Webinars

Facilitators

John Van Der Wielen

Alice Saveneh-Murray

Partner, KordaMentha

Alice is one of Australia’s most highly skilled and trusted advisors to the financial crime risk community. ?Prior to working in AML/CTF she worked in the Forensics and Risk disciplines building dedicated financial crime capabilities for Big Four consulting firms domestically and Internationally.

She has also held executive banking positions responsible for managing global sanctions and AML/CTF policies and compliance and prior to joining KordaMentha, co-founded a boutique Regulatory Compliance practice that was appointed to provide expert services for several high-profile litigations, Royal Commissions and AUSTRAC Independent Audits. In addition to her leadership of the financial crime advisory team, Alice manages our dedicated remediation and operational support business.

Bruce Cowley FAICD

Bruce practised as a corporate lawyer for nearly 40 years at MinterEllison, specialising in mergers and acquisitions, directors' duties and corporate governance, serving as chair of the firm from 2013 until his retirement in 2019. He has co-authored the book entitled 'Duties of Board and Committee Members' and is sole author of AICD’s ‘Directorship in Context’.

Bruce is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Australian Retirement Trust, a director of the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service and chair of the Queensland Trust for Nature. He is a member of the Takeovers Panel, Chair of Griffith University Business School’s Strategic Advisory Board and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Not for Profit Chairs Forum.
He has previously chaired CPL – Choice Passion Life and Children’s Hospital Foundation, Queensland.

Bruce holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is an adjunct Professor in the University of Queensland Law School and was the recipient of the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ Gold Medal in Queensland for services to governance in 2021 and the Queensland Law Society’s President’s Medal for services to the legal profession in 2022.

Carmel Mulhern

Director
PwC Australia

Catherine Mudford

Acting CEO, Asialink Business

Chris Eddy

Connect host and former local government CEO

Christian Gergis

Head of Policy, Education and Policy Leadership Team

Christian Gergis

Christian is responsible for providing strategic leadership of the AICD public policy agenda and policy team, engaging with members, government, industry and other stakeholders across a wide range of issues. Prior to joining the AICD, Christian held senior roles at financial services industry bodies including most recently as the Head of Policy & Research at the Australian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (AVCAL).

Christian commenced his career at Herbert Smith Freehills where he practiced in the Corporate and Litigation areas, working on matters including the Cole Royal Commission into alleged abuses of the UN Oil-For-Food Program and actions against the former directors and auditors of collapsed gold mining firm, Sons of Gwalia. After leaving HSF, Christian provided strategic policy and legal advice at the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade in Canberra, before serving for three years in the Middle East as an Australian diplomat reporting on political, strategic and economic issues. Christian holds a combined Bachelor of Economics (Social Sciences)/Law (First Class Honours) degree from the University of Sydney, and a Master of Laws from the Australian National University.

Christine Hawkins

Christine Holman

David Holzworth

Organisational Psychologist & Managing Director

David Shortland MAICD

David is a director and adviser with 30 years of experience in governance, communication, strategy and the law. He has had director, executive and advisory roles in sectors including financial services, transport, infrastructure and health. In the last 5 years David has facilitated approaching 50 board conversations on their Board Evaluations. He also enjoys being a guest lecturer at the University of Sydney Business School to graduate students in subjects including business ethics.

David is Vice-Chair of ChildFund Australia. In November 2019, David became a director on the Global ChildFund Alliance board, that comprises 11 national member organisations working in close to 60 countries providing nutrition, health care, education and life skills to more than 13 million children, their families and communities.

Prior to June 2018, David was a non-executive director of the National Heart Foundation (NSW) board and served on the national Audit & Governance Committee for 4 years. As a result, David was made a Fellow of the National Heart Foundation in July 2018.

Previously, he has been a director of an internet services provider for professionals, and an executive director of two (2) derivatives’ clearing house boards for public financial markets.

Denis Hazbic

Psychologist, Behavioural Profiler & Leadership Coach

Dr Josh Fergeus

Dr
Councilor for University Ward

Geoff Summerhayes

Grace Mason

Partner
KordaMentha

Grace joined KordaMentha in 2022 and provides AML/CTF and financial crime risk and compliance advisory across financial services, banking, gaming, superannuation, remittance, digital currency exchanges, and payments.

