As Chief Executive Officer, Louisa provides strategic leadership for the Federation. Louisa has worked as a Principal Solicitor in the community legal sector and in private practice, and spent 13 years living and working in low-income countries. In the Pacific, she was a Justice Adviser to the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands and partnered with community groups to advocate for the introduction of family violence legislation. In Africa, Louisa was named Anti-Corruption Lawyer of the Year in the Lawyer’s Weekly Women in Law Awards for her work with Senegalese Law Firms. Louisa is an elected member director of the Law Institute of Victoria Board. She loves helping kids to ‘grow inside outside’ through volunteering with Camp Cooinda and her local Scout troop, and has written two childrens’ books, one of which was presented as an official gift to the Duchess of Cambridge on her 60th Jubilee visit to the Pacific.
Nicole comes to the Federation with a wealth of experience, having previously worked in executive assistant roles in diverse industries including education, biotech and clean energy. Nicole’s role at the Federation is to support Louisa and the team to support members and the sector. She loves working with an executive team to streamline and improve processes that enhance service delivery and build an organisation’s capacity to achieve its goals.
When Nicole’s not at work, she enjoys taming her garden, visiting art galleries, watching stand-up comedy and surfing. Nicole volunteers at her local op shop, which she says gives her a great feeling of being part of the community.
Nicole has a white schnauzer puppy, and a terrible sweet tooth!
In her role as Climate Justice Support Unit Manager, Phil collaborates with community legal centres and the Federation’s strategic partners, to share best practice and strengthen the sector’s capacity to support communities experiencing the impacts of climate change.
Phil feels lucky to have had a diverse career to date, that has included communications, advocacy, project management, partnership brokering, community and stakeholder engagement, and disaster management leadership roles in the not-for-profit sector and state government.
Alongside her role with the Federation, Phil is studying towards a Graduate Diploma in Human Rights Law at the University of Melbourne, to enable her to advocate more effectively around issues she cares about. She has a Master of Arts in English Literature.
In her spare time, Phil loves getting out into nature, live music, photography, adventurous travel with friends, and volunteering as a Board Director with the Inner North Community Foundation.
Before moving to Melbourne, Phil enjoyed living and working/volunteering in London, Bolivia, the Philippines and New Zealand.
As the Climate Justice Support Unit’s Program Lead, Clint’s work focuses on building up the capacity of community legal centres to identify climate and disaster risks and meet climate and disaster related legal need. The unit also supports climate and disaster justice by promoting law reform and preparing communities for climate events. Working with communities impacted by climate change was the focus of Clint’s Masters of International Community Development, which he completed in 2021. Clint has spent around 20 years working and volunteering in various community health and development roles in Australia and overseas. Outside of work Clint loves to spend time with his kids and their various pets. With many other members of his family overseas, Clint is often awake at odd hours connecting with them during their daytime. Clint enjoys music, cooking, reading and being active, and volunteers with Tearfund Australia on international development projects.
Before joining the Federation, Rachael was a senior lawyer at Eastern Community Legal Centre in Victoria and Central Australian Women’s Legal Service in Alice Springs where she focused on advocating for women experiencing family violence. Rachael has also worked as a lawyer in Sydney at knowmore Legal Service, the Refugee Advice and Casework Service and at corporate law firm, Herbert Smith Freehills. As our Director of Policy and Advocacy, Rachael is committed to improving social justice outcomes for people experiencing social and economic disadvantage and meeting the holistic needs of clients through collaboration between legal, health and community sectors. She has Masters’ degrees in Public Health and Family Law. When not advocating for social improvement, Rachael can be found playing with her rambunctious and emotional border collie and exploring any national parks she can find on bike or on foot.
In his role as Director of Policy and Advocacy, Daniel is focused on building the capacity of Victoria's 50 community legal services to meet community need and drive improvements in our laws and justice system. Daniel has worked across the community legal sector in Victoria and nationally, advocating for secure funding as well as tenancy, family law, human rights, consumer rights and criminal justice law reform. Previously, he has advised homelessness, youth, mental health and human rights organisations on policy and advocacy strategies. At a government level, he has partnered with local councils and the Victorian, Northern Territory and East Timorese Governments to deliver a range of projects.
As a Senior Legal Policy Advisor, Naomi works closely with Victorian community legal centres to advocate for legal and policy reforms to create a fairer and more just society.
Prior to joining the Federation, Naomi spent more than a decade as a barrister, specialising in family law and human rights, and engaging in policy and advocacy initiatives in those areas. Naomi’s most challenging work has included cases of police corruption, human trafficking, and international child abduction. Naomi has spent time volunteering in community law in London, Cape Town, New York and Tokyo. More recently Naomi worked as a policy adviser in the family violence space in Australia. Naomi is passionate about supporting a collective voice across the community legal sector and centring the voices of lived experience to drive real and sustained change.
Naomi is a self-proclaimed failing vegan and crossfit imposter. Thoroughly enjoying adventures, in a time BC (before Covid and children) Naomi cycled from Kenya to Cape Town with nothing but a tent and a spare pair of shorts. Now when she is not working, she enjoys seeking out new spots to walk, bike or swim with her partner and two little mischief-makers.
Tim is the Federation’s Project Manager for Data Systems, which means he is helping the sector develop a modern legal management system to better collect, interpret and analyse data. It’s a big job, but ultimately it will help the sector plan for current and future community legal needs. After many years working in management positions for large, complex government organisations, Tim enjoys the flexibility of a small, peak body and values the opportunity to help create changes that will benefit this important sector. Tim is well placed to work with the diverse network that makes up community legal centres across Victoria – after all, he grew up with four brothers and four sisters!
