Speakers for 2009

Our facilitator - Michael Pascoe

Michael Pascoe is one of Australia's most respected and experienced finance and economics commentators with more than three decades in newspaper, radio, television and on-line journalism.

Perhaps best known for his 18 years as the Nine Network’s Finance Editor, Michael now is Associate Editor of Alan Kohler’s EurekaReport.com.au, contributes to Crikey.com.au and Channel 7’s news programs and is an acclaimed conference speaker, MC and facilitator.

Michael was born and educated in Queensland and started his career with The Courier-Mail before working in Hong Kong for three years. He joined the Australian Financial Review in Sydney upon returning to Australia and then virtually invented specialist finance journalism in commercial broadcasting - first with the Macquarie Radio network,
then with Channel 9, Sky Business Report and Channel 7.

Michael has four sons, maintains a love of Rugby Union, a dislike of gardening and what he calls "an outlook of optimistic scepticism".

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Gerard Bradley: Under Treasurer and Under Secretary, Queensland Treasury

Gerard Bradley is the Under Treasurer and Under Secretary of Queensland. He was appointed to this position in August 1998 and has over 30 years' experience in the Queensland and South Australian Treasury departments.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Diploma of Advanced Accounting. Gerard is a CPA, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and member of the Australian Institute of Management and the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Gerard Bradley's board memberships include Chair, Board of Trustees, QSuper; Director, Queensland Treasury Holdings Pty Ltd; Queensland Water Infrastructure Pty Ltd Board and the Public Service Commission.

Previous board memberships include Queensland Treasury Corporation, South Bank Corporation, Suncorp Insurance and Finance Ltd, Queensland Investment Corporation, South Australian Asset Management Corporation, South Australian Government Financing Authority, Funds SA and AustralAsian Railway Corporation.

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Bill Powell, Assistant Commissioner of Taxation, ATO Change Program

Bill is currently Assistant Commissioner, Change Program with responsibilities as Deputy Release Sponsor for the Release 3 Income Tax Release – the biggest and most complex of all the releases so far in the ATO’s Change Program.

Bill have been working on the Change Program since 2003.

From 1999 to 2002 he was Assistant Commissioner, Registrations Division, with responsibility for the ATO's Client Registration services including the Australian Business Register (ABR).

Bill has been a Taxation Officer for 33 years and during that time he has undertaken many and varied roles.

Bill is married with two grown up children.

His presentation will cover the ATO's Change Program and the challenges in delivering change to revenue administration systems.

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David Stewart

Dave Stewart is the Director-General of the Department of Transport and Main Roads, reporting to both the Minister for Main Roads and the Minister for Transport.

This newly formed department will have a mission to move Queensland forward through keeping Queenslanders connected via the major road network as well as developing and managing the land, air and sea transport system in Queensland.

The Department currently has a standing workforce in excess of 8000 people. Dave also directly supports the Premier on Urban Congestion initiatives being driven by Government.

Prior to his current role, Dave was the Director-General of Queensland Transport, with his primary roles being transport leadership, including strategic policy and planning, system stewardship and service delivery role in ensuring delivery of coordinated and integrated transport related services and infrastructure. The Department had a workforce of around 3400 people plus a significant casual workforce; an operating budget of $2.6 billion; and $600 million of capital infrastructure projects per annum.

In September 2006, Dave joined the Queensland Government as Deputy Coordinator-General. He was responsible for the delivery of the $9 billion South-East Queensland (SEQ) Water Grid within the Department of Infrastructure and Planning (DIP).

During his career of some 25 years, Dave has predominantly worked in the public sector, although he has worked for consultants and contractors both in Australia and in the United Kingdom delivering civil infrastructure projects.

He is a Chartered Civil Engineer and holds Masters Degrees in Business and Engineering Science and has completed an executive program at Harvard University looking at private sector involvement in the delivery of infrastructure.

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Amanda Gore

More than 20 years ago, Amanda Gore launched her speaking career by talking about connections that count, leading with the heart, motivating with laughter, and bringing out the best in people.

Author of four books and numerous videos, Amanda Gore has a background in psychology, physical therapy, group dynamics, neurolinguistics and occupational health. She has worked in corporations, colleges, hospitals and private practice, and has often been interviewed on radio and TV on her areas of expertise. Amanda blends these areas of expertise to connect body, mind and spirit to show people how to become more effective professionally and personally, and to become their real selves — to be authentic.

With today’s mergers and cross-cultural workplaces, Amanda stresses the importance of creating corporate communities that bring people together productively and profitably. Her thoughtful and intelligent assessment of what it takes to lead, coach and inspire corporate teams to outstanding results has distinguished her as one of the world’s most sought after experts in her field.

