Adam Bandt is a Greens MP and the Federal Member for Melbourne. He was elected in 2010 when he made history by becoming the first Greens MP elected to the House of Representatives at a general election.

Adam was elected Deputy Leader in April 2012 and is the federal Greens spokesperson on industrial relations, banking, science and industry spokesperson. He was also participant in the government’s Multi-Party Committee on Climate Change.

Since being elected to Parliament he has successfully moved motions on marriage equality and condemning the government’s refugee deal with Malaysia. He has introduced legislation on protecting the Alpine National Park, banking reform, banning live animal exports and Parliamentary approval for sending troops overseas. Adam’s Bill to compensate fire fighters with cancer passed both houses in November 2012 and his Equal Marriage Bill is currently before a house committee.

Adam received undergraduate Law/Arts Honours degrees at Murdoch University, where he won the Sir Ronald Wilson Prize for Academic Achievement and he completed a PhD at Monash University in 2008.

His thesis looked at the recent trend of governments suspending basic human rights in areas such as migration, workplace relations and criminal law. He has written articles for many publications and has taught industrial relations law at RMIT.

For many years he worked at the labour law firm Slater & Gordon, where he became a partner in the industrial and public interest unit, the same job former Prime Minister Julia Gillard used to have. He is now a barrister who specialises in the field of industrial, employment and public interest law. Adam has represented many unions and low paid workers and has worked on cases involving freedom of speech and implementation of international covenants into Australian law.

Adam lives in Flemington with his partner Claudia and their two dogs.

Judith Troeth AM, was Liberal Senator for Victoria in the Federal Government for 18 years. She was the first female Member of Parliament in the Agricultural portfolio, as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry from 1997 to 2004.

She has also been Chair and Deputy Chair of a number of Senate Committees and devised and passed through the Senate, two private members' bills.

Before entering politics, she was a farmer and a teacher – roles that led her to become a key advocate on issues including rural education, women and immigration. Judith was appointed Chair of the Austin Health Board in July 2012, bringing to the position extensive experience in public representation, community consultation and advocacy.

Julian Burnside is a Melbourne barrister. He joined the Bar in 1976 and took silk in 1989. He specialises in commercial litigation, and has acted in many very contentious cases - the MUA Waterfront dispute; the Cash-for-Comment enquiry; cases for Alan Bond and Rose Porteous - but has become known for his human rights work and has acted pro bono in many refugee cases. 

He is an outspoken opponent of the mistreatment of people who come to Australia seeking protection from persecution. His latest book is Watching Out: Reflections on Justice and Injustice (Scribe).

Catherine Deveny has been a comedian, writer and professional speaker for 23 years.

She’s the author of seven books and over 1,000 columns for the Age newspaper, and is an ABC regular. She has appeared on Q&A five times — sitting next to John Elliott, Tony Abbott, Corey Bernardi, Peter Dutton and Archbishop Peter Jensen.

Deveny has performed five one-woman shows in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and has been named one of the Top 100 Most Influential Melbournians. Her charity and activist work includes public schools, public housing, feminism, atheism, asylum seekers, child abuse in the Catholic Church and homelessness.

She’s a keen commuter cycling ambassador and the co-founder of Pushy Women. She is the creator of the enormously successful Gunnas Writing Masterclasss — running 50 classes in less than 18 months. 

You’ll find her performing everywhere from debates at Melbourne Town Hall with Julian Burnside to Splendor In the Grass in Byron Bay.

She has never married and lives with her childhood sweetheart in the People's Republic Of Moreland.

Clementine Ford is a Melbourne-based writer, speaker and feminist thinker. She is a columnist for Fairfax’s Daily Life and is a regular contributor to the Age and Sydney Morning Herald. Through her twice-weekly columns for Daily Life, Clementine explores issues of gender inequality and pop culture. Fight Like a Girl is her first book.

Her ability to use humour and distilled fury to lay bare ongoing issues affecting women has earned her a huge and loyal readership. Clementine’s work has radically challenged the issues of men’s violence against women, rape culture and gender warfare in Australia, while her comedic take on casual sexism and entertainment has earned her a reputation as an accomplished satirist.

