Biographies:

Tasneem Chopra is an independent Cross Cultural Consultant specialising in diversity training. Tasneem organised Australia's first symposium on Australian Muslim Achievers in Victoria, and an international Peace Concert raising funds for orphan sponsorship. She remains an occasional contributor to online opinion forums and is a staunch promoter of the many positives Muslims have contributed to society amidst innumerable barriers with a penchant for endorsing social justice issues impacting upon Muslim women.

Cr Dick Gross is a good Jewish boy, 50 years old. He lives with his wife, who has hitherto fortunately neglected to divorce him, 3 perfect children and two stupid dogs. Notwithstanding his Jewish background, Dick was educated at an Anglican school and sang much Catholic liturgy in the Australian Boys Choir. There have been three phases to the career of Cr Dick Gross: public interest lawyer, media commentator and municipal leader (and now council hack).

Eve Mahlab came to Australia as a refugee. She studied Law and then went into business. In 1982, she was named Australian Business Woman of the Year. She was the first woman elected to the board of Westpac. She was honoured with the Order of Australia in 1982 for services to government, business and the community, especially women, and accepted an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Monash University in 1988. She was an early member of the Women's Electoral Lobby and is a passionate feminist. She has recently co - founded the Australian Women Donors Network dedicated to channelling more philanthropic funds to projects which empower women and girls.

Shane Maloney is the creator of Australia's most successful crime novel series - the Murray Whelan novels: Stiff, The Brush-Off, Nice Try, The Big Ask, Something Fishy and Sucked In. The Brush-Off won the Ned Kelly Prize for Crime Fiction in 1996. It was short listed for the Premiers Literary Award and set as an English text for Victorian secondary students. In 2004, Stiff and The Brush-Off were adapted for the screen by John Clarke and made into movies with David Wenham in the role of Murray Whelan. Stiff was directed by Clarke and The Brush-Off by Sam Neill.

Ms Lyn Morgain has been an active member of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (GLBTIQ) community for many decades. She has a background of leadership in the advocacy and not for profit sector. The ALSO Foundation's vision is the creation and celebration of a diverse, strong, safe and inclusive GLBTIQ community that contributes to and is respected by broader communities.

Dr Clare Wright is an award-winning historian and author who has worked in politics, academia and the media. Clare’s doctoral research was the subject of her debut book, Beyond the Ladies Lounge: Australia’s Female Publicans (Melbourne University Publishing, 2003). “Eureka’s Women: An Intimate History of Sex, Class and Culture on the Victorian Goldfields”, will be the first systematic study of the role of women in one of the most iconic events in Australian history, the Eureka Stockade. Clare is a frequent Opinion writer for The Age and a regular panellist on ABC TV’s The Einstein Factor.