Professor Don Markwell AM served as Head of St Mark's College, Adelaide, and as an Adjunct Professor of the University of Adelaide from 2019 to 2025. In December 2025, he became Head of King's College at the University of Queensland. Born in Outback Queensland, Professor Markwell studied at the universities of Queensland and Oxford (as a Rhodes Scholar), and at Princeton. He taught politics and international relations in Oxford for a decade (primarily as a Fellow of Merton College and University lecturer) before becoming Warden of Trinity College at the University of Melbourne. He has since served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) of the University of Western Australia, the global head of the Rhodes Scholarships as Warden of Rhodes House, Oxford, senior advisor to the Australian Minister for Education and to the Attorney-General of Australia, and as Warden of St Paul's College at the University of Sydney. He also, for example, worked with former Australian Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, on the development of the New Colombo Plan, which supports Australian undergraduates to study abroad and undertake internships in the Indo-Pacific region.

Professor Markwell is the author of a number of books on issues in politics, international relations, higher education, and leadership. His many governance roles include being a member of the board of the Constitution Education Fund Australia (CEFA), and previously serving on the Council of the National Library of Australia. In 2023, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) 'for significant service to education in a range of roles'.

Growing up in a small country town, the daughter of a local doctor and shire councillor, Maggie Dawkins is fascinated by the social dynamics which exist in plain sight. Being sent to boarding school at 9 years of age, and having taught maximum security prisoners in Fremantle prison honed her observation and survival skills.

There are advantages to being an outsider in rural communities. When living in Katanning, Maggie had the privilege to choose where her allegiance lay, and it wasn't with the ruling class, who were more than happy to accept her into the fold, it was with former high school hostel residents who had been sexually abused as young boys. It was the beginning of a lifelong commitment to advocacy for the victims, survivors and their families. Maggie accepted the Blue Knot award in 2013, which recognised her service to adult survivors of child sexual abuse.

Having lived on a vineyard in the Barossa Valley in South Australia for 30 years, Maggie prefers to divide her time between Moonta Bay overlooking the Spencer Gulf and the equestrian community of Darling Downs on the southern outskirts of Perth, where she lives happily adjacent to her daughter Alice, in the company of horses and dogs.

She is married to former Federal Treasurer John Dawkins, who was a minister in the Hawke and Keating governments.

A history graduate of the then University of Adelaide, Graham Loughlin spent several years in education, initially as a secondary teacher and later as a lecturer at the then Murray Park College of Advanced Education. He then served as the first Research Officer appointed in the South Australian Parliamentary Library before accepting successive positions as speech writer with the NSW Leader of the Opposition and policy adviser with the SA Premier and Treasurer.

Richard Ryan began to practice as a chartered accountant in Darwin in 1971. With colleagues he built a significant accounting network with eight offices around Australia, three in the Northern Territory.

Following the Darwin cyclone he ultimately became Chief Executive of the fledgling Henry and Walker, the first industrial company in the Northern Territory to be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and the first company in Australia to have an Indigenous Director. He chaired on two occasions the Menzies School of Health Research, which became Australia's leading institution in Indigenous Health Research. Other entities include Diamond Leisure Pty Ltd that operated casinos in Darwin and Alice Springs, and the Northern Territory Tourism Commission.

Jannali Jones is an award-winning Gunai (krowathungalong) novelist, playwright, and editor. Her debut novel, My Father's Shadow, was published by Magabala Books and won the Black&Write! Fellowship. She is the editor of Splinter's First Nations issue and was recently sub-editor for issue 5 of Momentum Magazine. Her work has been published in Australia and overseas, including both fiction and non-fiction, spanning across genres and forms. She completed a Master of Arts in Creative Writing and a Graduate Certificate in Editing and Publishing at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Victor C. Pfitzner is an emeritus pastor of the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand (65 years), a lecturer in New Testament theology (38 years), and has been the Principal of the Australian Lutheran College, Adelaide, for nine years.

Robert J. Kempe is an emeritus pastor of the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand, and an emeritus lecturer in pastoral theology at Australian Lutheran College, Adelaide. He is also an education Consultant within Clinical Pastoral Education.

Aunty Ellen Trevorrow is a Ngarrindjeri Elder, master weaver and cultural educator dedicated to preserving and sharing the traditional weaving practices of her ancestors. Born on Ngarrindjeri Ruwi (Country), she learned the art of weaving from Aunty Dorothy Kartinyeri and has spent decades teaching the practice to future generations. Through her intricate woven works, she connects stories of land, water and cultural identity, advocating for the protection of Ngarrindjeri knowledge. A respected artist, Aunty Ellen has exhibited nationally and internationally, with her works held in major collections. She continues to inspire and empower her community through weaving, storytelling and cultural education.

Jelina Haines is a Filipino-born Australian artist and researcher with ancestral ties to Indigenous Americas-Mexico. She has a diverse academic background, including fine arts, cultural and arts management. In 2022, Jelina received a PhD in Information Science at the School of UniSA-STEM, University of South Australia, her doctoral thesis focusing on redefining traditional learning by merging art and technology with ethical visualisation of living culture, tradition and history. Jelina has collaborated with Aunty Ellen Trevorow on her weaving projects for over 23 years.

Adelaide writer Vincent Burke was born in war-torn London in 1942. Raised as a Catholic, he trained for the priesthood for several years, including a few years in Rome, but decided this was not for him. Penguin UK published his book about the first national strike by British teachers.

Barbara Cameron-Smith's career spans more than 40 years researching and delivering natural and cultural heritage interpretation projects for the public and private sectors, including exhibitions, publications and outdoor interpretive signage.

Michael Delahaye is an independent television producer and occasional print journalist. He is a former BBC TV news reporter, correspondent and documentary producer. As a senior media consultant for the Thomson Foundation UK and Internews Network US, he has worked extensively across the former Soviet Union. Since 2004, he has trained journalists for the Al Jazeera Satellite Channel in Qatar, Bosnia and the US. Michael is the author of three thrillers commercially published in the UK, US and Japan: The Sale of Lot 236, The Third Day (US version: On The Third Day) and Stalking Horse. Born and educated in England, a graduate of Durham University, Michael is based in Adelaide, Australia, after many years living in France and the UK.

Emeritus Professor J.V.S. Megaw AM retired in 2006, having held a personal Chair of Visual Arts at Flinders University. Previously he was Professor and Head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Leicester.

M. Ruth Megaw studied American and Australian History at the universities of Glasgow and Sydney and served in the UK diplomatic service before joining her husband in Australia. Having studied fine art in Adelaide, she worked with contemporary Indigenous Australian artists.

Jane Hardy studied art at the South Australian School of Art before joining the Australian diplomatic service. She was posted to missions in Malaysia, South Korea, Washington DC, Spain and Honolulu, and was the Ambassador to Spain.