Board of Directors
Alan Colegate, Chair
Alan Colegate is an Executive Director with Main Roads Western Australia and leads the strategy and communications functions. He also represents Australia and New Zealand on an International Committee looking at the Performance of Road and Transport Administrations. Alan has been actively involved with the ARA for more than 15 years including as a Divisional Coordinator and Member of the Awards Committee. He was appointed ARA Chair in 2021 and has continued as a Sector Coordinator and a member of the Awards Committee.
Bronwyn Wellings BEc FCPA FFTP GAICD, Deputy Chair
Bronwyn Wellings is an experienced executive and non-executive director with significant experience in the Finance and Treasury functions of major multinational and Australian companies, including BP, Amcor, OZ Minerals and VicForests, and not-for-profit Boards. Bronwyn has a strong background in all aspects of finance and a particular interest in corporate finance, strategic planning, risk management, governance and integrated reporting. She is currently Chair of the Finance, Audit, Risk and Remuneration Committee of the ETU (Victorian Branch), Chair of the St. Andrew’s Foundation and a member of Victoria University’s Compliance, Audit and Risk Committee. She joined the ARA Board in 2020.
Ray Lane BComm MPA FIPAA FAIDC MIIA, Company Secretary and Board Secretary
Ray Lane is principal of Ray Lane Consulting which specialises in service delivery performance, organisational and management enhancement, risk management and reporting frameworks. During his extensive career in state and local government he held senior administrative positions covering stakeholder engagement, policy development, strategic and operational planning; performance review and evaluation; and development of governance frameworks. Ray is committed to a professional public sector and held the position of National Secretary for the Institute of Public Administration Australia for thirteen years. Ray became an ARA Adjudicator in 2007 and Coordinator in 2009. He joined the ARA Board in 2014 and is Company and Board Secretary.
Tulip Penney BA BPsych(Hons) MBA, Director and Chair of Awards Committee
Tulip Penney has had a long and successful career across all levels of government in Australia, as well as in the community, not-for-profit and private sectors. Over the past 35 years she has specialised in governance, risk management, strategic planning, Portfolio Budget Statements, Parliamentary liaison and performance reporting, as well as evaluation, communications, and corporate branding and publishing. Her passion and interest in performance reporting led her to produce award-winning documents, and strong involvement in report adjudication and education activities. Tulip became an ARA Adjudicator in 2017, a Coordinator in 2022 and joined the ARA Board in 2023.
Stephen Varady CSM MAPublicSectLead GCertPubSecMgmt, Director
Stephen Varady is respected nationally within the corporate governance industry as a facilitator, public speaker and an authority in performance reporting. Stephen is considered to be very knowledgeable in the field of annual reporting. He has provided guidance and advice to a great many organisations across Australia and New Zealand. Stephen became an ARA Adjudicator in 2008, a Coordinator in 2012 and joined the ARA Board in 2015.
Dr Maria Balatbat BSc MCom PhD FCPA CA, Director
Maria Balatbat is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Accounting, Auditing and Taxation and a Founding member of the Collaboration for Energy and Environmental Markets (CEEM) at the Business School, University of New South Wales Sydney. Maria has over 30 years of experience in accounting as a practitioner, researcher and educator, specialising in the areas of corporate reporting including sustainability and integrated reporting and environmental and social accounting. Maria is also a member of the Environmental Sustainability Steering Committee at UNSW and the Technical Working Group at the Climate Disclosure Standards Board. She is an elected member of CPA Australia’s NSW Divisional Council. Maria joined the ARA board in September 2019.
Sylvia Bell BSc MA MRes GAICD, Director
Sylvia Bell is an experienced corporate and communications executive with a career that includes stakeholder engagement, issues management, strategy development, governance and public affairs. She has had extensive experience in health, research and environmental organisations in both the government and private sectors. She is a former National President of the Public Relations Institute of Australia. Sylvia is currently undertaking PhD research into legislative initiatives to achieve gender parity in executive management in Australian companies. Sylvia became an ARA Adjudicator in 2017 and joined the ARA Board as a Director in 2018.
Andrew Crawford FAICD FCA FCPA MACS CP, Director
Andrew Crawford is a senior consultant, a non-executive director and a casual academic working with several universities, colleges and health organisations in Australia. Andrew specialises in the areas of strategy execution, project management, IT, HR and performance measurement. Andrew has worked in international banking, insurance and wealth management, emergency services and management consulting prior to his current career. Andrew became an ARA Adjudicator in 2009 and a Coordinator in 2013. He joined the ARA Board in 2018.