The Oceania region for Pathways follows ILGA World’s division of countries and comprises Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific.
Regional
Partner
Organization
ILGA Oceania is the incorporated sub-organisation of ILGA responsible for the 24 countries and non-autonomous territories in the Oceania region.
Pathways lead
for the
Regional Partner
Elizabeth Kerekere
Elizabeth is a takatāpui activist and scholar of national and international renown. She has been active within Rainbow and youth development sectors for over 40 years and mentored over 50 queer youth leaders. She is Founder/Chair of Tīwhanawhana Trust (2001) which advocates for takatāpui to “tell our stories, build our communities and leave a legacy.” As a Member of Parliament, Elizabeth broke records with the petition that led to banning conversion practices, contributed to new gender markers on birth certificates for trans, non-binary and intersex people and she introduced the term ‘takatāpui’ into legislation for the first time. Elizabeth’s health framework ‘Te Whare Takatāpui’ is currently being applied to the health system and she was appointed Adjunct Professor, Public Health at Victoria University of Wellington.
Regional Experts
Maria Nailevu
Maria Nailevu (she/her), is currently the Programme Lead for Pacific Sexuality and Gender Diverse Network (PSGDN) based in Fiji. In the last 10 years she has been actively involved with the Pacific feminist, SOGIESC and diverse rural women leaders movement moving climate and reproductive justice and feminist media. Maria was the Chairwoman for the first Pacific Human Rights Conference in Fiji (2018) and Pacific Working group rep to the first LBQ Conference in South Africa in 2018. Maria comes from a rural and remote background.
Anonymous Philanthropy Expert
Vui Suli Tuitaupe
Vui Suli Tuitaupe (he/him) is Pacific Rainbow+ leader, researcher, and advocate with over 15 years’ experience in community organizing, health promotion, and governance. He is committed to advancing equity for MVPFAFF+, LGBTQIA+, and Rainbow+ communities through culturally grounded, evidence-based approaches.
Duncan Matthews
Duncan Matthews (he/him/ia) – has worked within Aotearoa’s queer, rainbow, takatāpui and MVPFAFF+ communities for about 2 decades. 10 years ago he also started working in the Philanthropic sector. Standing in solidarity with all our communities is most important at this time for him.
Georgia Naughton-Watt
Georgia Naughton-Watt (she/her) is a feminist with a lifelong commitment to social justice. She is a gender equality and social inclusion practitioner and researcher, and has spent over a decade working alongside organisations in the Oceania region and Southeast Asia to advance gender equality and end violence against women and children. Georgia is currently undertaking a PhD, researching queer women’s experiences of gender-based violence in the context of climate change and climate-induced disasters in the Pacific. She also works as a Program Manager with the International Women’s Development Agency. Georgia is based in Naarm (Melbourne).
Savanh Tanhchareun
Savanh Tanhchareun (he/him) is the Senior Advisor – International Policy at Equality Australia, a national LGBTIQ+ organisation. Savanh works to amplify diverse Asian and Pacific SOGIESC voices to collectively influence Australia’s overseas engagement in this area. Throughout his career, Savanh has focused on supporting local social movements to engage with international development agencies, and has worked for DFAT and the UN and across the LGBTQIA+, gender equality and disability movements.
Tommy Hamilton
Tommy Hamilton (they/he) is a Pākehā, queer, trans masc, endosex, able-bodied and neuro-typical person. Tommy is a narrative therapist and SOGIESC community development worker in Aotearoa/New Zealand. He has also worked within international activist settings.
