Fostering National Pride

The Australia Day Council of NSW is the premier organisation in Australia delivering inspirational events and programs which celebrate being Australian. The ADCNSW Council Members are as follows:

The Hon. Michael Egan FAICD

The Hon. Michael Egan has been Chairman of the Australia Day Council of New South Wales since 2006.

He is currently also Chancellor of Macquarie University, Chairman of the Centenary Institute of Cancer Medicine and Cell Biology, a Governor of the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, a Director of the Rein Foundation and a Director of State Super Financial Services.

He was the longest serving Treasurer of New South Wales (1995 to 2005) and also held the portfolios of Minister of State Development and Minister of Energy.

He has served in both houses of the New South Wales Parliament. He was Leader of the Opposition in the State’s Upper House from 1991 to 1995 and Leader of the Government from 1995 to 2005.

Kris Neill

A former journalist and senior political adviser, Kris Neill has almost 20 years of media and issues management experience and is currently the Head of the Corporate Communications Division at Macquarie Bank.

Kris has responsibility for the Bank's issues management and internal communications strategies in Australia and internationally.  She has oversight of the Bank’s brand and marketing and media relations functions and responsibility for government relations. 

Previously, Kris was Director of Corporate Affairs at News Limited and Chief of Staff to the former Premier of New South Wales, the Hon. Bob Carr, for whom she worked for 12 years.  Kris has also held senior advisory roles to ministers including former Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Brian Howe and former NSW Minister, the Hon. Frank Walker.

Kris is a Director of the Tourism and Transport Forum;  a Member of the NSW Australia Day Council;  a Director of the Macquarie Bank Foundation and Macquarie Bank Sports and a Director of the Australian Science and Media Centre.

David O’Connor AM

David O’Connor has had over forty years experience in the NSW Public Service. He has previously been Director General and Commissioner for fair Trading.

David has worked for the government on a number of events including the Captain Cook Bicentenary 1970, Opening of the Sydney Opera House 1973, the 1988 Bicentenary and the Olympic Games Bid.

He is a member of the Australia Day Council of NSW and a member of the Senate of the Australian Catholic University. Most recently. David was Executive Director, World Youth Day 2008 Secretariat and has been involved in all three previous Papal Visits.

Neil Flett
Neil Flett is the Executive Chairman of Rogen International.

Neil's background before Rogen is in journalism and PR. Within Rogen, Neil specialises in pitching for major accounts and consulting to senior management in all aspects of interpersonal communication.
 
Neil has been involved with Australia Day since 1997 and is involved because he is proudly Australian and is fascinated in watching and supporting the growth of our national spirit. He is particularly interested in how the Australia Day Council of NSW, through its communication, can be best used to create an environment in which the Australian character can shape the way our pride develops.

John Biffin
Marine Pilot and Master Mariner.

John has been involved with Australia Day for twelve years and been on the Australia Day Council since 1996.
 
He very much enjoys being involved and seeing all Australia Day events including those on and around the Harbour going from strength to strength.

Bruce Phillips

Bruce Phillips’ 26 years of audit and advisory experience with KPMG has involved working with clients in a broad range of industries such as telecommunications, broadcasting, publishing, e-commerce, banking and finance, energy, mining and manufacturing.  Bruce sits on KPMG’s National Executive Committee and has responsibility for the National Accounts program, a program which involves monitoring services to some of the firm’s largest clients.

Bruce holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants a well as the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

Robbie Sefton

Robbie Sefton operates a national communication organisation that develops public relations and marketing campaigns for large corporate and government organisations that need to reach people living and working in rural, regional and remote Australia.  Robbie also co-owns a farming and grazing property at Manilla in North-West NSW.

Most recently Robbie has had board positions on the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation; Australian Wool Services (the Woolmark Company) and is a member of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Regional Women’s Advisory Council.

Having her roots in rural Australia, Robbie is in a unique position to drive change from within the industry and is passionate about running a high level, strategic national consultancy from the bush which creates career opportunities for young people. 

Angelos Frangopoulos

Angelos Frangopoulos is the Chief Executive Officer of Australian News Channel Pty Ltd, the leading provider of 24 hour digital news services in Australia and New Zealand.                           

He joined the company in July 1996, 5 months after the channel's inception.

After serving as Chief of Production, he was appointed Managing Editor in 2000 and then in 2004 to the role of Chief Executive Officer.

Australian News Channel Pty Ltd is a joint venture of PBL Media, Seven Media and British Sky Broadcasting.

ANC produces a wide range of digital news services, including Sky News Australia, Sky News New Zealand, Sky News Active, Sky News Now for mobiles, Sky News Podcasting and Sky News Online.

