2023 BCCM Leaders' Summit speakers

CEO, BCCM

Melina Morrison is the inaugural CEO of the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals. She is an advocate for all forms of mutually owned enterprise, regularly contributing commentary and appearing as a spokesperson for the sector. Melina has commissioned, edited and co-written the sector’s first national mapping reports. Melina’s former roles in the co-operative sector include five years as editor of the flagship publication for the global peak body, the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA). Melina wrote the message platform for the ICA’s global strategy, Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade. Her advocacy work for the sector resulted in Australia minting a coin commemorating the International Year of Co-operatives in 2012. Melina successfully lobbied for a Senate inquiry into the co-operative and mutual business sector, which handed down its report in March 2016. 

Chair, BCCM

Terry Agnew is the former Group CEO of RAC in Western Australia. The RAC motoring club provides a range of diverse services to over one million Western Australians in the areas of motoring, insurance, finance, travel and tourism, retirement and home services. Terry is the current Chair of the Business Council of Co-operatives of Mutuals, Curtin Business School Advisory Council and Edge Employment Solutions (a disability employment service). He is also a Director of RAA Insurance and MDA National Insurance (both subsidiaries of mutual organisations) and a Founding Member of CEO’s for Gender Equity. Terry is a member of two global entities, Chairing the FIA University Board and a member of the Board of the Global Mobility Alliance. 

Regional Director Asia and Pacific, International Co-operative Alliance

Balasubramanian (Balu) Iyer, currently serves as the Regional Director for the International Cooperative Alliance Asia-Pacific based in New Delhi, India. ICA, a member-based organization, advances the cooperative social enterprise model and provides a global voice and forum for cooperatives. Balu has worked with the Asia Foundation, the International Development Exchange, ActionAid India, and the Aga Khan Rural Support Program; and served as Adjunct Faculty at Southern New Hampshire University. He has a master’s degree in public policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley; Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management from Institute of Rural Management, Anand, India; and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from National Institute of Technology in Durgapur, India.  Balu serves as Administrator for the ICA Domus Trust, Advisor to the Institute for Development of Agricultural Cooperation in Asia, Japan and is a member of the Steering Committee, of the World Cooperative Monitor.

Chief Executive Officer, Great Southern Bank (formerly CUA)

Paul was appointed to the Board of Great Southern Bank (formerly Credit Union Australia) on 1 November 2019, coinciding with his commencement as CEO and Managing Director. He is Chairman of Credicorp Finance Pty Ltd and a Director of GSB Health Ltd, Credicorp Insurance Pty Ltd and GSB Management Pty Ltd.

Paul joined Great Southern Bank in February 2018 as Chief Sales Officer with responsibility for leading Great Southern Bank’s distribution channels, including branches, GSB Direct call centres in Sydney and Melbourne, the broker channel, insurance partnerships, and award winning iM CUA digital banker proposition. Prior to joining Great Southern Bank, Paul held a variety of senior executive roles within Westpac and ANZ in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia.

Corporate Secretary and Vice President, Corporate Services with Arctic Co-operatives Ltd (Canada) 

Mary grew up in the remote community of Kugaaruk ( Koo- gaa- rook), Nunavut in the Central Arctic, which has a population of 1,100 people.

In 1982, Mary joined the Co-operative System in the Arctic as the Office Manager of Koomiut Co-op in Kugaaruk, Nunavut. Then moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba to work at Arctic Co-operatives Limited.  As Corporate Secretary and Vice President of the Corporate Services Division, she administers the democratic structure of Arctic Co-ops, Member Co-op governance and works closely with the Board of Directors of Arctic Co-operatives Limited.

Mary was honoured with the Distinguished Cooperator Award from Manitoba Cooperative Association in 2019.

Mary has represented the interests of Arctic Co-operatives and the Member Co-ops in the Arctic at Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada, Federated Co-operatives, and Co-operators. She has shared her experience with the Co-op system with others, from the perspective of a service federation, and from her own experience as an Indigenous co-operator. She has been invited to speak around the world, including at the Co-operatives in Indigenous Communities Symposium, held in Australia in 2012.