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Jim McGowan

Jim McGowan was appointed as acting Director-General of the former Department of Emergency Services in September 2007 before being formally appointed to the position in January 2008. He became Director-General of the Department of Community Safety in March 2009 with the merger of the Departments of Emergency Services and Corrective Services.

Previously Jim was Director-General of the Department of Justice and Attorney General.

Jim has extensive experience in the public sector, including Deputy Director?General, Department of Industrial Relations, General Manager, Public Sector Industrial and Employee Relations, Department of Industrial Relations. Between 1974 and 1999 Jim had an extensive career in education having taught at a number of State high schools, including the positions of Principal and Deputy Principal.

He is the Queensland Government Champion for Woorabinda.

He has a Bachelor of Economics, Diploma of Education and is a Commissioner of Declarations.

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Darren Busine - Chief Financial Officer, ENEREGEX Limited (BEc FCPA FFin GAICD)

Darren joined ENERGEX as the Chief Financial Officer in October 2007. In Darren’s role at ENERGEX he is responsible for the financial, regulatory and strategic functions for the group.

Darren has over 20 years experience in finance and strategic management roles predominantly in the finance and energy industries.

Prior to joining ENERGEX, Darren held the position of Chief Financial Officer at Ergon Energy since 2006 where he had responsibility for Finance, Strategy, Commercial Management, Business Planning, Office of Chief Information Officer, Process Management and Tax. Darren joined Ergon Energy in July 2000 as Group Financial Controller.

Prior to joining Ergon Energy Darren spent 10 years in Suncorp Metway in a range of finance and strategic and commercial management roles.

Darren has a degree in Economics from Macquarie University and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment. He has a Diploma from the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Darren is a Fellow of the Australian Society of CPA's, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Banking and Finance and a Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

ENERGEX Limited

ENERGEX is a Queensland government owned corporation (GOC), whose two shareholders are the Treasurer, and the Minister for Mines and Energy.

ENERGEX’s primary role is to distribute electricity to South East Queensland. 3,800 staff work in a range of roles to supply electricity to a population of around 2.8 million homes and businesses in South East Queensland. With $7.3 billion in total assets, ENERGEX has more than 85 years’ industry experience.

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John Peters - Senior Economist, Global Markets, Commonwealth Bank

John is a Senior Economist for Global Markets Research and is responsible for communicating the bank’s views to clients on trends in the Australian and international economies as well as the likely effect on interest rates and currency markets.

John has been involved in financial markets for over 20 years and joined the Commonwealth Bank in 2003. John previously worked as a Senior Economist at Westpac and as Chief Economist at CIBC Australia, and Midland International Australia Ltd.

John has also worked as an economic policy adviser in the Commonwealth Public Service in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Federal Treasury. He has also spent time working as an economic journalist on the Australian Financial Review and Dow Jones Telerate newswires.

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Leslie Martin - Program Director, Core Banking Modernisation, Commonwealth Bank

Leslie Martin joined the Commonwealth Bank in December 2004 as the Executive General Manager of Working Capital Services. Following a restructure of the PBS division, Leslie was appointed to the role of EGM for Banking Products. In this role, Leslie had responsibility for the Banking Products portfolio in the Bank’s Premium Business Services group.

Her career background has centred on payments, transaction banking and working capital, with stints in retail banking and consulting.

She arrived in Australia in 1985. After nearly 15 years with Chase Manhattan in New York, Hong Kong and Australia, Leslie joined Westpac in 1994 to establish the Transaction Banking Group. At Westpac, Leslie held a number of senior roles including Chief Operations Officer (COO) for the Bank’s Institutional Banking Group, as well as General Manager, Westpac Service Network, for the Retail Banking Group.

In her current role as Program Director, Core Banking Modernisation she is responsible for implementing a major change to core banking capability across the Bank. As one of two CBA Programme Directors, she is responsible for the business direction and change management activities of the project.

Over the course of more than twenty years in Australia, Leslie has had an active role in the reform of the payments system, acting as nominee director for Austraclear and BPay, and as Chairman of the Australian Payments Clearing Association and Cardlink.

Leslie was born in the USA and is married with two children. She enjoys spending time with her family, sailing and playing bridge.

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Paul Shipperley

Paul is an Assistant Auditor-General and has over 30 years of experience in public
sector auditing within Queensland.

He leads audit teams responsible for audits of a wide range of public sector entities and is currently responsible for a number of major audits including QR Limited and Queensland Treasury.

His other current audit responsibilities include the supervision and reporting of sector-wide reviews, the most significant of which has been the audits of infrastructure projects.

Paul is a Fellow of CPA Australia and a member of the Institute of Public Administration Australia.

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Daniel Robb

Daniel Robb has been working in the Superannuation Industry for the past four years as in integral part of QSuper's Member Services area. He is responsible for providing Superannuation education to QSuper's member base through workplace seminars, as well as assisting members in the Brisbane CBD contact centre.

