About WSSSA

Maurine was admitted to the bar in 1973 and appointed Queens Counsel in 2004.  Maurine’s field of practice is family law.

Maurine served on a number of Boards, WSSSA for 30 plus years, Zahra Foundation for four years since inception, and previously the Legal Services commission of SA for about 10 years, the Law Society for about 10 years and the Bar Association for about 8 years.

Maurine is currently the Presiding member of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal.

Vicki is currently a Consultant in Aboriginal Health in the SA Health Local Health Network of Yorke and Northern. Her qualifications are in Psychology and Business Management and Administration.
Vicki commenced her career as a Police Officer for nine years, where she undertook the first definitive research in Domestic Violence in South Australia and wrote the then SAPD’s Domestic Violence policy. Subsequently, she has had a diverse career managing small non-government agencies and government services in the areas of Intellectual Disability, Women’s Health, Public Health/Health Promotion, Primary Health Care and most recently in Aboriginal Health.

Vicki served on a number of Committees and Boards including Workpower Inc, Vitec Inc, the SA Premiers’ Women’s Council, Institute of Public Administration SA, Zahra Foundation Inc, Dog and Cat has been recently re-elected as a Director for Amnesty International Australia, and as Treasurer of WSSSA.

Sarah Wendt is Professor of Social Work at Flinders University. She is director of a research centre. She is currently researching domestic violence including women’s and children’s experiences of violence, men’s use of violence and how to respond in practice. 

Helen has  worked in a variety of government roles, as a private consultant and in a NFP aged care organisation. Helen’s experience includes policy development, strategic planning, evaluation, consultation, research, environment scanning and funds seeking across a range of sectors. Helen’s formal qualifications are in mathematics and social research. Helen has government, non-government and community based board/committee experience.

Lea brings extensive experience as a senior leader in the political, public sector and community spheres. She has held the positions of state Minister for Health and Shadow Minister for a wide range of human service portfolios, Director of a key government coordinating organisation and Principal in northern Adelaide secondary schools. She is currently a Board Director and supports other community-based initiatives.

Sharon is a Senior Sergeant within South Australia Police. Sharon has worked in a variety of positions within SAPOL including general duties policing, family violence specialist response area, Industrial Relations and most recently within the corporate area of Public Protection branch. Her current position is Manager, Family and Domestic Violence Section. Sharon’s experience includes policy development, training development and delivery, strategic planning, and interagency liaison with respect to improving collaborative responses to domestic violence, child protection matters and other victimisation from crime. Sharon was part of the Central Domestic Violence Service Board prior to the merging of services and creation of WSSSA. 

Susan is an experienced governance, risk and compliance professional. She has led large and diverse teams and has experience in delivering complex organisational changes and designing and delivering on strategy. Susan has a legal background and sits on a number of advisory boards and committees.

Kimberley is a First Nations, intersectional feminist, born on Boandik Country and now living and working on Kaurna Country.  Kimberley has extensive experience in providing advice and guidance to government and non-government organisations to achieve best practice cultural safety, practice and governance.  Kimberley has held leadership positions in operational and strategic environments, using her position to influence and advocate for systemic change that advances the experience of First Nations people.  Kimberley has long been an activist for gender equality and violence against women, ensuring that the disproportionate rates of inequality and violence faced by First Nations women are highlighted and considered throughout all conversations.  Kimberley is committed to seeking, hearing and learning from gender-diverse people to also ensure their inclusion in this work.  Kimberley was the South Australian representative on the Our Watch Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Advisory Committee, providing guidance, advice and expertise throughout all phases of the project to publish “Changing the Picture, A National Resource to support the prevention of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and their children”.  Her position on the WSSSA Board of Directors further extends Kimberley’s commitment to the safety of women and their children.

GAICD and CPA with over fifteen years’ experience in consolidation reporting within both financial and management accounting functions. Expertise encompasses monthly financial, budget and forecasting analysis and the implementation of process improvements. Strengths include strong technical knowledge and interpersonal skills and this combined with an ability to identify trends, risks and opportunities and develop and deliver viable strategies and solutions ensures the achievement of successful business outcomes.

Maria Hagias has worked in the Domestic Violence Sector of South Australia for 25 years.  She has advocated and informed policy development on gender based violence which has resulted in the implementations of responsive service models that promote women and children’s safety and make men who use violence accountable for their behaviour.  She has participated in a number of National and State committees that inform systemic changes and responses.  Through her role as CEO of WSSSA has worked with the community to change attitudes and address ways of working together to eliminate violence against women.  She is the Deputy Chair of the Premiers Council for Women and previously Co-Chair for the Coalition of Women’s Domestic Violence Services in South Australia and  was South Australia’s Representative on the Prime Ministers Advisory Panel which provided advice to COAG on addressing violence against women.