Our People

GENERAL THE HONOURABLE DAVID HURLEY AC DSC (Ret’d) AND HIS WIFE MRS LINDA HURLEY
National Patrons

We are truly honoured that our former Patron, General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d), and his wife Mrs Linda Hurley are now our National Patrons. The Governor-General and Mrs Hurley serve as Patron of organisations who do amazing things.

The Governor-General says, “I am delighted to serve as National Patron of Royal Far West. Being far from help doesn’t have to mean being far from hope. It’s a powerful message that neatly captures the real and meaningful difference that Royal Far West makes.”

“The volunteers, donors and supporters of Royal Far West are bound by a common vision – they want every child to have the best chance at realising their potential. Keeping country kids connected to the healthcare they need and couldn’t otherwise access is critical to achieving this vision. As National Patron I look forward to working with Royal Far West to bridge the ‘kidometres’ and support all Australians to realise their potential.”

HER EXCELLENCY THE HONOURABLE MARGARET BEAZLEY AC QC
Patron

Our Patron Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC is the 39th Governor of New South Wales, commencing her five-year tenure on 2 May 2019. Prior to her appointment as Governor, Her Excellency enjoyed a long and distinguished law career spanning 43 years, during which time she served as a role model for women in law at both the State and national level.

Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1989, in 1993 she was made a judge of the Federal Court of Australia, the first woman to sit exclusively in that Court. In 1996 she achieved the distinction of being the first woman appointed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal and, subsequently, as the first woman to be appointed as its President. She served, on a number of occasions, as Administrator of the Government of the State of New South Wales. She was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List on 12 June 2006 for service to the judiciary and the law, and awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in the Australia Day Honours List 26 January 2020.

Her Excellency has three children and is married to Mr Dennis Wilson, a barrister, mediator, accredited international arbitrator and Adjunct Professor of Law, at Notre Dame University, Sydney.

Her Excellency brings her deep commitment to education, youth leadership, human rights and social justice to the role in service of the people of New South Wales.

MRS JOAN H TREWEEKE OAM, OAM, LLB (Melb)
Chairman

Board Member since April 2014. Elected Chairman in October 2017. Joan Treweeke resides in North West NSW and has represented communities in this area in local government, natural resources, the arts, education and community development. She is currently a Director of Royal Flying Doctors Service South East Section and has been a Board Member since 1996, served three years as President, and spent three years on the National Board. Joan served on the Boards of the Western NSW Local Health District until June 2021, and was the President of Contact Inc. until November 2020.

Joan has had oversight at Board level of major facility developments, implementing change management in governance and organisational structures, and the development and maintenance of strategic and funding relationships for RFDS and Western NSW LHD and has extensive experience in governance, risk and audit processes in the not for profit and health sector.

MR STEVEN GRUNDY, FAIM, MAICD
Vice Chair 

Board Member from February 2018. Elected Vice-Chairman in October 2019. Steven was previously Treasurer from March to October 2019. Steven began his career in the Royal Australian Navy and amid many other highlights culminated in him becoming Commanding Officer of HMAS Rushcutter.  He left the Navy in 1999 to further develop his interest in the commercial sector – this included senior executive roles in Advantra (national IT outsourcing company) and Telstra.  A move into the Health sector saw Steven appointed as the inaugural Chief Operating Officer, then Managing Director, of Australian Hearing.  Steven has been a retained consultant at Lazard Australia Private Equity and most recently was the Executive General Manager at Airservices Australia as part of the team which successfully restructured the organisation.

Other Board appointments have included Australian Hearing, The Hearing CRC, Hearworks Pty Ltd and The National Acoustics Laboratory research committee. Steven is currently the Owner / Director of several Early Learning Centres across rural NSW. Steven is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Steven chairs the Nomination, Governance & Remuneration Committee and also sits on the Redevelopment Committee.

REBECCA WARK

Chair of the Redevelopment Committee

Board Member since March 2020. Rebecca Wark is an experienced leader of major infrastructure projects and has been at NSW Health Infrastructure CEO since 2008 and CEO since 2019, overseeing the development of some of the State’s largest hospitals and public health services. Currently, she is proudly leading the delivery of the largest health capital works portfolio in Australia. Previously Rebecca worked on significant infrastructure projects across the public and private sectors. Her experience is multisector; her first public sector role was planning and delivery venues for the Sydney Olympics and she has since delivered facilities in education, justice, and health. Rebecca has completed studies in landscape architecture and project management, is a strong advocate for women in leadership, and acts as a mentor to young professionals in business and construction. Rebecca is the Chair of the Redevelopment Committee.

PROFESSOR ELIZABETH ELLIOT AM, AM FAHMS FRSN MD MPhil MBBS FRACP FRCPCH FRCP

Board Member since July 2019. Elizabeth Elliott is a Distinguished Professor in Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Sydney; Consultant Paediatrician at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network Westmead; and a National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Practitioner Fellow. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science and a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW. Her clinical work, research, advocacy, and policy development has a focus on improving health and well-being for children living in disadvantage, including children in remote Aboriginal Communities, with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, with a range of rare diseases, in immigration detention and in South-East Asia. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder has been a major focus for over 20 years: Elizabeth has led projects in the remote Fitzroy Valley in WA on FASD prevalence and delivery of a Positive Parenting Project; is a member of the National FASD Advisory Group; developed the Australian Guide to FASD Diagnosis and is Head of the NSW FASD Assessment Service. Elizabeth is a member of the Finance, Audit, and Risk Management Committee.

