Board of Directors

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Ms Jillian Segal AO

Chairman

Jillian is Chairman of the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce (NSW), Chairman of the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA), a Director of Rabobank Australia Limited, a Director of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, a Trustee of the Sydney Opera House Trust, a Director of the Grattan Institute, Member of the International Board of the Weizmann Institute of Science, President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) and Member of the Council of the Order of Australia.

Previously, she was a Director of ASX Limited, NAB Limited, Rabobank New Zealand Limited, a Member of the Federal Government’s Remuneration Tribunal, President of the Administrative Review Council, a member of the Major Performing Arts Board of the Australia Council and involved with a number of other not-for-profit organisations. Jillian is a graduate in arts and law from UNSW and has a Masters of Law from Harvard Law School. Jillian was a partner and later consultant, at Allen Allen & Hemsley solicitors from 1986 to 1996 and was a Commissioner of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) from 1997 to 2002, being Deputy Chair from 2000 to 2002.

Steven Skala AO has a distinguished career of service including on the boards of public and private companies, and government-related and not-for-profit organizations. He has more than 35 years’ experience in the law, business and banking.

Steven is Vice Chairman, Australia of Deutsche Bank AG, a position he has held since 2004 and is Chairman of the Commonwealth Government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Among public companies, he is a former Chairman of Wilson Group Limited, Hexima Limited and the Island Food Company Limited, and is a former Director of the Channel TEN Group of companies and Max Capital Group Limited. Between 1982 and 2004, he was a Partner of Australian law firms, Morris Fletcher & Cross (now Minter Ellison) and Arnold Bloch Leibler

Active beyond banking and commerce, Steven is Chairman of the Heide Museum of Modern Art, a Director of the Centre for Independent Studies and a Member of the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. He was previously Chairman of Film Australia Limited, Chairman of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Vice President (Deputy Chairman) of The Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, a Director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and a Director of the Australian Ballet.

Mr Steven Skala AO

Deputy Chairman

Ms Lee Liberman

Deputy Chair

Ms. Liberman is Principal and Chair of the Lee Liberman Foundation, which provides strategic funding to non-profit partners in Australia, Israel and the United States.

Lee is Chair of the USC Shoah Foundation. The Shoah Foundation preserves a Visual History Archive of more than 55,000 video testimonies of survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides; the largest digital collection of its kind. The Shoah Foundation works to counter identity-based hatred by developing empathy, understanding and respect through teaching with testimony.

As a committed supporter of the arts, Lee has served on the Council of the Australian National Gallery and the Australian National Gallery Acquisitions Committee. Lee is publisher and editor of A Day in the Life of Africa, A Day in the Life of Israel and Jerusalem in the Shadow of Heaven. She also is Chair of the Day in the Life of Africa AIDS Education Fund.

Ms Tonianne Dwyer is an independent non-executive public company director based in Brisbane.

She currently sits on the Boards of Dexus Property Group - one of Australia’s largest real estate investment trusts, Metcash Limited – the wholesale supplier to brands such as IGA, Mitre 10 and Celebrations, ALS Limited – a global laboratory testing business and copper mining company, OZ Minerals Limited which has mines in South Australia and Brazil. She is Deputy Chancellor and member of Senate of the University of Queensland and is a former director of Queensland Treasury Corporation and Cardno Limited.

During her executive career, Tonianne spent over 20 years in London working in investment banking with Hambros Bank and Societe Generale and real estate fund management with Quintain Estates & Development plc, the developer of the two largest urban renewal projects in London – at Wembley and on the Greenwich Peninsula. She built a fund management business focused on healthcare, student accommodation and science parks.

Tonianne moved to Brisbane in 2010 with her partner and two daughters.

Tonianne graduated from University of Western Australia with a law degree in 1985 following which she was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. She is a graduate member of AICD and a director and Queensland Chapter Chair of Chief Executive Women and a member of Women Corporate Directors.

