Our Team
Meet our team of values-driven, creative, and skilled people who are redesigning government for the 21st century
Base Team
Base Team are the folks that dream up, launch, run and measure all of the Code for Australia programs. They exist to open up opportunities for collaboration and bring people together.

Matt Sawkill
Managing Director
Matt has 20 years of experience in design-led digital agencies as a full-stack developer, technology consultant and team leader.
Matt is obsessed with the craft and delivery of easy to use, accessible and performant digital services and products at scale. Open source software, web standards and human-centred design are the foundations of this approach.
In his spare time, you’ll find him geeking out on food, music and movies.

Esther Semo
Head of Community + Communications
Esther is obsessed with humans so you’ll often find her chatting to strangers about their shoe size or what makes them cry. She has previously worked at Gender Equity Victoria running projects aimed at stopping violence against women online.
She’s also done stints at various not-for-profits, unions, and in the music industry all while running her own business, Broad Services, which promotes feminist events and services.
At Code for Australia, Esther is psyched to combine her love of helping people with tech. She’s also excited to share as many dog GIFs as possible with our awesome community.

Cassitie Galliott
Head of Delivery + People
Cass has spent years leading programs and teams for small nonprofits, primarily in the refugee and migrant sector. Getting to know diverse communities, ranging from Melbourne’s Western suburbs to small French Pacific islands has been one of her greatest joys.
In her work, Cass noticed a lack of digital innovation was preventing her clients from receiving better services. Working for Code for Australia, she’s excited to be part of an organisation helping to change this.
In her free time, Cass is usually geeking out over board games, gorging on chocolate, or painting her next commission.

Tim Castle
Product Manager
Tim is “on the ground” in Sydney, helping to drive positive outcomes for our partners and products. He cares about how organisations engage, and thrives on models that are more open and collaborative.
He’s spent the majority of his career engaging with organisations that are purpose driven, conscious of their impact on the world; and focused on alternative value models, not just economic value.
Tim has a wealth of knowledge that he’s always will to share across social impact, social enterprise, human centred design and product innovation. An adventurer at heart (he once bought a horse in Mongolia and rode it to Russia!) chances are he’ll arrive to the meeting on a bicycle after a morning swim.
Founding Team
Our Founding Team continue to coach and advise Base Team and the wider community. Our Founders also serve as our Board of Directors.

Alvaro Maz



Daniel Groch



Jacob Lindsay
Board of Advisors
Our Board of Advisors exist to support and advise Base Team, and include experts from industry and government, our founders and a rotating position for one of our Fellows. To read more about our Board, head here.


Irina Anastasiu
Ex-Fellow, Full-Stack Software Architect & UX Designer


Lizzie O'Shea
Lawyer, Writer, Founder & Chair of Digital Rights Watch


Judy Anderson
CEO at Start Up Victoria


Tien-Ti Mak
Director & Co-CEO at Premonition.io


Jithma Beneragama
Director - Digital Engagement, Dept. of Premier and Cabinet Victoria


Anni Rowland-Campbell
Non Executive Director at Founders and Coders


Mark Woodland
CEO at Xplor, TSG & QK Technologie



Alvaro Maz



Jacob Lindsay



Daniel Groch
Current Fellows
Our current Fellows are the amazing people who are working with us for six months, alongside a government partner, to create change through our Fellowship program.


Jordan Binskin
Partner: Smart Service Queensland
Jordan is a web developer, residing in Sydney. He has a background in digital transformation projects, bringing technical and project management skills to the delivery phase.
From scripting web servers to building user interfaces, he is empathetic in his practice. This results in end products that are functional, accessible and best address the needs of the user.
He continues to code into his spare time, whether it be learning a new paradigm or 3D libraries. When he needs a break, his hobbies include cooking, a walk in the mountains or playing MMORPGs. Check out his website here.


Nishtha Gakkhar
Partner: Smart Service Queensland
Nishtha is a software developer who graduated from Monash University Australia. She has worked in IT with exposure to banking, music, and environmental industries. With a background of computer science, she is an enthusiast of learning new technologies and engaging in meetups.
She tries to look out for more environmentally friendly options around her. She is a fervent cricket supporter and a dog lover.
Apart from engaging in tech, she likes to go for long walks, cook, and dance. On weekends, you can find her enjoying movies or DIY projects and markets.


