Judges

Vice-President, General Counsel and Ethics & Compliance Officer (Capgemini Australia, New Zealand, China and Hong Kong) | GC Powerlist 2022/3 | In-house Leader 2022 | GC of the Year finalist | Equality advocate | Parent | Laughs a lot

Having over 20 years of experience across a range of business-critical areas including Human Resources, Marketing, Business Development, Operations, Finance and IT, Kiri is able to provide solutions which deliver a competitive edge while meeting commercial realities.
After spending 10+ years as CEO and COO of national professional services firms, she has a unique perspective on how to manage and grow businesses in a competitive and dynamic environment.
Kiri is passionate about mentoring and developing future leaders and is always willing to share her experiences both personally and professionally to assist others in their pursuits. She currently mentors a number of females who are in different stages of their career progression.
In 2020 – Kiri was recognised as Executive of the Year – Women in Law Awards and COO of the year – 2019 Executive Awards – CEO Magazine for her achievements in leading and transforming organisations.

Professor Jürgen Bröhmer is a Professor of Law at the Law School of Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia. He joined Murdoch University at the beginning of 2012 as Dean of the Law School and Professor of Law. He served in that function until the creation of the new College of Arts, Business, Law and Social Sciences (ABLSS) of Murdoch University in 2019. Before joining Murdoch University, he worked at the University of New England in Armidale, NSW, Australia, having commenced there in 2006 and leading that Law School from 2007 to 2011. Professor Bröhmer received his law degree from Mannheim University in Germany and his doctorate and post-doctoral habilitation from Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany, where he worked at the Europa-Institute of Saarland University from 1992 to 2006 and continues to be part of the visiting faculty.

Professor Bröhmer is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. His areas of expertise are Public International Law, German and comparative constitutional law, European Union law, international trade and international human rights law.

Jürgen has authored two and co-authored one monograph in specific areas of public international (State Immunity and the Violation of Human Rights, Kluwer Law International, 1997), German constitutional and European Union Law (Transparency as a Constitutional Principle – Basic Law and European Union, Mohr Siebeck, 2004), edited many other books (most recently: 70 Years German Basic Law – The German Constitution and its Court – Landmark Decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany in the Area of Fundamental Rights, November 2019 and the Chinese translation in 2023) and published numerous articles and book chapters (more info and list of publications at https://sites.google.com/view/jb-publications).

Joseph Catanzariti AM is a Vice President of the Fair Work Commission, the national workplace relations tribunal.
Prior to his appointment to the Fair Work Commission, Joseph was a senior Partner of Clayton Utz and Practice Leader of the Workplace Relations, Employment and Safety Practice Group. Joseph was a trusted adviser to many of Australia’s leading companies and government departments. Joseph was also a highly experienced Commercial Litigator.

Joseph is a Visiting Professorial Fellow of the School of Law and the Faculty of Law at the University of New South Wales, and an Adjunct Associate Professor in Work and Organisational Studies, School of Business at Sydney University.

Joseph is the Chair of the College of Law.

Joseph is also co-author of Workplace Bullying published by LexisNexis.

He has previously held the positions of President of the Law Council of Australia, President of the NSW Law Society, Chair of the Workplace Committee of the Law Society of New South Wales (2000 - 2013), and Secretary of the Industrial Relations Society of Australia (1997-2011).

Joseph was awarded Life Time Recognition, Industrial Relations Society of Australia / Australian Labour and Employment Relations Association 2011, and the Industrial Relations Society of New South Wales in 2015.

Joseph is a fellow of the Academy of Law.

On 26 January 2016 Joseph was made a Member of the Order of Australia.

Teresa is an accomplished corporate lawyer, Board member and governance professional with extensive experience in both private practice and in-house roles across highly regulated sectors. Teresa has over 20 years of legal experience, having commenced her career working across several legal areas at one of Australia’s premier law firms. For the past 15 years, Teresa has worked in-house as Supervising Counsel / Divisional General Counsel at Telstra Corporation Limited, as Group General Counsel & Company Secretary at ASX-listed Elixinol Global Limited, and as General Counsel & Company Secretary at the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). As a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and a Graduate of the AICD, Teresa is recognised for her expertise as a trusted advisor, delivering practical, strategic, and results-oriented legal counsel. Teresa loves giving back to the in-house community and has been involved with the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) for over ten years, a role which has included sitting on the Australian Board and the organisation’s committees for Advocacy, continuing legal education and Diversity & Inclusion, as well as contributing to the organisation as an ACC Global Ambassador and speaker.

Ann-Maree David is an Executive Director of The College of Law, the largest provider of practice-focused legal education in Australasia. She has worked in the legal profession for over 30 years, in public and corporate sector roles and in private practice as a solicitor.

Ann-Maree has held a career-long passion for developing and delivering education and training programs to enable all involved in the delivery of legal services to thrive both personally and professionally.

