Board members
Dr Iain Ross AO (Chair)
Dr Iain Ross AO is chair of the Net Zero Economy Authority, a member of the Monetary Policy Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia and an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.
Dr Ross was a Federal Court judge and led the Fair Work Commission for over a decade from March 2012 to November 2022. Prior to his appointment as President of the FWC he was a judge of the Victorian Supreme Court and President of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Dr Ross has been a partner at Corrs Chambers Westgarth and precipitate served as a Vice President of the AIRC for 12 years, prior to that appointment he was an Assistant Secretary at the ACTU.
In 2023 Dr Ross served as a special advisor to the Victorian Apprenticeship Taskforce and in 2024 was a joint reviewer on the Strategic Review of the Australian Apprenticeship Incentives System.
Ms Michele O’Neil
Ms O’Neil is President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions and brings over 30 years’ experience as a union official and leader.
Before being elected as ACTU President in 2018, Ms O’Neil represented workers in the textile, clothing and footwear industry and was the National Secretary of the Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia, where she represented her union nationally and internationally. She has extensive experience of the impact of industry change on workers, communities and the economy.
Ms O’Neil is the Deputy Chair of Australian Super and is a member of the Governing Body of the International Labor Organisation and Vice President of the International Trade Union Confederation.
Mr Anthony Maher
Mr Maher was general president of the Mining and Energy Union for over 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 United Nations 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 Australian Government’s Carbon Capture and Storage Taskforce, the Prime Minister’s Energy Efficiency Advisory Group and the Australian Government Roundtable on Climate Change.
Ms Anna Skarbek
Ms 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 adviser 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 the State Electricity Commission of Victoria.
Professor Robynne Quiggin AO
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.
Prof Quiggin is a member of the Wiradyuri nation. She has chaired the boards of the NSW Aboriginal Housing Office and 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 and First Australians Capital.
Ms Zoe Whitton
Ms Whitton is chair of the Centre for Policy Development and a director of the Investor Group on Climate Change. She is also a senior advisor for Impact Ventures, a member of the advisory group of the Sydney Environment Institute, and a mentor at EnergyLab.
Ms Whitton was previously a member of the executive team at Pollination. She served on the governing council of the AICD climate governance initiative, and as a member of the advisory committee for the National Hydrogen Strategy, the expert panel for the Powering the Regions Fund, and the Technical Advisory Group for the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative. She was previously the head of ESG Research for Citi in Asia Pacific and supported investors on climate and sustainability at Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Mr Mike Mrdak AO
Mr Mrdak currently holds a number of non-executive director roles in the transport, infrastructure and regional development sectors. He is chair of the Airports Development Group of companies, including the NT Airports Group. He is a director of NBN Co and the Western Sydney International Airport Pty Ltd.
Mr Mrdak had an extensive senior career in the Australian Public Service, including as Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development and the Department of Communications and the Arts.
Mr Mrdak was made an Officer of 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.