Our People

At the heart of Qtopia Sydney is a passionate team of historians, creatives, advocates, and community leaders united by a shared vision. From our board and patrons to our staff, volunteers, and storytellers, our people bring decades of lived experience, scholarship, and dedication to our mission. Together, we work to curate brave spaces, foster creative expression, and ensure that Australia’s Queer history is documented, celebrated, and accessible to all.

Patrons

Ita Buttrose AC OBE

  • Ita Buttrose AC OBE is a legendary media trailblazer, businesswoman, and public health advocate whose leadership transformed Australia’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. As Chair of the National Advisory Committee on AIDS (1984–1988) and later the AIDS Trust (1991–1994), she spearheaded national education campaigns that dispelled fear, protected blood supplies, and fostered empathy at a critical moment in health history. Her pioneering efforts earned her national and international acclaim, as well as an honorary life membership with the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation.

    Beyond her vital public health advocacy, Ita’s extraordinary career spans decades as a former Australian of the Year, Chair of the ABC, best-selling author, and Australian Media Hall of Fame inductee. A former National President and current Patron of Dementia Australia, as well as Patron of the Macular Disease Foundation, her contributions across media, the arts, and community welfare were recognized in 2019 with her appointment as a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC). Qtopia Sydney is deeply honoured to have her guidance and support.

Michael Kirby AC CMG

  • The Honourable Michael Kirby AC CMG is one of Australia’s most distinguished legal minds and a tireless global champion for human rights. Following an illustrious judicial career—serving as inaugural Chairman of the Australian Law Reform Commission, President of the NSW Court of Appeal, and Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1996 to 2009—he has dedicated his post-judicial life to advancing international human rights and LGBTQIA+ equality, including high-profile roles with the UN and the International Bar Association.

    Alongside his partner of over 50 years, Johan van Vloten—a former Ankali volunteer supporting people living with HIV/AIDS—Michael has been a cornerstone of Australian Queer advocacy. On the exact 50th anniversary of the day they met at Kings Cross’s 'Bottoms Up Bar', the couple married following the passage of marriage equality in Australia. Together, Michael and Johan serve as co-patrons of the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, with Michael proudly extending his support as a Patron of Qtopia Sydney to help safeguard and celebrate Queer history.

Board Members

Holly McGhee

  • Holly McGhee (she/her) is a culture and inclusiveness professional with global experiences and perspectives. She will bring her views from over 10 years of DE&I expertise, as one of Asia-Pacific’s top thought leaders and multi-award winner – including the 2024 community business LGBTQ+ Ally award. She leads a program of work accelerating DE&I across the talent life cycle, client interactions and creating social value. Building on her international experience of living in Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia Holly has led culture, inclusion and belonging programs across the DE&I ecosystem including talent life cycles, supple chain, community engagement and client collaboration through her role as Asia-Pacific inclusiveness leader at EY.

Stephen Davies

  • Stephen Davies (he/him) is a highly experienced and respected heritage consultant with a long-standing contribution to heritage conservation and development in New South Wales. He has served on a range of government and local government committees and boards, including as Chair of the Heritage Council of NSW. Through this work, Stephen has developed a strong understanding of the political and administrative processes that shape heritage decision‑making, and he is widely regarded as a skilled and effective negotiator.

    Stephen joined Urbis in 2007 and is the founding Director of the firm’s heritage consultancy. Leading a specialist team providing independent, practical advice on conservation and development matters across complex urban environments. Stephen is particularly proud of his role in resolving heritage challenges for landmark projects such as One Central Park in Chippendale and Quay Quarter Sydney, where careful negotiation and clear strategy enabled positive outcomes for both heritage and development objectives.

    Stephen is an accredited environmental mediator and a member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites. He is also recognised as an expert witness in the Land and Environment Court of NSW. Through his leadership and expertise, Stephen continues to play an influential role in shaping the future of heritage conservation and adaptive development.

  • William Migeon (he/him) is a senior leader specialising in strategic transformation with over 15 years’ experience across financial services, consulting, and technology-led businesses. He has held a number of leadership positions including Portfolio Director at Rest Super, and Program Director at ANZ. William has overseen some of the largest enterprise transformations in Australian financial services, with a focus on operating model, digital and technology.

