Meet the judges

Julie is the Head of Tax & Legal at The Tax Institute and one of Australia’s leading voices on tax policy, law and administration. Julie leads the Institute’s Tax Policy & Advocacy team, driving the Institute’s strategic policy agenda and representing the voice of Australia’s tax profession. She oversees the Institute’s National Technical and State Taxes Committees, a network of more than 150 leading tax practitioners, and advocates for meaningful reform that supports a fairer, simpler and more sustainable tax system.

Julie is a trusted adviser and influential contributor to the development of Australia’s tax system. She represents the Institute in several of Australia’s most significant tax forums, including the ATO’s National Tax Liaison Group, the Australian Treasury’s Tax Treaty Advisory Panel, and the Tax Practitioners Board’s Consultation and Standards Forum. Julie provides strategic and technical advice to Government, regulators and other stakeholders, and has appeared as an expert witness before several Senate Committee inquiries.

Julie is a regular presenter and keynote speaker at major tax conferences and industry forums. She is frequently sought out by the media for expert analysis on emerging tax issues, legislative developments, and the future direction of Australia’s tax system.

Prior to joining the Institute, Julie practised in the tax teams of a Big 4 accounting firm and a top-tier law firm in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as an international law firm in London. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor from the University of Sydney and a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne, part of which was completed at the University of Oxford.

Rex Afrasiabi is the Director of New Chapter Legal and Bond Property Lawyers, two leading Australian law firms specialising in commercial and property law.

With over 20 years of experience, Rex is recognised as a leading legal adviser for real estate agencies, mortgage brokers, business owners, and entrepreneurs navigating complex legal and commercial matters. Acknowledged by Forbes Australia as one of the country’s top choice lawyers for real estate agencies, Rex acts for some of Victoria’s largest and most successful firms, advising on agency structuring, franchise agreements, rent roll transactions, compliance, litigation, and succession planning.

In 2023, he founded Bond Property Lawyers, now one of Australia’s fastest-growing property law firms. Purpose-built for real estate agents and mortgage brokers, the firm fills a long-standing market gap by offering a bespoke technology platform that delivers real-time transaction updates with a leading legal team. Its unique B2B2C model has driven rapid national growth within just two years.

His thought leadership has appeared in Forbes, The Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, Herald Sun, and leading industry podcasts.

Angela has over 30 years experience in the financial services industry. She is the founder of Evergreen Consultants, one of the first asset consulting firms to offer managed accounts in Australia. Angela has also held senior investment roles at QIC, van Eyk Research, IWL and Lonsec. She now works with financial planners, charities and responsible entities on a variety of investment related matters.

Angela holds a Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Economics, Masters in Finance and a Graduate Diploma in Securities. She has completed the Certified Investment Management Analyst course.

Sarah Barnett gives finance professionals the credibility they need to grow their online brand, fast. As founder of Social Broker and SocialReview.io, she’s created SaaS tools that merge psychology with standout content to give accountants, advisers and brokers a shortcut to trust and authority. With a background in organisational change and a sharp eye for consumer behaviour, Sarah’s approach is strategic, compliant, and built for real world cut through.

Christine Bau is the founder of People Focused, a HR consulting firm that specialises in providing holistic HR services to accounting and financial planning practices.

A seasoned HR practitioner and qualified coach, Christine is known for partnering with firms to help create a great place to work and ensure that they meet their HR compliance obligations.

Christine is particularly passionate about ensuring clients have a solid HR foundation in place, secure the right talent for their business.

Prior to establishing People Focused Christine worked as a senior HR leader with various mid-tier accounting firms and boutique financial planning practices.

Linda Baxter is the Director, Continuing Professional Development and part of the senior management team at Leo Cussen Centre for Law. Having previously been in private practice followed by a regulatory investigative role, Linda also writes materials and trains legal practitioners in Ethics & Professional Conduct.

After 25 years in the financial services sector, Michael now runs a group of companies operating in the energy efficient home sector. With National Awards across Design, Sustainable Housing and Documentation the group is a leading voice in the move to building energy efficient, healthy homes. He also uses his financial background to lead Research and Development programs in the sector.

Michael commenced his career as an advertising executive with The Countryman Newspaper (West Australian Newspapers) and later Community News Group working with advertising agencies and strategic partnerships. He transitioned to online marketing with the launch of Australia’s first online business directory, listed on the ASX.

Has held senior executive and director roles in private and public companies across advertising, business services, membership, not-for-profit, publications, and technology organisations.

Experienced industry awards judge and regular presenter and contributor to various organisations and publications such as Australian Owner Manager, Lexology, and Momentum Media.

