About Us

Brett has worked in numerous roles spanning the community services (not-for-profit) sector, from residential youth services to large NGOs and peak bodies.

Brett has a strong passion for social justice and aspires to work in developing a greater appreciation for community wellbeing programs and initiatives. Brett has broad experience across the public sector and has been a member of several external steering committees and government working groups to inform and evaluate commonwealth and state-based reforms across community services and specific government-funded initiatives and programs.

Brett has a bachelor’s degree in Communications, majoring in Public Relations and Journalism and tertiary qualifications in Project Management and Community Services.

Brett is currently the Manager for Member Support & Engagement with the Local Government Association of Queensland.

His external appointments include President and Chair of Volunteering Queensland and Secretary for the Queensland Youth Housing Coalition (QYHC). He has previously been the LGAQ’s Principal Advisor for Community Services and Strategy Development and was Co-chair of the Anti-Poverty Week Advisory Committee for three years between 2012 – 2015.

In recent years Brett has worked in various capacities as a representative for the local government sector, undertaking multiple projects across numerous social policy areas and holding project management, digital transformation and stakeholder engagement roles.

Jane has a strong background in change management, leadership and transformation. Her extensive experience spans across both government and the not-for-profit sector.

Jane has held senior executive positions in corporate services, media & communications, customer experience, information technology and organisational change across a number of Queensland Government departments. She is currently the CEO of The Australian College of Audiology. In addition, she co-owns and directs StormBirds, a crisis and communications strategy consultancy across Australia and New Zealand.

An experienced board director and current Board Chair of Challenge DV, Jane has a long history of community service and is committed to growing board diversity and effectiveness. Jane has undertaken studies in law, leadership and futurism, and has a strong interest in digital disruption, workforce agility and organisational future-proofing.

She believes that volunteering is about giving back to our community in a meaningful and useful manner that is respectful and empowering of individuals and organisations.

Peter’s breadth of experience derives from roles as a Director of the Monash Mt Business School, Head of HR for Bank of Queensland, the author of Government Owned Corporation HR/IR policy in Queensland, Executive Development Consultant to the Brisbane Graduate School of Management at QUT and as a Senior Consultant in one of the world’s largest corporate restructuring and change management firms – Right Management Consultants.

Peter has made a significant contribution to Queensland business over the past 30 years as a State Councillor with the Queensland Chamber of Commerce, a State Councillor and Chartered Member of the Australian Human Resources Institute, State Secretary/Fellow of the Australian Institute of Banking & Finance and UQ Academic Board member, and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.

In 2009 Peter returned to consulting after a further four years’ senior corporate experience. His focus has been on organisational sustainability, employee engagement, corporate planning and cultural alignment across mining, local government and remote indigenous councils/corporations.

Peters experience is backed by undergraduate qualifications in organisational psychology and a post graduate qualification in business administration from University of Queensland as well fifteen years consulting across the private and public sectors.

Natasha is a partner with Deloitte Access Economics and leader of Deloitte’s policy and program evaluation practice. She works across the public sector, predominately in health and social policy.

Natasha is passionate about evidence based policy and practice and has led a number of evaluations for Commonwealth and state based reforms across health, community services, funding reform and the innovation agenda.

Prior to joining Deloitte, Natasha had 10 years’ experience in government industry development and reform including in health, economics, creative industries, investment, modelling, emerging industries and SME development. Natasha has worked on a variety of evaluations and reviews of state based reforms and initiatives, using qualitative and quantitative analysis, process, impact and outcome evaluation. She was involved in the development of Demand and Supply models for the Health workforce.

Natasha is an advocate for good governance, operational and workforce practices in the not-for-profit industry as well as a strong supporter of productive, respectful partnerships and collaborations between the private, government and community sectors. She promotes corporate engagement with community through giving programs such as corporate volunteering and the nurturing of the skills and development of staff through initiatives such as employee volunteering.

Deborah is an experienced non-executive director, advisory committee chair and member, and C-suite finance executive with a demonstrated history in strategic management.

An active listener who seeks to strengthen deliverables through strategic, innovative initiatives. Skilled in not-for-profit organisations, stakeholder engagement, business planning, team building, fundraising, governance and management.

Through her high-level interpersonal skills, she has developed and implement significant financial and change management strategies across complex and diverse organisations, with a strong focus on effective governance process.

Deborah is passionate about making a difference and her commitment to the mission and vision she shares of organisations has seen great improvement achieved in both financial and social outcomes. She places much of the credit for this success on building a strong team culture, encouragement of innovation and a focus on stakeholder communication.

Deborah is an FCPA, GAICD and FGIA. She holds an MBA, a Bachelor of Business (Accounting), and an Associate Diploma of Business. She has a long history of holding executive volunteering roles with CPA Australia, including current chair of The Experienced Network Committee; current member of the Not for Profit Committee; past President 2021 of CPA Qld Divisional Council; past member of the CPA Qld Executive Committee and Qld Divisional Council; past chair of the CPA Qld Not for Profit Committee; and past chair of the CPA Qld Corporate Committee.

As well as being a Director of Volunteering Qld (VQ), Deborah is a Non-Executive Director for Language Disorder Australia (LDA) and for Inala Primary Care (IPC), is the Chair of the Audit, Risk and Finance Committee of LDA, Chair of Governance Risk and Finance Committee of VQ, and a member of Finance and Risk Committee of IPC, as well as other ad hoc committees as required.

Linda is a lawyer by profession and has broad experience in developing and advising on public policy in Australia.  Linda served in the Queensland Parliament from 1997 to 2009 and was appointed the State Attorney-General in 2005.

