Under the Environment Protection Act 2017, our Governing Board is responsible for:
- governance, strategic planning and risk management
- pursuing our objectives
- performing our duties and functions and exercising our powers.
Our Governing Board has 3 advisory committees:
- Risk and Audit Committee
- Science, Health and Engineering Advisory Committee
- Executive Remuneration and Succession Committee.
Professor Kate Auty
Chair
1 July 2020 to 30 June 2028
Kate has extensive experience with environmental and climate issues. She is a Board member of Parks Victoria and a Director of the Urban Climate Change Research Network Oceania Hub (Columbia University). She was formerly Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment in Victoria and also in the Australian Capital Territory.
Kate’s Australian Government appointments have included Co-Chair (Civil Society) of the Federal Government’s Open Government Partnership Multi-stakeholder Forum and member of a Murray Darling Basin Authority advisory committee.
She is presently a Board member of the Country Universities Centre Ovens Murray and a member of the Women’s Climate Congress. She previously acted as an advisor to the Kaiela Institute in Shepparton on Yorta Yorta Country.
Kate has held a number of advisory council roles with the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University. She was previously a Vice Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Melbourne where she now continues as a Professorial Fellow. Kate continues to volunteer with community energy and environmental and sustainability groups in north-east Victoria on Taungurung Country.
Greg Tweedly
Deputy Chair
1 July 2018 to 30 June 2027
Greg has more than 30 years’ experience in regulation, governance, risk, audit and finance. As Chief Executive Officer of WorkSafe Victoria for 10 years, Greg was responsible for the regulation of workplace safety and management of the compulsory statutory workers compensation business. Greg was a senior executive in various public sector organisations from the early 1980s.
Greg completed his 9-year term on 30 June 2025 as a non-executive Director of Melbourne Health. He is a former Chair of the Personal Injury Education Foundation, Dorsavi Ltd. and the Victorian Trauma Foundation. He is also a former Director of the Victorian Workcover Authority, the Emergency Telecommunications Authority and the Institute of Safety Compensation and Recovery.
He has provided general consulting services and mentoring from 2012 to 2022.
Dr Catherine Lopes
10 May 2022 to 9 May 2027
Dr Catherine Lopes is a technology, data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) executive and non-executive director with almost three decades of international experience across industry, academia and executive leadership. She has held senior leadership roles including Chief Data and Analytics Officer and led major enterprise transformations across the energy, financial services and consulting sectors.
Dr Lopes brings extensive expertise in AI strategy, enterprise data governance, digital transformation and the responsible application of emerging technologies. Her work focuses on strengthening organisational performance, accountability and public trust through ethical and scalable data and AI capabilities. She contributes deep experience in governance, innovation oversight and strategic transformation relevant to the EPA’s regulatory responsibilities.
She holds a PhD in Computer Science (machine learning) from Monash University, where she was awarded the Mollie Holman Doctoral Medal, and serves on advisory boards including the Australian National University and Monash University.
Margaret Donnan AM
10 May 2022 to 9 May 2027
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.
Margaret’s former board roles include Chair of IChemE Safety Centre global advisory board, Independent Director of the Battery Stewardship Council, and Board member of Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group and the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority. In her senior executive career, Margaret was Chief Executive Officer of Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association, following an extensive career at WorkSafe Victoria which culminated in her being appointed the inaugural Director of Major Hazards following the Longford tragedy.
Margaret holds a Master of Science degree, majoring in chemistry from the University of Melbourne and is an Associate Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. Margaret was inducted into the Inaugural Hall of Fame for the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists in 2023 and was awarded the global IChemE’s Trustees Medal for 2023–24. Margaret was appointed Member of the Order of Australia in the 2025 Honours List for her significant service to occupational hygiene, chemical engineering and to professional associations.
Jonathan Halaliku
25 July 2023 to 30 June 2028
Jonathan Halaliku is the Founder and Director of Three Thirds Group, a specialist planning and urban design consultancy based in Melbourne. He holds a Master's Degree in Environment and Planning, together with undergraduate qualifications in economics and international trade, and brings nearly two decades of experience across Victoria's statutory and strategic planning systems.
Jonathan's practice spans the full spectrum of planning work — from complex planning scheme amendments and state-significant strategic planning through to expert evidence, advocacy, and development approvals across metropolitan and regional Victoria. He has advised state agencies, local governments, the private sector, and community stakeholders, with a particular focus on housing, urban renewal, and transport-oriented development. He is a Ministerially appointed Sessional Panel Member of Planning Panels Victoria and presides over complex land use, precinct planning and planning scheme amendment matters of state significance.
