Our team
Abbey is the CEO of Working Women’s Centre Australia.
Prior to taking up appointment, she was the Director and Principal Solicitor of the South Australian Working Women’s Centre for just under 6 years.
Abbey has 15 years of experience in legal practice as an employment and industrial lawyer and has built a reputation as a litigator and strategic advisor in national and smaller labour law firms, working for unions and as a pro bono lawyer and leader in worker and women’s collectives over this time.
Abbey has dedicated her career to representing and advocating for worker’s rights and has successfully represented workers and unions in major national industrial cases across hospitality, arts, the community sector, construction and mining, retail and professional services. Abbey has been appointed by government at the state and federal level to many strategic governance and specialist advisory board and committees, for example she is a member of the national Respect@Work Council and of the South Australian government’s Gender Pay Gap Taskforce.
Abbey has played a leadership role in work and IR practitioner organisations, for example, until early 2024 she has been elected as the Vice President of the Australian Labour and Employment Relations Association (ALERA) National Executive Committee and the President of the ALERA SA Executive Committee.
Abbey is a feminist unionist and advocates for collectivist gender, sexual and political justice.
Aira Firdaus has over eight years experience as a grassroots campaigner and organiser, and is a proud trade unionist.
She has held pivotal roles within the union movement in Australia and internationally, and has led the national advocacy work in improving the living conditions of migrant and refugee workers in the horticulture industry with the United Workers Union. Aira's passion is understanding culture, structure and practice to drive collectivism and progressive change in societies and communities.
She is currently the Treasurer and a Board Member of Vitalstatistix, and has sat on the Advisory Committee of ANROWS' national study of migrant and refugee women's experiences, understandings and responses to sexual harassment in the workplace.
Aira speaks English and Bahasa Malaysia.
Kirsty brings over 10 years of experience in the legal profession as a Paralegal, specialising in employment and industrial law. Her career has been driven by a strong commitment to workers' rights, leading her to her current role as Executive Assistant at the Working Women’s Centre Australia. With deep rooted union values, she is dedicated to advancing gender equality and supporting women in the workplace.
Outside of her professional life, she humorously refers to herself as a "washed-up" athlete, having won an athletic scholarship to the University of Denver in the sport of lacrosse.
Thais is a proud Latina and a skilled multilingual communicator who moved to Australia in 2020 to start a new chapter in her life.
With over 10 years of experience across the private, government, and nonprofit sectors in Australia, Brazil, and Argentina, Thais combines creativity and data-driven insights to lead campaigns, crafting stories that connect with people and drive meaningful change.
Her expertise includes branding, content creation, communication strategies, digital marketing, and project management, with a strong focus on both B2B and B2C communication. Thais is also a National Multicultural Advisory Panel Member at CultureVerse, where she collaborates with government and corporate teams to design communication strategies that engage culturally, linguistically, and religiously diverse audiences.
Thais’ commitment to advocacy and equity is deeply rooted in her early experiences in student movements and 1990s Brazilian union activism, which profoundly shaped her perspectives on feminism, democracy, and social justice.
Outside of work, Thais is actively involved with the Brazilian diaspora and multicultural communities in Australia. Volunteering with migrant groups is one of her passions, and she is committed to giving back and advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
When she’s not working or volunteering, you’ll find Thais navigating the joys and challenges of raising a teenager, spending time as a grandmother to her dog, dancing, discovering TV series, or exploring new cuisines.
Jacqui has over 40 years of bookkeeping experience in the not-for-profit sector, including over 28 years of providing long term consultant bookkeeping services to various organisations within the Disability, Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander and other Community and Social Service sectors in South Australia.
When Jacqui’s not “sorting out the numbers”, she enjoys reading, cooking, looking after her family and socialising with friends.
Sub-Committee Board Members
Ann-Marie Hayes
Chair
Ann-Marie Hayes has an extensive background in health and welfare services; she has worked as a nurse, and a social worker in various positions including community based services, hospitals, housing, and Women's Health services in different states and territories within Australia. Over the last ten years Ann-Marie has worked in Executive level positions in Health, Education and Human Services overseeing large service provision systems, implementing reform that is sustainable, collaborative & adaptive so that we can focus on shared outcomes and transcend silos.
All of her work has been underpinned by a strong sense of social justice, a feminist approach and an equity lens to ensure equitable, just outcomes.
