The Assembly Australasia

Stephen Dametto commenced his appointment as the NSW Crime Commissioner on 24 February 2026.

Stephen brings nearly three decades of experience in Australian and international law enforcement. He has led major operations targeting serious and organised crime, counter terrorism, money laundering, cybercrime, and transnational criminal activity.

Before joining the NSW Crime Commission, Stephen served in the Australian Federal Police (AFP) as Assistant Commissioner Eastern Command, overseeing the AFP's largest regional command including significant national investigations and operations. Before leading Eastern Command, Stephen was the AFP's Commander of Counter Terrorism Investigations East, overseeing AFP's involvement in joint counter terrorism teams in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT. In the role, he built specialist capabilities in online threat analysis, behavioural science, and countering terrorism financing to support Australia's counter terrorism efforts.

His career includes senior operational roles in the United Kingdom, including with the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command and the National Crime Squad (now the National Crime Agency), focusing on combatting terrorism and serious and organised crime, as well as playing a leading role in Australia’s investigative response to the MH17 disaster in Ukraine.

Stephen has also practised as a barrister in NSW, specialising in criminal law, proceeds of crime, administrative law, and inquests. He holds a Master of Studies (MSt) in Applied Criminology and Police Management from the University of Cambridge and qualifications as a Chartered Accountant. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Across all roles, Stephen has led organisational reforms and national initiatives that promote high performance and maximise operational effect. He is committed to integrity, public safety, and community-focused leadership.

Mr Brendan Thomas commenced his 5-year appointment as AUSTRAC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on 29 January 2024.

As AUSTRAC CEO, Brendan leads Australia’s financial intelligence unit and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regulator.

AUSTRAC’s regulation hardens the financial sector against criminal exploitation and its intelligence provides crucial information to its national security, domestic and international law enforcement partners.

Brendan is AUSTRAC’s representative on the ACIC Board, the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce CEO Board, and the Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Forum. In view of AUSTRAC’s role as a member of the National Intelligence Community (NIC), Brendan is also responsible for agency head-level engagement with the Office of National Intelligence and other NIC members.

Brendan is a Wiradjuri man, with significant experience in leading, designing and delivering major public services, especially in the criminal and civil justice systems in NSW, and in leading organisational reform.

Ahead of his commencement with AUSTRAC, Brendan served as a Deputy Secretary at the NSW Department of Communities and Justice, with responsibility for implementing major changes to reduce the over-representation of the Indigenous population in the NSW criminal and child protection systems. Prior to this, Brendan was the CEO of Legal Aid NSW and was formerly the Deputy Secretary at the NSW Department of Justice.

Brendan has a Bachelor of Arts from Macquarie University and is a fellow of the Australian and New Zealand School of Government.

Armina Antoniou has over 20 years of experience as a risk and legal professional with significant gaming and risk management experience.

Armina joined Crown Resorts in 2021 as the Group Executive GM, Financial Crime Risk and is now the Chief Risk Officer (CRO) of Crown Resorts, where she leads teams who continue to embed risk transformation across Crown’s multiple properties.

Armina was previously with Australian gaming company, Tabcorp, for more than 10 years where she held a number of roles in legal and risk management. Prior to that, Armina spent more than a decade as a litigator and corporate lawyer at one of Australia’s leading law firms.

Armina is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, a sports fan and a soccer mum.

Kieran Beer is chief analyst and director of editorial content with responsibility for ACAMS moneylaundering.com, ACAMS Today and content for many ACAMS conferences and other programs. Prior to joining ACAMS in 2006, he was executive editor of Bloomberg Wealth Manager, an award winning investment and financial planning magazine, and he also served as a staff writer for Bloomberg Markets Magazine.

Kieran has been a financial journalist for more than 30 years, beginning his career at Institutional Investor. He subsequently served as editor-in-chief of The Bond Buyer, founding editor of Thomson Municipal Market Monitor, and editor at the American Banker.

