Sarah Barnbrook

Sarah Barnbrook

Sarah Barnbrook is the Founder and CEO of Away from Keyboard (AFK) Inc., an Australian-registered charity working at the intersection of digital safety, ethical AI governance, and the prevention of technology-facilitated harm.

With over two decades of experience spanning community advocacy, policy development, and international human rights work, Sarah brings a grounded, systems-level perspective to some of the most pressing questions in AI ethics today. Her work sits at the crossroads of lived experience, technical governance, and structural reform, and is shaped by a fundamental conviction: that technology must be designed to protect people, not expose them to harm.

Sarah is the Co-Chair of IEEE Industry Connections Activity IC25-008-01: AI and Family Violence (AIFV), a working group developing frameworks for assessing and mitigating AI-enabled gendered harm. She has contributed to AI governance through consultation with Australian federal bodies, including a Senate submission on the Online Safety Code and engagement with the eSafety Commissioner on platform safeguards for young people.

Internationally, Sarah is an accredited United Nations delegate and has presented at UN Commission on the Status of Women sessions, including a workshop at CSW70 on technology-facilitated gender-based violence. In 2026, she served as Consultation Facilitator for the Women Deliver Declaration on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence, bringing together civil society organisations to shape international commitments on TFGBV.

Her flagship product, Alt-TAB, is a pre-deployment AI ethics assessment tool that screens AI systems against 35 international frameworks simultaneously, including child protection standards, cybersecurity requirements, and jurisdiction-specific law. It is designed to be accessible to non-technical users, making ethical review a practical step rather than an afterthought.

Sarah serves as Company Secretary of the Australian Gender Equality Council, Chief Advocacy Officer for Women 4 STEM, and Human Rights and ICT Adviser to the National Council of Women Victoria. She contributes to Soroptimist International’s global advocacy programme and serves as National Advocacy Lead for the Digital Safety Futures Project, a Soroptimist International Australia initiative. She is also a member of the IEEE, AWSN, and the Royal Society of Victoria.

Share this speaker
Share This Speaker
  • Organization
    Away from Keyboard Inc.
  • Profession
    Founder & CEO
Related sessions
Innovation Factory
In personAI and industryAI and Education
7 July 2026
09:00 - 17:30
EST - New York
CST - Beijing
PST - Los Angeles
AWST - Perth, Australia

Are you sure you want to remove this speaker?