Ann-Marie is currently the Director of her own company where she provides strategic assistance & her well developed facilitation skills to focus on all aspects of organisational/service related concerns from strategic planning, review of service delivery models, strategy discussions, mentoring of leaders and assisting with the many and varied issues that arise within management.
Professor Rae Cooper AO
Rae Cooper AO is the Director of the Australian Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusion@Work and a Professor of Gender, Work, and Employment Relations at the University of Sydney Business School. She is President of the International Labor and Employment Relations Association (ILERA) and has published over 70 articles and chapters on employment relations, workplace policy and aspects of women's working lives.
Professor Cooper was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2019 recognition of her contributions to Australian higher education and her impact on workplace policy and practice. She has undertaken numerous collaborative research projects within an array of industry sectors for some of Australia's most well-known organisations including the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), the Human Rights Commission, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the Law Society of NSW and she has worked as an advisor to key multi-lateral organisations, including the OECD and International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Through these collaborations and her experience as a non-executive director and strategic advisor to industry and government, she is known for her clever and grounded approach. Professor Cooper is a globally recognized leader in the gendered dimensions of the workplace, and an expert in collaborative research programs that incorporate an evidence- based approach with world leading practice to identify practical, data-driven policies that achieve positive change.
Trish (Patricia) Crossin AM
Trish Crossin is a former Senator and was the first woman to represent the Northern Territory in the Federal Parliament. She holds a Bachelor of Education.
She is an experienced Director with an extensive background in corporate governance, risk management and strategic planning as Chair and Board member of community, education and sporting organisations and statutory authorities.
Trish obtained the initial funding for and established the NT Working Women’s Centre and was the Founding Chairperson.
Her previous board positions include Directorship of the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation, Australian Indigenous Agribusiness Company (Primary Partners), Voyages Indigenous Tourism Pty Ltd, Director of the Anangu Foundation, President of Netball NT and Netball ACT and Director of Westjustice Community Legal Centre, Asthma Foundation NT and currently the Chair of the Gordon Institute of TAFE and a Director on Gender Equity Victoria.
Trish has a National Service Award from Asthma Australia, life membership of the National Tertiary Education Union and in 2023 was awarded an AM for significant service to the Parliament of Australia, and to the community of the Northern Territory.
Claire Thompson
Claire has over 30 years experience working in industrial advocacy and human resources management. More recently, her work as a consultant has focussed on the resolution of workplace grievances and assisting with and overseeing performance management processes in small to medium enterprises. She has over 10 years experience working in and with Aboriginal organisations.
Claire has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons), University of Melbourne with a major in the history and philosophy of science and a Graduate Diploma in Conflict Management, University of South Australia. In addition, she has undertaken accredited mediation training with the Resolution Institute. Together with Event Strategies, she underwrote and organised two large international conferences on workplace bullying and workplace conflict.
Helen Creed
Helen is the Chair of the WWC WA Reference group and sits on the WWCA interim governance sub-committee.
Originally a social worker, Helen was instrumental in establishing the Sussex Street Community Legal Centre. Helen’s first union position was as child care organiser. She gained a high public profile when she was the WA Secretary of the Miscellaneous Workers Union during the 1990s and went on to represent working people at both the national and international level. As an ACTU Vice-President, Helen chaired the ACTU Women’s Committee and subsequently the ICFTU Women’s Committee.
Helen has also held a number of senior State government positions including as Director of the Office for Women’s Policy, the Fair Employment Advocate and Executive Director, Children and Families in the Department for Communities (2006-2012), before returning to the community sector where she worked as Policy Manager Vulnerable People at WACOSS and as the Executive Director of the Community Legal Centres Association.
In 2018, Helen was appointed as Deputy Chair of the WA Government’s Supporting Community Forum for 2 years and since then has also held a number of part-time positions, including as a Senior Sessional Member of the State Administrative Tribunal; Independent Chair, Fair Food WA and Independent Chair, State Emergency Relief Committee (both for WACOSS).
Throughout her career, Helen has served on a number of Boards and Committees across the community and government sectors. She recently stepped down from the role of inaugural Chair of REED (Regional Early Education and Development) although continues on its Governance Committee and is currently a Non-Executive Director of the Water Corporation of WA and a Member of the Gaming and Wagering Commission.
Helen is a Life Member of both United Workers Union and Unions WA.