As an inuk leader, Mary plays a significant role in bringing insight on Inuit culture, values and perspective to the organization. Mary is an active participant on the Board of Directors of First Nations Bank of Canada, as well as on the Manitoba Inuit Association.

Mary has contributed to Co-ops on local, regional, national and international levels.  She is a dedicated individual who advocates for and educates others about the power of the Co-operative model.

Professor of Management and Organisation Studies, School of Business, The University of Sydney

Leanne Cutcher is Professor of Management and Organisation Studies at the University of Sydney Business School. Leanne’s research studies organisational discourses and practices and how they impact equity and inclusion for organizations, the people who work in them and the wider communities in which they are embedded. She has conducted this research in a wide range of organisational contexts including the co-operative sector. Leanne’s research with Indigenous organisations has produced novel insights about the role of culture, kinship and country in shaping management practices and ways of organizing. Her research has also explored the effect of government policy and the way in which successive governments have discursively constructed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as needing greater levels of surveillance and management and how this contributes to their ongoing economic and social disadvantage. This research has been published in leading, international journals. In 2023, Leanne was awarded the International Federation of Scholarly Association of Management, ‘Excellence in Indigenous Management Scholarship’ Award. Leanne’s current research into hybrid practices in Indigenous-owned community organizations has been funded by a 2023 Australian Research Council Discovery Grant.

Director, Bunji Consultancies

Pastor Ray Minniecon has dedicated his life to supporting members of the Stolen Generations and advocating for greater recognition of Indigenous members of the Defence Force.

Ray Minniecon, the son of a pastor, followed in his father’s footsteps. A pastor at St John’s Anglican Church in Glebe, and a descendant of the Kabi Kabi and Gurang Gurang nations of Far North Queensland, Mr Minniecon grew up on an Aboriginal mission in the Atherton Tablelands.

With the missions and reserves run by churches or religious individuals, he said it was no surprise that many in his family took to a life of faith.

Legal Director, BAL Lawyers

Mark is a NSW Law Society Accredited Specialist in Business Law. As an experienced commercial lawyer and negotiator, his practice concentrates on the areas of contract and commercial law, corporate governance law, fundraising, insolvency and restructuring and intellectual property. Mark’s clients include a diverse array of private clients, government agencies, peak industry representative bodies, Co-operatives, chartered and CPA accountants, insolvency practitioners, corporate retailers and many others.

Mark is an expert in the requirements of the Corporations Act 2001 and additional obligations of transparency and accountability of Governmental bodies, as well as the range of other legislation that governs business entities in Australia.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Economics from the ANU. He was admitted to practice in the ACT in 1986 and founded the practice that is BAL Lawyers today.

Ecole de Management Leonard de Vinci, Paris and UTS

Emmanuel is a senior advisor, trainer and professor of management at Ecole de Management Leonard de Vinci, Paris and University of Technology Sydney. He has been collaborating with BCCM for several years and notably led the CoOpConnect project that identified practical recommendations on fostering collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship for the sector.

Emmanuel has managed many consulting and research projects of applied and fundamental research about innovation and innovative networks for companies, public agencies, precincts and specific industries.

Emmanuel is the co-founder of a start-up based on shared IP with University of Geneva, Self-Leadership Lab, which successfully operates in Switzerland. Emmanuel was formerly founder and Director of the Centre for Business and Social Innovation at UTS. He has a strong international publication track record with more than 150 publications.

Director, Watts Sustainability

Peter Watts, Director of Watts Sustainability (UK), is an experienced sustainability consultant helping clients mitigate risks and most importantly understand and implement the opportunities presented by more sustainable ways of working. He is a Chartered Environmentalist and a Fellow of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. He runs the consultancy Watts Sustainability with a client list including LEGO, DHL, Institute of Cancer Research and ITV amongst many others.

He specialises in the design and implementation of sustainability and ESG strategy with particular expertise on the ‘E’– with projects including helping organisations develop net zero and climate crisis response strategies, setting improvement programs and developing engagement and behaviour change programs.

He has been working with the BCCM on the ESG Sustainable Mutual Value Program and is particularly enthusiastic about how the co-operative and mutual model can deliver benefits to the environment as well as society.