She advises on AML/CTF frameworks and aligning non-financial risk with strategy.

Previously at AUSTRAC she led regulatory, international, and intelligence functions for over a decade and drove strategic transformation and technology programs. Grace also led key pillars of AUSTRAC’s international programs across ASEAN and at the Financial Action Taskforce.

Grace is a proactive leader with deep financial crime expertise, known for navigating complex regulatory environments and promoting operational outcomes through strong partnerships and program delivery.

Jane Crombie

Board and Governance Specialist

Joanne Jessop

CEO, DVConnect

Karen McWilliams GAICD

Business reform leader, Advocacy
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand

Kathleen Conlon

Kelly Vea Vea

Mayor - Isaac Regional Council

Kerryn Ellis

Deputy Victorian Ombudsman and former South Gippsland Shire CEO

Liz Forsyth MAICD

Lotta Oberg

Louise Petschler GAICD

General Manager, Education & Policy Leadership
AICD

Louise Petschler GAICD

Louise joined the AICD in July 2015 with responsibility for public policy, government affairs, media and the Governance Leadership Centre.

Louise was previously the CEO of the Customer Owned Banking Association, the peak body for Australia’s $100 billion mutual banking sector. She has also held roles in consumer advocacy, government and banking. Louise is chair of the NFP HADIA Foundation and was previously a director of Settlement Services International and the World Council of Credit Unions.

Marion Macleod FAICD

Managing Director
Core Management Solutions

Marion is a non-executive director with over 30 years’ board experience.

Her business guides boards through continuous improvement in governance, strategy and risk management

Her executive experience has been in industries such as; technology, telecommunications, media, education, government, agriculture, banking, the health sector and logistics.

She is currently a Board Director at Fenwick Pty Ltd.,

Past board and chair positions include Homeward Bound, VFF, V/Line, Metlink, Mecwacare, and the CAE.

She has extensive formal qualifications including micro- credentials in AI, Risk and Sustainability from institutions including Oxford, Cambridge and Melbourne University.

Mark Thirlwell

Chief Economist
AICD

Mark Thirlwell joined the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) as Chief Economist in February 2019.

Previously, Mark was Head of Research at the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), where he supervised a team delivering research and analysis of Australia’s international trade and investment profile, including Tourism Research Australia. Prior to that appointment, Mark had served as Austrade’s Chief Economist for four years.

Before his time at Austrade, Mark spent ten years as the inaugural Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Economy Program. He was also a Fellow at the Institute’s G20 Studies Centre.

Mark started his career as an economist at the Bank of England and subsequently held senior economist positions with J P Morgan and EFIC.

Mark holds economics degrees from Oxford and Cambridge universities and a qualification in Applied Finance from Macquarie university.

Merriden Varrall

Phil Butler

Sector Lead, NFP, Members and Clients

Phil has worked closely with Boards, CEO’s and Directors of organisations in Public and Not for Profit sectors.

Since 2011, he has led the Not for Profit Project for AICD. This project is designed to support organisations in the NFP sector to achieve their respective missions through ongoing improvements in governance and to build greater awareness of the contribution of NFP directors and support their ongoing professional development. Examples of this work include the Good Governance Principles and Guidance for NFP Organisations and the annual NFP Governance and Performance Study.

Phil is a Graduate of the Company Directors Course and a member of CPA Australia, and has completed the AICD’s Mastering the Boardroom Program. He has been on a range of boards of NFP and Government organisations and most recently was a Director of Alzheimer’s Australia ACT.

Professor Nicholas Davis

Industry Professor And Director, Strategy And Operations Director
Human Technology Institute, University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

With Prof Edward Santow and Prof Sally Cripps, Nicholas Davis is co-Director of the Human Technology Institute (HTI) and Industry Professor of Emerging Technology at the University of Technology Sydney. HTI aims to put human values at the centre of Australia's capability to develop, deploy and govern emerging technologies, thereby ensuring they are accountable, accurate, fair and fit-for-purpose.

