ÑÇÃÀÆåÅÆ

Dr Gabrielle Appleby is a Professor at the Law Faculty of University of New South Wales (Sydney). She researches and teaches in public law, with her areas of expertise including the role, powers and accountability of the Executive; parliamentary law and practice; the role of government lawyers; the integrity of the judicial branch and First Nations constitutional recognition. She is the Director of The Judiciary Project at the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, the constitutional consultant to the Clerk of the Australian House of Representatives a member of the Indigenous Law Centre and a Director of the Centre for Public Integrity. Gabrielle was the founding editor of Australia’s national public law blog, AUSPUBLAW. In 2015-2018, Gabrielle was a Chief Investigator on the ARC Discovery Project, Law, Order and Federalism, looking at the effects of the High Court’s chapter III jurisprudence on State government law and order policy development. In 2016-2017, she worked as a pro bono constitutional adviser to the Regional Dialogues and the First Nations Constitutional Convention that led to the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Her books include Australian Public Law (4^th ed, Oxford University Press, 2024), The Judge, The Judiciary and the Court: Individual, Collegial and Institutional Judicial Dynamics in Australia (Cambridge University Press, 2021),ÌýJudicial Federalism in Australia (Federation Press, 2021),ÌýThe Role of the Solicitor-General: Negotiating Law, Politics and the Public Interest (Hart Publishing, 2016); The Critical Judgments Project: Re-reading Monis v The Queen (Federation Press, 2016) and The Tim Carmody Affair (NewSouth Publishing, 2016). Gabrielle has also spent time working for the Queensland Crown Solicitor and the Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office.

Sana Nakata is Associate Professor and Principal Research Fellow at the Indigenous Education and Research Centre, James Cook University. She is trained in the law and political theory of the Western tradition, and her research focuses upon the politics of childhood, Indigenous policy and governance. She has held multiple Australian Research Council grants, written and edited books including Childhood Citizenship, Governance and Policy (Routledge, 2015) and published in leading international and Australian journals, including Politics,ÌýContemporary Political Theory, and Australian Journal of Political Science.

Bridget Cama is a Wiradjuri First Nations and Pasifika Fijian woman who was born and grew up in Lithgow, New South Wales and has connections to the Cudgegong River just outside of Mudgee. Bridget has been working with the Uluru Dialogue since March 2019, is an associate of the Indigenous Law Centre at ÑÇÃÀÆåÅÆ and legal support team to the Uluru Dialogue. Bridget is also the Co-Chair of the Uluru Youth Dialogue alongside Allira Davis, who work closely to provide a national platform for First Nations youth voices to be heard in the Uluru movement and in First Nations affairs more broadly.

Sean Brennan is Director of the Indigenous Legal Issues Project at the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law and was the Director of the Centre itself from 2014 to 2018. He teaches and writes mainly in the areas of constitutional law, native title and Aboriginal land rights. After working as a judge's associate in the Federal Court, with various Aboriginal and other community organisations and in the Commonwealth Parliament’s research service, Sean joined the ÑÇÃÀÆåÅÆ Faculty of Law in May 2002. He is the co-editor and co-author of several books including Blackshield & Williams Australian Constitutional Law and Theory (Federation Press, 7th ed, 2018), Native Title from Mabo to Akiba: A Vehicle for Change and Empowerment? (Federation Press, 2015), Indigenous Legal Issues: Commentary and Materials (Thomson Reuters, 4th ed, 2009) and Treaty (Federation Press, 2005). He has also worked with a range of Aboriginal organisations and has given evidence and made submissions to a number of parliamentary and other inquiries. In 2016-17 he was part of the pro bono legal team that supported the Regional Dialogues and First Nations Constitutional Convention which culminated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. He has supervised several PhD students to completion, mainly in relation to native title and Aboriginal land rights issues.

Dr. Sophie Rigney is a Senior Lecturer in Law with expertise in three key areas of legal scholarship. Her research explores the relationships between Indigenous peoples and the state, including critical topics like the Uluru Statement from the Heart, the Voice to Parliament, and the ways in which Indigenous communities create and practice distinct Indigenous international law. Dr. Rigney’s work also addresses international criminal law, with a particular focus on the carceral abolition movement within international criminal law, the rights of the accused, and the vital role of defence lawyers. Additionally, she is interested in the narratives surrounding international law, especially how international law is represented in children's literature.