Chief Stakeholder Relations, Sustainability and Strategy, CBH Group

Brianna was appointed Chief Stakeholder Relations, Sustainability, and Strategy Officer in 2015 and is responsible for Corporate Affairs, Government and Industry Relations, Grower Relations, Sustainability, Strategy, DailyGrain and the Growers’ Advisory Council.

Brianna joined CBH in 2010 first serving as Grower Relations Manager then went on to hold other senior roles within CBH including Marketing Communications Advisor and Government and Industry Relations Manager.

She is an alumni of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program, Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation and holds a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Management and a Graduate Certificate in Corporate Finance. She is also a Commissioner on the Lotterywest Board and a General Councilor of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA.

Senior Consultant, Finity

Vicki has nearly 30 years’ experience in government and financial services, with a strong focus on public policy and regulatory affairs.

Vicki has worked in every arm of government and she has a deep understanding of public sector processes. In 1991, she was tipstaff/associate to Justice Gerard Brennan of the High Court of Australia. From 1994 to 1999, she worked as a legal researcher and legal policy officer in the NSW Parliament, including work with Legislative Council committees. From 1999 to 2001, she worked as a Principal Policy Officer in the NSW Cabinet Office and as an adviser for a senior NSW Minister.

In 1996, she lectured Public Law to second year law students at the UNSW.

From 2001 to 2019, she worked extensively in industry advocacy, including senior roles with the Insurance Council of Australia, the Actuaries Institute and several large insurers.

From 2019 to 2022, Vicki worked as an Ombudsman with AFCA.

She has also held several positions as a not-for-profit company director, including two years with BackTrack.  

Head of Socially Responsible Banking, Teachers Mutual Bank

Corin is the Head of Socially Responsible Banking at Teachers Mutual Bank Ltd, a world leading socially responsible bank. The bank has 234,000+ members and $10.47billion in assets and serves the education, emergency services, and health sector across five divisions.

He has three decades of experience in roles across corporate, policy and NGO sectors, in Australia and internationally. This includes; CEO of the Climate Institute, MD of Climate Care, CSR lead at Westfield and Mirvac, CEO of the European Wind Energy Association, Director of the European Renewable Energy Council, Founder and Director of the Global Wind Energy Council, climate campaigner at Greenpeace International, and community forestry in Uganda and St Lucia.

Partner and National Head of Financial Services, Grant Thornton

Darren Scammell, Partner and National Head of Financial Services, Grant Thornton

Darren leads the Financial Services Industry practice for Grant Thornton in Australia. With a background in internal and external audit, Darren joined Grant Thornton as a partner in July 2018. He is a specialist in financial services with over 19 years as a partner with a Big 4 firm, as an auditor and risk advisor.

Darren is a specialist in the insurance, health, superannuation, electricity, investment and retail banking, property and funds management industries.

Darren has spent most of his career in Melbourne, and has spent 5 years London and 2 years in Adelaide. Darren meets the APRA Fit and Proper auditor requirements for ADIs, insurers and superannuation entities. Darren is the Chair of the Deakin University Accounting Department Advisory Board and Chair of the Business Reporting Leaders Forum Significant Issues Group for Integrated Reporting for SMEs.

Partner, Hamilton Lock

Charmian is a highly regarded financial services regulation lawyer. She is known for her pragmatic and consensus-based approach to legal and compliance issues. Whether she’s negotiating a sale, helping clients connect to do business or mentoring our up-and-coming lawyers, Charmian reads the room and puts people at ease with her down-to-earth nature.

Charmian provides legal and compliance advice to a broad range of financial services industry participants including insurance brokers, general insurers, underwriting agencies, fintechs and insurtechs. She is often engaged to provide legal sign off on product design and development and insurance distribution, including group purchasing arrangements. She is sought out for her niche expertise in innovative insurance solutions including parametric products, discretionary mutuals and aggregate deductible schemes.

CEO, CivicRisk Mutual

Andrew has held the position of CEO at CivicRisk Mutual since 2003. CivicRisk Mutual was established to provide risk and insurance solutions to its now 26 member Councils and is the longest running local government mutual in Australia, celebrating over 30 years’ operation.Andrew has over 20 years’ previous experience in local government governance and risk and holds a Bachelor of Business degree majoring in local government. He is currently the local government representative on the Australian/New Zealand Standards Committee. More recently he has been working with the Business Council of Cooperatives and Mutuals (BCCM) to promote the mutual industry and member of the working party developing the code of conduct for discretionary mutuals.

