Judges

Sinthya, (CPA), Executive (MBA), is a Senior Financial Analyst at Qantas, where she looks after the Regional Workforce Division, providing critical financial insights, supporting and managing key commercial decisions and strategic planning across the wider business.

“The numbers don’t rule, they can inform, but it’s all about us as accountants inside companies having the deep understanding and skills to look at the past and present to help predict and shape the future.” She further leads multiple projects, protecting and serving the public interest by ensuring that investors and other stakeholders have materially accurate financial statements and other reliable information on which to base decisions.

Additionally, Sinthya is an Adjudicator for Australasian Reporting Awards, as well as a Judge for multiple Award shows across the Accounting industry, including Accountants Daily, Accounting Reporting Awards, Commercial Finance Awards, & Better Business Awards, recognizing individuals and organizations that have achieved outstanding accomplishments in the industry.

Claire is a senior lawyer and professional coach, based on the east coast of Australia. Claire has over 30 years of experience gained through senior management appointments with some of the world’s largest companies and at top-tier law firms. As well as practising law, Claire is an internationally qualified executive coach (PCC) and in 2018 she founded a global professional coaching practice in which she coaches private and corporate clients, specialising in senior executives, to empower them to move their career and leadership dreams into active, actionable, pursuits. Outside of her executive life, Claire is a non-executive director of multiple ASX-listed companies and is an Industry Professional Fellow with the University of Technology Sydney, School of Law.

Claire has been recognised as one of Australia’s best lawyers and female executives, including having been awarded the “Excellence Award for Women in Law”, “General Counsel of the Year”, “Female Executive of the Year in Asia, Australia & New Zealand”, “Mentor of the Year” and was featured in SmartCompany's International Women's Day Showcase.

Dr Vincent Bicudo de Castro is an academic at Deakin Business School with a focus on business and interdisciplinary research. He is a Chartered Accountant with a Bachelor of Economics and degrees in Accounting at the bachelor, master (by research), and PhD levels. His research portfolio demonstrates remarkable versatility, spanning solo-authored works and collaborative studies that showcase his proficiency in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.

Vincent has industry experience in auditing, having worked for two of the world's largest audit firms, where he provided assurance services to financial institutions. In addition to his auditing career, Vincent has held a role in compliance and internal controls at a leading asset management firm, where he oversaw investments across hedge funds, private equity, equities, and real estate portfolios. Vincent is passionate about blending industry knowledge with academic teaching, consistently achieving outstanding student evaluations.

Tony Dormer is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Cuthberts Business Advisory, bringing decades of entrepreneurial and financial leadership to his role as judge. As a serial entrepreneur and former Senior Advisor, Managing Director and founder of Kresten Dormers, now part of Vistra Australia. Tony has provided strategic counsel to more than 500 businesses, guiding them through complex financial transformations, mergers and acquisitions, growth strategies, and critical challenges in cash flow management, profitability optimization, and tax strategy.

Mellissa Larkin is a lawyer and entrepreneur with nearly 25 years’ experience across top-tier firms in Ireland and Australia, and in-house with large corporations. For nearly a decade she has been the Founder and Managing Director of award-winning boutique law firm Peripheral Blue and most recently of RegTech company, ESG Edge. A qualified mediator and AICD graduate, Mellissa is known for giving commercial and pragmatic advice when navigating complex legal, risk and compliance obligations. Mellissa’s commitment to exceptional client relationships extends beyond service, to the creation of bespoke tools to support their needs. Recognising the growing complexity of ESG requirements and the limitations of off-the-shelf solutions, Mellissa leveraged her real-world advisor experience to develop an ESG software solution, ‘ESG Edge’ that directly addresses the day-to-day challenges faced by businesses.

Mellissa is the 2020 SA Telstra Business Woman of the Year (small business), 2022 Innovator of the Year, Lawyer’s Weekly Partner of the Year Awards and her firm, Peripheral Blue was a finalist in the 2019 Telstra Business Awards.

As a practitioner-turned-tech-founder, Mellissa brings a rare combination of legal expertise and entrepreneurial vision - demonstrating how deep subject matter expertise can fuel meaningful, client-driven innovation.

Senior Risk Advisor, Grant Thornton Australia

Isha Miglani is a Chartered Accountant and award-winning Risk Advisor. As an experienced Manager in Risk Consulting, she leads stakeholder engagements, embeds robust risk frameworks, and drives operational resilience across diverse client organisations. Isha’s expertise spans financial risks, business continuity, and compliance oversight, underpinned by a strong analytical approach and a commitment to excellence.

Previously recognised as AccountantsDaily’s ‘Rising Star of the Year’ and ‘Accountant (Boutique Firm) of the Year’, Isha is passionate about elevating risk culture and mentoring the next generation of professionals. Her career includes significant achievements in both the accounting and financial services sector, and she holds a Master of Professional Accounting from UNSW Business School.

Professor Rahat Munir is the Head of the Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance at Macquarie University in Sydney. A specialist in forensic accounting, Professor Munir has expertise in financial crime investigation and financial statement integrity. Before embarking on his academic career, he held several senior roles within the banking sector, while actively pursuing research in his field. He holds the titles of FCA (Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand), FCPA (Certified Practising Accountant Australia), SFHEA (Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy), and earned his PhD from Macquarie University.

Professor Munir is globally recognized for his expertise in curriculum development, innovative teaching practices, and accreditation, including AACSB and AMBA. He has played a pivotal role in fostering strong relationships with external stakeholders, such as professional associations, universities, and communities in regions including China, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Europe. He has also served on various faculty and course review panels across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the USA. His close engagement with industry includes leading prestigious national forums such as the CFO Forum, Women Thought Leadership initiatives, and Business Leaders Roundtables and Think Tanks.

