Estelle Blackburn
Estelle is a Perth journalist who spent six years researching and writing a book appropriately named "Broken Lives" which was published in 1999. Estelle exposed an injustice which led to the 2001 and 2005 exonerations of two men convicted of Perth killings in the '60s - the longest-standing convictions to be overturned in Australia. Her unfunded, determined sleuthing unearthed fresh evidence that prompted the Attorney General to allow the men new Appeals after they had lost a combined total of seven Appeals in the '60s. Coming across the story by chance and persisting with it has turned Estelle's life around. From a journalism career with The West Australian, the ABC and the Government Media Office, Estelle has become a justice crusader and author whose memoirs will be published this year.