Prior to entering the Superannuation industry, Daniel enjoyed a career in the hotel management industry, where he had a distinguished career in all areas of hospitality operations. As well as working for organisations within Australia, Daniel also worked in the U.S.A and Middle East.

Since entering the Superannuation Industry he has developed a passion for Superannuation education and public speaking, and holds a Diploma in Superannuation as well as a Diploma in Financial Planning.

Originally from New South Wales, Daniel has lived in Brisbane for the past six years with his wife, and remains a staunch St George Illawarra Dragons supporter.

Daniel will be presenting “Supersize your super - All aboard for the grand tour!”

This popular seminar is a must-see attraction for all QSuper members currently in the workforce. Come and learn about a range of topics and strategies designed to make your money work harder. The best part? We'll show you how it all works by examining various case studies. Sights include: insurance, salary sacrifice, voluntary contributions, the Commonwealth Government super co-contribution, spouse contributions, rollovers, investment choice and account type.

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Eden Ritchie Recruitment

In this 30 minute interactive session, the Directors of Eden Ritchie Recruitment Justine Eden and Kim Ritchie will look at making the tough (but necessary) career decisions, equip you with the strategies to make these decisions and outline the pitfalls to avoid career sabotage. If you are keen to progress up the career ladder and get the rewards for your hard work, then this is not a session to be missed!

Justine Eden, Director of Eden Ritchie Recruitment, has spent the past 17 years in the Queensland recruitment industry. 13 years ago, frustrated and seeking greater career challenges Justine joined forces with Kim Ritchie and created Eden Ritchie Recruitment, out of a belief that service levels to candidates and employers could be improved. Justine is focused on partnering with employers and candidates to build longer term, mutually beneficial relationships where respective skills and attributes are valued as well as maximised.

Justine has extensive experience in the recruitment of Executive, Financial Management, Qualified Accounting and Accounting Support staff within both the Public and Private Sectors. Justine’s role within Eden Ritchie Recruitment entails close involvement with the consulting team to maximise opportunities for candidates and employers, business development and marketing activities as well as business planning. Justine holds a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Accountancy. Prior to joining the Recruitment Industry she worked in various capacities within the Sharebroking and Finance Industries.

Kim Ritchie

Kim Ritchie, Director of Eden Ritchie Recruitment, has spent the last 13 years of her career establishing and evolving a specialised recruitment organisation with Justine Eden. She believes that the success to date of Eden Ritchie Recruitment can be attributed to several factors but primarily the strong belief that both Directors have in maintaining high levels of customer service to all client groups.

Prior to the establishment of Eden Ritchie Recruitment, Kim spent 9 years with a large international recruitment firm where she successfully managed the Queensland operations. Her roles both presently and in the past have involved extensive account management and client development within both the public and private sectors and professional accounting firms. Kim's recruitment experience includes all levels of accounting and administration positions, she also successfully recruits in the IT and Executive markets.

Throughout her 22 years in recruitment Kim has been involved in many industry groups and management committees and has worked closely with both CPA Australia and The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. She sees this as an important way of keeping abreast of what is happening within the accounting arena as well as assisting with the development of the Accountants of the future.

Kim sees the future of Eden Ritchie Recruitment, as further developing strategically aligned business relationships and working partnerships with our client base and contributing to the growth of the Queensland economy.

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Barbara Perrot

Barbara Perrott is the General Manager of the Shared Service Agency (SSA).

Barbara was recently the Executive Director of CorpTech, an organisation of around 500 Information Technology professionals providing a range of corporate IT services to the three large Shared Service Providers (SSPs) within the Queensland Government’s Shared Service Initiative (SSI).

Barbara has played a key leadership role in the SSI since its inception in 2002. She was part of the original design group which set the strategic direction for the SSI and then established and led CorporateLink one of the original SSPs within the Initiative, which provided services to eight Government agencies, which included the provision of payroll and financial services to approximately 22,000 Public Servants.

In the past couple of years Barbara has been recognised for achievement through inclusion in the inaugural Who’s Who of Australian Women publication in 2006, and being awarded the IQPC Shared Service Thought Leader Award in 2005. More recently, Barbara was selected as a finalist in the Government and Community sector of the Telstra Business Women’s Awards 2008.

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Christine Castley

Christine holds a Bachelor of Laws, Bachelor of Arts (English and Communications) and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Queensland. Christine joined the Department of the Premier and Cabinet in September 2000 and has worked in the Environment and Resources Policy Unit and the Law and Justice Policy Unit. Throughout her public service career, Christine has had a keen interest in public sector reform. Over the last 12 months, Christine has led two major public sector reform initiatives - the review of Queensland’s Public Service Act (including the establishment of the new Public Service Commission) and the Right to Information Project.

