Creative Workplaces

Kate Jenkins AO is a renowned lawyer, leader and change maker. She is a former human rights and sex discrimination commissioner, and is recognised for spearheading some of Australia’s leading reviews, reports and reforms for fairness, safety and equality. Kate is Australia’s foremost authority on respect and equality in the workplace.

Kate has recently completed her 7 year term as the Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner. Highlights of Kate’s term are leading the landmark Respect@Work: National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces Report, as well as her independent reviews of Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces, Gymnastics in Australia and Australian Universities. Kate chaired the Respect@Work Council leading regulators, employers, worker representatives and civil society to implement changes in sexual harassment laws and practices.

Kate holds a Bachelor of Arts (with Honours in Fine Arts) and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Melbourne. Kate has previously served as the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner and on the Boards of Heide Museum of Modern Art, Play by the Rules, Berry Street Victoria and Carlton Football Club. For 20 years Kate was an employment lawyer with Herbert Smith Freehills.

Simon Abrahams is Creative Director & CEO of Melbourne Fringe, where he is recognised as one of Australia’s arts and cultural leaders. Simon’s work explores the intersection of art and civic participation. He is a life member of Theatre Network Australia, an organisation he co-founded then Chaired from 2010-2017.

Simon has previously served as Head of Programming at the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing & Ideas and as Executive Producer and Co-CEO at Polyglot Theatre. Simon regularly works as a facilitator, host, peer assessor, mentor, judge and arts consultant, known for his expertise in inclusive leadership, advocacy, dramaturgy, work for children, and art in public space. Simon currently sits on the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) Board Programming Committee and is a Trustee for the Betty Amsden Foundation.

Fiona Donovan completed her first degree in Architecture at Canberra University, before moving to Sydney and taking up a place in the Set and Costume Design Course at NIDA. Since graduating from the NIDA in 1992, Fiona has worked in many genres of film, television and theatre.

Fiona has been nominated four times for the AACTA Award for Best Production Design in Television for her work on the internationally successful period drama, A Place to Call Home. She was first nominated in 2016 for Series 4, Episode 1. In 2017, she was nominated and awarded the AACTA for Series 5, Episode 2. Her third nomination was in 2018 for Series 6, Episode 1, and a fourth nomination in 2019 for Frayed Series 1. Fiona also won the APDG Award for Production Design on a Television Drama for Series 6 of A Place to Call Home in 2019. Fiona has also been nominated for an APDG award in 2023 for The Twelve and 2022 for Frayed Series 2.

Most recently, Fiona was the production designer on the upcoming series Erotic Stories anthology (Lingo Pictures/SBS), prior to this she designed the yet to be released feature Sting directed and written by Kiah Roache-Turner, and the hugely successful Stan feature Christmas Ransom (Stan/Every Cloud). Fiona designed the Logie and AACTA award winning miniseries The Twelve (Warner Bros/Easy Tiger), released in 2022. Fiona worked on both series of Frayed for Merman Productions and Guesswork Television, written by and starring Sarah Kendall. Previously she designed Back to the Rafters for Channel 7 and Amazon Prime and Between Two Worlds for Channel 7, both series were written by Bevan Lee and produced by Chris Martin-Jones and Lesley Parker. Fiona has art directed extensively in both television and film. She has been art director of several high-profile Australian television series, including the police drama Young Lions, the 22-part ABC legal drama Crownies on which she was also the episode designer after the first 4 episodes, and the 1960s period comedy-drama Love Child. She has art directed on international film productions including Truth, The Shallows and Pacific Rim Uprising.

Fiona is currently the vice president of the APDG and is active on both the screen and awards committees, as well as a professional member of AACTA.

Ruth Hazleton is a multi-award-winning performer and recording artist, she has toured nationally and internationally in the folk and roots music sector for over twenty-five years. Throughout this time, she has also gained extensive experience in music, tour and event management (including Sydney Road Street Party, Brunswick Music Festival (VIC) & Across the Borders Agency).

Ruth is a dedicated advocate for Australian independent music and musicians, women in music and culturally and linguistically diverse artforms. She is a passionate supporter of the arts as a core foundation of cultural heritage, identity, and community expression.

Alongside her career in music, Ruth holds a Graduate Diploma in Australian Folklife Studies (Curtin University), and currently works professionally as an independent researcher, author, folklorist and oral historian contracted to the National Library of Australia. She is a mother, a keen gardener, songwriter, plays banjo, sings traditional songs, dabbles in electronica, and was awarded ‘Artist of the Year’ (Solo) at the 2021 Australian Folk Music Awards.

Michel Hryce joined Michael Cassel Group as the Director of People and Culture in January 2020, having previously served as In-house Counsel, People and Culture at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, a position she held since 2012.

Bringing to the role extensive experience in theatre, entertainment and labour relations, Michel served, for eleven years, as National Director of Theatre, Lawyer and NSW Secretary for the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) negotiating collective bargaining agreements on behalf of the union’s members with SBS, the Sydney Opera House, Opera Australia, the Australian Ballet, the Sydney Dance Company, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and national theatre companies in both the subsidised and commercial sector. Following her time at MEAA, Michel was General Manager, Human Resources and Industrial Relations at the Sydney Ferries Corporation from 2004 until 2009.

Tina Lavranos is an executive with 20 years of legal, consulting and general management experience. She has performed senior legal and human resources roles across Asia and Australia in the creative, professional services and finance sectors.

Tina is a consultant focussing on the creative sector. Tina was the Executive Director of DarkLab; operator of the annual Dark Mofo festival in Hobart. Prior to this, she worked at MONA as a member of the executive team. Tina is an experienced NFP board member and was the past Chair of Women’s Legal Service Victoria.

Bjorn Stewart is a Sydney-based filmmaker and creator. He has been involved, either performing, writing or directing, in Australian television comedies such as: Summer Love; We Interrupt This Broadcast; Drunk History Australia; Get Krack!n; and Black Comedy to name a few.

Most recently Stewart directed two episodes of the comedy series Gold Diggers for ABC and directed the AACTA award-winning mini-series All My Friends are Racist, which had its international premiere at Series Mania. With films, Stewart wrote and directed the schlock horror comedy Killer Native and directed Last Drinks at Frida’s, both premiering at the Sydney Film Festival and screened at festivals across the globe since. In 2021 he was mentored by and a director’s attachment to Taika Waititi on Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder. On the stage, Stewart has performed in the award-winning play Cursed! at Belvoir Street Theatre and productions such as: Brothers Wreck; Coranderrk; and The Dark Room to name a few.

Working in the Australian entertainment industry over the past 15 years, Stewart understands the demands and execution required within television, screen and stage and hopes to bring that knowledge to advocate for safe workplaces, cultural competency and worker’s rights.

Kate Schaffner began as Director, Creative Workplaces in January 2024. She is building a small, dedicated team to support the work of Creative Workplaces.  

Kate has considerable experience in workplace relations and in leadership roles in the public sector. She has a deep understanding of workplace culture and employment issues. Her knowledge of issues relating to pay, safety, and wellbeing will be instrumental in delivering Creative Workplace’s mandate. 

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