About us

Prof. Leanne Wiseman

Professor Leanne Wiseman is an ARC Future Fellow and Professor of Intellectual Property Law at Griffith University.  Her current research expertise focuses on the intersection between law and digital technologies, with particular attention to balancing IP rights with genuine access to information. She is currently researching legal and regulatory responses to the international Right to Repair movement.

Assoc. Prof. Kanchana Kariyawasam

Kanchana is an Associate Professor in the Griffith Business School at Griffith University. Kanchana's primary research interests lie in the field of intellectual property law and her publications are in the fields of intellectual property and consumer Law. She is currently researching legal and regulatory responses to the international​ Right to Repair movement.

John Gertsakis

John is the Director and Co-founder of Ewaste Watch Institute, a not-for-profit, research-driven organisation based in Australia with a focus on accelerating electronics sustainability, proactive stewardship and robust circular solutions across the product life-cycle. Ewaste Watch Institute seeks to drive enhanced social and consumer awareness, better product design, cleaner production, smarter logistics, increased reuse and repair, materials recycling, and innovative consumption models eg. the sharing economy and collaborative consumption. John is also a director with the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence, and an adjunct professor with UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures.

Lesley Yates

Lesley is Director of Government Relations and Advocacy for the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association. AAAA is the national industry association representing independent auto repairers and automotive parts manufacturers in Australia. The Association has over 3,000 member companies in all categories of the Australian automotive aftermarket and includes a large number of independent small and medium size businesses. In June 2021, after a decade of AAAA campaigning for fair and open competition in auto repair markets, the new automotive repair law was passed in Australian Parliament. This legislation is the result of a tireless and persistent grassroots campaign by the independent auto repairers and the AAAA. This legislation the is the first time the Australian government has addressed repairability in Australian Law.

Matthew Steen

Matthew Steen has worked for CHOICE, the Australian Consumers Association, for over 15 years, from customer service to testing and content production and currently Director of Reviews and Testing, which conducts all the testing content for CHOICE. Before CHOICE he worked in IT support for 12 years across a range of industries. He is fairly comfortable around tech of all types, and sorely aware of the need for a strong repair focus in IT. He describes himself as 'mission driven' and believes that the repair community is one facet of many groups needed to foster a strong culture of repair in Australia.

Matthew's educational background is in Ethics and he currently sits as a council member on the Standards Australia Council, representing CHOICE.

Guido Verbist

Guido is an active WIRES and SES member, loves diving, sailing, gardening and biking. During his tenure as GM of The Bower Reuse and Repair Centres he was involved in the introduction of “Repair Cafés” and “Right to Repair” in Australia in addition to a range of repair services and educational workshops with the objective to give members of the community the opportunity to actively engage in the reuse and repair of preloved goods.

Currently he is managing Revolve ReCYCLING a sustainability start-up which aims to give riders the opportunity to give new life to their old rides by recycling, repairing and redeploying them.

Karen Ellis

Karen Ellis is co-founder of Mend It, Australia based in Melbourne, Victoria. She is a retired health care professional with a graduate diploma of community health. She is an advocate and campaigner for right to repair legislation in Australia, and is a supporter of the global right to repair movement. On weekends she volunteers her time and mending skills at community repair events.