Nicole is an award-winning Global Brand Strategist, International Keynote, Personal Brand Expert, Executive Coach, Board Advisor and Industry Awards Judge with an Executive Management background in Financial Services.

Nicole has held senior and executive management roles for over 24 years, including 10 years in Financial Services leadership, and has led teams, growth strategy, and high-stakes stakeholder engagement across complex environments. Her work spans iconic and global brands, including CommBank, CommSec, Cisco, Foxtel, LinkedIn, Woolworths, Subaru, TikTok and Electrolux, as well as government organisations, departments, and academia, including QUT, Torrens University, RMIT, NSW Health, Geoscience Australia, RACGP, Franklin Women, and Women in Economics.

Lana Johnston is a People-Led Transformation Advisor, author and speaker with more than 25 years of executive experience. Her career was grounded in finance, where she held state and national level banking and leadership roles spanning business banking retail banking, strategy, people and culture, and major programs.

Today, she is the Founder and CEO of Taking It Forward, an advisory practice that helps large private sector organisations, statutory bodies and government agencies redesign how they are structured and how their people are led.

Over her career, Lana has designed or supported more than 25 restructures, mergers and demergers, and guided more than 1,000 leaders through significant change.

She is a Certified Chair who trains current and aspiring board and advisory chairs, and is the author of Small Moments, Strong Bonds, a book sharing her passion for how we can more meaningfully connect with our ageing loved ones.

As a judge, she brings a broad view of what strong leadership looks like in finance and beyond, and a sharp eye for leaders who deliver results and bring their people with them.

Paul Kofman (PhD Erasmus University Rotterdam) was appointed Professor of Finance at The University of Melbourne in 2001. In 2012, Professor Kofman became the Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics.

Paul’s research interests and publications are in the ethics of finance, quantitative and behavioral finance and the regulation of financial markets. He has received numerous competitive research grants and was one of the founding directors of the ARC-funded Financial Integrity Research Network.

With his colleague Clare Payne, Paul introduced one of the first online ethics in finance subjects, and their text book “A Matter of Trust – the practice of ethics in finance” was published by Melbourne University Press in 2018. With his colleague Sean Pinder, Paul also designed and developed the first Coursera MOOC specialization, Essentials of Corporate Financial Analysis and Decision Making, in partnership with BNY Mellon.

As Head of Strategy at The Dubs Agency, Alexandra leads strategy for financial services brands across Australia and globally. With 15 years’ experience in marketing and communications, she specialises in transforming complex ideas into clear, creative strategies that build brands, engage audiences and deliver measurable commercial outcomes.

Sascha Moore is a marketing specialist, who focuses on providing highly strategic, creative solutions – predominantly to the financial services and legal industries. Sascha has extensive experience in Australia and the United States with developing effective integrated marketing programs, and directing their implementation. She is now the Director of Create Design & Marketing, a boutique marketing communications agency that fuses solid strategy and powerful designs that directly resonates with a clients’ end markets. This approach creates a true connection: and connection drives results, deepens brand equity and furthers relationships. In addition to her professional obligations, Sascha is actively committed to educating brokers on how to enhance their business through incorporating smart marketing practices.

Professor Rahat Munir is the Head of Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance, Macquarie University. He is FCA, FCPA and PhD. Professor Munir is internationally acclaimed for his engagement with industry-driven curriculum and has been at the forefront of leading development and change initiatives. He is also forensic accounting specialist with financial crime investigative skills. He has pioneered innovative learning and teaching (L&T) practices, academic standards & accreditations. Her maintains strong ongoing relationships with external stakeholders, including professional associations, universities and communities - Universities in China, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Europe. He has served on the panel for Faculty/Course Reviews of various Universities in Australia and New Zealand. With his strong engagement with industry, he leads CFO Forum, Industry Academic Series, Thought Leadership and Business Leaders Roundtables. He has written over 100 peer reviewed journal articles, conference papers, books, book chapters, monographs and commissioned reports, and over 50 publications for professional and lay audiences. Although the bulk of his research focuses on management accounting and controls, he has also published in important cognate areas such as education, CSR, corporate governance, corporate culture and research expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Professor Munir has delivered scores of invited/keynote presentations, and his expert opinions has been featured in radio, television, newspapers, newsletters, and web outlets. He is affiliated with several professional bodies including the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, Professional Risk Managers International Association, USA, American Accounting Association, British Accounting Association, Canadian Accounting Association and European Accounting Association. Professor Munir serves on various high-level Committees and Advisory Boards. Professor Munir’s sustained excellence in teaching and research has been recognised through international awards.

