Board members
Dr Iain Ross (Chair)
Dr Ross’s career experience includes President of the Fair Work Commission, Partner in the workplace relations practice group at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, and Assistant Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
His extensive career includes significant roles such as the President of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and a Commissioner of the Victorian Law Reform Commission. His leadership positions have consistently reflected his dedication to upholding fairness and adapting systems to meet evolving needs.
Dr Ross was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to industrial relations through contributions for institutional reforms. His election as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia underscores his broad recognition and respect in the field.
Dr Ross brings with him a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of labour markets and economics.
Tony Maher
Tony Maher has been the General President of the Mining and Energy Union for more than 25 years. Since 2006, Mr Maher has been particularly engaged with the impacts of energy transition on coal jobs. He has represented Australian unions at several meetings of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and has been instrumental in developing an Australian model for supporting workers through energy transition.
Mr Maher has also taken part in the ACTU Climate Group, the Commonwealth Government's Carbon Capture and Storage Taskforce, the Prime Minister's Energy Efficiency Advisory Group, and the Federal Government Roundtable on Climate Change. He is also a former member of the Net Zero Economy Agency Advisory Board.
Mike Mrdak
Mr Mrdak currently holds a number of non-executive Director roles in the transport, infrastructure and regional development sectors. He is the Chair of the Airports Development Group of companies including the NT Airports Group. He is a Director of NBNCo and is also on the Advisory Boards of the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific and LEK Consultants.
Mr Mrdak had an extensive senior career in the Australian Public Service including as Secretary of the Departments of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development and the Department of Communications and the Arts.
Mr Mrdak was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2016 for his work in transport and infrastructure reforms and is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Business, Government and Law at the University of Canberra.
Michele O’Neil
Ms Michele O’Neil is the President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and brings more than 30 years of experience as a Union Official.
Before being elected as ACTU President in 2018, Michele represented workers in the textile, clothing and footwear industry and was the National Secretary of the TCFUA (Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia) where she represented her union Nationally and Internationally.
Professor Robynne Quiggin
Professor Quiggin is Pro-Vice Chancellor, Indigenous Leadership and Engagement at the University of Technology Sydney. She ran her own legal and consulting practice for 15 years and was Senior Manager of ASIC’s Indigenous Outreach Program and Deputy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Professor Quiggin is a member of the Wiradjuri nation. She has chaired the boards of the NSW Aboriginal Housing Office, the Human Rights Law Centre and chaired the Westpac Indigenous Advisory Committee. She has served on the boards of the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute, Bangarra Dance Theatre, the Council of AIATSIS, the Australian Museum and the Powerhouse Museum. She is currently a Member of the First Nations Clean Energy Network Steering Group and a Board member of NAISDA Dance College. She is a former member of the Net Zero Economy Agency Advisory Board.
Anna Skarbek
Ms Anna Skarbek has been the CEO at Climateworks Centre since 2009, where she leads the analysis of emissions reduction opportunities and partners with business and government to unblock barriers to their implementation.
Ms Skarbek has previous experience as an investment banker in Macquarie Bank’s energy and utilities team and in London at specialist investment firm Climate Change Capital, and as a policy advisor to the Victorian Deputy Premier and Minister for Water, Environment and Climate Change, and as a solicitor with Mallesons Stephen Jacques.
She was a founding director of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and is currently a director of SEC Victoria, the Green Building Council of Australia and the Centre for New Energy Technologies. She is also a former member of the Net Zero Economy Agency Advisory Board.
Zoe Whitton
Ms Whitton is the Managing Director and Head of Strategy and Impact at Pollination. She is also currently a Non-Executive Director at the Investor Group on Climate Change, a non-executive Director at the Centre for Policy Development, and an Expert Advisory Panel member on the Powering the Regions fund at the Department of Industry, Science and Resources and on the National Hydrogen Strategy Review Advisory Committee at the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.