Tonianne Dwyer

Mr Stephen Gerlach AM

Investment, Audit and Risk
Committee Member

Stephen is Chancellor of Flinders University of South Australia. He is the Convenor of the University Chancellors Council, a Distinguished Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Trustee of Australian Cancer Research Foundation, Chairman of AML3D Limited, Chair of Psychosis Australia Trust, Chairman of Adelaide Capital Partners Pty Ltd and Gerlach Asset Development Pty Ltd, Chairman of Ebony Energy Ltd, Director of Beston Global Foods Ltd, Director of Beston Pacific Asset Management Pty Limited and Chair of South Australian Cricket Association Nominations Committee.

Stephen was a partner of the Adelaide legal firm Finlaysons for 23 years and its Managing Partner from 1985 to 1991. He was formerly the Chairman of Santos Ltd, Futuris Corporation Ltd (now called Elders Ltd), Equatorial Mining Ltd, Elders Australia Ltd, Challenger Listed Investments Ltd, Amdel Ltd and Penrice Ltd and formerly a Director of Southcorp Ltd, Brunner Mond Holdings Ltd (UK) and Elders Rural Bank.

He was a Director and an Honorary Life Member of the Australian Red Cross Society, a Director of the Flinders Medical Research Foundation and Inaugural Chairman of Foodbank SA from 1999-2014 and a director of Foodbank Australia.

Ms Carolyn Kay has had more than 30 years of experience in the finance sector as an executive and non-executive director. In addition, she has been and remains a non-executive director of enterprises across a broad range of industries. She is currently Senior Advisor & Director of Rothschild & Co Australia; Member of The Future Fund Board of Guardians; Director of Scentre Group and Director of Myer Family Investments. As an executive Ms Kay worked as a banker and lawyer at Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Linklaters & Paines in London, New York and Australia. She holds Bachelor Degrees in Law and Arts (University of Melbourne), a Graduate Diploma in Management (AGSM) and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She was awarded a Centenary Medal for services to Australian society in business leadership. She is married with 3 children.

Ms Carolyn Kay

Investment, Audit and Risk
Committee Co-Chair

Mrs Jan McCahey

Investment, Audit and Risk
Committee Co-Chair

Jan McCahey is a partner of PwC Australia, and a member of the firm’s Assurance Leadership Team with responsibility for risk and quality matters.

From 2015 to 2019, Jan was the Global Public Policy Leader for the PwC network and was based in London, UK. She continues as a member of the Global Public Policy Committee, a forum of the six largest international accounting networks which seeks to participate constructively in shaping global public policy in the public interest.

She previously served as Chief Accountant at ASIC and in several accounting standard setting roles in Australia and globally. She has been involved in a number of not-for-profit organisations and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member of the Victorian Chapter of Chief Executive Women."

Mr Peter Nash spent his executive career at KPMG where he was admitted as a partner in 1993. Most recently he served as National Chairman from 2011 to 2017, during which he was responsible for the overall governance and strategic positioning of the firm. He was a member of the Global Board of KPMG. His previous positions with KPMG include Regional Head of Audit for Asia Pacific, National Managing Partner for Audit in Australia and Head of KPMG Financial Services.

Mr Nash has worked in geographically diverse and complex operating environments providing advice on a range of topics including strategy, risk management, internal controls, business processes, and regulatory change. He has also provided both financial and commercial advice to many Government businesses at both a Federal and State level.

Peter is Non-Executive Chairman of the Johns Lyng Group Limited and a Non-Executive Director of Westpac Group, ASX and Mirvac. He also serves on the Board of not-for-profit organisations Golf Victoria, The Koorie Heritage Trust and Migration Council Australia.

Mr Peter Nash

Emeritus Professor
Alan Robson AO CitWA

Alan Robson served as Vice-Chancellor of The University of Western Australia from 2004-2011, following more than a decade as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost (since 1993). He was Chair of the Group of Eight (2007-2010), Deputy Chair of the Council of the National Library (1998-2005), Deputy Chair of Universities Australia (2009-2011), a member of the Western Australian Science Council (2003-2009) and the CSIRO Board (2003-2008). He has also held the positions of Foundation Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA), Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Head of the School of Agriculture and Professor of Agriculture (Soil Science) at The University of Western Australia. In 2003, Professor Robson was made a Member of the Order of Australia, and awarded a Centenary Medal. In 2009, Professor Robson was made a Citizen of Western Australia and in 2013 was made an Officer of the Order of Australia.