Jonathan is active in the Victorian planning industry, including as a past Board Member and Director of the Victorian Planning and Environmental Law Association. He holds graduate accreditation from the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has served as a board director of EPA Victoria and Wayss, where his planning and property expertise contributes directly to organisational strategy and governance.
Emeritus Professor Joan Ozanne-Smith AO
1 July 2018 to 30 June 2027
Joan is the Head of Injury Prevention Research at the Department of Forensic Medicine at Monash University. She has been a non-executive Director of the Australian China Alumni Association, a member of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) and Chair of non-government organisations.
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 (WHO) global reports, established a WHO Collaborating Centre at Monash University and has conducted many WHO missions in China, Vietnam and South Pacific countries.
Joan was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2016 Australia Day Honours List in recognition of her distinguished service to public health in the area of accident and injury prevention, forensic medicine and to higher education as an academic.
Sarah Thomson
17 December 2024 to 16 December 2029
Sarah has diverse professional and personal experience and a strong commitment to ethical and values-based leadership and governance. She brings over 25 years’ experience in finance, governance and risk. In addition, she also has broad-based executive experience primarily as a Chief Financial Officer but also in strategy development, digital, customer and community engagement.
Sarah is a Chartered Accountant, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has degrees in Economics and Asian Studies from the Australian National University. She has worked in diverse organisations in for-profit, for-purpose and government owned enterprises primarily in the international community development and water sectors and has spent a year working in an aboriginal corporation in Kakadu, Northern Territory.
Sarah has completed a number of leadership courses including the Minister for Water’s Insights Executive Leadership and Williamson Community Leadership programs. She has a strong commitment to her regional home of Shepparton and has been the Chair of the Goulburn Murray Resilience Strategy for 4 years, a Board Member of the Rumbalara Football and Netball Club (a primarily Aboriginal club) and a Member of the Committee for Greater Shepparton (a business advocacy committee).
Advisory committees
Risk and Audit Committee
Our Risk and Audit Committee (RAC) and our internal audit function meet our legislative requirements and support our Chair and Chief Executive Officer to fulfil their obligations under the Financial Management Act 1994. The committee reports directly to the Governing Board.
Members:
- Peter Lewinsky AM (chair)
- Jonathon Halaliku (Governing Board member)
- Greg Tweedly (Governing Board member)
- Sarah Thomson (Governing Board member)
- Michelle Beveridge (external member)
Science, Health and Engineering Advisory Committee
The Science, Health and Engineering Advisory Committee (SHEAC) supports our Governing Board to oversee the implementation of our strategic plan to maintain and grow our scientific excellence. It also supports our role in protecting human health and the environment by reducing the harmful effects of pollution and waste.
Members:
- Professor Kate Auty (SHEAC chair and Governing Board chair)
- Margaret Donnan AM (Governing Board member)
- Emeritus Professor Joan Ozanne-Smith AO (Governing Board member)
- Dr Catherine Lopes (Governing Board member)
- Dr Caroline McElnay, Chief Health Officer (ex officio)
- Dr Dan Metcalfe (external member, CSIRO)
- Dr Jen Martin, Chief Environmental Scientist (ex officio)
- Professor Peter Breen (external member)
- Professor Sandra Kentish (external member)
- Professor Veena Sahajwalla AO (external member)
- Professor David Johnston (external member)
Executive Remuneration and Succession Committee
The Executive Remuneration and Succession Committee (ERSC) provides advice and information to assist the Governing Board with its responsibilities in relation to executive remuneration and succession planning. It ensures compliance with government policy, as governed by the Victorian Public Sector Commission, in relation to executive employment practices and reporting.
Members:
- Professor Kate Auty (Governing Board chair)
- Margaret Donnan AM (Governing Board member)
- Jonathan Halaliku (Governing Board member)
Past members of the Governing Board and committees
The Chair of the Governing Board extends her deep appreciation for the contributions made by past members:
- Kay Rundle (Governing Board member 2020-2025 and RAC member 2021-2025)
- Dr Ross Pilling (Governing Board member to 2018–2024 and ERSC member 2021–2024)
- Monique Conheady (Governing Board member 2018-2023, Interim Advisory Board member 2017–2018 and ERSC member 2021–2023)
- Graeme Ford (Governing Board member 2018–2023 and RAC member 2019–2023)
- Rob Hogarth (RAC member 2011–2018 and RAC Chair 2018–2023)
- Professor John Warner (strategic advisor to SHEAC 2019–2022)
- Professor Robert Vertessy (SHEAC member 2019–2022)
- Tam Vu (independent RAC member 2019–2021)
- Professor Rebekah Brown (Governing Board member and SHEAC Chair 2018–2020)
- Debra Russell (Governing Board member 2018–2019)
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