    In addition to his corporate leadership career, William is Founder and Director of MateStays, a TravelTech platform that became Australia’s third-largest home exchange site within its first year of operation. He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), bringing strong governance, risk, and strategic planning expertise to the Board.

    William’s commitment to Qtopia Sydney is both professional and personal. Originally from Paris, he experienced firsthand the societal tensions surrounding LGBTQIA+ rights during France’s marriage equality movement.

    William is passionate about ensuring Qtopia Sydney’s long-term sustainability, impact, and continued growth as a world-leading centre for queer history and culture.

William Migeon

  • Bio

Thomas Craddock

Operations Team

Brett Lyon

  • Brett Lyon (he/him) brings extensive expertise across education, operations management, and the not-for-profit sector, driven by a deep commitment to social change and learner advocacy. Originally an educator, his career spans international teaching, sustainability, childcare, and the arts, giving him a broad, community-focused perspective on service delivery and team development.

    With a strong background in systems implementation, training development, and quality improvement, Brett relies on data and community feedback to build efficient, supportive environments. He thrives on helping teams grow, finding ways to optimize individual skills and passions to achieve meaningful outcomes. At Qtopia Sydney, Brett leads day-to-day operations and coordinates the volunteering program, ensuring our volunteers, staff, and visitors experience a welcoming, well-run, and purpose-driven space.

Holly Riding

  • Holly Riding (she/her) is a senior exhibition designer and curator whose practice operates at the dynamic intersection of public art, digital technology, and spatial design. With over 15 years of experience spanning Australia and international institutions, Holly focuses on creating accessible, sustainable, and innovative exhibition environments for modern museums and galleries.

    Grounded in Interactive Design and Museum Studies, Holly leverages site-responsive and technological strategies to place historical collections in direct dialogue with contemporary community activations. Guided by their lived queer experience, Holly brings a deeply considered approach to space, narrative, and audience engagement. Their portfolio includes delivering award-winning exhibitions for the State Library of Queensland in Magandjin (Brisbane), designing the launch of the WAMA Foundation in Gariwerd (Grampians), and leading creative production for major cultural events including Dark Mofo in Nipaluna (Hobart) and Haus Wien in Vienna.

  • Dr Jeremy W. Smith (he/him) is an award-winning Sydney-based curator, artist, and researcher specialising in LGBTQIA+ history, community storytelling, and drawing. As part of Qtopia Sydney’s inaugural curatorial team, he contributed vital research and exhibition development for the museum’s 2024 opening, including co-developing our foundational timeline of queer history alongside leading historians. His inaugural exhibition, We’re Here, We’re Queer, was recognised with the 2025 Museums & Galleries NSW IMAGinE Award for Best Exhibition Project.

    Currently finalising his PhD in Fine Arts at UNSW Art & Design, Jeremy’s research pioneers new methodologies for visualising queer histories through hand-drawn counter-mapping. A dedicated advocate, he contributed lived-experience testimony to the successful campaign banning conversion practices in NSW in 2024, leading to his appointment as Qtopia Sydney’s inaugural Artist Ambassador in 2025. Jeremy is also the co-founder and curator of Draw Space, with his artwork held in major public collections including the State Library of NSW, the Australian National Maritime Museum, and Anti-Discrimination NSW.

Dr Jeremy Smith

  • Scott Whitmont (he/him) holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and French from the University of New South Wales, alongside a Master of International and Public Affairs from Columbia University, New York. His early career spanned eight years across the United States and Hong Kong, focusing on business development and conference planning within the not-for-profit sector. Upon returning to Sydney, Scott owned and operated the independent Lindfield Bookshop and Children’s Bookshop for over two decades, where he curated and moderated extensive author and literary programs.

    Driven by a lifelong passion for literature, history, and genealogy, Scott remains deeply engaged in community and cultural storytelling. In his spare time, he regularly hosts trivia evenings, moderates author "in conversation" panels, and lectures on diverse historical topics. At Qtopia Sydney, Scott brings his vast background in community engagement, historical research, and literary programming to help preserve and share Queer stories with diverse audiences.