Dr Mark Schembri was appointed to the Board in 2016. He is a graduate from The University of Sydney with Honours degrees in Veterinary Science and Science (Veterinary) and also of Harvard University with a Master in Public Health. He also has a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Sydney and works as a Senior Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. He is presently lecturer at the Veterinary School at the University of Sydney and was previously the Sub-Warden of St. Paul’s College.

Mark has a distinguished record as an equine veterinarian where he also serves as a member of the Australian College of Veterinary Surgeons in Theriogenology.

In 2007 he was elected the youngest-ever Councillor of the Royal Agricultural Society and presently serves as Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee and served on its Veterinary Committee. In 2008 he was appointed veterinarian to the Australian Equine Olympic team for the Beijing Games.

He serves as Veterinary Surgeon Director of Theriogenology at the Agnes Banks Equine Clinic in Sydney. He is presently a veterinarian for the Australian Turf Club and veterinarian for the Spring and Autumn Racing Carnivals at Randwick Racecourse. Mark is a Board Member of the University of Sydney Rugby Club and Liaison Member of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney.

He was the Crown Prince of Dubai scholar in 2001, and the Australian Equine Veterinary Association scholar in 2004 when he completed sabbatical study at Texas A&M University.

In 2009 he was awarded the General Sir John Monash Scholarship for study in the United States and spent two years at Harvard. At Harvard he lived at Kirkland House, where he was academic and music tutor. He also rowed for Dudley House, and he was veterinarian to the Harvard horse polo team.

He is Chairman and Musical Conductor of the Governors Christmas Orchestra and led the World Youth Day Sydney bid to Pope John Paul II on behalf of the youth organising committee in 2001. He has also been vice-captain of the Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club Patrol where he served as a race announcer and commentator at the Surf Life Saving Australian Championships. He was recognised as Educator Partner of the Year by the Veterinary Faculty at the University of Sydney for his teaching.

Dr Mark Schembri

Scholars Advisory Committee Chair

Mrs Wendy Simpson OAM

Wendy Simpson is chairman of Wengeo Group a private investment group, which invests in industrial and commercial property developments. Wendy has been the Chair of the General Sir John Monash Scholarship NSW selection panel and a member of the panel for over 7 years. Her pioneering achievements include – Founding Chairman of Springboard Enterprises Australia, a community-driven accelerator program that recruits, coaches, supports, and promotes investment-ready, high-growth companies led by women. She was the first woman appointed as a Senior Vice President of Alcatel Asia Pacific based in Shanghai, implementing sales of major mobile and broadband services to 17 countries. At this time, she was part of the team who negotiated with the Chinese government to bring the internet to China.

Other pioneering roles are being the first woman appointed by the Victorian government as the Chief Representative and Trade Commissioner for North Asia, she was also the first woman appointed to a freight operations role in the TNT International network and established the first QBE women’s group whilst in a senior role at QBE insurance.

She has been a 3 times finalist in Telstra Businesswomen’s Awards and in 2006, she was a finalist in the Shanghai Business Women of the Year Awards.

In the 2013 Australia Day honours list she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for her work with disadvantaged young people and a range of women’s groups. She has been inducted into the Australian Businesswoman’s Hall of Fame and in 2013 was listed as one of Australia’s 100 women of influence by the Australian Financial Review.

Professor Paul Wellings CBE joined the University of Wollongong as Vice-Chancellor in January 2012. Prior to his current role, Professor Wellings held the position of Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University from 2002-2011.
Educated in the UK, Professor Wellings’ career experience includes a NERC research fellowship and senior positions at the CSIRO and Department of Industry, Science and Resources.

He has extensive board experience, including with the Australian Research Council (ARC) Advisory Committee, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), and some of the UK’s peak education and research bodies. He is currently a board member of the University of Wollongong Global Enterprises and Trustee of the University of Wollongong USA Foundation.

Professor Wellings also serves on the Ministerial Advisory Council for Free Trade Agreements, NSW Innovation and Productivity Council, NSW Domestic and Family Violence and Sexual Assault Corporate Leadership Group, the Global Foundation Advisory Council, Bundanon Trust and Regional Development Australia-Illawarra board.
Professor Wellings was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to higher education. He received an Honorary DSc from Lancaster University in 2014 and an Honorary DUniv from University of Surrey in 2019.