NCVER company structure

Ruth Shean AO

Chair

Appointed: January 2019

Qualifications: FAICD, FGIA, FCIS, FIPAAWA

Experience: Dr Ruth Shean is an experienced non-executive director, having served on many government and not-for-profit boards. She was recently appointed to the board of Catholic Professional Standards Ltd which was created as a response by the Catholic Church to what has emerged during the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

She has over eighteen years’ experience as a senior public servant, and was the Director General of the Western Australian Government Department of Training and Workforce Development. Prior to that she was Commissioner for Public Sector Standards.

Her other government CEO roles include Director General of the Disability Services Commission (from 1999 – 2006), and Director General of the Department for Community Development.

Dr Shean has also been a non-government CEO (of the Cerebral Palsy Association), and has held leadership positions on both state and federal government reviews and committees. She has also been on governing councils of both Curtin and Murdoch Universities.

She was named in the Queen’s Birthday 2022 Honours List, Officer (AO) in the General Division for distinguished service to public administration, and to not-for-profit and community health organisations.

Dr Shean is a highly effective communicator and a collaborative leader. She is a passionate problem solver and excels in evaluation, analysis and synthesis and applies this in strategic development, public administration, service delivery and cultural change projects. She enjoys speaking to a wide range of audiences and mentoring high performing and developing leaders.

Kevin Bates

Director

Appointed: January 2023

Qualifications: DipTeach (Secondary – Arts/Humanities), B.A., GradDipLabStudies, Masters of Industrial Relations

Experience: Kevin is a secondary school teacher and was previously a Head of Department who taught in Biloela, Redcliffe, Kedron and Dunwich in Queensland between 1987 and 1994.

Kevin was elected President of the Queensland Teachers Union of Employees (QTU) in January 2012 and served for nine years – the maximum number of three-year terms allowed under the Union’s rules. He previously worked for the QTU as Regional Organiser in South Queensland and Industrial Advocate between 1994 and 2011. Kevin has also served as the President of the Australian Education Union – Queensland Branch and as an executive member of the Queensland Council of Unions and the Australian Education Union (AEU).

In February 2022, Kevin was elected as the Federal Secretary of the AEU. The AEU represents 198,000 teachers, leaders and education support staff in pre-schools, schools and TAFE in all states and territories of Australia. The AEU is the principal union in the TAFE sector, representing around 8000 TAFE members.

Kevin is an Executive member of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and serves on both the ACTU Finance Committee and International Committee.

Throughout almost thirty years as a union official, Kevin has held various roles with responsibility for TAFE at both a state and national level. As QTU President, Kevin was the leader of the QTU TAFE Division for nine years.

Kevin’s extensive leadership experience includes working with institutions, systems, unions, peak bodies and governments as an advocate for and defender of TAFE at a state and national level.

Kevin is a Director and Company Secretary of the Federated Education Unions, a partnership of national and Victorian education unions. He has previously held board positions as a Director on the Toowoomba Trades Hall Board and the Australian Workers Heritage Centre (Barcaldine).

As a product of Queensland State Schools, Kevin is a fierce advocate for public education and the students and teachers it serves so well.  He has extensive experience in education, and governance and advanced tertiary qualifications in mediation and negotiation.

Peter Daly

Director

Appointed: October 2022

Qualifications: B.E (Hons), MAICD, FITE

Experience: Peter has 20 years’ experience in senior executive and board leadership roles; developing and implementing strategy, managing risk, communicating complex information and delivering stakeholder and governance value.

He is currently the CEO of the Master Plumbers and Mechanical Services Association of Australia, which represents nearly 1,100 plumbing businesses of all sizes and delivers a variety of services, including training and continuing professional development to the plumbing industry.

Peter is Chair of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Employment and Skills Committee, a Director of Incolink, Member of Energy Safe Victoria’s Future Trends Advisory Committee, Director of the Indigenous Plumbing and Sanitation Foundation and Director of several subsidiaries of Master Plumbers. He also represents Master Plumbers on numerous government and industry advisory bodies.

Peter’s past roles have included executive leadership of corporate services, public affairs, public policy, membership and infrastructure divisions in various industry sectors, and he spent a significant part of his early career undertaking teaching and research at Monash University.

His passion for all things training and education incorporates several volunteer and philanthropic activities, including the Tournament of Minds program and current and past service to the governance bodies of three schools.

