate and played a pivotal role in establishing Gender Equity Victoria. She was also a member of the Independent Advisory Group formed in response to the findings of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission Independent Review into sex discrimination and sexual harassment, including predatory behaviour in Victoria Police.
Most recently, she was the CEO of the Fitzroy Legal Service, a community service dedicated to assisting marginalised community members with legal information, advice and representation. In this role, she helped to establish Q+Law, a state-wide legal service run by, and for, the LGBTIQA+ community.
Kristine has an extensive history of effectively contributing to Victorian Government boards and committees. She was part of the Ministerial Council on Women’s Equality that supported the implementation of Safe and Strong, Victoria’s first gender equality strategy, and her leadership helped facilitate robust and meaningful discussions around the Gender Equality Act.
In 2024, Kristine became a recipient of an Order of Australia Medal for her service to the community of Victoria.
Leanne Miller AM, a Dhulanyagen Ulupna woman of the Yorta Yorta people, is a leading advocate for governance and social equity. With extensive experience across government, non-government, and social sectors, Leanne excels in non-profit governance, corporate social responsibility, and program evaluation.
Her advocacy work focuses on Indigenous women and girls' rights, community engagement, and government reform. Leanne has represented Australian Indigenous women at the United Nations’ Convention on the Status of Women in New York and has completed three UN Fellowships in the USA and Geneva.
From her early roles as a volunteer to her current position as Executive Director of Koorie Women Mean Business, Leanne champions First Nations women in business, especially in environmental management and tourism. She chairs Outback Academy Australia and serves on the boards of the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, the Victorian Women’s Trust, and the Dugdale Trust for Women and Girls. In 2019, she was elected as the inaugural member for Northeast to the First Peoples Assembly of Victoria.
In 2004, Leanne was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women, and in 2023, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her service to women’s affairs and the Indigenous community.
Professor Madhu Bhaskaran is a multi-award-winning Electronics Engineer and Innovator. She is a migrant Australian and a passionate advocate for diversity.
She is IDEA Director for the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence in Transformative Meta-Optical Systems, and co-chair of Women in STEMM Australia. She co-founded the RMIT Women Researchers’ Network, has served on RMIT Athena Swan Committee, and was a Member of Expert Working Group of the ‘Women in STEM Decadal Plan’.
Madhu has published over 220 high-quality peer-reviewed journal articles and holds 13 patents. She co-leads the Functional Materials and Microsystems Research Group at RMIT University, which she established in 2010.
She works collaboratively with industry, manufacturing, and design partners to translate technologies for healthcare and aged care.
Micaela Drieberg is the Chief Executive Officer of Gender Equity Victoria where she collaborates with members and partners to address systemic barriers to intersectional gender equity.
Micaela has previously served as Mayor of the City of Monash, and as a Ministerial Adviser to a former Minister for Health where she championed gender equity initiatives and health policy reform.
Micaela is actively involved in supporting emerging public health professionals as a teaching associate with Monash University’s School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, where she designed and delivered lectures and tutorials for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
She helps to support good governance as a Board Director at South-Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network.
Ricki Spencer has over 30 years of experience as a qualified teacher, social worker, and Health Sociologist. She is a public advocate for people living with a disability, transgender individuals, mental health destigmatisation and First Nations’ people who experienced forced adoption (Stolen Generation).
Ricki identifies as an older transgender non-binary woman. She is passionate about local planning issues in relation to accessing health, housing, education, work pathways for marginalized groups in Victoria. She writes in areas of healthy aging, power schemas, queer intersectionality, digital health and health equity.
Ricki has hosted on Channel 31 community television for over two years focusing on community voices in Australia and produced over 80 web podcast interviews for the Australian Sociological Association. Ricki spends her time volunteering in health spaces and sits on over 20 committees.
Wil Stracke is the Assistant Secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall Council, the peak body for unions in Victoria, and a long-term campaigner for women’s and queer rights.
She was previously an Associate Solicitor at Slater & Gordon law firm before commencing as an organiser with the Australian Services Union where, she worked with members on workplace and industry wide industrial campaigns. She was the lead organiser in Victoria for the Australian Services Union’s national ‘Equal Pay’ campaign, which achieved wage justice for underpaid, predominantly women workers in the community services sector.
In 2017, Wil coordinated the Victorian field campaign for the ‘Yes’ campaign for marriage equality.
In her role at Trades Hall, Wil leads the ongoing work of the Victorian trade union movement in addressing the challenges faced by working women as well as the union movement’s work in occupational health and safety.
Wil has a large online presence and uses her platform to engage with online users to promote issues around gender equality, women’s rights, queer rights, women in trade, mental health, workplace rights and gender-based violence.
Wil’s work was acknowledged with the prestigious Jennie George Award in 2024 for outstanding contribution by a woman to the Australian union movement.
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