Advisory board

Amanda Bell

Dr Amanda Bell is the Principal of Brisbane Girls Grammar School and is committed to the idea of wellbeing in education. Her professional background lies in art history and education, with wide experience in teaching and administration of schools in New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland. Bell also has curatorial experience, developed during her Directorship of the National Trust’s S.H. Ervin Gallery in Sydney. She was appointed as a Trustee of the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in 2008.

Peter Browne

Adjunct Professor Peter Browne is ex-Director General of Education in Western Australia, was appointed Adjunct Professor at Curtin University in August 2001 and continued in that role before moving to BHP Billiton Iron Ore (BHPBIO) as Education Consultant in 2005. Peter now consults exclusively to BHPBIO managing company/community education and health partnerships worth over $12 million dollars.

David Gallop

David Gallop was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the National Rugby League in February 2002. Having previously acted as the NRL’s Director of Legal and Business Affairs, he has been closely involved in all key decisions involving the game since the NRL’s inception in 1997. David is also a member of the Australian Rugby League and ARL Development Boards and is Secretary of the Rugby League International Federation. In 2006 he was voted the Australian Sports Administrator of the Year at the Confederation of Australian Sport Awards. In 2008, David was appointed to the Board of the Australian Sports Commission. The ASC plays a vital role in working with national sporting organisations and the sporting industry to enable Australia to maintain its competitive edge internationally.

David Hannaford

David Hannaford is General Manager, Tresillian Family Care Centres NSW.

Cherrell Hirst

Dr Cherrell Hirst, AO, FTSE, commenced her career as a medical doctor where she gained a national reputation in the field of breast cancer screening and diagnosis as Director of the Wesley Breast Clinic (1984-2001). Commitment to the value of education took her to the Council of the Queensland University of Technology where she served as Chancellor from 1994 to 2004. Through her combined interests in cancer, science and research, she has been a director of a number of companies, has served on government grants committees and not-for-profit Boards, and is now a part time CEO of a venture fund in Biotech. For this work she was elected to the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. In recognition of her work in the fields of breast cancer and education, Dr Hirst has been awarded three honorary doctorates, a Centenary Medal in 2003 and the title of Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1998. She was Queenslander of the Year in 1995.

Neil Jackson

Neil Jackson is the APAC Education Director, Microsoft Asia Pacific.

Vicki Jack

Vicki Jack is Director of Schools in the Pilbara Education District, Department of Education and Training, WA.

Ken A. Jolly

Ken Jolly AM, FAIM, is the Chairman of Scholastic Australia. His lifelong interest in education stems from his early career as a teacher in Victoria, and a short time with the Victorian Teachers’ Union as a research officer. He became Managing Director in 1980 at a time when literacy was a key concern in Australia. Some of his greatest achievements include promoting the books of all publishers through ASO, Book Clubs and Book Fairs, the development of Dromkeen and its priceless collection of children’s literature and the establishment of the Book Bunker at the New Children’s Hospital, Westmead. In 1995 he was appointed Chairman of Central Coast Campus Board; in 1996 he launched the Australian Children’s Book Council Awards Foundation. In 1997 Ken was appointed a member of a steering committee to investigate further higher education provision on the Central Coast of NSW. In 2005 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia.

Mike McCluskey

Mike McCluskey is NSW State Director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Mike has been a committee or board member for a number of community and not for profit organisations including community TV, regional arts, adult education, disability services and childcare. He has delivered broadcast and journalism training in Bhutan and PNG. He has worked on a variety of projects for the ABC including industrial agreements, performance management systems and corporate responsibility initiatives. He has reported on and led broadcast teams covering emergencies across the country. His current role includes community liaison to ensure the ABC’s objectives are meeting community and audience needs and interests across the state.

James Morrison

James Morrison AM is trumpeter and musician of international renown, and a mentor of young people and youth bands.

Leon Paroissien

Adjunct Professor Leon Paroissien AM was Founding Director of the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council, Founding Director of Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, and Founding Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan. He has been editor of Australian Art Review, Art and Australia, and Visual Arts and Culture: An International Journal of Contemporary Art. Early in his career Leon Paroissien was a lecturer in Art History and Art Education in Victoria and Tasmania, after teaching Art, Craft and English in secondary schools in Victoria and in England.

Gregor Ramsey

Professor Gregor Ramsey AM is Chair of the National Institute for Quality Teaching and School Leadership. He was responsible for the merger of six colleges of advanced education, which are now part of the University of South Australia, and has held several senior Commonwealth positions in education and training, including Chair of the Higher Education Council and culminating in his appointment as chair of the National Board of Employment, Education and Training. In 1991 he became managing director of the New South Wales TAFE Commission. In November 2000 he completed a review of teacher education in New South Wales: Quality Matters – Revitalising Teaching: Critical Times, Critical Choices. In 2003 he led a team reviewing secondary education in the Northern Territory and was project director to establish the Desert Peoples Centre in Alice Springs. He has recently completed a due diligence report on teaching and learning at the University of Melbourne.

Paolo Totaro

Paolo Totaro AM (for services to the arts and the community), Dottore in Giurisprudenza (Università Federico II, Naples), has a distinguished career as a musician, poet, writer and columnist, TV presenter/producer, executive member of numerous arts and community organisations, including Foundation Director, Australia Council’s Community Arts Board; Foundation Chairman, Ethnic Affairs Commission of NSW (1976-1989); Commissioner, Australian Law Reform Commission; Member, Constitutional Commission Democratic Rights Committee; Board of Vocational Education and Training (BVET); Member, Vocational Education Training and Accreditation Board (VETAB); Member, Northern Sydney Area Health Board; Member, Sydney Olympic Park Advisory Committee; Chairman, Living Values Education Association of Australia. Former Member of Council and Pro Chancellor of the UTS.

Theo van Leeuwen

Professor Theo van Leeuwen worked as a film and television producer, scriptwriter and director in his native Holland and in Australia. He has worked at Macquarie University, the University of the Arts (London), and Cardiff University, and has lectured in many other universities throughout the world. He is now Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at UTS. He has written many books and articles on discourse analysis, visual communication and multimodality.