Kieran Pender
Deputy Chair
Kieran Pender is a lawyer, writer and academic.
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He is a long-time contributor to The Guardian and has covered events including the Olympics, the Men's and Women's World Cup and the Tour de France. He won Sport Australia's Sports Media Award for 'Best Coverage of a Community Sport Issue' in 2020 and was a finalist in the Walkey Mid-Year Awards in 2021.
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Kieran is also a senior lawyer with the Human Rights Law Centre, an honorary lecturer at the Australian National University College of Law and a consultant at Bradley Allen Love Lawyers. His expertise includes free speech, whistleblower protection, secrecy and employment law. Kieran is passionate about promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and formerly led the work of the International Bar Association to address inappropriate behaviour within legal workplaces.
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Kieran was formerly a director of the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA), the global body for non-FIFA football. More recently he has co-founded an international football charity, Football Rising, working to support girls' and women's football in marginalised communities across the globe.
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Kieran was appointed as director in July 2021 and reappointed in November 2021.