DAVID HEATHCOTE Bec FINSIA MAF

Board Member since March 2020. David Heathcote spent more than two decades working for international and investment banks, both in Australia and the United Kingdom. In early 2009, David returned from the United Kingdom to join KPMG Australia, where he has held a number of senior roles, including, National and Global Head of Debt Advisory, Group Head of Deal Advisory, Head of Corporate Finance and continues to remain active with the dual responsibility of National Managing Partner Deals, Tax and Legal and Global Client Lead Partner. During his time at KPMG, he has held a number of internal Executive and Board roles, was an activation leader for a firm-wide cultural change program and has been involved in a number of philanthropic activities. David is a member of the Investments Committee and also sits on the Redevelopment Committee.

NICKI ASHTON BA GAICD

Board Member since March 2020. Nicki is a highly experienced senior executive in the financial markets sector and has been a regular advisor to many Boards. Nicki joined Citigroup in April 2022 as Managing Director and Senior Relationships Manager with a focus on the superannuation sector. She has significant expertise across investment management, sales management, distribution, risk management, strategy, business and product development, investor relations and investment consulting. Nicki has worked in finance and investment sectors for over 25 years in Australia and the United States. Over this time, she has held senior executive roles with IFM Investments, Russell Investments, Citigroup, Ecofin, Deutsche Bank and the Pendal Group. She has a passionate interest in disability, serving as a Treasurer for the Cerebral Palsy Sport & Recreation Association since 2010, and as a Non-Executive Director of the Vision Australia Trust since 2018. Nicki has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Sydney and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Nicki chairs the Investments Committee and is a member of the Finance, Audit & Risk Management Committee.

GREG SAM MPH, BA Bus Admin, BAppSc, MAICD

Board member since July 2022. Greg Sam is an experienced CEO and Director having worked in Senior Executive roles nationally and internationally in private, public and non-government sectors including significant experience in rural health. He is currently the CEO of the Royal Flying Doctor Service South Eastern Section, a Non-executive Director of Carers NSW and a Non-executive Director of Basketball Australia. He has previously held Director roles with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council and Palliative Care Australia.

JACQUELINE EMERY
Chief Executive Officer

Jacqui Emery is an experienced leader in the media, education and not for profit sectors with a broad skillset covering strategy, governance, transformation, operations, relationships, marketing and communications.

Prior to becoming CEO, Jacqui was the Director of Business, People and Culture at Royal Far West, and the executive lead on the development of the Bushfire Recovery Program, supporting the mental health and development of children directly impacted by the bushfire event of 2019/20 summer.

Jacqui has also held leadership roles in some of Australia’s most well-known organisations including The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), the Australian Financial Review Group and Readers Digest.

MARK DRIESSEN
Chief Operating Officer

Mark joined Royal Far West in September 2020. His career spans over 32 years where he has held senior positions at Partner level in professional practice in addition to CFO and COO roles.  His experience is predominately in the areas of financial evaluation and management, risk management, assurance, governance and internal control frameworks, business process improvement, probity, leadership, strategy, stakeholder management and engagement.  Mark has spent significant time working in the government, disability, health, justice, and not-for-profit sectors.  He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting), is a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand and qualified registered company auditor.

DANIELLE CHAPMAN
General Manager – Fundraising, Marketing and Advocacy

Danielle is a passionate marketer and fundraiser with a broad range of leadership expertise across the not-for-profit, education and financial sectors. With a strong background in driving growth and establishing high-performing teams, Danielle joined Royal Far West in 2018 with the mandate to grow the organisation’s sustainable and diversified funding, while creating greater awareness for the Royal Far West brand, and advocating for country children in need.

During her tenure, Danielle has successfully led the implementation Royal Far West’s individual giving strategy, managed the evolution and growth of the organisation’s flagship event, the ‘Ride for Country Kids’ and has increased Royal Far West’s profile and awareness amongst key stakeholders and the wider community.

Throughout Danielle’s varied professional career she has worked with leading Australian brands including Aussie Home Loans, Fairfax Media and the Australian Institute of Management at different stages in their brand and organisational history – organisations with strong missions and the desire to make lasting change. Danielle has a passion for bringing brand stories to life underpinned by strong commercial and performance acumen.

KIM CASBURN
General Manager – School and Community Services

Kim has substantial health promotion, community development, program management and service improvement experience in Australia and the UK. Since joining Royal Far West in 2014, Kim has held a number of roles which have included overseeing the development and expansion of Telecare across multiple allied health disciplines, leading research and academic partnerships as the Head of Research and Service Innovation and ensuring the high-quality delivery of our clinical services as Head of Programs.

Prior to joining RFW Kim held leadership positions in government and not for profit organisations including ACT Health, Asthma UK and the National Stroke Foundation where she established and managed a state-wide prevention program in over 700 community pharmacies. Kim is an Adjunct Research Fellow at Charles Sturt University, has a Master of Health Development and a Bachelor of Community Education.

SALLY DAVIES
General Manager – Operations

Sally is an experienced people manager with a commitment to delivering high quality client experiences. Starting her career in the luxury hotel industry, Sally has strong foundations in developing exceptional customer service experiences as well as designing systems and leading teams that are customer centred.

Sally followed her passion to serve the not-for-profit sector, joining Royal Far West in 2012. Since then, she has developed a deep insight into the organisation and has a proven ability in process improvement, change management and leading strong teams.  Sally has held a number of senior roles within the organisation including Operations Manager, Head of Programs and Service Delivery Lead and was instrumental in in transitioning our organisation into the Centre for Country Kids and reshaping our ways of working.