Erik Jensen is an award-winning journalist, biographer, poet and screenwriter. He is the founding editor of The Saturday Paper and editor-in-chief of Schwartz Media. He is the author of Acute Misfortune: The Life and Death ...

Heidi Victoria was elected to Victoria's State Parliament in 2006, to represent the people of Bayswater District in the Legislative Assembly.

In November 2009, Heidi was made Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Arts, and in November 2010, she was given the honour of becoming Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier, and Assisting the Premier with the Arts in the Baillieu led Coalition government.

In March 2013, Heidi advanced into the Natpthine Coalition Cabinet as the Minister for the Arts, Minister for Women’s Affairs and Minister for Consumer Affairs.

Heidi has been involved in community work for over 30 years, starting with what was then the Spastic Society (now known as Scope). Heidi then went on to spend time with the Make-A-Wish foundation, where she was the Melbourne President and a National Board Director. More recently, she has served on the Australian board of the National Council of Women as a Company Secretary. All of these were honorary, unpaid positions.

Even with her busy life, which includes being a mum to an active daughter, Heidi’s willingness to assist the not-for-profit sector continues today, where she often does many hours of unpaid work in the Bayswater community.

As a person passionate about fighting injustice, Heidi’s move into politics was a logical one.

Jane Garrett is the first female Emergency Services Minister in the history of Australia. She has responsibility of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade and Country Fire Authority – covering both metropolitan Melbourne and rural Victoria.

Minister Garrett also oversees the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority, which is the primary point of contact during a crisis.

A leading proponent of diversity, one of Jane’s targets is to promote cultural change in emergency services to reflect modern society and in particular encourage the recruitment of more women on frontline services, management and board positions.

As well as Emergency Services, Minister Garrett has other important departments in her portfolio including Consumer Affairs and Gaming and Liquor Regulation.

Jane is a lawyer who was drawn to politics help improve the lives of others through policies which promote social equality.

Don Watson is the author of many books, including Recollections of a Bleeding Heart, Death Sentence, American Journeys, The Bush and The Passion of Private White. He contributes regular pieces to the Monthly. High Noon is his third Quarterly Essay.

Graeme Simsion is a Melbourne-based novelist and screenwriter. The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect have combined global sales approaching five million copies.

Graeme is also the author of the international bestsellers The Best of Adam Sharp and – co-written with his wife, Anne Buist – Two Steps Forward. His screenplay for The Rosie Project is in development with Sony Pictures, The Best of Adam Sharp is in development with Toni Collette’s Vocab Films, and the rights to Two Steps Forward have been optioned by Fox Searchlight and Ellen DeGeneres.

Graeme’s latest book is the third and final Rosie novel, The Rosie Result.

Barrie Cassidy is one of Australia's most experienced political correspondents and analysts. He was the creator of Insiders on the ABC, a program he hosted for 18 years.

Andrea McCall is a former Victorian politician, and a consultant to small business, not for profit organisations and the education sector, working with both public and private companies.

She spent three years working for the Premier of Victoria before going into the Victorian State Parliament for seven years. Since then, she has worked in academia and continued her training and consulting business. She is a member of a state government board related to adult education and is a passionate sponsor of the creative arts including the Melbourne Festival.

Andrea was educated in the UK and France, and came to Australia in the early 1980s. Her early employment included working as an executive PA and in general administration in a variety of industries, such as brewing and tobacco.

Her qualifications include a BA in History and Politics and postgraduate studies in Human Resources Management. She is also a qualified mediator.

She lives on the Mornington Peninsula where she relaxes and enjoys magnificent wine and the company of her Russian Blue cat, Lara.

Tonya Roberts is a well known former ABC Radio broadcaster in Melbourne. A background and qualifications in agriculture led to her joining the ABC's rural department, followed by many years as a prime time host. Keen on hiking, crime fiction and political podcasts, Tonya now works as an executive communications coach and speechwriter. She first read 1984 while sailing around the world on a tall ship in 1992.