He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles in leading global journals, along with books, book chapters, monographs, conference papers, and commissioned reports. His extensive research, which primarily focuses on management accounting and controls, extends into other significant fields such as education, corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate governance, corporate culture, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Professor Munir has conducted research across diverse industries, including Big Four accounting firms, banking, manufacturing, airlines, and politics, particularly in countries China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Nepal, Bangladesh, India and Germany, to name a few. He has delivered numerous invited and keynote presentations and his expert opinions have been featured in international media outlets, including radio, television, newspapers, newsletters, and websites. He has successfully supervised over 20 doctoral students to completion and assessed the theses of many others from both Australian and international universities.

Professor Munir is affiliated with a range of professional bodies, including the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, the Professional Risk Managers International Association (USA), the American Accounting Association, the British Accounting Association, the Canadian Accounting Association, and the European Accounting Association. He also serves on various high-level committees and advisory boards, including the national Education Board of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and the TAFE NSW Higher Education Academic Board in the past. Additionally, he is serving on the editorial boards, guest editor, referee, and member of scientific program committees for numerous international journals, and has organised conferences and workshops.

Professor Munir’s commitment to teaching and research excellence has been recognized through several international awards. These include the Business/Higher Education Roundtable Award for excellence in accounting teaching collaborations and CPA Australia’s awards for achievements in academia. His contributions have also been acknowledged at the Wharton-QS Stars Reimagine Education Awards at the University of Pennsylvania in the Nurturing Employability Award category in 2015, 2021, and 2024, recognizing his innovative pedagogical approaches to learning and teaching. Professor Munir has served on the judging panels for the Momentum Media and Accountants Daily’s Australian Accounting Awards, Australian Digital Technology Awards, Women in Finance Awards, and the 30 Under 30 Awards. His case study on The Ethics of Profit in the Australian Retail Industry was recognized as one of the top four teaching cases globally by the Decision Sciences Institute, Washington DC, in the ‘Best Teaching Case Studies Award’ competition.

Garret is a highly effective business engineer who has a proven track record in working on businesses to improve aspects such as gross margin and revenue, horizontal and vertical marketplace penetration, pipeline development and management as well as disciplined staff and management training.

He started his work life in the hospitality industry in the UK, moving to sales and management with Financial Modeling International (FMI) and then became the Sales Director of the training division of Computerland UK.

He was then approached by the Mouse Training Company (MTC) and, after moving to Australia, was engaged by Pinpoint to set up the sales and marketing of their employee benefits.
Finally, Garret worked for The Marketing Department, which was acquired by Crossmark in 2009, before starting his own business in 2013, the HBB Group.

The HBB Group is comprised of four different companies: the KONA Group, Healthy Business Builder, Business Coaches Sydney and Sparkle Training.

Garret also has a Master of Business Administration, he is a certified behavioural analyst, certified motivators analyst, certified emotional quotient analyst and brings with him extensive skills in sales, marketing, negotiation as well as people and contract management.

He remains dedicated as ever to use his training and real-life business experience to meet his passion to see business’ succeed through disciplined management, creative marketing and committed client service.

Dr. Maryam Safari is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Accounting at RMIT University, Melbourne, with established expertise in accounting, accountability, corporate governance, ethics, and qualitative research. Her scholarly work explores the role of social and human capital and the impact of emerging technologies within governance frameworks.

She has published extensively in leading academic journals, including the European Accounting Review, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Meditari Accountancy Research, Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Accounting & Finance, Accounting Forum, Journal of Accounting Education, and Australian Accounting Review.

Dr. Safari holds leadership roles across the academic community. She leads as the Chair of the Accounting History Special Interest Group of the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ) and also leads as the Chair of the Women Researchers’ Network (WRN) at RMIT University, an initiative committee dedicated to supporting RMIT and the broader academic community while fostering research, equity, and inclusion.

Her research has received wide recognition, including several highly cited publications and a Top Cited Article Award in 2025 from Wiley for work published in the Accounting & Finance journal. She is also a member of CPA Australia and currently serves as an editor for the Issues in Accounting Education journal.

Veronica Slavik is the Head of Strategic Growth at TrailBlazer Finance, where she architects multi-sector expansion across legal, accounting, financial planning, insurance broking, and rent roll verticals. With deep expertise in market analysis, distribution strategy, and embedded finance, Veronica is known for designing scalable partnership models and positioning innovative funding solutions for sustainable impact. A visionary yet pragmatic leader, she brings board-level insight, cross-functional collaboration, and a sharp eye for emerging trends to every strategic conversation. Her work consistently bridges data-driven intelligence with actionable growth, making her a sought-after voice in professional services innovation.

Professor Helen Spiropoulos has a portfolio of research in the areas of Sustainability Reporting, Gender diversity, Financial Reporting, Executive Compensation, Corporate Governance, and Mergers and Acquisitions.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and a Bachelor of Business with First Class Honours from UTS, for which she received the University Medal. In 2014 she completed a PhD in Accounting at UTS and received the distinguished Chancellor List Award. Her doctoral work was also recognised internationally, receiving the Best Paper Award at the JCAE Conference in 2016.

Helen's research has been published in leading journals including The Accounting Review, Journal of Management Accounting Research and Journal of Corporate Finance, and has also featured in prominent media outlets including The Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review, BOSS Magazine, ABC Radio, 2ESR, and The Conversation.

Helen has extensive leadership experience as former Deputy Associate Dean (Learning Innovation) of the UTS Business School during the disruptive COVID-19 period and as the Associate Editor of Australian Journal of Management and Managerial Auditing Journal.