ACNC Advisory Board

Sarah has had a wide-ranging career with executive roles in tertiary education through to private sector consulting in Australia and overseas. For the last 15 years she has held leadership and executive positions in the charity and for-purpose sector.

In 2021 Sarah joined the Alannah & Madeline Foundation as the CEO. The Foundation works to make sure children can grow up happy, safe and strong – in both their online and offline worlds, free from violence and trauma, and with the support and strategies they need to thrive.

Sarah also serves on a range of Boards and committees. Her current community Board roles include Teach for Australia, the National Museum of Australia and Social Ventures Australia. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Swinburne University of Technology.

Heather Watson is a specialist charity lawyer with experience across the not-for-profit sector. She has held non-executive appointments with a number of charities.

Currently her charitable roles include as Chair of Uniting NSW.ACT and the Epic Good Foundation, and as director of Australian Regional and Remote Community Services.

Heather also serves as the independent chair of the ACNC’s Performance, Audit and Risk Committee.

Emeritus Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes OAM is the former Director of The Australian Centre of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (ACPNS) at the Queensland University of Technology.

He has written extensively about nonprofit tax and regulation, nonprofit legal entities, government grants and standard charts of accounts as a means of reducing the compliance burden. He is a practising lawyer in Queensland. Myles was a founding member of the ATO Charities Consultative Committee and the Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission Advisory Board.

In June 2003, Myles was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) "For service to the community by providing education and support in legal, financial and administrative matters to nonprofit organisations."

A Yorta Yorta man, Ian has extensive government and community sector experience, particularly at executive and governance levels. Ian has overseen major policy and strategic reforms for government and community organisations. He works with people from a vast array of backgrounds, managing complex and sensitive relationships to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. Ian was CEO of a major Aboriginal community organisation from January to August 2018.

Ian chairs and is a member of a number of boards, including the Indigenous Land & Sea Corporation, the Community Broadcast Foundation, Connecting Home, the Koorie Heritage Trust, Holmesglen TAFE and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

He is also devoting himself to improving the representation of Aboriginal people on boards and other high level governance, through strategic action, advocacy and mentoring.

For over 40 years, Rosa and the Sydney Multicultural Community Services' team have helped culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, including seniors, newly arrived migrants, refugees, people with a disability and other community members. Rosa always strives her best to assist those who are in crisis, struggling with language barriers, domestic violence, isolation, poverty and disadvantage.

Rosa has been providing outstanding service to local South Eastern Sydney community members from multicultural backgrounds for more than four decades. She advocates for disadvantaged refugees and residents from multicultural backgrounds at a policy level.

A community innovator, she has helped establish many organizations and services including Sydney Multicultural Community Services, Youth Employment Support Scheme, Skill Share, Killara Women’s Refuge, Settlement Services International, The Settlement Engagement and Transition Support (SETS) Program in Northern Sydney.

She has also provided employment opportunities to hundred members of the community over the years.

Anna has held leadership and senior roles in not-for-profits and state government agencies and membership on a range of committees and advisory boards throughout her career.

Her experience includes developing and implementing policy and programs in health, community services, sector development and regulation.

She has had the privilege to work with and for communities and people from diverse backgrounds, identities and lived experiences.

David is CEO of the Community Council for Australia, a role he has held for 10 years.

He has spent more than 25 years as CEO of significant not-for-profit organisations, including the Mental Health Council of Australia, the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia, and Odyssey House Victoria.

He has served on many national advisory groups and boards including the first Advisory Board for the ACNC, the Not-for-Profit Sector Reform Council, Chair of the National Compact Expert Advisory Group, and an inaugural member (now a judge) of the Pro Bono Australia ‘Impact 25’ listing of the most influential leaders in Australian charities and not-for-profit sector.

Sara is an experienced advisor, facilitator, Chair and Non-Executive Director accustomed to working with complex businesses. She has held board and executive roles in for purpose, private and ASX companies over the last thirty years. She has lived the many complexities, nuances and challenges involved in leading organisations and has been supporting C Suite, Senior Executives and Non- Executive Directors as an Executive Coach and Facilitator for ten years.

Sara’s experience has included leading, advising and supporting boards and executives through a range of key decisions and projects including strategy development, planning and execution, growth and scale up, organisational transformation, governance optimisation and complex issues resolution.

Her professional journey has been characterized by a deep commitment to consumer advocacy and a comprehensive understanding of the challenges confronting disadvantaged communities and she has fulfilled consumer advocacy roles on a range of committees in the private and NFP sector.

Dini is the Commissioner of Consumer Affairs and Liquor and Gambling with Consumer & Business Services (CBS) in South Australia. CBS has a broad portfolio which includes regulation of charities.

Dini’s background is as a solicitor in private practice, working in the areas of insurance, workers compensation and criminal law. He has also held senior regulatory roles with Customs and ASIC.