Chairperson:

Frank Peach has served as a public servant for many years in Queensland, including in the positions of Director General of Education, Director General of Corrective Services, Director General of Families, and Director General of Housing. He now operates a consultancy company specialising in organisational development, executive coaching, education strategies, and strategic reviews and investigations. Frank resides in Queensland.

Members of the Panel

Catherine Cooper has senior management experience with large companies including Elders Ltd, Futuris Corporation and Fosters Brewing Group and has been involved in a number of industries including finance/banking/insurance, agribusiness, legal and commercial, and health and education. Catherine is a Director of a number of organisations including the Dairy Authority of South Australia, SA Water, Repatriation General Hospital, Minda Inc, and is Chair of the Fisheries Council of South Australia, the Agri- foods Skills Council and the Quarantine Export Advisory Council. Catherine is the principal of CooperConsult which provides business advisory services to clients including the National Gas Pipelines Advisory Committee. Catherine resides in South Australia.

Professor Bill Russell is managing director of E W Russell and Associates, management consultants. He was the inaugural chair of the Consumer Utilities Advocacy Centre and holds a number of government appointments including chair of the Victorian Government’s Best Value Commission for Local Government and member of the Board of the Northern Health Corporation and the Public Record Office. Bill is a visiting professor at the universities of Melbourne, La Trobe and Southern Cross and was previously a Director-General in the Victorian Public Service and a commissioner of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria. Bill has chaired a number of review Panels and is currently chairing the Expert Panel for the Review of Water Resources in Victoria. Bill resides in Victoria.

Bruce Connery was a senior manager with the Australian Gas Light Company between 1977 and 1990 and again between 1992 and 2002 in the areas of corporate planning and regulatory affairs. He retired from AGL in 2002. He has extensive experience in the natural gas industry in relation to the establishment of the Natural Gas Pipeline Access Code and represented the Australian Pipeline Industry Association on the Natural Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee. Bruce resides in New South Wales.

Karen Chalmers-Scott has extensive experience as a senior executive within regulatory, commercial, dispute resolution and not-for-profit environments—including the role of General Manager Customer Affairs for the Office of the Regulator-General Victoria (now the Essential Services Commission). Her current appointments include Chair, Advisory Council to the Energy Ombudsman Queensland and Director, Insurance Ombudsman Service. A Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Karen works as an independent public affairs practitioner. Karen resides in regional Queensland.