Christine will provide an overview of the Queensland Government's Right to Information reforms, which involve a new legislative framework (the Right to Information Act 2009 and the Information Privacy Act 2009) and a pro-disclosure policy framework for government information.

In September 2007, the Queensland Government commissioned an independent review (the Solomon Review) of Queensland’s freedom of information legislation. Based on the review’s recommendations, the government committed to implementing a complete rethink of the way the public can access government information. Notably, the government agreed with the Review findings that if we are to achieve the best possible outcomes for an open, accountable and participatory government, then applications to access information under legislation must become a matter of last resort and more government information must be proactively released.

The Solomon Review recommended, and the Queensland Government accepted, the need for a “push model” of proactively releasing information rather than waiting for the public to pull information under legislation such as the Freedom of Information Act. The changes being implemented as part of the Right to Information reforms will affect the work of all Queensland Government officers, who will be expected to work within a new environment of increased openness and accessibility.

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Mark Tonelli

Gold Gold Gold! that now classic Norman May broadcast cry was originally for Mark and his team mates’ sensational, against all odds, Gold Medal winning victory, in the 4 x 100m medley relay at the turbulent 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.

Mark is an expert at improving individual and team performance. Using his experience as an Olympic swimmer, journalist, television presenter, elite coach, salesman, motivator and author, he talks to audiences about personal motivations to reach your personal "Gold". Mark knows how tenths of a second can change a lifetime and insists the difference between sport and business is attitude.

Mark Tonelli’s credentials are impeccable. As a real estate agent Mark sold over $100 million worth of residential properties. He was Captain of the Australian Swim Team and is an Olympic, World and Commonwealth Champion with an Honours degree in Communications. As a commentator and competitor he covered or raced in 8 Olympic Games, reported for Sky News in Athens and covered the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

Mark Tonelli cleverly uses the international sports arena as a platform for very real lessons about succeeding in today’s tough business world. Whether his presentation is for executives, managers, or anybody who needs to perform better in a team environment, Mark Tonelli’s lessons are invaluable and unforgettable.

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Peter Cantwell - Queensland Ombudsman’s Office

Peter joined the Queensland Ombudsman’s Office in 1997 as an investigator and was appointed an Assistant Ombudsman in 1999.

He leads the Administrative Improvement Unit, a cross-agency specialist unit responsible for the conduct of complex and sensitive investigations that require significant dedicated time and resources and which may involve the use of coercive powers.

Peter has overseen the investigative audits of a number of significant Queensland regulators. These audits led to the production of a series of Ombudsman publications using a tips & traps theme. In December 2007, his Unit produced the Councillor Code of Conduct Report for the guidance of local governments in Queensland.

Peter holds an Honours Degree in Law from the Queensland University of Technology. He is an experienced workplace trainer and regularly provides training to public sector officers in the areas of good decision-making, complaints management, administrative law and investigative and regulatory practice.

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Tony Skippington

Tony in his role as Managing Director is responsible for providing dynamic leadership to CITEC in the continuously challenging world of information and communications technology. CITEC is the primary ICT service provider to Queensland Government specialising in the areas of Data Centre Services, Network Management and Infrastructure Services, Information Brokerage and Solutions Integration.

As Managing Director, Tony’s focus is leading CITEC to provide outstanding service and innovative business solutions to clients, in alignment with the Queensland Government's strategic direction for ICT governance and service delivery.

Tony holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) and has extensive experience over a 25 year career in the Queensland Public Sector having previously held senior roles within CITEC and the Queensland Audit Office. These roles were predominantly related to financial management and corporate governance, and built upon Tony’s professional expertise. In 2005, Tony was appointed as Managing Director of CITEC and has overseen a major transformation program within CITEC as the organisation refocuses on meeting the changing ICT needs of the public sector.

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Bob Shead

Bob Shead is a Partner at BDO Kendalls where he specialises in financial management and corporate governance assignments for public sector clients, including departments, business units, GOCs, statutory authorities and local governments.

Prior to 2000, Bob gained 25 years experience in government, including at Queensland Treasury and in the Queensland Audit Office. During 2003 and 2004, he was the Asian Development Bank’s lead financial management advisor to the Government of Fiji.

He is the chair or member of a number of public sector audit and risk management committees and currently chairs the advisory group to Griffith University’s Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics.

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Rachel Hannam, Assure Programs

Rachel is an organisational psychologist with a PhD in the area of organisational citizenship and professional well-being. Since joining Assure Programs, Rachel has worked with local and state government departments, universities, hospitals, industry groups, insurance, retail and banking organisations in the areas of training and team-building, leadership development, psychometric profiling, recruitment and selection, executive coaching, and program evaluation.