After retiring from the Queensland Parliament Linda joined the team at the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (ACPNS) at QUT co-ordinating a Nonprofit Law project aimed at streamlining the laws that regulate charities and not for profits in Australia. She has remained connected to ACPNS and now serves as a member of the Centre’s Advisory Board.

Linda was appointed by the then Federal Government as Chair of the National Not-for-profit Sector Reform Council (2011-2013) and Chair of the Not-for-Profit Sector Tax Concession Working Group (2013).

From 2015 to 2021 held the position of Director of Member and Specialist Services with the Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union (QNMU).

Linda has had extensive experience serving on Boards including Chair of the Board of Screen Queensland (2018-2022), Deputy Chair of the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation (ACCF) (2008-2018), Director, Hockey Queensland (2007-2012), Chair of Coast 2 Bay Housing Group (2010-2013) and a Director of the Princess Alexandra Hospital Research Foundation (2007-2009). Linda is currently a Director of Volunteering Queensland and a non-executive Director of QNMU Law.

Mara has worked in the volunteering and community sectors for more than 25 years. During this time she has led state-wide organisations and talented teams, developing and implementing successful innovations, programs and strategic alignments that have brought benefits to the volunteer sector and the broader community at the local, regional, state and national level.

As Chief Executive Officer of Volunteering WA for eight years, Mara lead the development and continual expansion of the new GoVolunteer and VIKTOR Online as the national digital platforms for volunteer referral and management; the expansion of corporate volunteer engagement and the introduction of Australia’s first Corporate Volunteer Council which led to the launch of the Give1 initiative – a celebration of corporate giving; the development of a system to recruit and manage spontaneous volunteers and manage material and in kind donations at times of emergency and disaster; introduction of the Western Australian Volunteer of the Year Awards; the annual award winning Homeless Connect Perth; an annual research agenda; establishment of dedicated volunteering hubs on university campuses and development of new programs, models of service delivery and resources to overcome barriers and promote inclusive and rewarding volunteering experiences.

As well as her extensive knowledge of and expertise in volunteerism, Mara has a wealth of experience and knowledge and strong links with the cultural, educational, youth and multicultural sectors.

Throughout her career Mara has been responsible for the implementation of many innovative educational, community, youth and cultural development projects and programs, including –

– a multi-arts approach to education; an award winning Circus Arts in Education accredited program; the Living in Harmony initiative, which was the subject of a UN Media Peace Award; Stage One Children’s Festival, the forerunner of the Awesome Children’s Festival; redefining the Australia Day Oz Concert and the Western Australian Citizen of the Year Awards to be premiere events celebrating the diverse community of Western Australia; coordinating the CHOGM 2011 Volunteer Program; and many other cultural and community development initiatives.

Mara was Australia’s Country Representative Body delegate to the United Nations Volunteers; Australia’s National Volunteer Centre representative at the International Association for Volunteer Effort; and Western Australia’s representative on the Policy and Strategy Committee of Volunteering Australia. She has been an active member of various multicultural and emergency service advisory and social policy committees.

With a long family tradition of volunteering, Mara appreciates and promotes the reciprocal benefits volunteering can bring. “My philosophy is simply to do all that I can to make our community the best it can be for all people. We all have something to contribute and share and we are all in need of a helping hand at some time”.

She believes volunteering provides opportunities to strengthen community connectedness and participation in civil society. “It fosters a sense of belonging and purpose and enables citizens to give of their best and appreciate their own and others’ potential”.

Mara is an active volunteer, currently serving as a member of the Order of St John and with multicultural and faith-based committees and organisations.  “To bring together through the vehicle of volunteering the energy, capabilities and positivity of people who want to create a better world by giving something back is both inspiring and a privilege”

Diane has worked as a manager, board director, educator, counsellor and volunteer herself. She has taken leadership roles in a variety of national and international volunteer associations. She has been a Director of the International Association for Volunteer Effort. This role included promoting volunteering in the Asia-Pacific region.

She was the inaugural President of the Australian Association for Volunteering from 1990 to 1992 and the Vice President of the National Association for Volunteer Referral Agencies (NAVRA) from 1989 to 1992.

These two bodies amalgamated to form Volunteering Australia, and Diane has been Queensland Director on the Volunteering Australia Board.

Diane was the CEO of Volunteering Queensland from 1987-2009, where she led the development of regional Volunteer Resource Centres throughout Queensland and has been involved in the development of standards and accredited training courses for volunteers and volunteer managers, as well as policy and procedures for the involvement of volunteers in non-profit organisations.

Diane has devoted her life to volunteering and is committed to volunteering as an integral part of community capacity building in today’s society. Diane has been a guest speaker at numerous international and national conferences as well as writing and facilitating training courses for all sectors of the community. She has a social welfare background and received a graduate diploma in Human Service Management from the Queensland University of Technology in 1992.

David is recognised for his service to education and to the community through his volunteering.

David was a Former director of Human Resources, QLD Department of Education, Training, and Employment more than 35 years.

He worked from the age of eighteen until his retirement as a staff teacher, principal, and inspector. He worked as a school inspector of QLD Department of Education from 1980 to 1990. For the final five years, he held the position of Director of Human Resources and managed the professional lives of some fifty thousand employees.

David worked as a volunteer support manager for Volunteering Queensland. He volunteered with Volunteering QLD more than 10 years. He developed and implemented Volunteering Queensland’s human resources platform. In 2012, he began to volunteering with BUSHkids, offering a range of free health service to children and their families in rural Queensland communities. He said “as a young teacher and principal in outback Queensland, I was very impressed by the care given to bush children by the Royal Queensland Bush Children’s Health Scheme and felt that we as teaching professionals, owed a debt of gratitude to the ‘Bushies’ as they were affectionately known. “In 2014, he was honoured with the Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to the community.