Before joining Australian News Channel, he held positions at British Sky Broadcasting, the Nine Network and Prime Television Canberra.

He began his career in the media at Mid State Television Orange after completing a Bachelor of Arts in Communication at Mitchell College, Bathurst and was actively involved in the developing years of Community Radio in Sydney, Bathurst and Orange.

Mr Frangopoulos is a member of the Council of Charles Sturt University.

Jim Carroll

Jim Carroll has been Network Ten's Head of News and Public Affairs since 2005.

Jim joined the Network in 2000 stepping away from a long career in journalism to take an executive role managing Ten’s corporate affairs and investor relations strategies.

He began his media career as a newspaper reporter before moving to radio and ultimately into television news where his former positions included European Bureau Chief, Foreign Editor and an award winning Executive Producer.

Along the way Jim completed an economics degree and served as a senior political advisor to the New South Wales Government.

Jim is a Director of the Australian Science Media Centre and involved in a range of community activities having been president of his local school council and junior rugby club, a sport in which he is a qualified coach and referee.

Mark Warren

As Manager, Commercial Office for NSW and ACT, Mark Warren is responsible for sales and marketing of products and services to our domestic and business customers.

He is also responsible for the performance of our channels to those markets i.e. Post Offices, Business Centres, Call Centre and Bulk Mail Acceptance Units.

Mark has been with Australia Post since 1993, commencing as an executive in the operations side of the business.  In 1998 he was promoted to the position of Manager Retail NSW/ACT, and then in October 2000 he was again promoted to his current position.

In the last 5 years he has focussed the commercial business unit on its four key consumer segments, ensuring that the commitments we make to customers are met by the channels through which they are serviced.

As the largest commercial business unit in Australia Post, the team have been instrumental in driving the continually improving results, both in financial and quality measures, as reported by our organisation.

Widely travelled, Mark enjoys reading Autobiographies and playing competitive golf.  He is a member of the Organising Committee of Juvenile Diabetes NSW, and is a board member of "The Best of The Best" Charity.  He is also on the VisAsia Council of the NSW Art Gallery.

David Field FAICD

David Field, FAICD has extensive Board Chairmanship, Non Executive Director & Chief Executive experience gained from a 40 year Corporate Career at both National and International level.

Current Board Appointments

*   Managing Director, Field & Associates Pty Ltd (07-Present). Providing Consulting Services in a range of areas of Corporate Governance
*   Non Executive Chairman Norton White Lawyers & Notaries (2007-Present). Trade & Transport, Banking & Finance, Corporate Recovery, Insurance & Property.
*   Australia Day Council of NSW (2008-Present Appointment Premier of NSW) 
*   A Group Chairman within the CEO Circle (2004-Present).  Brings together CEOs from large companies for peer group mutual advice and support.
*   Director, The Merchant Navy War Memorial Fund Ltd (2004-Present Appointment by NSW Government Executive Council).  A Company Limited by Guarantee providing financial assistance for Memorials to Merchant Navy Personnel throughout Australia.
*   Director, United Way Sydney (2008-Present).  A Public Company Limited by Guarantee / Part of Global network that Partners with a range of corporates to deliver Employee Engagement Strategies via UW Corporate Community Involvement Program.
*   Director, of The Royal Exchange of Sydney (1998-Present).  A Company Limited by Guarantee operating the Exchange Club of Sydney & Promotion of Commerce in NSW.
*   Trustee, The Sydney Bethel Union (2004-Present Appointment by NSW Government Executive Council). Public Charitable organization Est 1851 by Act of NSW Parliament to provide for welfare of Seafarers of all nationalities visiting the Ports of NSW.

Former Board Appointments

*   Immediate Past Chairman Sydney Ports Corporation (1998-2006 serving three consecutive terms). A State Owned Corporation)
*   Director Sydney Sea Pilots (2000-2006)

Corporate Career Australia & Overseas

*   Consultant in Executive Search & Selection (98-07) with two International Search & Selection Companies. This included two years as Australian Head of an Interim Executive Practice and a simultaneous period as Managing Partner of that firm’s Korean office.
*   Interim Managing Director & CEO (Apr–Sept 1999) of Tourism & Leisure Division of the Australian publicly listed company, Amalgamated Holdings Limited (AHL) with Board of Director responsibilities.
*   Managing Director / CEO Blue Star Line (Aust) Pty Ltd (96-98) a subsidiary of The Vestey Group, UK

Container Shipping Trades: Australia, Far East, South East Asia, Sub-Continent, and the  Middle East and shared responsibility for the company’s substantial East and West Coast North American shipping interests.

*   Chairman Blue Star Line (Asia) Pty Ltd (96-98) Container Shipping Trades: Australia, Japan, South Korea & China