Previously, Rachel has worked as a HR Manager for a specialist law firm conducting recruitment and selection, training, performance appraisal, employee coaching, and employee retention strategies. Rachel has also worked with small start-up companies to develop HR processes and policies, and has provided in-house workshops and seminars across a range of industries.

Rachel enjoys working with individuals and groups to help them identify their behavioural styles and personal values, and to align these with their decisions and goals. She encourages people to become aware of unhelpful belief systems and self-defeating behaviours, and teaches ways to reduce the impact of stressful thoughts and feelings on workplace interactions. By educating people about human behaviour and how it operates within organisational systems, Rachel assists individuals and groups to improve communication and decision-making, and in turn, achieve their personal and team-related goals.

Rachel derives great professional satisfaction from seeing how she has helped people to increase their understanding of themselves and others. As a facilitator, Rachel is engaging and motivating. She uses humour and shares from her own experiences to enhance people’s understanding, as well as make them feel at ease. Rachel’s philosophy is one of encouraging people to take responsibility for their own behaviours and empowering them to make decisions that result in positive changes in their own and others’ working lives.

Cruising through Change: When a change occurs in an organisation, a loss is incurred, ("the old way" of doing things). When this occurs, people go through a range of normal emotions until they are able to reinvest in new work patterns/practices, or alternative jobs. Unfortunately not everyone goes around the spiral at the same time, and some even get stuck in certain emotional stages. What is important is that you realise that these emotions are normal and to be expected when organisational changes occur.

Concepts Covered:

• The different types of change
• The common reactions individuals experience to change
• Strategies for getting unstuck and moving forward, as well as tips on how to deal with
  worry, uncertainty and stress.
• Your questions about dealing with change answered by a psychologist
• A handout covering positive strategies for adjusting through change
• Where to access further confidential advice, support and information

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Madonna King: Award winning journalist

Madonna will be facilitating several sessions on Thursday.

An award winning journalist, Madonna King is one of Queensland’s best-known and regarded commentators and authors. Her weekly column in The Courier-Mail – on issues ranging from the Big Brother phenomenon to the future of our Constitution - is compulsory reading for the State’s decision makers. Last year, after reading one of them, the State Government handed over a $350,000 cheque to the Royal Children’s Hospital. Others, which have revealed battlers fighting injustices, has led to the law being overhauled. It was legal injustices that became the subject when Madonna embarked on a career as an author last year. Her first book Catalyst, based on interviews with more than 130 people, looks at how individuals can join with the media to force politicians to right a wrong. The Bali Nine was the subject of Madonna’s second book (co-authored with journalist Cindy Wockner).

A graduate of the University of Queensland and a fellow of the World Press Institute, Madonna’s 20-year-career has taken her from the police rounds desk of The Courier-Mail to the ABC mornings on 612, the State’s leading current affairs radio program.

Along the way, she has served as national political correspondent for The Courier-Mail, Queensland political correspondent for The Australian, chief-of-staff of The Australian’s Sydney office, led the editorial Olympics planning for News Ltd newspapers, headed up the editorial plan for a free metropolitan newspaper in Australia and served three years as deputy editor of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph. A former visiting fellow in journalism at the Queensland University of Technology and Board member of the Walkley Advisory Board which overseas the industry’s media awards, Madonna has interviewed everyone from prime ministers and premiers to convicted murderers and armed robbers.

She is married with two daughters, aged two and one.

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Margaret Berenyi: General Manager, CorpTech

In February 2009, Margaret Berenyi assumed the role of the General Manager of CorpTech, bringing to CorpTech the perspective of a client of shared service delivery. Prior to this she was the Assistant Director-General, Corporate Services within the then department of Natural Resources and Water. Margaret is leading the whole-of-Government finance and human resource systems development and implementation across government.

Margaret has over 30 years experience in both the Commonwealth and Queensland Public Service. Margaret started her public sector career in the Commonwealth Department of Social Security in the computing arena, initially in Brisbane and then in Canberra. Margaret returned to Queensland in 1980 and joined the State Government Insurance Office (now Suncorp) as a computer programmer.

Margaret’s senior management responsibilities have included information technology, information management, surveying, mapping, Geographic Information Systems and community-based natural resource management. Margaret has been a Queensland representative at the national level for spatial information and natural resource management.

Margaret holds a Bachelor of Business (computing major), Masters of Administration and Masters of Technology Management.

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Mark West and Lyndon Garbutt

Payroll tax and GST are important sources of revenue, directly and indirectly for the States, and are applied to certain government entities, including government corporations, for competition and other reasons.

This session will provide an outline of when these taxes need to be considered by government entities, and provide an update on particular payroll tax and GST issues relevant to government and government corporations.
This session will be co-presented by Mark West and Lyndon Garbutt from McCullough Robertson.