Kieran speaks regularly at industry conferences, has appeared on CNBC and Sky News, and has been heard on WBBR and NPR. He writes a column on anti-financial crime issues and is the host of “Financial Crime Matters,” a podcast series, as well ACAMS videocasts on YouTube.

Alice serves as the UK’s Illicit Finance Policy Lead to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific; based in British High Commission Canberra. Her position forms part of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Serious and Organised Crime Network (SOCnet).  She previously worked in Homeland Security at the UK Home Office.

Rachelle has 30 years of experience in risk and compliance within financial services, policy, regulatory, and law enforcement sectors. She has held leadership roles at AUSTRAC and at the FATF. Rachelle focuses on building and delivering effective solutions to manage financial crime risk.

Kate Camilleri is a strategic implementation leader specialising in translating regulatory reform into operational systems and industry practice, with experience spanning financial services and the property sector.

She began her career in consulting, working on large-scale digital transformation and systems implementation programs before moving into industry, where she played a key role in the national rollout of Australia’s digital property settlement capability. In this role, she worked across banks, legal practitioners, regulators and industry bodies to operationalise legislative reform into a fully digital, multi-party transaction environment adopted at scale across the industry.

Over the past three years, Kate has been working at the forefront of AML/CTF Tranche 2 reform, focusing on how obligations apply in practice across property transactions and how AML can be embedded within the transaction itself. She brings a unique perspective on how identity, risk and transaction workflows intersect — and how financial crime risk emerges within property transactions — enabling AML to move beyond compliance and become an integrated part of the transaction.

Gavin Coles has had a 30 year career in identifying, investigating, and preventing financial crime risk, across Asia, Australasia, Europe, and the United States. He has worked for the National Criminal Intelligence Service and Cabinet Office in the UK, been an AML officer for Banks in four countries, and spent almost ten years in Private Banking for Citi at the international level overseeing the AML Program. He is proud to be part of the world-leading AML professional community in Australasia, where ability to move rapidly and try new approaches has resulted in ground breaking advancements in the fight against financial crime. He now consults to organisations across Australasia and elsewhere on financial crime and AML risk issues, providing practical advice to Boards and Executives.

Martin has consulted full-time as an AML/CFT specialist since 2012. He has assisted entities across every sector of capture through the provision of audit, consulting, and training services in New Zealand, Australia, Samoa, and Vanuatu. 

Prior to forming Martin Dilly AML, Martin commenced his career as a corporate solicitor at Russell McVeagh and held senior legal and compliance roles at ABN AMRO Bank N.V. – New Zealand and with Heartland Building Society as Head of Compliance. During his time with Heartland, Martin also acted as company secretary for NZSX-listed company, Heartland New Zealand Limited. Martin was also a director of AML Solutions where he was responsible for running the delivery team that assisted over 700 clients across every sector.

Martin is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), and was the first person in Australasia to gain the CAMS Audit advanced certification. He has been internationally recognised by being appointed to the ACAMS teaching faculties for CAMS and CAMS-Audit.

Todd is the Head of AML and Compliance, with a diverse career spanning casino, banking, consulting, and advisory services. He brings deep expertise in AML/CTF shaped by frontline experience in law enforcement and intelligence. Todd previously led tactical analysis teams at AUSTRAC and has delivered strategic compliance solutions across both private and public sectors. His leadership is grounded in operational insight, regulatory engagement, and a commitment to financial crime prevention.

Gordon is a Special Advisor (AML/CFT) to the Deputy Minister of Finance in Ottawa, Canada and the former Executive Secretary of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG). He is also a Senior Industry Fellow at Griffith University’s Academy of Excellence in Financial Crime Investigation and Compliance (Queensland, Australia).  Gordon is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Manitoba King’s Bench in Canada and the High Court of New Zealand.  In addition to other legal publications, he recently authored "Express Trusts and Beneficial Ownership in the Financial Action Task Force Recommendations: Conceptual Distortions," published in the Transnational Criminal Law Review (2025), and has spoken at international conferences on AML/CFT across the Asia/Pacific region for over 20 years. He has also participated in FATF and APG mutual evaluations.