Scott Whitmont

Garry Wotherspoon

  • Garry Wotherspoon (he/him) is an acclaimed historian, writer, and former academic whose research and advocacy have deeply shaped the documentation of Australian Queer history. A former NSW History Fellow, Garry served as Co-Director of the Australian Centre for Lesbian and Gay Research at the University of Sydney (1995–1996). His seminal books—including Being Different: Nine Gay Men Remember and Gay Sydney: A History, which was shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards—have illuminated the social history and lived experiences of Sydney’s communities.

    A '78er with a lifelong commitment to LGBTQIA+ community politics and activism, Garry was awarded Australia’s Centenary of Federation Medal in 2001 for his contributions as an academic, researcher, and human rights advocate. His political journalism has appeared in Online Opinion and New Matilda, alongside his work as a speechwriter for progressive political leaders. At Qtopia Sydney, Garry’s decades of historical scholarship and advocacy remain foundational to our mission of preserving and sharing Australia’s Queer stories.

Giuseppe Santamaria

  • Giuseppe Santamaria (he/him) is an author, photographer, and visual communicator with over 15 years of experience documenting global street culture, fashion, and social history. A former Art Director for GQ Australia, Giuseppe has spent over a decade operating an independent creative studio, leading visual concepts, art direction, and publishing across print and digital platforms.

    Grounded in publishing and visual storytelling, Giuseppe has authored several books celebrating community, style, and pet culture, including Dog’s Best Friend. His practice centers on archival preservation and authentic representation, capturing the nuance of everyday lives and subcultures. As Communications Lead at Qtopia Sydney, Giuseppe shapes our brand voice, digital content strategy, and media outreach, ensuring our exhibitions, community stories, and educational programs resonate with audiences locally and globally.

  • Bio

Jonathan Dawe

Ambassadors

Abbie Jane

  • Abbie Jane (she/her) founded the Rainbow Shoelace Project in 2022 when she was just 12 years old and living in the remote town of Broken Hill. What started with Abbie giving away free rainbow beads for people to wear on their shoelaces to show their support for the LGBTQIA+ community is now a global movement, with more than 300,000 packets of beads given away in Australia.

    In 2023, Abbie attended World Pride in Sydney to represent the Rainbow Shoelace Project, was awarded the Regional Entrepreneur of the Year at the Teens in Business Awards. Abbie has presented at the Pride in Practice conference in 2023 (when she was 14 years old) and 2024 (aged 15).

    Abbie has travelled around NSW attending PRIDE festivals to hand out free beads and has been a guest speaker for a number of businesses. In 2024, Abbie was named “One to Watch” at the NSW Women of the Year Awards and she was awarded the Young Achiever Award in the ACON Honour Awards for outstanding achievements in campaigning for rainbow inclusion and equality.

    Now 15, Abbie is a change-maker and advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. Her ability to cultivate support for issues that affect her community and passion for driving change make her a real force for the future.

Dr Jeremy Smith

  • Dr. Jeremy Smith (he/him) is a Sydney-based award winning artist, curator and researcher whose work sits at the intersection of art, activism, and historical memory. As Qtopia Sydney’s first Artist Ambassador, he brings together a multidisciplinary practice that spans hand-drawn cartography, academic research, and queer advocacy.

    Smith is best known for his large-scale counter-maps, which combine personal narrative, archival research, and community engagement to trace the emotional, political and spatial dimensions of queer life. His ongoing exhibition at Qtopia Sydney, We’re Here, We’re Queer, features key works including Queer Sydney: A History, Gaybourhood Bubbles of Sydney, and Counter-map of Global LGBTQIA+ Rights. Two of these pieces are in the major public collections of the State Library of New South Wales and the University of Sydney’s Fisher Library.

    Alongside his artistic work, Smith has played a visible role in national efforts to end conversion practices. A survivor himself, he contributed personal testimony and public advocacy to the campaign led by Equality Australia, culminating in the passage of New South Wales’ landmark ban in 2024. Through media commentary, education programs and ongoing creative practice, Smith continues to address the legacy of these practices and contribute to broader conversations around queer safety, truth-telling and repair.