In addition to leading the College of Law’s Queensland campus, Ann-Maree is Immediate Past President of Australian Women Lawyers and a Director of the Australian Gender Equality Council. She also chairs the Queensland Law Society’s Equity & Diversity Committee.

Ali joined LexisNexis in 2017 as Head of Legal for the Pacific Region. Ali and her team work with LexisNexis’ Australian and New Zealand businesses providing advice across issues from intellectual property and digital media through to privacy and competition laws.
Ali has held senior legal roles across a variety of industries internationally, including higher education, renewable energy and leisure. Ali’s focus is on working closely with the business to address both the opportunities and the challenges presented by rapid advances in technology, changing customer needs and the evolving nature of legal practice across the region and the world.

Tony Dormer is a senior adviser of a multi-discipline professional services firm that he established over 40 years ago and that merged in September 2017 to form Tricor Services (Australia) Pty Ltd www.tricorglobal.com The firm provides in-bound and out-bound business advisory, management consulting, tax and compliance, outsourced payroll and CFO services, bookkeeping, corporate secretarial services and financial investment services.

Tony’s personal specialist skills and extensive experience are around taxation services, mergers and acquisitions, business valuations, corporate restructuring, as well as business planning and business development issues generally. His entrepreneurial style and ability to 'think outside the square', has enabled Tricor to provide clients with a level and style of service that is unique among business advisory and accountancy practices.

From 2007 to 2019 he was a Board Member and/or Councilor with the NSW Business Chamber. He was elected President in February 2014 and held the position of Deputy President as well as Chairman of the Audit and Compliance Committee, Chair of the Business Environment and Economics Committee within the NSW Business Chamber. He now serves as a Past President.

He was also the former Chairman of Kreston Australia and New Zealand and was previously one of eight Directors on the international board of Kreston International, a position he held for seven years. Kreston is one of the largest networks of independent accounting business advisory firms in the world.

He also serves as a non-executive director on Profit and Not for Profit Boards.

Tony is a Fellow with Chartered Accountants (FCA), Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD) and Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) with the Taxation Institute of Australia.

Prior to developing his practice, he had extensive experience at General Manager level with several leading private organizations. This commercial experience is a major ingredient in his philosophy and the range of services offered by him.

He also co-authored a book on leadership titled “Born to Lead?” with Charisse Grey

Nicholas brings intellectual rigour, curiosity and creativity to all his work. As a Restructuring and Insolvency Partner, Nicholas is driven by the appeal of never having to face an ordinary situation, and always needing to bring innovative and novel solutions to the table. Whether helping clients address future risks, restructure debt or operations, sell assets or navigate troubled times, he keeps the lines of communication open and brings his trademark creativity and plain speaking to problem solving.
Advising on contentious and non-contentious issues arising from corporate distress, Nicholas represents financial institutions, insolvency practitioners, distressed debt funds, creditors, debtors and company directors. He has worked across a diverse range of industries, including retail, mining, media, construction and financial services.
Nicholas is also the chairperson of KYUP! Project, a charitable organisation with the aim of ending the scourge of domestic violence and empowering the next generation to champion their safety and wellbeing.

Hugh Griffin is the Managing Partner, and co-founder of Hazelbrook Legal. Hugh is an industry recognised corporate and financial services specialist, and was recently awarded 2022 Corporate Partner of the Year and Financial Services Partner of the Year in the Australian Lawyers Weekly Partner of the Year awards. Hugh specialises in all aspects of corporate law, including public and private M&A, corporate contracting, financial services, governance and regulatory law, and has more than 20 years experience assisting startups through to listed global entities.

Geraldine Johns-Putra is an experienced corporate lawyer and expert in enterprise governance, purpose, business & human rights and modern slavery. She runs her own practice in Melbourne focussing on enterprises seeking purpose, and actors in the impact economy. She is legal advisor to not-for-profits making an impact in this space, including B Lab Australia & NZ and Impact Investing Australia. Her purpose is to use the law to build more purposeful enterprises & ecosystems for a happier world.

She has over 20 years' experience practising law in Australia, the UK, Hong Kong and China. She has worked with large global and Australian law firms and was a partner of a top-tier Australian law firm for several years. She sits on the Council of Monash University.

Andrew Lacey is recognised as a leading Australian commercial litigator. He is the Managing Principal at McCabes and heads the litigation and dispute resolution group.

Mellissa Larkin is the Founder and Managing Director of award-winning boutique law firm Peripheral Blue. Since 2016, she's been making waves in the legal industry in Australia advocating for a client-centred model of practice and championing the flexible workplace. Her views on the culture of overwork in law, lawyers' mental health, and women in business have been featured in multiple industry and business publications.
Prior to founding Peripheral Blue, Mellissa worked in dedicated Project and Construction Teams in international and top-tier firms in Ireland and across the Disputes and Corporate Teams of a national firm in Australia. She also worked in house for blue-chip companies.
In 2016, Mellissa Larkin walked away from the career she had spent two decades building over two continents, to found Peripheral Blue with the aim of disrupting the legal and professional services industries by giving clients access to top tier, responsive legal and advisory services in a flexible and affordable way.
Mellissa was named as the Innovator of the Year in the Lawyers Weekly Partner of the Year Awards in 2022 and as the South Australian Winner in the Small Business category of the 2020 Telstra Business Women's Awards. Her firm, Peripheral Blue was a finalist in the Telstra Business Awards 2019.
Mellissa holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from Flinders University and a Master in Laws from Trinity College, Dublin.

