Our Governing Board

Professor Kate Auty - Chair

Kate is the chair of the EPA board.

Kate is a professorial fellow at the University of Melbourne, a director of the Urban Climate Change Research Network's Oceania Hub, and a member of the writing team with Future Earth Australia and the Australian Academy of Science.

She has extensive experience with environmental and climate issues. This includes as the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment in the Australian Capital Territory.

Kate is a member of the Victorian Bar. She has worked extensively as a magistrate and coroner.

Kate continues to volunteer with community environmental and sustainability groups in north east Victoria.

Greg Tweedly – Deputy Chair

Greg is the governing board’s deputy chair, and has more than 30 years’ experience in regulation, governance, risk, audit and finance.

As CEO of WorkSafe Victoria for nearly 10 years, Greg was responsible for the regulation of workplace safety in Victoria.

Greg is currently a non-executive director of Melbourne Health, and chair of the Personal Injury Education Foundation.

Monique Conheady

Monique is the independent chair of JET Charge Pty Ltd and director of Phantm Pty Ltd.

Previously, she was the chair commissioner at Commercial Passenger Vehicles Victoria, co-founder and chief executive officer of Flexicar and held executive roles at Hertz Australia after it purchased Flexicar.

Monique is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a fellow of the Centre for Sustainability Leadership.

Graeme Ford

Graeme is the CEO of the Game Management Authority. He has more than 20 years’ experience advocating for rural and regional communities, having been the CEO of the Victorian Farmers Federation.

For the past 20 years Graeme has engaged with various government regulatory bodies on the design of regulatory regimes affecting the agricultural sector. He has held director roles with the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show and FarmConnect, a not-for-profit company providing charitable support to the agriculture sector.

Emeritus Professor Joan Ozanne-Smith AO

Joan is the head of Injury Prevention Research at the Department of Forensic Medicine at Monash University.

She is a non-executive director of the Australian China Alumni Association and has previously been a member of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).

Joan has qualifications in medicine, public health and sociology, a research doctorate in injury epidemiology and is a fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine. She conducts interdisciplinary research and develops epidemiological data systems in Australia and internationally. She has co-edited several World Health Organization global reports.

Joan was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2016 Australia Day Honours List. This was for her distinguished service to public health in the area of accident and injury prevention, to forensic medicine, and to higher education as an academic.

Dr Ross Pilling

Ross is a non-executive director of Note Printing Australia and Kotzur Pty Ltd, independent director and chair of Jupiter Ionics Pty Ltd and chair of Swinburne University’s Industry Research Advisory Committee. He is an executive mentor on the faculty of CMi Merryck.

His senior executive career with leading multinational companies BASF and BOC included general manager and managing director roles in Asia, Australia and Europe. He was formerly the deputy national president of the Australian Industry Group, and a longstanding board member of the Plastics and Chemicals Industry Association.

Ross is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Engineering by Swinburne University of Technology in 2016.

Kay Rundle

Kay is the director and an executive coach at Kay Rundle and Associates, chair of the Public Transport Ombudsman and chair of Western Leisure Services.

Kay is an experienced chief executive officer with over 15 years’ experience leading three local government organisations (Maribyrnong, Greater Geelong, and Port Phillip).

Ms Rundle holds a Bachelor of Social Work from the Phillip Institute of Technology, Graduate Diploma in Computing from Monash University, Masters of Business from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and Executive Coaching Level I, II and III from the Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership. She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and won an Local Government Executive Leadership Award in 2006.

Dr Catherine Lopes

Catherine is the first chief data and analytics officer at Merkle ANZ, a global customer experience management company and founder and director of Opsdo Analytics Pty Ltd and Ada’s Tribe – a community supporting leadership and career development for women in analytics, data science and artificial intelligence (AI).

She is currently the advisory board member of AI, Data and Analytics Networks and the Australian National University School of Computing.

Catherine was former head of strategy and analytics at MEBank and former head of enterprise data and analytics at AGL Energy where she successfully developed enterprise data and analytics capabilities. She is also co-founder of Sleigh Group – a creative resource company that provides cross cultural narratives and expert localisation in the entertainment industry.

In 2005, Catherine was awarded a doctorate degree in data mining, machine learning and computer science at Monash University where she won the Mollie Holman Doctoral Medal for her PhD thesis, ‘Machine Learning and Time Series Forecasting’.

Margaret Donnan

Margaret has extensive national and international experience of working with government, commercial and not for profit boards. She is currently chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency and is an independent director and chair of the Risk and Audit Committee of Battery Stewardship Council.

With a depth and breadth of experience advising ministers, boards and CEOs across government and business, Margaret’s board roles include former chair of IChemE Safety Centre global advisory board, deputy chair of Game Management Authority, and non-executive director on the Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group and the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority.

In Margaret's senior executive career, she was the CEO of Plastics and Chemical Industries Association and was the inaugural Director of Major Hazards at WorkSafe Victoria following the Longford tragedy. In 2016, Margaret was a member of an independent ministerial panel which reviewed WorkSafe Victoria’s compliance and enforcement policy and activities.

Margaret holds a Master of Science major in Chemistry from the University of Melbourne, is an associate fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member of the Australian Institute of Health and Safety.

Governing Board Subcommittees

EPA’s Governing Board has three subcommittees: Risk and Audit Committee, Science, Engineering and Health Committee, and Executive Remuneration and Succession Committee.

Risk and Audit Committee

EPA has a Risk and Audit Committee (RAC) and internal audit function to meet legislative requirements and support the Chair and CEO to fulfil their obligations under the Financial Management Act 1994. The RAC reports directly to the EPA Governing Board.

RAC members

Mr Rob Hogarth (Independent Chair)
Mr Greg Tweedly (Governing Board member)
Mr Graeme Ford (Governing Board member)
Ms Michelle Beveridge
Ms Kay Rundle (Governing Board member)

Science, Engineering and Health Committee

The Science, Engineering and Health Committee’s (SEHC) supports the Governing Board in its role of overseeing the implementation of EPA’s strategic plans with respect to maintaining and growing its scientific excellence, and supporting EPA’s role in protecting human health and the environment by reducing the harmful effects of pollution and waste.

SEHC members

Professor Kate Auty (SEHC Chair and Governing Board Chair)
Professor Joan Ozanne-Smith (Governing Board member)
Margaret Donnan (Governing Board member)
Dr Angie Bone, Deputy Chief Health Officer (Environment) for Dr Brett Sutton, Chief Health Officer
Professor Peter Breen
Professor Sandra Kentish
Professor Veena Sahajwalla

Executive Remuneration and Succession Committee

The Executive Remuneration and Succession Committee (ERSC) provides advice and information to assist the Governing Board to discharge its responsibilities in relation to executive remuneration and succession planning. ERSC’s role is to ensure compliance with government policy as governed by the VPSC in relation to executive employment practices and reporting.

ERSC members

Professor Kate Auty (Chair of the Governing Board)
Dr Ross Pilling (Governing Board member)
Ms Monique Conheady (Governing Board member)

Past members of the board and committees

The Chair of the Governing Board would like to extend her deep appreciation for the contributions made by the following past members of the Governing Board and advisory committees: