Liz Nair is a seasoned business leader, speaker, facilitator, and entrepreneur renowned for her management and adult education expertise. Liz has gained recognition in several industry associations with her impressive organisational transformation track record.

As the Founder and Director of Attivo Consulting, Liz focuses on human behaviour. She specialises in empowering individuals and organisations to achieve their full potential through effective leadership, communication, social interaction, emotional regulation, mindset, and team-building strategies.

Liz is a highly qualified professional, holding degrees in Management, Adult Education, and Positive Psychology. She has completed certifications in Neuroscience for Business, Neuro Linguistics Practitioner, Whole Brain Thinking Practitioner, and Adesso Well-being Profiling Practitioner. Her unbridled passion for learning and professional development drives her to continually seek new and innovative approaches to help her clients succeed.

Appointed Chair 14 October 2017 for 5 years
Re-appointed as Chair from 14 October 2022 for 2 years

Nerida O’Loughlin commenced as Chair of the ACMA on 14 October 2017. Nerida has been a Deputy Secretary in the Department of Communications since 2011. Nerida led the Digital Television Switchover Program until 2013 and has since been responsible for a diverse range of policy, program and project areas. She also served as interim CEO of the Digital Transformation Agency from 2016 to 2017. Nerida was a General Manager in the ACMA from 2006 to 2011. Prior to that she had held senior positions in the Victorian and Commonwealth Governments, predominantly across the technology and cultural sectors.

Nerida is also a part-time Associate Member of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) appointed on 6 April 2019 to 13 October 2022. Re-appointed 16 December 2022 to 13 October 2024.

On 10 June 2019, Nerida was awarded a Public Service Medal in the Queen’s Birthday honours for ‘outstanding public service through contributions to a more digital Australia and government’.

Ms Vonda Malone was appointed by the Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Ken Wyatt AM, MP, as TSRA’s Chief Executive Officer on 6 April 2022 and will commence in the role on 1 May 2022.

She returns to TSRA after extensive professional experience including her role as the first female Mayor of the Torres Shire Council.

Ms Malone has 22 years of experience working across 3 levels of government, specialising in Indigenous Affairs. She brings a unique international perspective to the role through her positions with both the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the United Nations Office of the Human Rights Commission, Geneva.

Ms Malone looks forward to working with the TSRA Chairperson, the Board, stakeholders and communities to achieve the TSRA’s vision of ‘Empowering our people, in our decision, in our culture for our future’. She has a particular interest in improving health and well-being outcomes for the region.

Ms Malone was named the McKinnon Emerging Political Leader of the Year in 2017, recognising her leadership as Mayor of the Torres Shire Council. Ms Malone is a fellow of the Australian Rural Leadership Program, the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner’s Indigenous Fellowship Program and also a recipient of the Centenary Medal and the NAIDOC Award of Excellence.

She holds a Graduate Certificate in Australian Rural Leadership and Graduate Certificate in Public Sector Management.

Jim was appointed as Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport Regional Development, Communications and the Arts in July 2022.

Jim Betts has spent over 30 years working in government agencies in the UK, Victoria and (for the last 8 years) New South Wales.

Prior to becoming Secretary, Jim was a partner at strategy consultancy EY Port Jackson Partners, having previously led the New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) as Secretary for 2.5 years. During that period, the department undertook transformational reform in areas like land use planning, water, urban design, sustainability, climate change, biodiversity conservation and energy. From 2013 to 2019, Jim was Chief Executive Officer of Infrastructure NSW where he led the development of 2 State Infrastructure Strategies, oversaw the state’s infrastructure program, delivered major state infrastructure projects and developed a state plan for the construction sector.

Before moving to New South Wales, Jim spent 5 years in Victoria as Secretary for the Victorian Transport Department and 4 years as Victoria’s Director of Public Transport. Jim strives to be a champion for inclusivity and social justice, not least for First Nations people.

He is a supporter of St Kilda football club, but privately admits they are rubbish.

Leigh Sales AM is a multi award-winning author and journalist at the ABC and anchors the much-loved Australian Story program. Before that, she presented the network’s prime time current affairs program 7.30 for 12 years.

She has been the face of the ABC’s major events coverage, including federal election and budget nights. Leigh has interviewed every living Australian Prime Minister and innumerable world leaders and celebrities from Hillary Clinton and Tony Blair to Paul McCartney and Elton John.

She’s the author of four books, including the national bestseller Any Ordinary Day and her latest co-written with Annabel Crabb, Well Hello. Their wildly popular podcast Chat 10 Looks 3 has hundreds of thousands of listeners.

A seasoned executive with over 20 years’ experience across the public, private and not for profit sectors. Tess is currently the Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Secretary Portfolio, Strategy and Services Group for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

Tess holds a Master of International Relations, a Graduate Certificate in Business Management and a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Political Science and Public Policy. She is a member of the Institute of Public Administration Australia, IAP2 Australasia and is a graduate of the AICD Company Board of Directors program.

Ms Sam Reinhardt commenced as Deputy Secretary, Fiscal Group in August 2022.

In this role, Sam provides advice to the government on the Budget, fiscal strategy, and policy proposals across all portfolios with a view to achieving sustainable and effective economic outcomes. She also manages relations with state and territory treasuries.

During her career, Sam has worked across a range of areas in the public service, including on the secretariat for the Henry Tax Review; as the Division Head of the Foreign Investment and Trade Policy Division, the Commonwealth-State Relations Division, and Corporate and International Tax Division. Sam worked at the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources leading the Northern Australia and Major Projects Division and prior to taking up the role of Deputy Secretary in Treasury, Sam was the Head of Office at the Productivity Commission.