As our Implementation Analyst, Skye is helping to build practice management systems and data collection across more than 20 community legal centres. Skye has two decades of experience managing projects, people and stakeholders in a broad range of industries including legal, finance, retail and hospitality. She has overseen change management and innovation projects at community legal centres and has been instrumental to improving significant infrastructure and business processes. As a data crusader, Skye is passionate about streamlining and simplifying data collection and using clever analysis and insights to build better services to help those the sector serves. Once she exits the spreadsheets, Skye loves her caring for her rescue dogs, gardening and has a fascination with vintage fabrics and patterns.
Simon is the Quality and Capacity Development Manager with the Federation. Simon helps us by conducting the National Accreditation Scheme for community legal centres, overseeing and informing the Federation’s member training calendar, supporting the Professional Standards and Support Committee and helping to administrate the Integrated Services Fund. Hailing from the Netherlands, Simon brings a wealth of experience both from his home country and working here in Australia in various community sectors as a social worker. This career path led Simon towards work in quality improvement, where he discovered a passion for best practice and standards, a culture of continuous improvement, and making services better for clients. When Simon isn’t at the office or cycling to and from work, he has been known to feature on SBS Dutch community radio, to cook up a storm for his family, and to coach a women’s community soccer team.
As the Quality and Program Support Officer at the Federation, Kimberly supports members with the administrative processes of the National Accreditation Scheme, Professional Standards and Support Committee and the Integrated Services Fund. Kimberly has a BA in Psychology and Sociology and honours in Women’s Studies. After years of working in not-for-profit organisations, she excels in administration, process improvement and operational organisation. When not working at the Federation, Kimberly can be found at the beach swimming or surfing or spending time with her dog – a seven-year-old border terrier named Mickey.
As the Federation’s Training Coordinator, Gabby spends her days thinking about how to ensure Victoria’s community legal centre staff have the training they need to do their jobs most effectively. From researching training options, working with facilitators, coordinating all aspects of training sessions and following up with attendees afterwards, Gabby ensures the Federation delivers a comprehensive training program that best meets the needs of the sector. With a background in events and project management, Gabby is perfectly suited to manage our training calendar. When not thinking about training, Gabby has a very eclectic set of interests – from reading everything she can to researching early Australian film and theatre, from sewing vintage patterns to listening to live music. But her one true love is MotoGP and World Superbikes.
As Communications Manager at the Federation, Katie directs and manages communications that promote and raise the profiles of the Federation and community legal centres. Her experience with a range of not for profits, including other peak bodies, has given her insight into many of the social injustices that exist in Victoria and that she believes can be changed through reform and sound legislation.
Katie has a Masters’ degree in International Development, and has spent time living in Buenos Aires, Kathmandu, Paris and London, where she is originally from. In her spare time she enjoys socialising, cooking and exploring the great outdoors.
As Digital Communications Officer, Albie works with the Federation and community legal centres to create impactful communications across a variety of channels. This helps the community legal sector raise awareness on key social justice issues, promote equitable law reform, and attract funding to sustain the impactful work of the sector.
With many years in community, government and non-profit design and communications, Albie is passionate about collaborating with diverse changemakers to clarify and amplify their voices through accessible, inclusive and engaging content. Their experience working with community legal centres and the Federation supports them to further build the communications capacity of the sector. Alongside Albie’s work, they volunteer their time to provide art for wellbeing experiences to young people experiencing disadvantage. When not working, Albie reads, writes and recharges in nature with their partner and pup.
If you’ve ever contacted the Federation, you’ve probably spoken with Rosanna, our frontline Office Coordinator who handles everything from online and phone queries to office coordination and administrative support. Rosanna has more than 25 years’ experience in administrative roles in sectors as diverse as legal recruitment, information technology, children’s services, social work services, mental health services and even a stint in scientific innovation. But she is at her happiest working in the not-for-profit sector. When not at the Federation, Rosanna moderates a 10,000+ strong Facebook group for her local community, and enjoys cooking with her home grown produce or dancing up a storm at a Zumba class.
As the Executive Assistant to the Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Angela works with Federation staff to ensure the wheels of the organisation keep turning. She can often be found playing tetris with calendars. After years spent working in administrative and executive assistant roles, she is adept at helping organisations operate effectively. At the Federation she gets to do all that in a role that aligns with her personal values. She most appreciates the organisation’s willingness to embrace innovative ways of working to ensure we remain effective in what we do. Angela always starts her day with a workout, anything from a HIIT class to pilates or a run, but balances it out with an avid interest in wine.
As Director of Member Excellence, People and Operations, Tanya leads in the strategic delivery of programs that support the Federation’s internal people and culture and operations, as well as programs that enable and build the capacity of our member organisations. Tanya has been working in the people, culture and operations space for over 20 years, the majority of which has been in the not-for-profit and education sectors. She is passionate about continuous improvement in processes and organisations, considered change management, and collaborating with colleagues and stakeholders to enable great outcomes. When Tanya isn’t focused on supporting the Federation team and community legal centres to thrive, she is likely outdoors with family or friends – a walk, bike ride, swim, or watching her kids play sport. Tanya adores her new pup Bonnie, loves to be surrounded by indoor plants and chocolate, and feels grateful to be able to cook meals for people in her community.
