Allies and Allyship

What does it mean to be a good intersex ally?

Join us for an engaging conversation about what good allyship looks like, and why it is vital to the ongoing advocacy, visibility and advancement of intersex rights and the rights of intersex communities.

Featuring speakers from Queensland Council for LGBTI Health, LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Rainbow Giving Australia and Equality Australia, we'll celebrate the partnerships and organisations working alongside intersex communities in creating a more inclusive future for intersex people.

Whether you're an established ally, work within an organisation supporting intersex communities, or are just beginning your allyship journey, this is an opportunity to listen, learn, connect and discover practical ways to make a difference.

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Speakers include Anna Brown, Bec Smith, Jones Jones, and Rebecca Reynolds.

Anna Brown (she/her) - OAM is a human rights advocate, lawyer and the founding CEO of Equality Australia, a national organisation dedicated to achieving equality for LGBTIQ+ people. She has been working alongside and in support of intersex people for over 15 years, advocating for their bodily autonomy and freedom from discrimination and harm. Working with intersex advocates such as Gina Wilson, Tony Briffa and Morgan Carpenter, Anna helped secure national discrimination protections for intersex people in 2013, and has dedicated her legal, policy and campaigning skills to intersex human rights, particularly advocating for greater oversight of medical treatment. Equality Australia has conducted research and developed models for reform in partnership with intersex communities, including releasing the 'Missing Voice' Report in 2025 and the 'Victorian Intersex Oversight Panel Proposal' in 2023. Anna is proud to have worked with intersex communities to secure historic reforms in the ACT and Victoria to ensure that intersex children are protected from medically unnecessary procedures. Anna's expertise in intersex medical treatment led to her appointment in 2023 to the ACT Restricted Medical Treatment Assessment Board, the first scheme in Australia to protect intersex children from medically unnecessary surgeries, and she has served as its President since 2024.

Bec Smith (she/her) leads QLife, Australia's national peer support service for LGBTIQA+SB people, as Director, QLife at LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, the national peak body for LGBTIQ+ health and wellbeing. She brings a decade of experience in digital mental health and helpline services, spanning frontline delivery, operational and strategic leadership, stakeholder partnership, and safety and quality governance. Anti-oppressive frameworks, intersectional awareness and cultural humility underpin Bec's focus on centring lived experience and embedding meaningful community participation in program design, strategic direction and operations. She regularly examines language and nuance, seeing words and tone as powerful tools to be used with thought, intention and care. Bec believes allyship is measured by a person's consistent actions, including the ones no one sees. Allies must earn recognition from the people and communities they support, and the title is never self-awarded.

Jones Jones (they/them) is Head of Community & Grants at Rainbow Giving Australia, the national LGBTQIA+ community foundation. They lead the organisation’s grants program and work alongside community organisations and funding partners to mobilise resources, strengthen capacity and back community-led solutions. Through Amplify Pride and Ignite Pride, they support LGBTQIA+ organisations working for change across Australia. A queer non-binary mother of two, Jones brings more than 15 years’ experience in business, event management and organising, alongside a passion for social justice and community capacity building. Before moving to the LGBTQIA+ sector, they developed and managed the Sydney Vegan Market and the Events Program for Vegan NSW. Jones joined the Board of The Aurora Group in 2021, becoming its Program Manager and first full-time employee in 2023. They led Aurora through its merger with GiveOUT in 2024, bringing the two organisations together as Rainbow Giving Australia. They love connecting people, championing community expertise and helping LGBTQIA+ organisations access the resources they need to thrive.

Rebecca Reynolds (she/her) is the Chief Executive Officer of the Queensland Council for LGBTI Health (QC). For over two decades, she has led and influenced critical reforms in LGBTIQA+ health and rights, guiding policy conversations and embedding sustainable structures within health and community systems. Rebecca sits on a range of government and non-government committees, contributing strategic insight into policy design, service integration, and sector reform. Her leadership is grounded in peer-led approaches and lived experience, ensuring that LGBTQIA+ people, families and kin — including those in regional and remote areas — are not only heard but central to decisions that affect their health, wellbeing, and futures.