Co-Founder, The Bridge International

David co-founded The Bridge to bring non-traditional ways of working to consulting and deliver the best value for money for its clients. David has performed COO-level roles with some of Australia’s most iconic brands and is a successful leader with demonstrated capacity to run complex businesses within highly regulated and competitive markets.

He is passionate about both setting up new and transforming existing businesses to be customer led, simple and to be fit to deliver the right commercial returns. He has worked in Australia and internationally, which has given him invaluable insights on driving operational performance excellence today, as well as the emerging trends which will drive world class customer experience in the future. His curiosity for customer and operations has led to extensive subject matter expertise.

CEO, Capricorn Risk Services

Rod Scanlon is Chief Executive Officer of Capricorn Risk at Capricorn Society Limited, where he is accountable for providing strategic guidance, oversight and leadership for the effective stewardship of the Capricorn Risk Division, achieving the prescribed strategic outcomes and profits, while controlling major functions relating to the operation and administration of the business units through reporting and management. He has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, having previously worked at Suncorp, where he held a number of senior and executive management roles.

Rod is also Executive Director for Capricorn Insurance Services (CIS), Capricorn Risk Services (CRS) and Capricorn Mutual Management (CMM) and through the Risk Division, he manages the operational and strategic planning for Capricorn Mutual Limited (CML).

 CEO UniMutual

Geoff has more than 25 years’ experience in the insurance industry, leading successful businesses across Australia and New Zealand.

He has worked across the whole insurance value chain, including underwriting, claims management, customer and stakeholder engagement, broker distribution, strategy, operations and marketing.

Geoff has led large and small teams in public and private sector organisations, most recently leading the customer engagement function in Insurance & Care NSW. His strong affinity for Mutuals and focus on customer engagement distinguished Geoff from a pool of exceptional candidates.

Managing Director, StepBeyond Strategy

Janelle Marr is an experienced Company Director and a leading strategic advisor with over 30 years in strategy, sustainability and transformation programs in Australia and overseas.

Her executive experience has seen her build a strong track record of supporting purpose-led organisations committed to long term value creation and a fairer, more equitable and sustainable world.

She is Managing Director of StepBeyond Strategy, an impact-driven strategic advisory supporting Boards and C-Suites of private, mutuals and coops, government and not-fr-profits.

She is also a Fellow of both Australian Institute of Company Directors and Governance Institute of Australia and currently serves as Commissioner of Tourism WA; Deputy Chair of WA Arts and Culture Trust; and Councillor of Charles Darwin University.

Prevention Director Workplace Risk, Willis Towers Watson

Anna leads the national prevention practice at WTW where she has been employed for over 7 years. Anna is a hands-on leader who is committed to delivering evidence-based solutions that make workplaces safer. Anna’s understands how to lead organisational wide strategy and change to improve safety outcomes. In her role across many different sectors, she has gained a unique perspective on what drives organisations towards positive and meaningful safety outcomes. Anna is passionate about designing safety solutions that meet corporate expectations whilst being accessible to the workforce and designed with the end user in mind.

Anna is passionate about systematically designing work to ensure it provides the highest level of protection and supporting organisation’s to think beyond tertiary controls to manage psychosocial risk. Anna has led several large projects which have helped organisations prioritise psychosocial safety and wellbeing, helping them adopt a systemic approach to minimise harm.

Anna has qualifications in SMART Work Design from Curtain University, she has a Post Graduate Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety, a Post Graduate Diploma in Rehabilitation Studies, a Graduate Certificate in Exercise Science and a Degree in Health Sciences.

Executive General Manager – Partnerships & Service Delivery, Home Health, Australian Unity

Alex Madsen is currently Executive General Manager, Partnerships & Service Delivery within the Home Health platform of Australian Unity. In this role, Alex is responsible for working with key partners across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors to lead the development of new models of community-based healthcare (including aged care) that are outcomes based and calibrated towards early intervention.