Daniel Turner
Partner: Smart Service Queensland
Daniel is a software engineer who lives on the Sunshine Coast. With a background in software architecture, management and team leadership. Daniel always enjoys learning from all his team members.
For over twenty years Daniel has worked in software engineering, developing for enterprise and startups. He enjoys working with the right technologies and ensuring that the end user experience is as ideal as possible.
His hobbies include developing software and volleyball. On the weekend Daniel loves spending his time with his wife and kids.


Madeline Druce
Partner: City of Canterbury Bankstown
Being fascinated by the complexities of humans from a young age, Madeline worked in a range of different industries around the world after leaving university.
After almost 10 years of running her own photography business, Madeline was ready for a new challenge and began studying both UX and Service Design in 2019.
Maddie has been fortunate enough to work for some fantastic Melbourne based start ups and scale ups as an Experience Designer. She has passion for the environment and the Circular Economy and enjoys learning as much as possible about how we can grow and educate ourselves towards making a more sustainable future.
In her spare time she can be found adventuring in her van, Van Diesel, most likely surfing, rock climbing, hiking or riding her bike.


Russell Johnson-Bade
Partner: City of Canterbury Bankstown
Russell is a software engineer that calls Newcastle, NSW his home town. He comes from a self-taught background and has many years experience both working in small teams and as part of a multi-national company.
He loves programming due to its accessibility and potential for making a large positive impact.
He tries to lead with empathy in everything he does, whether that be playing sport, exploring nature or solving problems at work. He loves music, the outdoors and spends too much time watching soccer (go The Arsenal!).


Alex Reid
Partner: City of Canterbury Bankstown
Alex holds the record for most Fellowships ever undertaken at Code for Australia with City of Canterbury Bankstown being his third!
With over a decade of experience as a developer and designer, Alex is an avid tinkerer and experimenter.
In his free time he enjoys dipping his toes into the worlds of electronics, microcontrollers, realtime performance visuals and lighting, DJing and music production.
Fellowship Alumni
The brilliant people who have been a part of our Fellowship program and helped to create change in government across Australia, from the inside out.
Facilitators
Our network of facilitators are trusted and respected friends from across industry, who are on call to help us deliver programs around Australia.


Lina Patel
Go-To Facilitator
Lina is a facilitator, collaboration designer and former Chief of Getting Things done at Code for Australia, where she made all our programs (Fellowship, Academy, Tech for Non-Tech) hum beautifully.
She spends most of her time with people and teams who know where they are headed; who aren’t sure how to get there; and are open to iteration.
People frikkin love her workshops and meetings.


Ben Ralph
Tech for Non Tech Lead
With over a decade of experience founding tech companies and teaching web development, Ben is happiest when he’s helping people understand all things human-centred, agile, tech and leadership.
Ben’s approach is to identify significant and real user problems and work collaboratively to find MVP solutions that can be tested in the market – starting with the assumption that the best user experience is one that balances user needs, business goals and technology opportunities.


Sara Rickards
Sandpit Lead
Sara is a passionate connector, putting purpose and positive impact at the core of everything she does. She is on a mission to unlock human potential and specialises in creating connected and conscious communities.
In a previous life she was the Education For Sustainability Manager at Macquarie University, Co-host for the Un-school of Disruptive Design and Associate Editor of the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education.


Alec Sloman
Tech for Non Tech Lead
In the not too distant past, he worked as a Lead Instructor at General Assembly and as a Technical Recruiter at Lookahead Search where he gave career advice to hundreds of candidates and worked with many of the most prominent tech companies in Melbourne. He now spends most of his days running a code school in the heart of North Melbourne.
Alec is passionate about driving reform and improving lives with technology. Oh, and he loves hip hop.


Cam Elliott
Sandpit Lead
As a facilitator of the Sandpit Program, Cameron supports innovators from the public and private sector to collaborate on solving some of the toughest issues the public sector faces.
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We're based in Melbourne, on the traditional lands of the Woiwurrung and Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin nation.
We acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded and pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging across Australia.