Mark West is a specialist taxation lawyer and a chartered accountant. His background has provided him with a unique combination of legal and accounting skills and experience, which enables him to provide high level technical

advice, whilst appropriately dealing with practical and commercial considerations. Mark’s experience has included all areas of taxation practice, including applications for rulings and other negotiations with the Australian Taxation Office, restructuring advice, prudential taxation reviews, and advice on major transactions. In particular, his background has included senior taxation roles with ‘Big 4’ and mid-tier accounting firms. This prior experience assists him in understanding relevant accounting and practical tax compliance issues, together with the technical legal considerations, when formulating his advice. It also enables him to readily liaise with clients’ accounting advisers. He advises extensively to other accountants and lawyers on high level taxation issues for their clients.
Mark regularly conducts training and presentations on specialist taxation matters for regional and Brisbane accounting and legal firms as well as for the professional bodies. He also serves on industry and government consultative committees involving taxation.

Lyndon Garbutt is a specialist taxation lawyer and a chartered accountant with a unique combination of legal and accounting skills and experience. Lyndon’s experience includes negotiations with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) relating to various matters including lodging objections against assessment of income tax, GST and FBT and applications for private rulings.

In some instances Lyndon’s negotiations with the ATO have resulted in appeals being lodged with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and Lyndon has reached several settlements with the ATO before the commencement of formal AAT proceedings.

Lyndon also negotiates with State revenue authorities regarding the application and interpretation of pay-roll tax legislation.

Lyndon provides advice to clients on a broad range of issues including GST, income tax and capital gains tax. Prior to joining McCullough Robertson, Lyndon worked for both regional and city based accounting firms and had advanced to a managerial level. Accordingly Lyndon has had diversified experience in dealing with the ATO both from an accounting and legal perspective.

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David Ryan and Lee Clayton: Queensland Treasury

David Ryan: Senior Accountant, Queensland Treasury

David Ryan is a chartered accountant and has been working for Queensland Treasury for 1 year. David is currently a Senior Accountant in the Financial Management Branch. Prior to joining Treasury, David gained a wide range of experience working in IT and retail in the private sector, as well as the not-for-profit sector.

Lee Clayton: Principal Accountant, Queensland Treasury

Lee Clayton is a CPA, with 11 years experience in the public sector.

Lee has been with Queensland Treasury for 5 years, and is currently a Principal Accountant in the Financial Management Branch. Lee led the project to review the Financial Administration and Audit Act and subordinate legislation.

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Sue-maree McEnearney - Difficult Conversations Made Easy

How often do you face communication situations you don't like or want? 'Difficult Conversations Made Easy' is a practical, no-nonsense insight into how people relate to each other; what hurts, and what works.

You'll leave with the tools to handle even the most difficult situations with class and style you can be proud of, and other people will admire.

How to:

• be bullet-proof in every situation
• build trust instantly
• elegantly deal with power plays and compliance capers
• quickly and easily resolve existing and potential conflict
• improve the quality of personal and professional relationships
• improve the quality of outcomes
• get more of what you want with less stress, and
• be more powerful even if it seems other people have the power.

Sue-maree is a Chartered Accountant with 20 years experience in public practice. In 1997 she burned her tax act and went on a solo walkabout around the world for a year. She turned her attention from the numbers side of business to the people side of business, specifically the problems people experience in their communications with others. She lives on the Gold Coast, and combines her writing projects and speaking engagements.

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Neil Donaldson: Principal Treasury Analyst, Queensland Treasury

Neil Donaldson has had extensive involvement in Commonwealth taxes through working in the Australian Taxation Office, Chartered Accountancy firm as an Indirect Taxation Manager, and most recently as a Principal Treasury Analyst in Queensland Treasury with responsibility for a range of Commonwealth Taxes including Fringe Benefits Tax.

Neil has the primary role of managing the FBT obligations of the Queensland State Government in conjunction with departmental representatives, and represents Queensland at national forums on FBT.

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Julie Grantham: Director General, Department of Education and Training

Julie was born in Goondiwindi, the second eldest of eight children. Her early teaching career was in Accounting and Computing and Julie taught in a number of south east Queensland schools before entering the administrative stream.

In 1995, Julie was appointed foundation principal at Robina State High School, a school that grew to 1860 students in five years. She was asked to open another new school, Varsity College in 2001, a P-12 College that now has a student population of 2500 students.

Subsequent appointments have been to the roles of Executive Director (Schools), Assistant Director General, Education Queensland and in 2007, to the position of Deputy Director-General, Justice Administration in the Department of Justice and Attorney-General. Julie was appointed as Director-General of the Department on 1 May 2008.

Julie took up the position of Acting Director-General, Department of Education and Training on 26 March 2009 and was appointed to the position on 25 June 2009.

