Experts in the field of domestic and family violence will sit a new advisory panel tasked with guiding reform in Queensland.
The new five-member independent Domestic and Family Violence Advisory Panel held its first meeting in Townsville this week.
Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Minister Amanda Camm said the panel would advise on reforms to strengthen responses for survivors of domestic and family violence and hold perpetrators to account.
Minister Camm said it comprised professionals with extensive experience and diverse backgrounds including policing, legal, academic, and support services.
“The panel will play a critical role by offering practical advice on government policy and how reform already underway will operate within the DFV system.”
Members appointed to the DFV Advisory Panel are:
Wynetta Dewis:
- Ms Dewis is the CEO of the Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service. A proud Torres Strait Islander woman, She has more than 25 years’ of experience in management and project management roles. Ms Dewis is also the chair of the First Nations Advocates Against Family Violence, the national peak body for family violence prevention legal services, and Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Group.
Kelli Martin:
- Ms Martin is a solicitor, business leader and social justice advocate, and has predominantly worked in family and criminal law after being admitted as a legal practitioner to the Supreme Court of Queensland and High Court of Australia in 2008. She founded KLM Solicitors in 2015 with a vision for a contemporary, client-focused law firm. Ms Marton is a former board director for the Red Rose Foundation and actively works to end domestic and family violence.
Elise Feltham:
- Ms Feltham has more than 17 years’ experience in policing and was the founding officer-in-charge of the Domestic and Family Violence and Vulnerable Persons Unit, Townsville District. She has extensive knowledge in integrated service responses. In 2022, Ms Fletham testified at the Domestic Violence Commission of Inquiry, and was seconded to the Domestic and Family Violence Command in Brisbane. She worked in a specialised training team, developing and delivering new domestic and family violence training packages for police officers statewide. The team received the Commissioner’s Award for Excellence in 2024.
Brian Sullivan:
- Dr Sullivan has worked in the domestic and family violence sector nationally and internationally, as practitioner, academic and consultant for 25 years. He is a member of the Coroner’s Domestic and Family Violence Death Review and Advisory Board and the Queensland Police Service Domestic and Family Violence Advisory Group. He is also a former CEO of the Red Rose Foundation, senior lecturer at CQUniversity, and practice manager of the Responsible Men’s Program at Youth and Family Service in Logan. Dr Sullivan is also the Founder of Sicura, providing education, training and support for domestic violence intervention professionals.
Heather Lovatt:
- Associate Professor Lovatt has been the director of the Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research (QCDFVR) at CQUniversity since 2018. She has an extensive background in human services and has led a diverse range of gendered violence projects, spanning education, sector development and research. Associate Professor Lovatt works to ensure QCDFVR’s research has tangible links to practice.
