SPEAKERS

Jocelyn Chiew, Director City Design, City of Melbourne Jocelyn Chiew is an Architect, Landscape Architect and Urban Designer. As the Director of City Design, at the City of Melbourne, she plays a key role in creating safe and inclusive public spaces. Her studio plans, designs and delivers council strategies and public works. It also provides design review for city shaping development proposals. Jocelyn’s commitment to gender equity is evident in her various industry appointments. She is a member of the Gender Equity Victoria Put Her Name on It Reference Group and founding chair of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects’ Gender Equity Working Group. Jocelyn’s other industry appointments include Deputy Chair of the Melbourne Design Review Panel, member of the Office of the Victorian Government Architect’s Victorian Design Review Panel, and former State and National Councillor at the Australian Institute of Architects. She continues to be a long-standing participant in design competitions, university design critiques and awards.

Kerstin Thompson, Principal & Director, Kerstin Thompson Architects Kerstin Thompson is Principal of KTA and Adjunct Professor at RMIT and Monash Universities. A committed design educator she regularly lectures and runs studios at various schools across Australia and New Zealand. In recognition for the work of her practice, contribution to the profession and tertiary education, Kerstin was elevated to Life Fellow by the Australian Institute of Architects in 2017 and in 2022 was appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM). A member of the OVGA ‘s Design Review Panel, she is an advocate for quality design within the profession, and the wider community. Recent projects that demonstrate her passion for civic space and heritage include Broadmeadows Town Hall, winner of the 2020 Victorian Architecture Medal, and Bundanon Art Museum & Bridge, recipient of the 2022 AIA Sulman Award for Public Architecture in NSW and the Sir Zelman Cowen Award, and Queen and Collins for The Melbourne Prize.

Neil Stonell, Managing Partner, Grimshaw Architects Neil Stonell is the Managing Partner of the Melbourne Grimshaw Studio, where he is jointly responsible for the practice’s Australian and New Zealand operations. After joining the London office of Grimshaw in 1997, Neil relocated to Melbourne in 2002 and formed part of the team which delivered the practice’s first Australian project, Southern Cross Station in Melbourne. With extensive experience across a variety of building sectors and typologies including rail, aviation, workplace, university buildings, retail and master planning, he has been instrumental in the delivery of complex projects throughout the region and globally for Grimshaw, including the practice’s first Australian project, Southern Cross Station, the recipient of the prestigious Lubetkin Prize. Recent projects include commercial buildings at 477 Collins Street (Olderfleet), 664 Collins Street and 699 Bourke Street, the Marvel Stadium Upgrade, Auckland’s City Rail Link and Brisbane's Neville Bonner Bridge. Neil has honed specific skills in leadership which encompass the design and delivery of award-winning architecture and the effective management of stakeholders, government agencies and substantial design teams. He strives to design and deliver places that are vibrant and cohesive; architecture that is responsible and timeless while supporting the ambitions of clients, the end-user, and the practice. As a member of the Champions for Change Coalition, Neil is committed to proactively advocate for gender parity in Australian architecture practices. The Architecture Group within the Champions of Change was established in 2015 to address the acute under representation of women in the senior levels of the architecture profession. Starting with 9 practices, the Architecture group has since grown to 13 actively participating practices that identify areas of improvement and ways to implement positive change within the industry. In 2022, Neil spoke on the panel for Parlour’s ‘Stepping Up’ conversation series, about the opportunities and challenges for leaders around listening, learning and leadership to improve equity.                                     Hilary Duff, Kennedy Nolan Architects Hilary is a Melbourne based registered architect, currently working with Kennedy Nolan Architects with industry experience working across a broad range of project typologies and scales. A developing focus in the education sector has seen rise to an interest in delivering public buildings where design excellence, economic mindfulness and sustainability go hand in hand. In addition to her professional work, Hilary is a committee member of; the Victorian Institute of Architect’s Emerging Architect and Graduate Forum (EmAGN); the Victorian Chapter Education Committee; the Institute’s Research in Practice Forum and works closely with the Robin Boyd Foundation. She has actively participated in Melbourne’s architectural community through previous roles as a graduate juror to the Victorian Chapter Institute awards, as a sessional tutor at Monash University, and in contributing to design reviews for Monash, Melbourne and Swinburne University. Hilary has extended this discourse beyond her hometown of Melbourne through her involvement in the Hearing Architecture podcast and through participation in a number of international design workshops abroad. She is the inaugural recipient of the Australian Institute of Architects, Robert Caulfield Graduate Research Scholarship with her project Again & Again & Again which investigates the circular economy and its application to architectural design and specification.

Julie Duncan, Acting Chief Operating Officer, Housing Choices Australia

Housing Choices is one the of nation’s largest community housing organisations – a not-for-profit provider developing, owning and managing over 7000 social and affordable homes in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales and Tasmania. Housing Choices is also a leader in the provision of Specialist Disability Accommodation. At the present time Julie is Acting Chief Operations Officer overseeing national housing operations at Housing Choices Australia.