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Rachel Hunter: Director-General of Department of Justice and Attorney-General

Rachel was appointed as Director-General in March 2009 and is the Department’s chief executive, responsible to the Premier and the Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations for the leading and managing of the Department.

Prior to her appointment, Rachel served as Director-General of the Department of Education, Training and the Arts until March 2009 and previously held the position of Director-General of the Department of Justice and Attorney-General from 2003 to 2006. She also served as Queensland’s Public Service Commissioner.

Rachel has extensive experience in the vocational, education and training sector, initially as a teacher and then in a variety of management roles, including Institute Director positions. Most notably, Rachel was the Director of the Southbank Institute of TAFE and concurrently, the Chair of TAFE Queensland.

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Shane Webcke

Shane Webcke finished his Rugby League career with a fairytale ending after the Brisbane Broncos won the 2006 Grand Final. On that night he retired from professional football being name as one of the very best in the business. He retired after four Grand Finals and four Premiership wins.

The Broncos leading big man who started his football career playing under 8’s as a five year-old at Clifton, has dominated all comers, as arguably Rugby League’s leading prop forward. With 263 matches for the Broncos, 20 Tests for Australia and 21 State of Origin appearances for Queensland. Shane Webcke will list the 2006 Grand Final win as his most memorable match. Shane Webcke is, without question, the world's best front rower, and has been for years. He is a player with heart and commitment to whatever team he takes the field with.

Webcke is the consummate team man. He realises better than anyone that there is no easy answer, no easy way to achieve success. Webcke works hard for everything he achieves. He is the cornerstone that the Broncos build their entire team ethos around. Someone who thrives on a challenge, Shane is one player coach Wayne Bennett and the team knew they could rely on when the going got tough.

During the Tri-Nations tournament in England, Shane became one of the very few Australian sportsmen to score a full-page interview in London’s Sunday Times, one of the world’s biggest newspapers. Shane has been awarded The Broncos Player of the Year (for a second time), and the Player’s Player Award.

In April 2005 Shane announced his retirement from representative football, so he could continue his career with the Brisbane Broncos Club. He was able to finish this amazing career in the 2006 Grand Final – every footballer’s dream come true.

Shane will now continue his career in media roles and corporate speaking. In October 2006 Shane releases his book “Warhorse”. His memoirs in the book are both powerful and thought-provoking as he talks about his life and football.

Shane is the Suncorp ‘Sun Wise’ Ambassador as well as a Junior Rugby League Ambassador.

“Shane is in the category of the most exceptional people I’ve ever met”. Wayne Bennett

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Corporate health - Dr Toby Ford

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery
Director: Royal Flying Doctor Service

Dr Toby Ford is a leading expert in the area of corporate health risk management.

He is a nationally acknowledged speaker and presenter on health, lifestyle, stress and motivation. He presents at many key notes, work shops, starter sessions for conferences, company retreats and staff development programs on health risk programming in workplaces. With various television, radio and conference presentations he promotes the virtues of maintaining quality of working life, lifestyle and wellbeing.

After graduating from the University of Queensland Medical School and spending his residency at the Mater Hospital, Dr Ford spent time as a Flying Doctor and in suburban general practice. Interest in prevention of illness, early screening and detection were pursued overseas in the USA and the United Kingdom, giving a good grounding in many facets of worksite health.

Dr Toby Ford is the founder of Ford Health Group a Corporate Health Provider for individuals, employees and organisations throughout Queensland and Australia. His clients include Australian Institute of Bankers, Rio Tinto, Woolworth’s Australia, CPAs., Ernst and Young, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Queensland Government Executive Leadership Program, CSR, Incitec (formerly ICI) Australian Large Herd Association, Raine Horne Real Estate, Tempo, ANZ Bank NAB, Westpac, BHP Billiton, Coles Myer, and ACCA.

Dr Toby Ford is married with two teenage children. A keen potter, rower and supporter of the rural sector, his stories from country general practice and travel abroad lend a good balance to his presentations.

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John Shackleton

A top sports coach with a sports psychology background, John Shackleton shows international business audiences ideas and techniques that exercise and improve the biggest, most powerful muscle in the body: the brain.
Inspire Your Team to achieve their best.

This workshop is for leaders and managers at all levels and it covers the fundamentals of coaching staff to higher levels of performance. It shows that the approach used by international sports coaches to inspire their athletes is much more appropriate in today's business environment than the traditional business coaching model.

A sports coach understands that their athletes will always know more about the task they perform every day than the coach does. That is why a top level sports coach will never "tell" their charges what to do unless specifically asked. Most managers find this approach difficult to follow because the traditional manager/subordinate structure suggests that they are supposed to be the expert and therefore they should be training their staff in what to do.