Alex joined Australian Unity in early 2017 as Chief of Staff to the company’s CEO, Mr Rohan Mead; and was the Executive General Manager – Trustees in Australian Unity’s Wealth & Capital Markets business for three years.

Prior to joining Australian Unity, Alex was a senior executive at the National Disability Insurance Agency, where she was responsible for leading the work on assistive technology, market stewardship, quality and safeguards and provider support and registration. She also worked at the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department for a decade, specialising in national security, administrative and disability law. In her early career, Alex worked at Baker & McKenzie as a lawyer.

Counsellor, The Casino Food Co-op

He is a registered Clinical Counsellor and a member of the supervisors and clinical collages with the Australian Counsellors Association. He has 11 years of experience working across a range of areas in social services, crises, and EAP. In his EAP roles he have worked nationally with mining, manufacturing and maritime. With the work environments that have low levels of available support and high isolation levels for workers. In his current role with the casino food co-ops wellbeing initiative, he head up’s our team seeking to provide support to his workforce and community in new and innovative ways.

Mutual Value Lab, Monash Business School

Dr Paul Thambar is an accounting academic with the Department of Accounting at Monash University and came into academia after a long commercial career as a financial controller in banking, insurance, funds management and information technology. Paul’s research interests are in strategy, performance measurement and management controls in commercial, mutual and co-ops and not-for-profit organisations. Paul has researched strategy and management controls in the Australian cotton industry across multiple firms as part of his doctoral research. Paul teaches accounting in the Monash MBA program and in the Master of Accounting program. Prior to joining Monash in February 2016, Paul was at UTS Business School from 2010 to 2015 where he also completed a PhD in Accounting. Paul is a Fellow member (FCMA) of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK and holds the CGMA designation. Paul has led the research team which has worked collaboratively with BCCM and the sector to develop the Mutual Value Measurement (MVM) Framework© which is now being adopted by many CMEs.

Mutual Value Lab, Monash Business School

Matthew Hall is Professor of Accounting at Monash University. His research interests relate to management accounting and performance measurement, with a specific focus on measuring value in difficult to measure contexts, such as in mutuals and cooperatives, nonprofits, and social enterprises. His work has been published in a variety of leading international journals in the accounting, management and non-profit fields, including Accounting, Organizations and Society, Management Accounting Research, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Management Studies, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly and Voluntas. Prior to returning to Australia in 2016, Matthew worked for 10 years at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Managing Director, Mutuo (UK)

Peter founded Mutuo in 2001 as the first cross mutual sector body to promote co-operative and mutual business to opinion formers and decision makers. For ten years prior, he was General Secretary of the Co-operative Party (UK). He is a co-founder of Supporters Direct, the football supporters’ initiative, which went on to establish over 100 supporters’ trusts at professional football clubs.

He led the Parliamentary teams which piloted five private members bills through the UK Parliament, working with all parties to update co-operative and mutual law. He advised the UK Coalition Government on its plans to mutualise Post Office Ltd and in 2012 published the report of the Ownership Commission, a two-year study into corporate diversity.

Peter has worked with the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) since 2015, co-authoring the ‘Peoples’ Business’ and ‘Who Owns Europe’ research documents. In 2018/19 he led the successful industry alliance to develop the Australian Treasury Laws Amendment (Mutual Reforms) Act 2019, the first renewal of Australian mutuals legislation for 20 years.

Highlights since then include the successful campaign against the demutualisation of mutual insurer LV= in 2021 and the 2022 Sustainable Mutuals Business Program, with 19 Australian co-operatives and mutuals.

Nathan is an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he leads the Media Economies Design Lab and the MA program in Media and Public Engagement. He is the author of Everything for Everyone: The Radical Tradition that Is Shaping the Next Economy and two previous books. He co-edited Ours to Hack and to Own: The Rise of Platform Cooperativism, a New Vision for the Future of Work and a Fairer Internet.

CEO, SNCF, Singapore

Ang Hin Kee is the Chief Executive of the Singapore National Co-operative Federation (SNCF), the apex body of the Co-operative Movement in Singapore. Together with his team, they drive programmes and initiatives to build stronger and resilient co-operatives, in turn enabling the local co-operatives to thrive and better serve their members and the broader community.