Rachel is general counsel and company secretary at Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Limited, leading a team which manages the diverse array of legal issues which arise across the business. Prior to joining Nine Entertainment Co. in 2015, Rachel was a partner at Gilbert + Tobin for many years where she specialised in mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and compliance.
Rachel is a director and company secretary of Giant Steps, a charity which runs schools for children and young adults with autism in Sydney and Melbourne

Paul is a Partner in our Employment & Safety team in Melbourne.
Paul is an Accredited Specialist in Workplace Relations. He has a strong focus on resolving high risk disputes in the workplace for employers. This frequently involves employee misconduct, union disputation, governance and workplace culture, industrial action, vulnerable stakeholders, media interest and reputational risk.
Paul’s solutions extend across a range of industries such as education, technology, logistics, health, aged care, faith-based, bio-medical and labour hire and cover legal issues arising at all phases of the employment relationship (pre-employment, during employment and post-employment).
Paul played a critical role in State and Federal judicial and court administration for a 10-year period while working at the Supreme Court of Victoria and Federal Magistrates Court of Australia, where he worked with two Chief Justices. Paul also held an executive position at the Family Court of Australia where he was responsible for overall delivery of registry services to the judiciary and self-represented litigants as well as the management and supervision of 60 registry staff.
He is the co-author with Dentons' partner Toby Blyth on a textbook on privacy and surveillance in the workplace (published by Wolters Kluwer).

Stephen Page is a principal of Page Provan, Brisbane. Admitted in 1987, Stephen became an accredited family law specialist in 1996. He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted reproduction Attorneys. Stephen is an international representative on the Assisted Reproductive Technology Committee of the American Bar Association. Stephen is a director of the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand. He has written and spoken around the world about family and fertility law.

Troy Swan is the Chief Legal Officer, Company Secretary and Board Member of the $1.4billion office products company Winc Australia & New Zealand. Winc was formed following the acquisition of Staples & OfficeMax by US based private equity firm Platinum Equity.

He has been publicly recognised as one of Australia's leading corporate lawyers and was named the 2017 Australian Lawyer of the Year (FMCG) and a General Counsel of the Year finalist in both 2016 and 2017. He became only the second Australian lawyer to win the prestigious International Value Champions Award in San Francisco and was recently named in Washington, the Association of Corporate Counsel Member of the Year, from over 43,000 lawyers worldwide for his commitment to the legal community and profession. This was the first time this honour was ever awarded to a lawyer outside America.

Known for his business judgment, he is highly active within the Sydney legal and business community. He is a regular speaker and media commentator on legal affairs, innovation and large scale legal service delivery models and leads an award winning legal team based in Sydney.

The Croesus Holdings Group comprises six companies, which provide services in Project Management; Corporate Legal Compliance; Management Training & Education; Environmental GRC; ADR (mediation, arbitration & adjudication); and Litigation Funding.

Previously, Garry was Managing Director of an international Investment Bank with offices in Sydney, Vancouver, New York, London, Dublin, Hong Kong and Singapore. Those activities involved him in international capital raising; public listings; distressed company “turn-arounds”; workplace & employment relations; drafting & management of contracts; project management; governance & risk assessment; corporate strategic planning; supply chain logistics & human rights; corporate legal compliance; environmental sustainability; and optimising management outcomes.

Adrian Tembel is an economics and honours law graduate of the University of Adelaide. He began practising corporate and technology law in 1993 at his law firm Thomson Geer. He became a Partner of that firm in 1997 and its Chief Executive Partner in 2009. He is also a part-time Commissioner of the South Australian Productivity Commission and a Director of the Hackett Foundation.

Sarah is a seasoned legal and corporate governance executive with over 20 years of leadership experience across ASX-listed companies. Most recently, as Chief Legal & Corporate Affairs Officer at Treasury Wine Estates, Sarah led a global multidisciplinary team guiding significant corporate transactions, including a US$900 million acquisition of a US brand, while supporting strategic re-entry into the Chinese market. Known for adeptly navigating complex legal landscapes, Sarah has also advised on IPOs, mergers, and shareholder relations at Link Group and REA Group, achieving notable gains in team alignment and engagement. An advocate for innovation, Sarah has championed transformative initiatives in digital strategy and privacy compliance, fostering an agile and future-oriented legal culture. In addition to her corporate role, Sarah erves as a non-executive director for Future Foundations and on the Risk Committee at Carey Baptist Grammar School, contributing to governance and community development.