Anita Frayman speaks with Dr Ann Wollner OAM, who is a recipient of the King’s

Birthday 2026 Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). Ann is a worthy recipient of this well-deserved honour for her extensive service to the Australian Jewish community Ann’s passion and deep commitment to the Jewish community led to her involvement in Jewish education through United Jewish Education Board (UJEB) where she is a member of the Board, Mt Scopus College where she became the President, National Council of Australia (Vic) as a Board member and vice president, and Maccabee where she had many roles. Ann’s service extends to social justice, gender equality and child rights and wellbeing. Through her involvements in “Unchain My Heart”, an organisation which seeks equity in the “Gett” or Jewish divorce proceedings, Ann has helped make the husband’s refusal of a religious divorce become recognised in Victoria as an example of “emotional family violence”. She was very involved in the first case in Australia in which “Gett” refusal was used as the basis of a family violence intervention order under the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic). Ann was the co-founder and manager of the legal service at International Social Service Australia (ISSA), a national not-for-profit organisation that specialises in International Parental Child Abduction and champions child rights and connects families across the world. Ann is an experienced family lawyer, child and adolescent psychologist, researcher, advocate, and educator. Ann’s important contribution to changes in Australian and Victorian law and to the structure of organisations within the Victorian Jewish community has been formally recognised in her being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.

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