Presenters

Jennifer Hughes, Partner, Beatty Hughes & Associates
Jennifer has over 25 years’ experience in environment and planning law, assisting industry, developers and government to manage environment incidents and on-going compliance, obtain development consents and environmental licences and acquire and divest industrial and contaminated land. Jennifer is widely recognised as a leading advisor to the waste industry due to her in-depth understanding of issues unique to that sector and is a member of the Board of the Australian Organics Recycling Association Limited. Jennifer is ranked in several directories as a leading environmental lawyer.


Veronica Volfneuk, Legal & Regulatory Counsel, Vow
Veronica Volfneuk is Legal and Regulatory Counsel at Vow, Australia’s leading cell-cultured meat company. In her role, Veronica provides strategic legal and commercial advice across intellectual property, procurement, product development, and corporate law. She also supports the company’s work with food regulators globally, assisting with submissions and compliance processes. Most recently, she contributed to Vow’s historic milestone: securing approval from Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) to sell cultured meat in Australia, the first approval of its kind in the country. Before joining Vow, Veronica worked as in-house legal counsel in the charity sector and began her career at a large commercial law firm. Her experience across diverse industries has equipped her with a unique perspective on the intersection of law, innovation, and emerging technologies in the food sector.

Katinka Day, National Advocacy and Policy Lead, OzHarvest
Katinka Day is a leading policy and advocacy specialist with extensive experience shaping food, health, and environmental regulation in Australia. Katinka has driven strategic government relations and political advocacy for major organisations, including WWF-Australia, CHOICE, and World Animal Protection. In her current role, Katinka leads OzHarvest’s advocacy to shape public policy and address the root causes of food waste and food insecurity in Australia. Katinka’s work has influenced landmark legislation and policy reforms, from advancing bans on single-use plastics to improving food labelling standards and promoting sustainable food systems. Katinka holds a Master of Business Administration from UTS and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney.

Professor Simon Lockrey, RMIT University
Professor Simon Lockrey from RMIT School of Design is the REDUCE Program Leader in End Food Waste CRC, a national $121 million research and development initiative aiming to halve food loss and waste by 2030. The domains in which Professor Lockrey has managed research include life cycle assessment, design innovation, green marketing, resource efficiency, food waste reduction and the circular economy, for companies including Chep, Visy, Nestlé, Lendlease, and Breville, as well as government departments and NFPs/ NGOs. As a result, he has generated millions of dollars of ‘industry facing’ research, creating global impact through policy changes, commercial outcomes, and media coverage. On practice, Professor Lockrey's professional design, engineering and management has crossed a large range of industries including consultancies, packaging, commercial interior furniture, electro-mechanical appliances, hardware, and gardening products. Since 2000 he has worked on over 100 commercial projects for organisations such as Cyclone, Schiavello, Dyson, Whirlpool, Sabco, Sorbent, Novatech Controls, Henkel, and Glowpear which has resulted in the generation of many billions of dollars in income and intellectual property (IP). At board level, Professor Lockrey is the Secretary of the International Sustainable Development Research Society, former Executive Director of Glowpear, former Vice President of Automotive Historians Australia, and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.