John King

Managing Director

Appointed: July 2024

Qualifications: MPA, BA (Hons), LLB (Hons)

Experience: John is an accomplished strategist and leader with extensive public sector and skills policy experience, specializing in data analytics, evaluation, and research.

John has led the development and use of evidence in social policy. In his role as Chief Data Officer at Seer Data and Analytics, he helped community organisations to access and use administrative data effectively. As Executive Director of Analytics, Evaluation, and Research at the Victorian Departments of Health and Families, Fairness and Housing, he pioneered the use of linked data, advanced analytics, and evaluation in health and human services policy and programs.

John previously spent a decade in the Commonwealth, South Australian, and Victorian public services, with a strong focus on skills policy.

Serryn O'Regan

Director

Appointed: January 2024

Experience: Serryn has 30 years’ experience in law and business. She first entered the field of education in 1997 and has an absolute commitment to quality, and to people. Serryn is committed to vocational education and its value to the Australian public and international students. She has long standing expertise in Governance and legal issues facing Boards.

Serryn is a former Worldwide Director of a renowned charity based in Washington DC, which engages 1 billion people worldwide annually. In that role, she forged a partnership with the United Nations and directed an educational program with 10,000 member organisations in 190 countries.

Serryn is a member of the ASQA Stakeholder Liaison Group, and the DEWR VSL Provider Reference Group. She is an appointed associate member of the Future Skills Organisation (FSO), the Jobs and Skills Council (JSC) for technology, business and finance, and was nominated by Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (ITECA) to sit on the Strategic Steering Committee of FSO.

Suresh Rao

Director

Appointed: July 2019

Qualifications: B.Sc. M.Stat.

Experience: Suresh brings a wealth of experience in IT to NCVER having been in the IT sector for over four decades in Australia and overseas. Over the last twenty-five years in Australia he has delivered IT solutions in a range of sectors including Government, not-for-profit, energy, finance and health.

Recent roles include eight years as CIO at The Smith Family where Suresh helped transform the organisation through industry award winning innovative enterprise-wide IT solutions, as Project Director for the Secure Unified Research Environment (SURE) Australia’s first secure private cloud infrastructure for health research, and as co-author of two research reports at the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (DHCRC) that discussed the technological and governance barriers to health research in Australia and proposed an architecture for developing and maintaining large health datasets for research. Most recently he worked as a volunteer IT Adviser with NGOs in Indonesia and Cambodia, advising and mentoring staff on effective and efficient use of IT to fulfil their mission.

Suresh’s expertise goes much beyond technology having been in senior technology and project management roles over more than two decades that required a strong blend of strategic, operational and governance skills. He believes in adopting a strategic approach to implementing technology solutions that are operationally appropriate and effective.

Chloe Read

Director

Appointed: April 2021

Qualifications: MA (Hons), MCom, ANZSOG Executive Fellow

Experience: Chloe is the joint Deputy Secretary, Education and Skills Reform, NSW Department of Education. Chloe has a strong background in public sector education, having worked in this setting for the last 18 years across Tasmania and New South Wales. She joined the NSW Department of Education in 2014, and has worked in a number of senior roles, most recently as the joint Chief People Officer. With a background across policy, project, IT and leadership roles, Chloe brings business and technical knowledge and is focused on ensuring our schools and services have what they need to support world class education for all learners across the state of NSW.

Madeline Richardson

Director

Appointed: June 2024

Experience: Madeline is an experienced senior executive in the South Australian public service.

She has held a wide range of positions across the public sector spanning health, industrial relations, economic development and community engagement.

Currently Madeline is the Head of Skills SA and Deputy Chief Executive within the Department for Education. In this role she is focused on supporting South Australians to thrive through skills and training and supporting economic growth.

This includes responding to current and future skills needs, putting people at the centre of the training eco-system and focussing on high quality and accessible training opportunities. In partnership with business, peak bodies and communities Madeline is working to ensure outcomes delivered across the skills portfolio have positive and lasting economic and social impacts.

When not at work, Madeline loves to bike ride, walk her dogs and spend time with family and friends. She is a member of The Pinnacle Foundation Board supporting young people to reach their full potential.

Barry Sandison

Director

Appointed: January 2023

Qualifications: B.A. Business Management

Experience: Barry is currently a Research Fellow with the Australian National University’s College of Health and Medicine and the Paul Ramsay Foundation. He's had a long interest in the better use of data to respond to key social issues.

