Our Board

Chairperson & Honorary Secretary

Megan Utter
Director, Water Branch, ACCC

Deputy Chairperson

Sam Broughton
Samuel Broughton Consulting Service

Honorary Treasurer

Richard Hilton
Executive Director, Assurance Group, Ernst & Young

Non-executive Directors

Thea Lange
Sally Romanes

Our Staff

CEO

Brendan Sydes
Brendan commenced with the EDO in 2005 after working for a number of years with a prominent law firm. He has worked as a volunteer lawyer and committee member at community legal centres in Victoria and NSW and is currently chair the Committee of Management of the Federation of Community Legal Centres.  Brendan has degrees in Law and Science and Master of Environment from the University of Melbourne.

Principal Solicitor

Felicity Millner
Felicity has been the Principal Solicitor at the EDO (Vic) since 2010. Felicity has worked in environmental and planning law throughout her career and been involved in a several significant public interest environmental law cases. Before joining EDO Victoria, she worked as a Senior Solicitor at the Environmental Defenders Office in NSW and as a solicitor in private practice at a firm specialising in Local Government, Planning and Environment law.

In 2011, Felicity was named Young Australian Environmental Lawyer of the Year by the Law Council of Australia.

Lawyer

Nicholas Croggon
Nicholas gives advice and runs litigation with people and groups who want to use the law to protect the environment.  He has expertise forestry, mining and planning at a State and Federal level.  Prior to working at the Environment Defenders Office, Nick was a solicitor in the Planning and Environment team at DLA Piper.

Policy and Law Reform

Nicola Rivers Director
Nicola has previously worked as a lawyer and policy officer with the Federal Government and the Western Australian Government advising on international marine policy, climate change, water and criminal law. She also spent two years working as the remote rural and regional solicitor at the EDO in Western Australia. Nicola is currently completing a Master of Environment and is the co-founder of The Riparian Project, a public art initiative that raises concern about river health.

Elizabeth McKinnon
Elizabeth McKinnon is a law reform lawyer at the EDO, but formally worked in the litigation team and thus has a broad range of experience across the organisation. She previously worked in private practice at Piper Alderman lawyers in both Adelaide and Melbourne. Elizabeth has a special interest in environmental justice and in 2012 completed a research project on the topic. Elizabeth is also the Chairperson of Environment Victoria, Victoria’s peak environment body, and sits on the editorial panel of the Australian Environment Review.

Samitha Rao

Administration and Projects Coordinator

Mandy Johnson
Mandy is an administrator and editor who has worked with not-for-profit organisations for 18 years, 14 of those in the environment sector. She is currently completing a Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing. Mandy runs the office, manages the supporter database, supervises the volunteer program, and edits and produces all of the EDO’s publications such as the e-Bulletin and law reform reports.

Web and Events Coordinator

Jode Cowie
Jode has worked within the environmental and humanitarian sectors for many years in a diverse array of administration and support roles, inc website builder, office manager and bookkeeper.  Currently Jode organises workshops, seminars and special events, develops and maintains the website, and generally helps out where possible.