DVConnect is governed by a Board of Directors whose primary purpose is to provide strong governance and strategic framework. This governance guides and supports the Executive Leadership Team in the development and financing of the organisation’s activities.
The Directors also act as a reference point for specific issues that require expertise beyond the core capability of the organisation’s professionals.
As a company limited by guarantee and not-for-profit, the Directors must also comply with the duties and obligations under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012 (Cth), the Service Agreements and other applicable government policies and guidelines issued by our funding bodies. Our Constitution is available on the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission website. This document governs the relationship between the organisation, the Directors and company secretary, and members.
For previous Directors, please view the Annual Reports.
Fiona Maxwell, CHAIR
Appointed Director 18 September 2017
Fiona Maxwell’s career has spanned the non-profit, government and university sectors in Australia and the USA. She is currently Executive Director of FareShare, a food relief charity providing 1 million meals a year to Queenslanders in need. Previously she was CEO of Brisbane Powerhouse, and Queensland Manager for Philanthropy Australia, establishing the Brisbane office and supporting philanthropists and non-profits alike to grow the sector. Fiona has extensive experience building strong relationships with stakeholders in various industries including the service industry, internet start-up sector and philanthropic sector.
Fiona holds a Bachelor of Arts from Queensland University of Technology, a Masters from the University of New South Wales and recently completed the Executive Program for Non-profit Leaders at Stanford University.
Linda Dreghorn, COMPANY SECRETARY
Appointed Company Secretary 22 February 2005. Appointed Director 20 July 2010
Linda is currently Company Secretary for Green Cross Australia, and Manager, Business Performance – Governance at Arts Queensland. Previous roles include Company Secretary and Legal Counsel for Major Brisbane Festivals Pty Ltd, General Manager of Brisbane Festival 2006, Secretary and Director of the Secretariat of the Queensland Law Society Inc., Co-ordinator of Due Diligence for SunWater’s acquisition of major water infrastructure and Lecturer in Law at the Queensland University of Technology.
Linda has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland, a Graduate Diploma in Company Secretarial Studies and is a graduate of the ACID Company Directors’ course.
Ben Bjarnesen, DIRECTOR
Appointed Director 19 August 2019
Ben is a passionate educator and campaigner who advocates for improved services for LGBTQ+ victims and survivors of Domestic and Family Violence.
Ben is a ChurchillFellow and has travelled internationally to explore best practice solutions for Police Departments to enhance the way in which they respond to DFV in LGBTQ+ communities. He has since been actively involved in advising government and non-government organisations internationally on a range of initiatives designed to improve service delivery to LGBTQ+ communities.
Ben is a former Police officer with the Queensland Police Service and in 2020 he founded the LGBTQ Domestic Violence Awareness Foundation. In 2023 he was appointed by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to the Queensland Government Domestic & Family Violence Prevention Council. Ben is an awarded educator and campaigner and has previously been named as a ‘Human Rights Hero’ by the Australian Human Rights Commission and as one of Australia’sOutstanding 50 LGBTI+ Leaders by Deloitte & Google.
Ben holds a Diploma of Leadership & Management, Diploma of Public Safety (Policing), as well as Diploma of Security Risk Management.
Carly Jacobitz AHPRA GAICD, DEPUTY CHAIR
Appointed Director 2022
Carly is a registered psychologist and graduate of the AICD who brings 15 years of operational and executive experience in human services. She is the Executive Director at Life Without Barriers and is a non-executive Director of PeakCare, the child protection peak body in Queensland. Her extensive experience in child protection and disability within government and for-purpose organisations led her to be appointed to the Queensland Government’s Truth, Healing and Reconciliation Taskforce. Carly remains strongly committed to vulnerable children, young people, and families and is an advocate for financial agility and innovation within the organisations that serve them.
Professor Patrick O’Leary PhD, DIRECTOR
Appointed Director 2022
Patrick is an internationally recognised researcher currently based at Griffith University with significant expertise in domestic violence/gender-based violence (with a focus on perpetrator intervention, integrated, differential, and intersectional responses), child protection, long-term impact of child sexual abuse (especially for men), social work, hope, and socially excluded young people. He is Co-lead of the University’s Disrupting Violence Beacon and Director of Violence Research and Prevention Program (VRPP) which operates the bystander intervention project, MATE. Patrick was a member of the Queensland Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce examining coercive control and women’s experience of the justice system. He was also an Expert Academic Advisor to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Patrick Chairs the Clinical Advisory Committee for SAMSN, supporting male survivors of child sexual abuse.
Murray Benton
Appointed Director 25 November 2024
Murray is a proud Aboriginal Barkindji Koori man from Central West New South Wales. He is the Deputy CEO of Youth Justice with Queensland’s Youth Justice Peak Body, QATSICPP, and an appointed member of the Child Death Review Board with the Queensland Family and Child Commission.
Murray brings extensive experience in the not-for-profit sector, specialising in housing, homelessness, and child, youth and family services. His background spans regional crisis response and specialist homelessness services, intensive case management, state and federal emergency relief, primary health and antenatal care, sexual and reproductive health, natural disaster recovery, domestic sexual and family violence support including refuge settings, multicultural migrant services, community housing and the development of Queensland’s first local housing action plan. Murray is a strong advocate for early intervention to prevent male violence against women and children, drawing on his own lived experience as a survivor to promote accountability and tailored support for men.
In 2018, he gained international exposure for his youth mental health and suicide prevention campaign, The Good Fight Australia. This aimed to raise awareness and advocate for greater government support for Australian families enduring the harsh effects of bullying, assault, and self-harm in school environments.
Murray holds a Graduate Diploma of Business Administration and is completing his Master of Business Administration, Management and Leadership.
Simone Moffat-Lane
Appointed Director 25 November 2024
Simone is a Chartered Accountant who brings with her over 15 years’ experience across a variety of financial disciplines, including internal and external audit, budgetary management and financial governance. Currently an acting Chief Finance Officer in the Queensland State Government, she also has extensive experience in the private sector, having worked in a number of varied roles within professional audit services, large listed companies and private equity health.
Simone holds an LLB Law (Honours) from the University of Edinburgh and has served as Treasurer and Board Director for a national not-for-profit organisation providing homelessness services and support.