    Currently completing a PhD in Fine Arts at UNSW, Smith’s research explores queer counter-cartography as both an artistic methodology and a form of cultural intervention. He is also a co-founder and curator at Draw Space, Sydney’s only dedicated drawing gallery. His ambassadorship reflects a long-standing contribution to the centre’s artistic and community programming and affirms his ongoing role in shaping Qtopia’s creative direction.

    “Qtopia is the space I needed as a young, lonely gay kid growing up in a conservative religious household,” Smith says. “It’s not just a museum, it’s a third place for memory, storytelling and belonging. My art and research are grounded in the same belief that drives Qtopia: that queer people should be the ones to tell our own stories.”

  • Katherine Wolfgramme FRSA (she/her) is a nationally recognised Trans Advocate, award winning Gender Diversity Consultant and Trans Awareness Trainer. She is a prominent, well respected transgender woman and a loved member of Sydney’s Gay Community. Transitioning over 30 years ago in Melbourne, she has been a trans child, a trans youth, a trans adult, and now a trans elder, role model and community leader.

    Over three decades, Katherine has been at the helm of significant change for the transgender population in Australia, especially in regard to anti-discrimination and employment equality. Her contribution has allowed trans people in Australia to access education, government services and employment, within a culturally safe environment. She travels both nationally and internationally, providing Gender Diversity and Transgender Awareness Training Programmes and Education and keynote presentations.

Katherine Wolfgramme

  • Steve Spencer (he/him) is a passionate and prominent advocate within Sydney’s LGBTQIA+ community. His collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach to community-building and addressing inequities has spanned a variety of important areas.

    As a bisexual man living with HIV, Spencer brings his lived experiences together with his broad connections across community, health, government, research and business to create positive impacts. He co-founded the not-for-profit organisation PrEPaccessNOW, spearheading Australia’s world-leading PrEP rollout, and he continues his work in the HIV sector, presenting at national and global conferences. He also sits by invitation on a number of Advisory Councils often representing the bi+ community, in addition to his Ambassadorial roles for prominent organisations.

    Driven by a lifelong passion for literature, history, and genealogy, Scott remains deeply engaged in community and cultural storytelling. In his spare time, he regularly hosts trivia evenings, moderates author "in conversation" panels, and lectures on diverse historical topics. At Qtopia Sydney, Scott brings his vast background in community engagement, historical research, and literary programming to help preserve and share Queer stories with diverse audiences.

Steve Spencer

  • Rebbell Barnes (he/him) joined the first Mardi Gras parade as a 16 year old in 1978. While not arrested due to his age, Rebbell was taken into the Darlinghurst Police Station by police. He was kept in the holding dock in the front room of the police station until his family came in to organise his release.

    With a remarkable 45-year career in NSW Local Government, Rebbell recently retired, having held prominent roles in records management, libraries and customer service. He served as Coordinator of Records Management at Bayside Council (NSW) and was also the Director and President of NSW Records and Information Management Professionals Australasia.

    Rebbell’s passions include champagne, the Monarchy and the arts. He contributes actively to the cultural and philanthropic sectors as a member of the Events & Marketing Committee for the Friends of The Australian Ballet and as a committee member for the Sydney KIDS Committee at the Sydney Children’s Hospital.

    Since retiring, Rebbell has dedicated his time to community projects, including coordinating a team of volunteers for a World Pride initiative to catalogue and digitise 30,000 photos from the Sydney Star Observer collection, bequeathed to the City of Sydney by Michael Glyn. Rebbell also serves as the social coordinator for First Mardi Gras Inc. and represents First Mardi Gras on the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Committee.

    A committed supporter of Qtopia Sydney, Rebbell volunteers weekly on the public floor and is now proudly an Ambassador for Qtopia Sydney, continuing to advocate for LGBTQIA+ visibility, history and inclusion.

Rebbell Barnes

Community Reference Group

Call for Expressions of interest

Qtopia Sydney is seeking passionate, engaged and diverse members of the community to join our Community Reference Group. This volunteer group will help shape the future of Qtopia Sydney by sharing ideas, providing feedback and identifying community needs.

We are looking for people from a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, ages, identities and communities who are committed to helping Qtopia Sydney continue to grow as Australia’s home for queer history and culture.

Membership will be for 12 months with an option to extend a further 12 months.

Please submit a one-page EOI outlining your experience and background to operations@qtopiasydney.com.au