IICA Executive

Michael Coonan is a media and communications policy and regulatory leader with experience in both government and industry roles.

Michael joined Free TV Australia in January 2024 as Director of Public Policy, having previously held policy, regulatory and government affairs roles at SBS and Foxtel. Prior to Foxtel, Michael worked at the Australian Communications and Media Authority, in both broadcasting and telecommunications regulation.

Michael is President of the Australian Chapter of the International Institute of Communications, and a member of the Board of the Restless Dance Theatre.

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James Konidaris has more than a decade of legal and regulatory experience in communications and technology, spanning the UK, Europe, Australia and the Middle East.

James advises on a broad range of regulatory, policy and commercial matters and disputes, including international and multijurisdictional advice and transactions. He has represented some of the largest companies in the IT, communications, media, financial services, consumer goods and energy sectors, as well as public authorities and not-for-profit organisations.

James is also a committee member of the Australian Chapter of the International Institute of Communications, is co-author of the EU Electronic Communications Code Handbook (Bloomsbury Professional) and is a contributing author to the LexisPSL TMT Practice Note on Radio Spectrum Regulation.

Sarah Kruger is Director of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at IAB Australia. She has extensive experience in government affairs, policy, legal and regulatory work across the Australian, US and European media and technology sectors. Sarah joined IAB Australia from Seven West Media where she was Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs, and was previously Chief Legal & Government Affairs Officer at Commercial Radio & Audio. Before coming to Australia, Sarah was a Senior Associate at US firm Covington +  Burling, where she worked  for the tech industry on international policy issues from London and Washington DC. Sarah holds BA (Hons) and MA degrees from the University of Cambridge, UK.

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Joanne Ryan is the Managing Director of Infodec Communications. She has extensive experience working in the media industry in Australia.

Prior to starting her own communications company in 2009, she worked for several years as a Corporate Development Advisor with NewsCorp Australia. Joanne also represented the organisation to Government and was a member of a number of industry committees including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Intellectual Property consultative group.

Infodec Communications was established in 2009.  The company has continued to expand, supporting various clients including government agencies, SMEs, industry groups and individuals with strategic communications and public relations services.

Jo's formal qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts (Communications) and a Master of International Studies from the University of Sydney.

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Debra Richards is Director, Production Policy, APAC for Netflix.

Prior to joining Netflix Debra was the CEO of Ausfilm.  She has over 25 years communications & media industry experience including as the CEO of the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA), the industry association for subscription television. She also spent over 13 years with the broadcasting regulator then the Australian Broadcasting Authority (& Tribunal).

Debra has been involved in screen content policy and production industry issues in Australia during her working life as regulator, stakeholder or advocate. These include local content, classification of content, sports rights, copyright, digital conversion and new delivery platforms. Debra is also an Adjunct Professor for Boston University (Film and Media in Australia) and a marriage celebrant.

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Holding Redlich

Ian Robertson is a corporate, media and regulatory lawyer who heads the media and communications practice of national law firm Holding Redlich. He is also the Chair of Holding Redlich. He became a partner of Holding Redlich in Melbourne in 1990 and established the firm’s Sydney office in 1994.

Ian has held a number of public and private sector Board appointments including President of the Board of the Victorian Government screen agency, Film Victoria, Deputy Chair of the Australian Government screen agency, Screen Australia, board member of the Australian Broadcasting Authority, director and Chair of Ausfilm, director and Deputy Chair of Film Australia Limited, and director of the ASX-listed screen production and distribution group, Beyond International Limited. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Australian Communications and Media Authority

Sarah Mackie has more than a decade of experience in legal and regulatory frameworks and strategic communications across the public and private sectors.

At the Australian Communications and Media Authority, Sarah is a Senior Regulatory Engagement Officer where she works across a range of stakeholder engagement and consumer education priorities to combat scams and other unsolicited communications. She is responsible for driving strategic relationships at a domestic and international level, and consults with a diverse range of stakeholders, from technical specialists to government agencies and international regulators.

Sarah has a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Media & Communications from the Queensland University of Technology, as well as a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice.

Clayton Utz

Tim Webb is Head of IP and Co-Head of Digital at Clayton Utz. He is an experienced commercial litigator with an extensive advisory practice. He acts across industries, with a particular focus on the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sectors.

Tim's special interest is intellectual property, assisting clients in both contentious and non-contentious matters. Ranked by his peers as one of only two "preeminent" non-contentious IP lawyers in New South Wales and as a "leading" contentious IP lawyer (Doyle's Guide), Tim advises on the full spectrum of IP, including trade marks, copyright, designs, patents, advertising, confidential information, domain names, and anti-counterfeiting. Tim has won landmark Australian cases in copyright, trade marks and designs and regularly acts for clients in the Copyright Tribunal of Australia.

Johnson Winter Slattery

Sophie is a leading media, information technology, intellectual property and privacy partner with a particular focus on advice and disputes.

She has extensive experience in advising and acting for companies and agencies in relation to matters including defamation, intellectual property, privacy and law reform advice and disputes. She has also successfully acted for telecommunications and information technologies including many of the world’s leading suppliers, in strategic disputes including in negotiations, mediations, expert determinations and domestic and international arbitrations as well as litigation.

Sophie is ranked as a leading media lawyer in Chambers & Partners, as a leading privacy lawyer in Legal 500, as a leading lawyer in Best Lawyers in each of her key areas of practice and a recommended privacy and data protection lawyer in the Lexology Index (formerly known as Who's Who in Legal).

Sophie is co-author of Thomson Reuters' Media & Internet Law & Practice and is the current author of the Internet title in Laws of Australia. She is a past president of the Communications and Media Law Association and is a current member of the UTS Centre for Media Transition Advisory Board.

Squire Patton Boggs

Tanvi Mehta Krensel is a partner in Squire Patton Boggs’ Data Privacy, Cybersecurity and Digital Assets group. Tanvi is a commercial lawyer with deep experience advising on a wide range of complex agreements, and a particular focus on technology, privacy, cybersecurity and emerging products.

Tanvi also spent two years as Product Privacy Lead for TikTok, supporting the Asia Pacific and emerging markets region. Her role there covered a variety of novel issues arising in relation to developing technologies, including privacy, AI and online harms and safety.

Tanvi was named as a Leading In-House Intellectual Property & Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) Lawyer in Australia in Doyle’s Guide 2025. She is a contributor to Thomson Reuters’ Practical Law Guidance Notes on transferring IT systems, due diligence in AI contracting and copyright due diligence in M&A transactions.

See her Linked In here.

Gilbert + Tobin

Rebecca Dunn is a partner in Gilbert + Tobin’s Tech+IP group specialising in Intellectual Property.

She is an experienced intellectual property litigator who has worked on some of the leading copyright cases in Australia. In addition to copyright, her focus is on trade mark litigation, Australian Consumer Law litigation and defamation.

She advises clients across industries including health care, media and entertainment in relation to the multiple legal issues associated with branding. Rebecca has particular expertise in the online space in relation to copyright, consumer law, social media, privacy, data protection and defamation.

She has worked on a variety of enforcement matters for both national and international clients including the film and music industries. Ms Dunn has litigated cases in the Supreme and Federal Courts and at appellate level in the NSW Court of Appeal, the Full Federal Court and the High Court of Australia.

Ms Dunn is the current President of the Communications and Media Law Association, a member of the Copyright Society of Australia and the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand.

Ms Dunn has a Bachelor of Law (First Class Honours) from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Arts (Communications Studies) from the University of Newcastle. Rebecca was admitted as a solicitor in 2005. Rebecca also has a Masters of Research in issues relating to social media law and democracy.