He is concurrently serving in the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) as its Assistant Director-General, and its Director of Governance, Risk & Compliance, where he works with his team to establish NTUC’s corporate governance framework and policies, as well as to coordinate governance, compliance and data protection efforts across the different business units.

Ang Hin Kee joined the NTUC in 2006 and served as the Chief Executive Officer of NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute till 2012. He spearheaded the one-stop institute to connect workers with employers and training providers, enabling them to access better jobs through career guidance, skills upgrading, jobs re-design and higher productivity. Previously, he held senior positions in sports, tourism, statutory boards as well as the private sector, both locally and regionally.

Ang Hin Kee was an elected Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency from 2011-2020.

CEO, European Association of Co-operative Banks (pre-record / online from Brussels)

Nina Schindler is Chief Executive Officer at the European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB), appointed in February 2021.

Before, Nina was Head of Government and Public Affairs EU at Deutsche Bank as of 2017. Throughout her carrier, she fulfilled similar positions for Commerzbank and the Association of German Banks in Brussels. Nina graduated as a lawyer in Germany and is holding an LL.M. (University of Exeter, UK).

She is a member of various committees at European Payments Council (EPC), at the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) and at the European Banking Industry Committee (EBIC).

Social Affairs Editor, The Australian

Stephen Lunn is The Australian’s Social Affairs Editor, covering social policy issues including ageing, disability, welfare, immigration and population policy. He has previously been the paper’s environment writer and Tokyo correspondent. He has also worked in public policy advocacy in the private sector, and practised as a lawyer in Australia and the UK. Stephen has a Masters degree in law from the London School of Economics.

Ageing and Disability Commission

Commissioner Fitzgerald practiced as a commercial lawyer in NSW for more than 20 years, including with the firm Clayton Utz, and established his own law practice specialising in franchising, licensing and trade practices. During that time he was also engaged as a senior management consultant at Horwath Accountants and Management Consultants (now Deloitte), as well as holding senior executive positions with a number of private trading companies.

His involvement in public policy has been extensive and includes serving as a member of the National Competition Council for five years from 1999 to 2003. Commissioner Fitzgerald was Chair of the Commonwealth Taskforce on Franchising Regulation, Chair of the Franchising Code Administration Council, member of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Social Security and member of the Commonwealth Inquiry into the Definition of Charities and Related Organisations.

Assistant Secretary – Care and Support Economy Taskforce, Australian Government

Tim Johnson is a senior leader in the Care and Support Economy Taskforce in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. In this role, Tim has been leading the development of the Australian Government’s National Strategy for the Care and Support Economy. This Strategy establishes a cross-sectoral and holistic policy framework for the care and support sectors in Australia. Tim has more than 20 years’ experience in the Australian Public Service, specialising in strategic policy across a range of fields including workplace relations, public administration, work health and safety, social policy, employment programs and workforce planning for major Government projects. He holds a Bachelor of Economics (Social Sciences) (Hons) from the University of Sydney and an Executive Masters in Public Administration from the Australian National University.

Program Director, Care Together Program, BCCM

After holding CEO/senior executive and non-executive roles in aged care, disability services, housing and community services for governments and the not-for-profit sector, Gillian immersed herself in understanding the co-operative and mutual business model at a time when she felt there was an opportunity to diversify the ownership structure of social care providers to make way for new business models, including by employees and multi-stakeholders. In 2018, Gillian was instrumental in the formation of Kudos Services served on the Board by the Kudos Members from 2019-2022. From 2005-2011, Gillian was Director, Uniting in NSW.ACT, one of Australia’s largest providers of aged care and home care services.

Assistant Minister for Treasury

Charis Mullen MP has been a strong representative of the seat of Jordan since her election in 2017 and was appointed the Assistant Minister for Treasury in 2020.

This follows a career of over 20 years in the public and private sector working across a number of industries including planning & development, transport, infrastructure, mining, tourism and telecommunications.

Charis has also previously held positions on a number of Boards including government and superannuation.

Charis is assisting the Treasurer of Queensland in the pivotal Trade and Investment portfolio, focussed on how potential investors can find and take advantage of the endless opportunities that our great State can offer.