Prior to leaving the Australian Public Service in mid-2021, he was the CEO of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare for 5 years. During his tenure as CEO Mr Sandison’s priorities were, sharpening the Institute’s strategic focus, growing the awareness of the Institute’s impressive capabilities, and broadening the range of health and welfare data products managed by the Institute. With over 38 years' experience in the public sector across more than 13 agencies, his expertise covers a wide range of health and welfare related work, with previous roles in both policy and service delivery.

Prior to joining the Institute, Barry was a Deputy Secretary within the Australian Government Department of Human Services for 6 years, where he undertook roles in both the Centrelink and Medicare elements of the Department and provided leadership for its strategic information management function. Prior to this role, he held senior executive roles in various other Commonwealth Departments involved in social policy.

Barry is known across the Australian Public Service and with State/Territory agencies for his interest and leadership in data and information management. He has continued this interest and expanded it to focus on supporting the Not For Profit sector to enhance its data capabilities.

He is also on the Board of Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Advisory Council  and “Raw Potential”, a small Canberra based not for profit providing support to vulnerable youth. Barry's also on several advisory committees and consults on the better use of “people data”.

Managing Director

John King

Executive Assistant - Olivia Richards

phone: +61 8 8230 8608

General Manager Research, Analytics & Reporting

Dr Mette Creaser

Executive Assistant - Olivia Richards

phone: +61 8 8230 8635

General Manager Technology & Data Transformation (CIO)

Sascha Meier

phone: +61 8 8230 8605

Executive Support - Olivia Richards

phone: +61 8 8230 8650

Executive Manager Inform & Engage

Mr Phil Loveder

phone: +61 8 8230 8665

Responsible for executive management of NCVER's stakeholder engagement, knowledge management and digital publishing and communications capabilities and functions.

Finance & Governance Manager

Peter Brass

phone: +61 8 8230 8414

Responsible for finance, risk, privacy & complaints, and corporate governance. Peter is also the Company Secretary.

HR & Business Services Manager

Ms Danielle Slater

phone: +61 8 8230 8452

Responsible for human resources and business support services.

Collections & Client Support Manager

Mr Dani Llewellyn

Phone: +61 8 8230 8687

Responsible for supporting the sector with submission of high quality and timely VET activity data, communicating changes to the national VET data standard, and delivery of guiding information to assist with understanding data reporting requirements.

Data Services & Reporting Manager

Ms Nicole O'Malley

phone: +61 8 8230 8656

Responsible for the release of statistical publications, associated data products and data services.

Digital Publishing & Communications Manager

Ms Deanne Loan

phone: +61 8 8230 8496

Responsible for marketing NCVER's products and services, media, conferences and events, NCVER's Portal and LSAY website and production of NCVER publications.

Knowledge Management Manager

Ms Kelly Frazer

phone: +61 8 8230 8645

Responsible for NCVER's library service including NCVER's international research database VOCEDplus.

Acting Manager, Research & Data Analytics

Dr Tabatha Griffin

phone: +61 8 8230 8431

Responsible for delivering a portfolio of research and analytic projects that address the current and emerging priorities and needs of governments, industry stakeholders and the wider vocational education and training (VET) sector. And to provide evidence that is valued in informing national skills policy and practice and communicating findings in a range of formats, both digital and traditional, that appeal to a wide audience.

Senior Project Manager, Strategic Planning

Dr Joy de Leo

phone: +61 8 8230 8644

The Senior Project Manager, Strategic Planning, is responsible for providing high-level planning and management services to the executive team in support of the development of an NCVER Strategic Plan and in organisational business planning.

Surveys Manager

Ms Rebecca Sherman

phone: +61 8 8230 8477

Responsible for the major program of national surveys, including the annual survey of student outcomes, survey of employers and major one-off surveys on topical issues.

Technology & Cyber Security Manager (Acting)

Mr Wayne Dienhoff

phone: +61 8 8230 8449

Responsible for operation, maintenance and enhancement of NCVER's core IT systems and platforms; cyber security strategy, operations and compliance; applications development and specialist applications support; as well as the IT/desktop environment across NCVER.

VET Data Streamlining Program Manager

Mr Oshim Somers

phone: +61 8 8230 8400

Responsible for managing NCVER's Vet Data Streamlining Program (VDS).