Ms Melanie Briggs, Endorsed Midwife

Melanie is a descendant of Gumbayngirr and Dharawal peoples who lives and works on Maramarang, Jerrinja, Wandi Wandanian, Cullunghutti and Wodi Wodi traditional lands. A mother of two beautiful children. Melanie grew up on Gamay Gadigal lands and has strong family ties along the east coast from La Perouse to Wreck Bay. Melanie has a Bachelor of Midwifery at the University of Technology Sydney, a Master of Primary Health Care at Griffith University and an Advanced Diploma in Leadership and Management MBA through University of new England.

Melanie is the Minga Gudjaga and Birthing on Country manager at Waminda South Coast Women’s Health & Welfare Aboriginal Corporation and has worked in community for 10 years providing midwifery care to Aboriginal families on country. Melanie is a strong, cultural woman and is very passionate about improving the health and wellbeing of her people using a mixture of cultural and clinical midwifery skills during pregnancy and the postpartum period. As the Birthing on Country manager her leadership role is to guide, develop, implement a model of care that embeds cultural and clinical governance for safer birthing outcomes for First Nations families.

Kath Koschel

If breaking her back on two separate occasions and learning to walk for the third time in her life wasn’t enough to break her, losing her partner, the love of her life to suicide pushed her terrifyingly close to the edge. Through her astounding resilience, Kath Koschel was able to create joy out of sorrow, to become one of Australia’s youngest CEO’s and the founder of the global movement and not for profit organisation Kindnessfactory.

Kath isn’t your normal athlete. In fact, she’s so modest she wouldn’t even consider herself an athlete. But the former NSW cricketer has more fight in her than most professional athletes ever would. Kath’s story is one of inspiration and utter strength; from a hospital bed defying a prognosis of paralysis to setting up a global movement that drives her every day desire to create a world where people are kinder to one another. There have been more than a few significant bumps along the way, but Kath has never let the setbacks get the better of her. With her physical and mental resilience, Kath has pulled herself through challenges that most of us could not comprehend, without letting them defy her belief that we all have the capacity for kindness.

Now known worldwide for her kindness adventures, Kath shares her journey of how she turned adversity into triumph, with the thoughts that lead her to leave her home with nothing but the clothes on her back in an attempt to prove that you really can survive physically, mentally and emotionally, on kindness. An outpouring of support and offers of food and shelter on social media had Kath travelling around Australia on the nothing but the kindness of strangers, spreading her message of hope.

Kath will inspire you to challenge the way that you see the world. She will take you on an emotional roller coaster, leaving you in awe of her incredible strength and determination to do and be better, regardless of the hurdles she has had in front of her. And she believes that anyone is capable of achieving the same.

Amongst all of her challenges, Kath still managed to be awarded the 2016 Pride of Australia Medal, raised over $300K for various charity organisations, completed an Ironman challenge with feeling in only one of her legs, is on the Board of the Australian Young Leaders Initiative, addressed the Australian Prime Minister, is currently training to swim the English Channel, was selected by Marie Claire as a 2017 “Woman of Worth” and is an active mental health advocate. She was also nominated as the NSW Local Hero in 2020.

Professor Brett Mitchell

Professor Mitchell is a Professor of Nursing at Avondale University, adjunct Professor at the University of Newcastle and Monash University. He is Editor-in-Chief and has over 150 peer reviewed publications. Brett received 2022 Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research, the first nurse to receive this award.