Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is responsible for the corporate governance of the consolidated entity. The board acts on behalf and is accountable to the members, in monitoring the business and affairs of Vision Australia.
The Board identifies member expectations and monitors changes in government policy and community expectations. The Corporations Act 2001 and out Constitution govern the regulation of meetings and proceedings of the Board as far as the constitution is applicable.
The role of the Board and its relationship with the Executive is governed by a Board agreed charter. Operative and administrative responsibilities are delegated by the Board to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
The Board meets monthly and monitors the achievement of service targets and financial objectives against budget and other key performance indicators. The corporate strategic direction is set by the Board, CEO and the Executive.
Our current Board members are:
Kevin F Murfitt
Dr Kevin Murfitt, BA (Hons), PhD, Chair
Kevin was conferred his Doctor of Philosophy from Deakin University in 2006 after researching employers’ attitudes towards people with a disability.
He now lectures at Deakin, where he was previously a Disability Liaison Officer, and also coordinates the Willing and Able Mentoring Program.
Kevin was Vice President of the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind and received a 2002 HREOC Human Rights Award for contributing to the Disability Discrimination Act (1992) Accessible Public Transport Standards.
Prof Ron McCallum
Professor Ron McCallum AO, BJuris LLB (Hons) (Monash), LLM Qu, Deputy Chair
A former Dean of Law at Sydney University, Ron was the first person who is blind to be appointed to a full professorship at an Australian university.
He is Chair of 2RPH and served on the former Royal Blind Society Board. Ron taught labour law in the United States and has written widely on industrial law. He has also worked on industrial relations taskforces for several State Governments.
Owen van der Wall
Owen van der Wall, Deputy Chair
Owen worked for Westpac Banking Corporation for 37 years, both in Australia and overseas. He was Group Executive for Retail Banking and Investment and International Banking and Director of Public Affairs.
Owen is a former President of the Australian Foreign Exchange Association, a committee member of Cambiste Internationale and Director of Mastercard International as well as a member of the Girl Guides (NSW) Finance Management Committee.
He joined the Royal Blind Society Board in 2001 and Vision Australia’s Board in 2004.
Lyn Allison
Lyn Allison, BEd, AAICD
Former teacher Lyn was elected to the Senate in 1996 and served as Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Democrats from 2004 to 2008.
She held the Health and Disabilities portfolios along with Education, Energy, Treasury, Infrastructure and Commonwealth/State relations and initiated a Senate inquiry into education services for people with disabilities in 2002.
Lyn has been an advocate of better job opportunities for people with low vision, greater macular degeneration awareness and the eradication of trachoma in Indigenous communities.
(Ronald) Keith Barton
Dr (Ronald) Keith Barton, BSc, PhD, FTSE
Keith graduated with degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of New South Wales. He retired from full-time employment in 1999 after a career in manufacturing in Australia and the USA working for companies such as BHP, CSR and James Hardie.
He is a Non-Executive Director of Amcor Ltd and Air Liquide (Australasia) Ltd.
Nick Carter
Nick Carter, FRICS, FAPI, FAICD
Nick has been active in blindness and low vision organisations since 1992, when he was appointed to the Board of the Singapore Association for the Visually Handicapped.
In Brisbane he was Chair of The Royal Blind Foundation of Queensland at the time of its amalgamation with Vision Australia in 2006.
Nick heads his own commercial, industrial and retail property company, Hillier Carter Properties.
Donald Fraser
Dr Donald Fraser, BSc (Hons), Dip Ed, MBA, DBA, FACS, FAICD
Donald has been involved in information technology for over 30 years, teaching at CIT (now Monash) and working for US technology companies.
He has leadership roles in an Australian multinational technology company and is on the Australian Computer Society Immigration Assessment Panel.
His 14 years’ experience on corporate and not-for-profit Boards has been enhanced by Australian Institute of Company Directors membership and doctoral studies. He joined SEDA’s Board in 2007 and our Board in 2008.
Paul G Gleeson
Paul Gleeson, BSc, LLB, LLM
Paul is a solicitor practising in intellectual property, corporate and commercial law. With a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Laws, he is a Principal and Managing Director of law firm Russell Kennedy and Chairman of the Intellectual Property and Information Technology Committee of the Law Institute of Victoria.
Paul joined the Vision Australia Foundation Board in 1999 and Vision Australia’s Board in 2004. He also serves on several not-for-profit Boards including Inclusion Melbourne.
Tony Hanmer
Tony Hanmer
Tony has over 25 years’ leadership experience and a track record of company management acquisitions and leveraging new technologies to build professional organisations.
He was Senior Vice President and a Director of McCann Erickson Worldwide and Regional Director Asia and South Pacific, responsible for 29 offices worldwide.
Tony is a Non-Executive Director and Board advisor specialising in strategy, marketing and research for a number of Government, public and private companies. Before joining our Board, he was Deputy Chairman of the Endeavour Foundation.
Jan Lovie-Kitchin
Professor Jan Lovie-Kitchin, PhD QUT, MSc (Optom) (Melb), Grad Dip (Rehab Stud) (La Trobe), FAAO
Previous to her current role as Adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology’s School of Optometry, Jan was Assistant Dean for Research in the Faculty of Health and Director of QUT’s Centre for Health Research.
She has lectured internationally and the Bailey-Lovie visual acuity charts, which she co-created, are used worldwide.
In 1993 Jan established the QUT Vision Rehabilitation Centre, where she is a consultant optometrist. She is also Assistant Editor of Clinical and Experimental Optometry, the journal of the Optometrists Association of Australia.
Ross McColl
Ross McColl, BEcon (Monash), FCA
Melbourne-born Ross has been a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers for more than 20 years. He specialises in the areas of corporate governance, risk management, regulatory compliance and internal audit.
Ross completed a Bachelor of Economics at Monash University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.
Ross is blind, having lost his sight completely six years ago.
Dr Theresa Smith-Ruig
Dr Theresa Smith-Ruig, B Com, PhD
Theresa is a lecturer in the School of Business, Economics and Public Policy at the University of New England. She gained a PhD in 2006, specialising in Human Resource Management and has research interests in work-life balance, career development and disability and employment.
Vision impaired since 10, she was Vice-President of Blind Citizens Australia, serving on their Board from 2003-05 and as Secretary of its National Women’s Branch. In 2004-05, she was a delegate to the World Blind Union.