Celeste Norman is Founding Principal of Rayne Legal, pioneering fractional General Counsel services that provide growth-focused Australian financial services firms and funds, with flexible, embedded legal solutions and strategy execution. With over a decade of expertise spanning the financial services sector, she has held senior roles at Westpac Institutional Bank and led innovative ETF development at Income Asset Management Group.

Celeste serves on the Law Council of Australia's Financial Services Committee and is an advocate for deregulation of the financial sector. She also co-hosts The Risk Reward Podcast, which delivers industry insights on legal, risk, compliance, marketing, and growth strategies to financial services professionals across Australia.

Celeste holds a Master of Banking and Finance Law (with Honours) from the University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from QUT.

Sarah founded Mayflower Consulting in 2014, to help super funds and investment managers succeed, with a focus on the intersection between customer experience, regtech and business strategy. Prior to this Sarah was a Division Director at Macquarie Bank, and held numerous roles across marketing, product and strategy.

Sarah has a marketing and information management degree from the University of Western Australia, and is a well-known industry commentator, with articles appearing in most major industry publications.

Sarah is the Managing Director of CREW (Compliance and Risk Executive Women) and Co-chair of the Technology and Innovations Expert Group for the Financial Services Council. Sarah regularly presents at industry conferences and company off-sites.

With a firm footing in the financial sector in Zurich and New York, Carmen came to social finance organisation Good Return via a journey of running her own social purpose organisation. Heading up the partnerships team, Carmen is driven to build support for Good Return because of her own passion for social equity and justice and her connection to Good Return's mission. By working at Good Return she has seen first-hand the power of finance for Good, and is proud to represent a team of experts in the field who are breaking down barriers for women entrepreneurs and changing the financial system so more women and thrive and succeed. If you care about economic stability for all in Australia and our region and making sure marginalised communities can build resilient livelihoods for themselves and their families, then Carmen is the person to talk to. Carmen is an avid traveller off the beaten path, with 2 teenage sons and a penchant for Australian native flora and birds.

Helen Spiropoulos is an Associate Professor in Accounting and Associate Editor of Australian Journal of Management and Managerial Auditing Journal. Helen is a Chartered Accountant and researches and teaches in the areas of sustainability and financial reporting, corporate governance and gender-diversity. Helen has published in a number of leading academic journals and her research has featured in the Australian Financial Review, BOSS magazine, ABC Radio and many others.

Rachel is recognised as one of the industry’s leading marketing experts with more than 20 years’ experience providing expert advice in all areas of financial services marketing. She has seen what works and what doesn’t and is well positioned to advise others.

A true believer in continued education Rachel stays ahead by engaging mentors and completing further study in all areas of marketing.

Rachel joined JBWere in December 2019 and is responsible for developing and leading all marketing strategies for this preeminent wealth brand.

Courtenay Walker is a motivated and driven financial advice professional, currently serving as Head of Advice and co-owner at Fox and Hare. Fox and Hare is a BCorp-certified business that specialises in providing financial advice to Aussies aged 20 – 45. In her role, Courtenay manages various aspects of the business, including leading the team, HR, operations, product and compliance.

With a background in process development, strategic decision-making, and small business expansion, she brings a comprehensive approach to ensuring the firm operates at its highest potential. Her passion lies in breaking down barriers within the Australian financial advice industry, making financial advice more accessible and available to those who need it most. This drive stems from her desire to foster a more equal Australia.

Outside of her professional life, Courtenay is an avid beachgoer and surfer, with a deep love for animal welfare. She enjoys spending time with her dog, Lucky, and her cat, Caro.

As Director of Encore Advisory Group, Mark is well known in the Advice industry and is a highly sort after trainer, educator and coach. Mark has worked with numerous mortgage broking and financial planning businesses enabling them to undertake the key important action of building a successful client advice practice, for the long term.

In 2017, after decades leading Wealth, Broking and Advice businesses, Encore was reimagined to better serve and prepare brokers and planners for the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead. Encore believes a better advice business means a better industry and therefore a better community.

Mark delivers practical, real-world solutions helping businesses navigate today’s complex environment whilst providing essential advice, helping to improve the quality and value of their business. This is achieved through partnerships with the right people and solutions thus enabling practices to deliver increasingly valuable advice to more clients.

Believing every Australian deserves advice on “both sides of the balance sheet”, Mark successfully built a mortgage broking business that partnered with over 200 financial planning practices and accounting firms, delivering advice services to over 5,500 Australian families a year.

Mark is known as a leading authority in bringing together Broking and Planning groups to deliver integrated “debt advice” and “broker planner” solutions. He is dedicated to this community as an SME owner himself. Mark is himself a consumer and advocate of Advice services and has led and steered advice businesses successfully through market, regulatory and consumer change and disruption for over 20 years.