Engagement
& Advocacy
Shaneen holds and has held key leadership roles at a local, state, and national level on architecture award juries, architecture committees, and development panels.
Project: The Least House Necessary Workshop, People Oriented Design and State Library of QLD
Shaneen is recognised as being energetic, considered, empathetic, and clear-cut in her approach.
- Co-Chair of the First Nations Advisory Committee for the Australian Institute of Architects
- Member of the Qld Urban Design & Places Panel for the Queensland Government
- Member of the Planning & Development Industry Reference Group for Cairns Regional Council
- Jury Chair and member for the Australian Institute of Architecture Awards, Social Impact Award by Arch Media, and the Ngurra Place Competition by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (2008,2013,2017,2023, 2025)
- Leader of the Designed in Cairns lecture series in partnership with The Cairns Institute at James Cook University (2014-2017)
- Chair Far North Qld Committee for the Australian Institute of Architects (2014-2017)
- Chair Cairns Open House and Cairns Festival of Architecture (2014-2017)
- TEDx Presenter, 2014 Less Walls More Life
In these roles, Shaneen advocates for:
- The recognition and respect of First Nations Country, culture, and peoples in architecture, design, and development. Good Design and the QDesign Principles
- A holistic approach to sustainability—environmental, social, economic, and cultural—embedded in every stage of a project, from concept to completion.
Logo: Lawyer Cane or wait-a-while plant (Calamus australis) from Yidinji Country. Permission for use granted by Gimuy Walubara Yidinji elder Uncle Bumi Hyde