Kim Rubenstein, legal scholar and advocate

07/08/21 • 41 min

If you've been watching ABC's Q&A in recent years you might have come across the erudite legal scholar Professor Kim Rubenstein. Kim is an expert on citizenship and in recent years she's been called upon to explain the complex and problematic subject of Australia's citizenship laws. Listen to Kim talk for just a few minutes, however, and you'll quickly realise she speaks with clarity, avidity and intelligence on a range of contemporary and historical matters.
In July 2021, she celebrates the publication of her new book: The Vetting of Wisdom: Joan Montgomery and the Fight for PLC. It tells the dramatic tale of the sacking of a popular private school principal in the mid-1980s.

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Bram Presser, writer

Dreadlocked and heavily pierced, Bram Presser cuts an unique figure in Melbourne's relatively staid Bagel Belt. The lawyer and criminologist made a name for himself in the late 90s and early 00s as frontman of the punk rock band Yidcore. The band became a cult hit in Australia and Israel, playing covers of Jewish and Israeli songs.
It was during a tour of Israel with Yidcore, that Presser plunged himself into the lost world of his Holocaust surviving grandparents. He set out on a writing project that led him on an eight year odyssey to uncover their fate during WWII. The resulting book, The Book of Dirt , was an instant success winning him many awards, including the prestigious National Jewish Book Awards, Goldberg Prize for Debut Fiction.
With a stunning debut novel behind him, the 45-year-old is now chasing after his young daughter and turning his attention to a second book, a novella.

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Dean Cohen, Chief Executive Officer of Flying Fox

A decade ago, commerce student Dean Cohen began a regular soccer meetup with a boy who had autism. Although Dean's exposure to people with autism was limited, the experience changed him. Dean soon he became committed to creating a more inclusive world for people of all abilities.
In 2014, under the banner Camp Sababa, Dean and a group of youth leaders began hosting fun-filled camp experiences for young people with disabilities in the Jewish community. Fast forward seven years and Dean now heads a fully-fledged organisation, Flying Fox, with 10 paid staff, 26 camps each year, and an ever-growing waiting list of participants. Dean and his army of dynamic volunteers are driven by a vision to create an inclusive world for people of all abilities.
In recognition of the huge contribution Flying Fox has made to the disability sector, Dean was award an Order of Australia Medal. It's an amazing achievement for someone who is yet to reach 30 years of age.