Bernadette lives in Naarm on the stolen lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung peoples of the Kulin nation.

Bernadette is a 2017 WELA National Leadership Program alum and has been a volunteer for Women and Mentoring, Amnesty International, Friends of Stony Creek, and the Westsider Community Newspaper. In 2020 she was elected to Maribyrnong City Council, where she has led policy on social and environmental justice issues including gender equality, climate action, First Nations issues, LGBTQIA+ issues, bicycle infrastructure, gambling prevention.

Bernadette has worked in roles at the local level in areas of climate change, integrated water management, environmental planning, waste and resource recovery, biodiversity conservation, and
community engagement and development. She is currently the Executive Officer of the Merri Creek Management Committee.

This is Bernadette’s second appointment to a board since a short period on the board of the Bower Reuse and Repair Cooperative in 2000.