Sam has worked in a number of roles outside the public service, including at the Cape York Institute under Noel Pearson, in the Papua New Guinean Treasury and as Julia Gillard’s Tax and Fiscal Policy Adviser.

Sam holds a master degree in development economics from the Crawford School at the Australian National University and a Bachelor of Economics and Political Science from the Australian National University.

Dr Sandra Cuthbert was appointed Chief Executive Officer of FSANZ on 31 March 2022 to 31 March 2027.

Sandra has extensive leadership, policy, corporate governance and stakeholder engagement experience across the public and private sectors. She has held senior roles with the Australian Government departments of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Finance and Agriculture and Water Resources, as well as Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ).  

Sandra brings a practical understanding of the complex environment that FSANZ operates within, drawing on her experience managing the agency’s stakeholder engagement, corporate and food safety functions between 2018 and 2021. She has a reputation for delivering outcomes on complex and time critical projects, most recently as the Assistant Secretary, Commonwealth-State Relations at PM&C. 

Sandra has post graduate qualifications in science and law and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. 

Lucinda Barry AM commenced as the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the inaugural Board the Organ and Tissue Authority (OTA) in September 2017.

Lucinda has a wealth of experience and knowledge in health care. In her exemplary career, she has held leadership roles within government, the public service and in health care management and delivery.

Lucinda commenced her career as a Registered Nurse, specialising in Emergency and Major Trauma before becoming a Director of Nursing.

Her career then moved into public policy, where she has held positions at the Senior Executive Level in the Australian Public Service and senior positions advising Federal ministers across a range of social policy areas.

Prior to commencing with the OTA, Lucinda was the Prime Minister’s Senior Adviser in Social Policy; including Health, Social Services, Indigenous Affairs, Aged Care & Sport.

Lucinda and the team are striving for excellence in the donation system across all hospitals, family care and increasing the number of people who say yes to donation.

Rajitha (Raj) Srikhanta is a Deputy Chief Tax Counsel (DCTC) in the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).  As DCTC, Raj is responsible for leading the resolution of significant and complex tax matters with a focus on indirect taxes, and issues across remuneration, schemes, and tax administration.

Raj joined the ATO’s graduate program in 1997.  Her previous leadership roles include Deputy Commissioner for Service Delivery Strategy and Support where she was responsible for the overarching service strategy for the ATO and shaping the way the ATO and its clients interact.  Raj has a wealth of experience in the ATO’s Client Engagement Groups, leading the Domestic Risk and Top 1000 Next Actions Programs, and the Advice and Guidance branch for public and multinational businesses as Assistant Commissioner in Public Groups and International business line, and responsible for the end-to-end administration of the $30 billion Excise product as Assistant Commissioner in Private Wealth.

In addition to this, Raj is the SES sponsor of the ATO’s Women in Melbourne Network.  The Network is aligned with the ATO’s commitment to achieving gender equality at leadership levels.  Raj is also co-champion of the ATO’s Cultural and Linguistic Diversity (CALD) network, which aims to increase cultural awareness and visibility within the workplace. 

Raj is proud to work for the ATO – an organisation that embraces all the aspects of diversity and inclusion and is committed to the meaningful engagement with our culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Professor Michelle Ryan is a world-renowned gender equality expert, Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology, and the inaugural Director of GIWL. Her work centres on understanding the psychological processes underlying workplace gender inequality, and designing and implementing innovative and evidence-based interventions to increase gender equality.

With Alex Haslam, she uncovered the phenomenon of the glass cliff, whereby women (and members of other minority groups) are more likely to be placed in leadership positions that are risky or precarious. Research into the glass cliff was named by the New York Times as one of the top 100 ideas that shaped 2008, and in 2016 the term “the glass cliff” was shortlisted as Word of the Year by the Oxford English Dictionary.

Her extensive body of academic work covers a range of constraints on women’s careers such as the impact of COVID-19 on gender inequalities, how perceptions of equality can lead to gender bias, the motherhood penalty, sacrifice, risk taking, work-life compatibility, impostor syndrome, fatherhood and work, men’s support for gender equality, as well as quotas and affirmative action. Michelle also works closely with corporate, government, and professional organisations in both a research and a consultancy capacity to identify gender equality issues and design bespoke solutions.

Former Prime Minister Theresa May served as leader of the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019. She is the second female in British history to hold the position.

Theresa May served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019, during an extraordinary time in global affairs. She is currently the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead — a position she’s held for over two decades.

Mrs. May has been involved in politics at all levels for many years, starting out stuffing envelopes at her local Conservative Association before going on to be a councillor in the London Borough of Merton from 1986 to 1994. In May 1997, she was elected as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, the constituency in which she lives. She has held various positions in Parliament since. In 2005, Mrs. May co-founded Women2Win, an organization dedicated to increasing the number of Conservative women in Parliament and in public life.

Appointed Home Secretary in May 2010, Mrs. May made history by becoming the longest-serving Conservative Home Secretary in the past 100 years. During this time, she oversaw reductions in crime, reform of the police, and the introduction of the landmark Modern Slavery Act.

Following her election as Leader of the Conservative Party, Mrs. May was appointed Prime Minister in July 2016, where she became the first woman in British history to hold the position since Margaret Thatcher.

As Prime Minister, Mrs. May led negotiations with the European Union after the country’s historic Brexit referendum. She also oversaw the largest ever cash boost to the UK’s National Health Service and the largest expansion of mental health services in a generation. She launched a 25-year Environment Plan and introduced legislation to end the UK’s contribution to global warming entirely. She also established the first ever Race Disparity Audit to shine a light on injustices, and published a Modern Industrial Strategy to ensure that the jobs of the future are created across the whole country — not just in London.

During her time in Downing Street, the UK’s national debt fell, there were more people in work than ever before, and taxes were cut for 32 million people.