Professor Anne Poelina, PhD, PhD, MEd, MPH&TM, MA, is a Nyikina Warawa Indigenous Australian — a poet, storyteller, filmmaker, and respected academic. She is Chair and Senior Research Fellow in Indigenous Knowledges at the Nulungu Institute, University of Notre Dame, and Adjunct Professor in Indigenous Education Futures, Arts & Society at Charles Darwin University.

With a lifelong commitment to justice, sustainability, and Indigenous knowledge systems, Professor Poelina has received widespread recognition for her leadership. In 2024, she was awarded the prestigious Geoethics Medal by the International Association for Promoting Geoethics (IAPG) for her global contributions to ethical and Indigenous approaches to environmental stewardship. The same year, she received the Bessie Rischbieth Conservation Award from the Conservation Council of Western Australia for her outstanding commitment to protecting the environment and for her courage in advocating for free, prior and informed consent and the precautionary principle in both government and non-government decision-making.

Professor Poelina is a member of the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water Indigenous Advisory Committee (2024), a member of the Institute for Water Futures, and a Visiting Fellow at the Water Justice Hub at The Australian National University.

She is the Inaugural Chair of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council (2018), a founding member of the Western Australian Government Aboriginal Water and Environment Group (AWEG) (2019), and was the inaugural First Nations appointee to the Murray–Darling Basin Independent Advisory Committee on Social, Economic and Environmental Sciences (2022).

Her contributions have been recognised with numerous awards, including the Women Taking Climate Action Award (2023), presented by the Zonta Club of Melbourne on Yarra and Zonta International District 23, and the Kailisa Budevi Earth and Environment Award (2022), awarded on International Women’s Day in recognition of her global influence in environmental leadership. In 2017, she was named a Laureate by the Women’s World Summit Foundation (Geneva), and she is also a Peter Cullen Fellow for Water Leadership (2011).

Professor Ariella Helfgott is a strategic foresight practitioner with more than 20 years of experience enabling future-focused dialogues, collaboration, and systemic change across 26 countries. Her work centers on co-creating sustainable, equitable, healthy, and prosperous futures—locally, nationally, and globally.

Ariella is the Director of Foresight and Strategic Learning the World Energy Council in its global secretariat, advancing vital conversations and actions to transform our energy societies and economies in the face of climate change. She also serves as a Professor at the University of Adelaide and Program Director of Foresight and Decision-Making for the One Basin CRC, supporting efforts to enhance productivity, resilience, and sustainability in Australia’s Murray–Darling Basin and is a member of the Futures Council of the ANU National Security College, contributing to national and international strategic insight. She has previously served as Director of Strategic Foresight in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet for the Government of South Australia, Director of Scenarios for the World Energy Council, a member of the Shell Scenario Team, Director of Collaborative Futures, and lead academic research programs for many year at the Universities of Oxford, Utrecht, Wageningen and Adelaide.

Her commitment is to champion open, future-facing conversations and projects that nurture caring, peaceful, inclusive, and prosperous societies—both today and for generations to come.

Dr Lorraine Finlay is the Human Rights Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission. In this role Lorraine leads the work of the Commission in areas including modern slavery, emergency responses, asylum seekers and refugees, business & human rights, and technology & human rights.

Prior to joining the Commission, Lorraine has worked as a lawyer and academic specializing in human rights and public law. She holds a PhD in Law from the University of Queensland and a dual Masters in Law from New York University and the National University of Singapore, where she studied as a Singapura Scholar. Her past roles have included working as the Senior Human Trafficking Specialist with the Australian Mission to ASEAN, an academic at Murdoch University, and a State Prosecutor with the WA DPP.

As a career farmer, an agri-politician and then as a Victorian Government Minister for Water and Agriculture, Peter Walsh’s life has been inextricably involved with water.

Now as a member of that government’s water security taskforce – advising future governments on the state’s long-term water security – he remains at the centre of the water debate. The taskforce will review potential future water supply options, consult with the community and report back to the incoming government after the November 2026 election.

Mr Walsh is also a member for the Victorian Premier’s drought taskforce. As leader of The Nationals in Victoria, Mr Walsh provided the party with a decade of unparalleled political stability and in the face of a 2022 Labor landslide saw his party increase its representation in the current Victorian Parliament. He stood down as leader in December, announcing he would not recontest his seat of Murray Plains in 2026, at which time he will have dedicated 24 years to public service.

Before entering Parliament, Mr Walsh owned and operated one of the state’s largest tomato growing operations as part of his irrigated horticulture and cropping enterprise, also producing cereals, oilseeds and legumes. In that role he began his public and community service as Victorian Farmers Federation president; a director of the National Farmers Federation and a director of SPC Limited. Born and raised in Boort, Mr Walsh’s time farming and living in regional Victoria saw him naturally interested in agricultural and water policy, which is why, he said, he put his hand up to try and make a difference.

In 2003 he was also awarded a Centenary Medal for his services to the environment.

Marcus has more than 30 years experience as an economic regulator and is currently responsible for leading the commission’s pricing and regulatory work program across local government, transport, retail energy and water sectors. He was previously the leader of the Essential Services Commission’s water team which is responsible for water pricing, performance reporting and customer protection. He has been involved in over 100 water price reviews over the last twenty years.

Marcus led the development of the commission innovative water pricing approach (PREMO) , the development of Victorian Default Offer for retail energy prices, and oversaw the Commission’s response to the Royal Commission into Family Violence which resulted in requirements for water businesses to implement family violence policies.

Marcus has a Master of Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management. He also has a Graduate Diploma of Water Engineering, Hydrology and Water Resources Science, and a Bachelor of Engineering (Hon), both from Monash University.

Professor Shahbaz Khan is currently Director and Representative of UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office for East Asia in Beijing. He was previously Director, UNESCO Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific based at Jakarta Indonesia. He joined UNESCO in 2008 as Chief of Water and Sustainable Development Section at UNESCO Division of Water Sciences based at Paris. His key leadership and management areas at UNESCO include science capacity building and policy advice across the region. He has also coordinated key programs such as Water Education for Sustainable Development, Hydrology for Environment, Life and Policy (HELP), Ecohydrology, MAB and Water and Energy Nexus.

Shahbaz has worked in Australia, France, Indonesia and Pakistan in various research, consultancy and policy positions. Before joining UNESCO in 2008, Shahbaz was Professor and Director (International Centre for Food Security) at the Charles Sturt University, Research Director at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Programme Leader, System Harmonisation for Regional Irrigation Business Partnerships at the Cooperative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures, Australia. His work has been widely recognized e.g. 2019 China Friendship Award, Great Wall Friendship Award China 2017, FEIAP Engineer of the Year Award 2016, UNESCO Team Award for Managing Hydro Hazards 2009, Land and Water Australia’s Eureka Prize 2007, CSIRO Medal 2007, Biennial Medal of the Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand. Shahbaz is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia, Fellow of Institution Engineer Malaysia, Hon Fellow of the Myanmar Engineering Society and Fellow of the Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand.

Shahbaz has widely published in the area of water, environment and sustainable development and received several publications awards. From 2008-2012 as UNESCO’s Chief of Water and Sustainable Development, he was credited for stakeholder driven environmental policies that is now recognised as the world’s best practice through the UNESCO Hydrology for Environment, Life and Policy (HELP) Program.