Anthony is an Executive at National Australia Bank, accountable for Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorist Financing, and Fraud Risk. He also guides innovation around financial crime risk technology and processes. Anthony’s early career was in the UK Civil Service, where he held several roles, including Head of the European Finance and EU Budget Negotiations Branches for HM Treasury. He subsequently moved to Hong Kong, where he ran his own strategic consulting firm and founded MatrixVision, one of the first blockchain compliance companies. Anthony transitioned into banking in 2014, holding several Asia Pacific Head roles for HSBC before moving to his current role in Australia. Since his UK Civil Service days, Anthony has maintained his interest in the interaction between politics, economics, and industry. He held the position of Vice-Chair of the SME and Start-Up Committee for the British Chamber in Hong Kong from 2014 to 2022, and served on the Chamber’s Business Policy Unit. Anthony holds a MBA from Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, and a MSc International Relations from the London School of Economics.

Gary is a leading New Zealand independent barrister for regulatory investigations, enforcement, civil disputes, risk advisory & compliance work – with a special focus on financial crime.

Qualified in NZ (1996), also dual qualified in NSW & England, Gary regularly deals with business regulators like NZ’s 3 AML Supervisors or Police FIU, Commerce Commission, Financial Markets Authority, Serious Fraud Office or Privacy Commission – equivalent to Australia's AUSTRAC, ACCC, ASIC, AFP and OAIC. Often briefed as counsel or independent expert in complex/sensitive cases across the region, e.g. NZ's first criminal bid-rigging cartel prosecution, Russia Sanctions investigations, DIA’s first AML penalty case, FMA’s first enforceable undertaking case, or Panama Papers and 1MDB Malaysia cases.

Gary is widely regarded as New Zealand’s most experienced AML lawyer. Convenor of The Law Association of NZ’s AML-CFT committee, member of Ministry of Justice Industry advisory group, and previously ACAMS Australasian chapter NZ Programme Director for a decade (now chapter Advisory Board).

An expert on Tranche 2 DNFBP law reforms, he authors a leading online textbook: AML/CFT Workflows - Guidance for Lawyers (Thomson Reuters, 2018), remains on both DIA and MOJ advisory groups, and was an expert witness to the Cullen Commission of Inquiry (B.C, Canada). As co-Chair of the IBA AML & Sanctions Experts committee, he helps law societies and law firms around the world manage their DNFBP obligations and have input to FATF consultations.

Caryn is the Regional Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Director – APAC for ACAMS, where she is the lead English speaking SME practitioner on AML and Financial Crime Compliance across the APAC region. Working closely with APAC and international colleagues, Caryn plays a key role in shaping ACAMS priorities, offerings, and activities across the APAC region.

Caryn brings to ACAMS a wealth of AFC global banking experience that spans Standard Chartered, JP Morgan, Clearstream Banking, UBS AG, ABN Amro and Bank of America. Most recently she was the Head of Financial Crime Compliance Controls, Surveillance Excellence with Standard Chartered Bank, where she was responsible for the end to end process, governance, and risk management of the group wide alert disposition process. Caryn’s expertise covers Client Due Diligence, financial crime business advisory, project management, governance, risk management, and the overarching financial crime compliance framework.

Ling Li is a co-founder of EOS Collective, a non-profit organisation dedicated to investigating the scam industry and advocating

for the rights and recovery of its victims. Over the past several years, she has supported survivors of scam compounds in Southeast Asia, collaborating with both local and international civil society organisations to provide relief and assist with repatriation efforts. She is the co-author of the book "Scam: Inside Southeast Asia’s Cybercrime Compounds".