Group Chief Executive Officer, RACQ

David commenced as Group Chief Executive of RACQ in 2020. He is a director of Australian Automobile Association, Australian Motoring Services Pty Ltd as well as several RACQ group entities. He serves as a director of the Queensland Ballet and Netball Queensland.

David joined RACQ from Suncorp where he was the senior executive accountable for the activities of an APRA regulated Bank and an APRA regulated Superannuation entity. He was previously  Managing Director and CEO of a prudentially regulated Life Insurance company in New Zealand and held the role of director of Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) entities in Australia.

Journalist, ABC

Patricia Karvelas is an Australian radio presenter, current affairs journalist and political correspondent

Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills Development

The Hon Di Farmer MP is an Australian politician currently serving as the Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills of Queensland. She was first elected for the seat of Bulimba to the Queensland State Parliament for the Labor Party at the 2009 Queensland election but lost her seat at the 2012 election to Aaron Dillaway of the Liberal National Party. Farmer defeated Dillaway at the 2015 election to regain Bulimba for Labor and was re-elected in 2017 and 2020.

Chair EML

Paul Baker has experience in the areas of insurance, reinsurance, commercial and administrative law, risk management, business management and corporate governance. He is a practising lawyer of 30 years and has been Managing Director of Meridian Lawyers since 2004, a law firm which he established and has since grown to more than 140 staff.

Paul has also served as the legal member of the Consumer Medicines Information Commonwealth Task Force and South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service Ethics Committee.  He was also a partner of Ebsworth and Ebsworth Lawyers and a former Director of Guild Accountants.

Executive chef

Shane Veivers, is a highly awarded chef who has helmed various establishments steering them to One Chef’s Hat awards from as early as 2009 as well as a swag of Best Restaurant and catering awards including the 2020 Winner of Best Italian restaurant Qld/NT and 2022 Winner Function/Convention caterer South East Queensland. Shane’s passion for Italian food saw him as head chef for Persone as well as Risorante La Famigliaand Ristorante Tartufo.

Shane will speak about the bespoke menu and why he chose the produce:

• Geraldton Fishermen’s Co-op Rock lobsters Entrée
• Jack’s Creek Beef Tenderloin provided by Master Butcher’s Co-operative and sourced from Casino Co-operative in Lismore
• Dessert with blueberries from OZgroup, Almonds from AlmondCo and cream and dairy produce from NORCO

Dean of Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash Business School, Monash University

Professor Simon Wilkie’s career spans a remarkable array of roles that extend beyond the higher education sphere and include appointments as Chief Economic Policy Strategist at Microsoft Corporation and Chief Economist with the US Federal Communications Commission.

In 2019, Professor Wilkie joined Monash Business School from the University of Southern California (USC), where he was Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics and Professor of Economics, Communication and Law in the USC Gould School of Law. He was previously head of USC’s Department of Economics and the USC Center for Communication Law and Policy.

Prof Wilkie has a PhD and MA in Economics from the University of Rochester, and a BComm (Hons) with first-class honours in Economics from the University of New South Wales.

His research has particularly focused on game theory, its application to business strategy, economic and regulatory policy design, and the economics of the communications industries.

With an exceptional record for advancing multi-disciplinary collaborative research and leveraging its potential to transform policy and create lasting impact, he is widely published on the subjects of spectrum auctions, game theory and telecommunications regulation in leading scholarly journals.

He is a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Communication and a former member of the editorial board of the Journal of Public Economic Theory.

Chief Information and Analytics Officer, NTUC FairPrice Singapore

Mr Qian is the Chief Analytics Officer and Head of Business & Sales Performance for Retail Business of NTUC Fairprice. He is currently responsible for business analytics, sales performance, strategic partnership and format innovation.

Before joining NTUC Fairprice, Mr Qian was a career retail banker and his most recent experience has been with the United Overseas Bank as Executive Director, Head of Marketing Analytics. Prior to that, Mr Qian spent over 15 years in Standard Chartered Bank where he held leadership roles across analytics, product development and channel management in Singapore, China and Global Head Office.