The truth is that we all learn from our own experience and often have to go through successes and failures ourselves before we can fully understand a new concept. A good manager encourages us to create our own path whilst ensuring it fits into the company's strategies and targets.

This practical, interactive workshop gives leaders the tools to start coaching staff immediately:

• The difference between teaching and coaching
• The drawbacks of the traditional 'business coaching' model
• Self esteem determines performance
• How to raise self esteem in staff
• Recognising the need for coaching rather than training
• The difference between inspiration and motivation
• Six essential practical coaching tips
• How to apply the coaching model immediately.

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Dr Adam Fraser

Dr Adam Fraser is one of Australia’s leading educators, researchers and thought leaders in the area of human performance! In this time he has worked with elite level athletes, the armed forces and business professionals of all levels. For the past 7 years Adam has been working exclusively in the corporate and business world to elevate and sustain the performance of the employees of the companies that hire him. Adam’s work takes many forms from one on one coaching, consulting, to workshops and keynote presentations.

In the last 4 years he has delivered more than 500 presentations to over 40,000 people in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. He has worked in many industries and his clients include, CBA, Westpac, Optus, IBM, ABN AMRO, PWC, Asteron, AON, Tower, Local Government Managers Association, Merck Sharpe & Dohme, Queensland Law Society, and the Department of Education.

His topics included the psychology of performance, improvement of productivity, leadership, engagement of teams, emotional intelligence and emotional regulation, as well as the development and sustainability of high performance cultures.

In addition Dr Adam is CEO of “The Glucose Club” a company that guides and supports individuals into a lifestyle that will improve their quality of life and amplify their mental and physical wellbeing. Each day “The Glucose Club” works with some of Australia’s most influential business leaders to keep them at the top of their game.
He is heavily involved in new research, which ensures he stays on the cutting edge and his material is fresh and relevant. In 2005 He was runner up in the Young Investigator of the Year award at the AAESS conference. In addition Dr Adam is the author of the best selling book “Sugar Daddy”, which explores how we prevent and control metabolic diseases like diabetes and obesity.

Adam is a regular presenter on TV and has his own regular spot on Sky News. He has presented on Channel 7’s Sunrise, Koshie’s Business Builders, Channel 9’s Today show, “What’s good for you” and Close Up in Auckland. In June 2006 Adam was featured in the workspace section of the Australian Financial Review. He has also contributed to Business Review Weekly (BRW) and Human Capitol magazine. He previously had a regular radio spot on ABC 702 and has completed countless interviews on radio programs all over Australia.

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Closing presenter - Lehmo

Believe it or not, Lehmo started off his professional life as a Chartered Accountant. For many years – he says too many - Lehmo lived his life crunching numbers…until he found the world of entertainment. Now, Lehmo spends his time working as a corporate comedian and MC, as well as entertaining the state and nation through his regular spot as one of the co-hosts on SAFM’s Breakfast Show and Network Ten’s Before the
Game.

Lehmo is one of Australia's most experienced and widely travelled comedians. Until 2007 he found himself waking up at a ridiculous hour and having a listening audience at 6am each weekday morning on SAFM’s Breakfast Show – Milly & Lehmo In the Morning. Now he co-hosts the MMM Radio Network weekday Afternoon Drive Show
with Wil Anderson, and the AFL Footy Review program on Network 10, After the Game, on Saturday Nights.

Aside from regularly headlining the top venues in Australia, Lehmo’s extraordinary knack of making people laugh has seen him jet around the world to excite audiences in New York, London, Edinburgh, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpar, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Lehmo recently broke the Guinness World Record for the most jokes told in an hour (549) beating the previous record by 50 jokes. When he isn’t making people laugh on the radio or on a stage, you can find Lehmo engaging in his other passion (talking) football, each Saturday on Network Ten’s Before The Game. Lehmo has also had regular guest spots on The Fat, The Glasshouse and has appeared on Hey Hey It's Saturday, Headliners and ROVE Live.

Lehmo's live credits across the U.K include the 1996 and 1997 Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, the Comedy Store and Jongleurs - the largest chain of comedy clubs in Britain, and The Boston Comedy Club and The Gotham Comedy Club both in New York City. Overseas television demand for Lehmo has seen him appear on England's BBC
TV Comedy Showcase and as a regular compere on Britain's longest running television stand up show Stand up Live.

Lehmo has shared the stage with the likes of Kenny Kramer (the original Kramer), Damon Wayons, Rich Hall, Merrick & Rosso, Jimeoin, Greg Fleet, Ross Noble, Adam Hills, Wil Anderson and Dave Hughes.

Having worked as a Chartered Accountant both in Australia and in London before taking up comedy full time, Lehmo is perfectly qualified to perform at Corporate Functions or prepare Corporate hoaxes.

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