Dr. Rigney is the author of Fairness and Rights in International Criminal Procedure (Edinburgh University Press, 2022), a significant contribution to the field of international law.

Before joining RMIT, Dr. Rigney was a Senior Research Associate at the Indigenous Law Centre at the University of New South Wales (2020–2023). She has also lectured at Melbourne Law School (2023) and the University of Dundee, Scotland (2017–2020), where she served as the Director of Doctoral Studies, overseeing the research experiences of over 120 candidates. In addition, Dr. Rigney was the Academic Convener of Transition and Nation: the United Kingdom and Indigenous Nations as a Meeting of Sovereigns (2016–2017), a collaborative research project between the Melbourne Law School and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in London.

At RMIT, Dr. Rigney serves as the Program Manager for the LLB and LLB Combined Degree programs, and she is deeply committed to teaching across various areas of public law, private law, and international law. Her academic journey has taken her to teach at several prestigious institutions, including the Universities of Melbourne, Dundee, Tasmania, Sussex, and London. She has also supervised Masters theses at the University of Glasgow and acted as an External Examiner at the London School of Economics. Dr. Rigney has published on decolonizing legal pedagogy and is a passionate advocate for creating inclusive and equitable legal education.

In addition to her academic career, Dr. Rigney has practical experience as a lawyer. She worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (2009–2011), where she contributed to the defence teams of Lahi Brahimaj and Radovan Karadzic. Her work has been cited by the International Criminal Court, and she has also served as the Chair of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (UK) and as a Director of Amnesty International Australia.

Professor Kyllie Cripps is a Palawa woman and Director of Monash’s Indigenous Studies Centre. She is one of Australia’s leading researchers on Indigenous family violence, sexual assault and child abuse. Leading major grants she has contributed to the field through empirical studies that have defined violence on Indigenous terms, identified factors contributing to violence, and examined the access and availability of services in the aftermath of violence. Her work has been critical in identifying gaps and opportunities to create sustainable solutions to support policy and practice change.

Kyllie’s research and engagement on solutions draws on the strength of her interdisciplinary experience and the value of using an intersectional lens for appreciating the context of violence. In the ‘doing of research’ Kyllie is focussed on creating safe places for community members to talk about topics often shrouded in silence. Hearing their stories and working with community to identify areas for change and the solutions for change is always a privilege. Her work has focussed on providing communities with resources to support their work locally, networking with individuals and community organisations and connecting them to other parts of Australia and the world to create a network of care and safety that can be a source of learning and empowerment for all.

Kyllie is also committed to mentoring and supporting the next generation of Indigenous and non Indigenous professionals, academics and scholars so that they too, may be inspired and motivated by the grounded experiences of working with and for community.

Dr Hannah McGlade is a Bibbulmun Noongar woman from Western Australia and her career has focused on justice for Aboriginal people, race discrimination law and practice, Aboriginal women and children, family violence and sexual assault.

Dr McGlade has been a researcher, published writer and conference speaker and has held a range of professional positions that required her legal training and specific expertise in Aboriginal women and children’s issues. Her advocacy and human rights work includes the international sphere at the United Nations.

Currently Dr McGlade is an Associate Professor at Curtin University and an Advisor to the Noongar Council for Family Safety and Wellbeing. Dr McGlade is also a member of the UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues, Western Australia Mental Health Tribunal and the Medical Board of Australia.

Eddie Synot is a Wamba Wamba First Nations lawyer and researcher. Eddie is a Lecturer at Griffith Law School, Griffith University and a Centre Associate at the Indigenous Law Centre, ÑÇÃÀÆåÅÆ where he works with the Uluru Dialogue. Eddie has worked with the Uluru Dialogue and the ILC ÑÇÃÀÆåÅÆ since 2018. Eddie’s research focuses on Indigenous peoples and the law, especially public and constitutional law. Eddie has extensive experience in Indigenous affairs across Commonwealth and State Governments and in Indigenous community development.