Brown-Acton was born in February 1976 in
Niue. Her mother was from Niue and her father from Australia. At school, Brown-Acton was bullied by both students and teachers; at home her father was violent. In 2006 she began work for the Pacific Peoples Project at the
New Zealand AIDS Foundation as project coordinator; in 2009 she managed their International Development Programme. Brown-Acton was the first person to introduce a Pacific specific acronym for western LGBTQ+ communities: MVPFAFF -
Mahu,
Vakasalewalewa,
Palopa,
Fa’afafine,
Akava’ine,
Fakafifine and
Fakaleiti/leiti. This acronym was later extended to include a plus sign: MVPFAFF+. This academic activism in conference spaces as it disrupts western constructs of Pacific gender identities. She has also spoken openly about the colonial roots of homophobia in many countries in the Pacific. The same year she worked at Pacific Islands Safety & Prevention Project Inc. as service support manager. Brown-Acton is Executive Director of
F’ine Pasifika, an LGBTQI+ rights organisation based in New Zealand which she founded in 2015. In 2018, she spoke at the Human Rights Defenders World Summit. Other roles have included as an advisor to the Transgender Health Services Advisory Group, and a trustee of INA Maori. In 2020, she was selected as a member of OutRight International's Beijing+25 Fellowship program. Brown-Acton is number 82 in the 100 Indigenous women featured in
Qiane Matata-Sipu's NUKU series and book. == Honours ==