Nick was formerly the World Economic Forum’s Head of Society and Innovation and a member of the Forum’s Executive Committee. With Professor Klaus Schwab, he is the co-author of Shaping the Future of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Nick is concurrently a Professor of Practice at ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Practice, an Associate Fellow at the University of Oxford's Said Business School, a Visiting Fellow at ANU in the School of Cybernetics, an Associate Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and serves on a number of boards and advisory committees including ASIC’s Consultative Panel and AICD’s Technology Governance and Innovation panel. He holds degrees from the University of Oxford and University of Sydney.

Richard Bean

Former Executive Director, Ad Standards and General Member, Administrative Review Tribunal

Rob Newman BA, PG PSYCH, MAPS

Organisational Psychologist | Specialist Advisor

Rob Newman BA, PG PSYCH, MAPS

Rob is an organisational psychologist specialising in board, director and executive dynamics, leadership coaching and change management. He contributes and facilitates AICD’s advanced courses in director behavior and managing dynamics in the boardroom.

Rob also works as an executive advisor and coach to senior executives and directors helping them deal with problems such as: leader performance, board and executive conflict, failures in organisational cultural and people risk. In all his work Rob’s primary goal is to create alignment and synergy between people and organisational systems, such that high performance can emerge and be sustained.

In his practice, Rob integrates his deep understanding of organisational and human behavior, with the corporate systems of governance, strategy, structure and operations. The result is a combination of incisive analysis of critical issues, and pragmatic solutions that move people and systems to higher levels of capability and performance.

Rob is a managing partner with Change Focus Group, an advisory and consultancy firm providing organisational psychology services in the areas of human and organisational assessment, group facilitation, team development and organisational change

Rob also holds directorship roles in Schuhfried Australia, an international supplier of clinical assessment tools to the medical and neuroscience markets, and Veedre, a psychometric testing firm servicing mining and transport industries.

Robert Law

General Manager NSW and Director
Asialink Business

Robert Law

Robert Newman

Organisational Pyschologist
Change Focus Group Pty Lt

Sandra Gamble

Board Chair

Sean Dondas MAICD

Policy Adviser
AICD

Simon Burns

Partner at Gilbert + Tobin

Simon Longstaff

Executive Director
The Ethics Centre

Simon’s distinguished career includes being named as one of AFR Boss’ True Leaders for the 21st century, with Carol Schwartz noting; "I don’t know one CEO or chairman in corporate Australia who has not worked with Simon Longstaff". Simon Longstaff began his working life on Groote Eylandt (Anindilyakwa) in the Northern Territory where he worked in the Safety Department of the then BHP subsidiary, GEMCO. He is proud of his kinship ties with members of the island’s Indigenous community. Following a period studying law in Sydney and a brief career teaching in Tasmania, Simon undertook postgraduate studies in philosophy as a Member of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Simon commenced his work as the first Executive Director of The Ethics Centre in 1991. Simon is a Fellow of CPA Australia and in June 2016, was appointed an Honorary Professor at the Australian National University – based at the National Centre for Indigenous Studies. Formerly serving as the inaugural President of The Australian Association for Professional & Applied Ethics, Simon serves on a number of boards and committees across a broad spectrum of activities. He was formerly a Fellow of the World Economic Forum.

Simon Mitchell GAICD

Senior Policy Leader
AICD

Simon is a Senior Policy Adviser in the Education & Policy Leadership team of the AICD. He focuses on cyber security, critical infrastructure, data governance and financial services and how policy and governance developments in these areas impact AICD members. Simon led the development of key AICD cyber and data governance publications, notably Governing Through a Cyber Crisis, Cyber Security Governance Principles and the upcoming Data Governance Foundations resource.

Stephen Marsden

Lecturer
QUT Business School

Stephen Marsden is a full-time lecturer at the QUT Business School in Brisbane.

He lectures and tutors a range of accounting and law units at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has been a finance facilitator for AICD for both their CDC and FOD courses and is the author of several finance courses for AICD, including the finance modules of both the CDC program and University Chancellor's Council program.

In addition to facilitating for AICD over the past 20 years, Stephen has also presented numerous professional development seminars and workshops over the past 32 years for various professional bodies, accounting firms, listed companies, not-for-profits, charities, universities and government departments.

Over the years, Stephen’s board positions have included Ronald McDonald House, The Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Foundation and Uni Credit Ltd. For each of these organisations, he has also chaired the audit and finance committees.