Maria Dimopoulos

Maria Dimopoulos has a legal background, and incorporates her legal knowledge as an anti-discrimination and diversity trainer. Maria has had extensive experience in policy formulation for the Government sector, research for social planning and in community education. She has also successfully undertaken sensitive consultations with ethnic communities on a range of issues including care for aged, skilled migration and employment, health, domestic violence and the law.  In delivering cultural awareness programs to a wide sector of the community, Maria has contributed to the development and a greater understanding of the cross-cultural implications in decision-making and service provision.

Maria has written extensively for a number of journals, including Feminist Law Journal, the Australian Institute of Criminology and various Local Government Journals. She has also co-authored the book ‘Blood on Whose Hands’ – the Killing of Women and Children in Domestic Relationships. Maria is also a recipient of an Amnesty International Human Rights Award for her work on the legal needs of women from NESB. 

Tony Nicholson

Tony Nicholson, BA, BSW, is the Executive Director of the Brotherhood of St Laurence and has dedicated almost 25 years to improving conditions of those living on or close to the edges of society. 

Tony spent 14 years as Chief Executive Officer of Hanover Welfare Services, a Melbourne based organisation regarded as Australia’s leading agency in the field of homelessness.  He has brought to the task of leadership at the Brotherhood a strong record of service development and innovation, research and policy analysis and compelling advocacy on behalf of those disadvantaged in our community.

Michele Slatter

Michele Slatter came to Australia from England via an Associate Professorship at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. She researched and lectured in the areas of property law, poverty law and housing law for over twenty years before relocating to the Law School at Flinders University, Adelaide in 2000. At Flinders she teaches Housing Law and is an active researcher with AHURI’s Southern Research Centre.

Her main focus of interest is in 'successful tenancies', explored through projects on eviction, anti-social behaviour, discrimination, private rental assistance, tenant recognition schemes and advice and information strategies. She has published internationally for both academic and practitioner audiences, is currently one of the editorial team of the Alternative Law Journal and is a member of the Advisory Group for the Homelessness Legal Rights Project at the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, UNSW.

Michele’s active community involvement has been reflected in recent years by her work as a member of the Board of the South Australian Housing Trust, Deputy Chair of the Women’s Housing Association Inc., Deputy Chair of Shelter SA and member of the Board of the Don Dunstan Foundation.

Kath Hulse

Kath Hulse is Associate Professor at Swinburne University of Technology’s Institute for Social Research and Director of the Swinburne-Monash Research Centre of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI).

Her current research and publications cover a broad range of public and social policy issues, including social cohesion, the role of housing and location in contributing to economic and social participation, and new approaches to social and affordable housing.

Prior to her academic role, Kath had a long professional background in areas of public policy, in particular housing and urban development. She has extensive experience as a senior executive in government: in research, policy development, strategic planning and program management. She has also maintained an involvement in the not-for-profit sector and is currently Vice Chair of Melbourne Affordable Housing (a community housing association).