Mr Qian received his MBA from National University of Singapore, and Bachelor of Economics degree from Tsinghua University in Beijing China. He is married with 2 grown up children. He enjoys running and recently Boston Qualified (BQ) in the Gold Coast Marathon held on 2 July 2023.

Director, AltusQ

Originally trained as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG, Stephen worked in the corporate recovery and reconstruction area in Australia and the UK, exposing him to a broad range of businesses in varying degrees of distress. Subsequently he moved into banking and held various senior credit and regional management positions with NAB. Immediately prior to joining AltusQ in 2001 he was Chief Operating Officer for a fast growing firm servicing self-managed superannuation funds.

He has held several board positions including Chair of an international business coaching organisation and Chair of HeartKids Australia, a national charity devoted to helping kids suffering from Congenital Heart Disease.

CEO, Sydnex

Ross is the Chief Executive of Syndex. Ross’s previous role was General Manager, Agri for ANZ where he had responsibility for the development and implementation of Agri business strategy between 2011 and 2016. Prior to that, he held several senior Commercial Banking roles, including General Manager Corporate Banking and General Manager Specialist Businesses, roles that were focused on providing solutions, services and support for Privately-Owned and Family businesses.

Ross is a Chartered Accountant and member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.

He is currently a Director of THE Enterprises, a large scale, family owned dairy farming business, Gold Creek Farm Management and the Chairman of the NZ Cricket Players Association.

Founder and Managing Director, The Measured Marketer

Jacqui is an experienced Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) with 20 years digital marketing experience in small, medium and large businesses in Australia and the UK.

A Certified Practicing Marketer, accredited with the Australian Marketing Institute, Jacqui also actively contributes to various organisations and boards. He holds the position of Chair and Director on the Board for the Hunter Manufacturing Awards and serves as the CMO on the board of the Hunter Defence Taskforce. Furthermore, Jacqui has been a judge of the Australian Marketing Institute (AMI) national Marketing Excellence Awards since 2017.

Jacqui is the founder and Managing Director of The Measured Marketer, a strategic marketing consultancy, based in Newcastle, Australia. With a love for all things digital – and a strong commitment to supporting various industries in the Hunter region, Jacqui is at the forefront of driving regional transition, Jacqui sets the vision to empower her B2B clients across a range of industries including defence, manufacturing, energy, professional services and heavy industry.

Head of Insights, The Measured Marketer

Jodie Brown is Head of Insights and Marketing Strategist at The Measured Marketer and brings two decades of experience working as a market analyst in reputable research agencies and corporations including Microsoft, Commbank, and UON (University of Newcastle).

With a penchant for working in Excel and creating captivating dashboards, Jodie takes immense pleasure in transforming copious amounts of information into compelling stories for stakeholders. Jodie’s ability to delve into the nitty-gritty of a problem and gain a comprehensive understanding is second to none.

Jodie’s expertise has been gained across various industries, including Information Technology, Finance, Manufacturing, Gaming, and Higher Education, delivering data-driven insights and reports to diverse audiences. Jodie plays a crucial role in shaping marketing strategies and illuminating the path to success for her clients through her valuable insights.

Managing Partner, Mutuo

Peter founded Mutuo in 2001 as the first cross mutual sector body to promote co-operative and mutual business to opinion formers and decision makers. For ten years prior, he was General Secretary of the Co-operative Party (UK). He is a co-founder of Supporters Direct, the football supporters’ initiative, which went on to establish over 100 supporters’ trusts at professional football clubs.

He led the Parliamentary teams which piloted five private members bills through the UK Parliament, working with all parties to update co-operative and mutual law. He advised the UK Coalition Government on its plans to mutualise Post Office Ltd and in 2012 published the report of the Ownership Commission, a two-year study into corporate diversity.

Peter has worked with the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) since 2015, co-authoring the ‘Peoples’ Business’ and ‘Who Owns Europe’ research documents. In 2018/19 he led the successful industry alliance to develop the Australian Treasury Laws Amendment (Mutual Reforms) Act 2019, the first renewal of Australian mutuals legislation for 20 years.

Highlights since then include the successful campaign against the demutualisation of mutual insurer LV= in 2021 and the 2022 Sustainable Mutuals Business Program, with 19 Australian co-operatives and mutuals.