Melissa Clarke is a Ngarrindjeri, Kaurna and Wirangu woman and a nationally recognised justice reform leader with more than two decades of experience across policing, government and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations. She is currently Strategic Director of First Nations Advocates Against Family Violence (FNAAFV) – the community-controlled, national peak body that represents the Family Violence Prevention and Legal Services (FVPLS) sector.

A former South Australia Police officer, Melissa has held senior roles including General Manager at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS), Director of Aboriginal Services at the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement, and General Manager Youth Justice Strategy, Policy and Reporting with the South Australian Department of Human Services. Her work focuses on shifting systems upstream by strengthening early supports — from education and family support to culturally led prevention and community-controlled services — addressing the structural inequality, intergenerational trauma and systemic racism that drive early justice contact.