Board

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 2025

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. She was formerly Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment in Victoria and also in the Australian Capital Territory. She continues to volunteer with community environmental and sustainability groups in north-east Victoria on Taungurung country.

Her federal government appointments are as Civil Society Co-Chair of the Open Government Partnership Multi-stakeholder Forum and a Board member of the Country Universities Centre Ovens Murray. Kate is a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne, an advisor to the Kaiela Institute in Shepparton on Yorta Yorta Country, and a member of the Women’s Climate Congress.

Greg Tweedly

Deputy Chair

1 July 2018 to 30 June 2025

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 in Victoria. Greg was a senior executive in various public sector organisations from the early 1980s.

Greg is currently 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.

Kay Rundle

20 October 2020 to 19 October 2025

Dr Catherine Lopes

10 May 2022 to 9 May 2027

Catherine’s international career over 25 years spans diverse sectors, ranging from financial services, utilities to academia. Her recent focus is in enhancing business performance through the development of AI and data strategies, the utilisation of a wide range of analytics and automation applications, and the establishment of a well-governed enterprise data management and AI governance framework.

Catherine was the first Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Merkle ANZ, the Head of Enterprise Data and Analytics at AGL Energy, and the Head of Data Strategy and Analytics at ME Bank. Catherine also co-founded a startup Sleigh Group which is a creative resource company. She is the founder of Ada’s Tribe, a community that empowers women in analytics, data science and AI.

In 2005, Catherine was awarded a doctoral degree in data mining, machine learning and computer science from Monash University, where she won the Mollie Holman Doctoral Medal for her PhD thesis, ‘Machine Learning and Time Series Forecasting’. She serves on multiple university advisory boards including 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 and is an independent Director and Chair of the Risk and Audit Committee of Battery Stewardship Council.

Margaret’s former board roles include Chair of IChemE Safety Centre global advisory board, Deputy Chair of Game Management Authority and non-executive Director of Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group. In her senior executive career, Margaret was Chief Executive Officer of Plastics and Chemical 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 2025

Jonathan has undergraduate qualifications in economics and international trade. He holds post graduate qualifications and a Masters Degree in Environment and Planning, and has extensive experience in urban and regional planning consultancy, advising and acting on behalf of state and local governments, the private sector and community stakeholders.

Jonathan has a comprehensive understanding of statutory and strategic planning and regularly appears in tribunal and court settings to provide expert urban planning advice. In 2020 Jonathan was appointed a Sessional Panel Member of Planning Panels Victoria and is called upon to preside over, assess and make recommendations on a range of state-significant strategic planning and land use projects and planning scheme amendments.

Jonathan is active and engaged in the urban planning and development industry with memberships and involvement with a range of sub-committees across peak industry bodies. He is a past Board Member and Director of the Victorian Planning and Environmental Law Association and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Emeritus Professor Joan Ozanne-Smith AO

1 July 2018 to 30 June 2025

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 Committee Member of the Committee for Greater Shepparton (a business advocacy committee).

Advisory committees

Our Governing Board has 3 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 RAC reports directly to the Governing Board.

Members:

• Peter Lewinsky AM (chair)
• Dr Catherine Lopes (Governing Board member)
• Kay Rundle (Governing Board member)
• Greg Tweedy (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 (Governing Board member)
• Emeritus Professor Joan Ozanne-Smith AO (Governing Board member)
• Dr Clare Looker, Chief Health Officer (ex officio)
• Dr Jen Martin, Chief Environmental Scientist (ex officio)
• Professor Peter Breen (external member)
• Professor Sandra Kentish (external member)
• Professor Veena Sahajwalla (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. ERSC’s role is to ensure 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)
• 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:

• Dr Ross Pilling (Governing Board member to 2018–2024 and ERSC member 2021–2024)
• Monique Conheady (current Governing Board member, 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)