Our board
Watertrust Australia's Board of Directors has been selected to provide the independence, authority and knowledge required to govern the organisation and work with all our stakeholders.
The Board is supported by an Influence Advisory Committee of well-connected and influential thought leaders and an Expert Advisory Panel of eminent water, catchment and linked policy area experts.
Watertrust Australia will be incubated at the Australian Academy of Science for at least our first five years of operation to help us engage with deep expertise from a wide range of disciplines. We will work with all of Australia's learned academies.
Our inaugural Chair and Board of Directors have been appointed and more information about them is provided below.
Kathryn Fagg AO FTSE
Chair
Kathryn Fagg AO is a respected and experienced director and chair, with extensive senior commercial and operational leadership experience across a range of industries.
Martyn Myer AO
Director
Martyn Myer AO is a prominent Melbourne businessman and philanthropist with over 25 years of experience in executive and non-executive board and chair roles in private and public companies, not-for-profit organisations and philanthropic foundations.
Paul Conroy
Director
Paul commenced as CEO of The Ian Potter Foundation in March 2023. Paul holds Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Law (Hons) degrees from the University of Melbourne and has extensive experience in both the commercial world and the not-for-profit sector.
Craig Connelly
Director
Craig Connelly is the former CEO of The Ian Potter Foundation, currently employed as a Social Investment Advisory Partner with Perpetual Limited. Craig is an accomplished financier and businessman, now dedicated to contributing to the community sector.
Prof Peter Yu AM
Director
Peter Yu is a Yawuru man from Broome in the Kimberley region in Western Australia with over 40 years’ experience in Indigenous development in the Kimberley and at the state, national and international level. Peter was a key negotiator on behalf of the Yawuru Native Title Holders with the Western Australian State Government over the 2010 Yawuru Native Title Agreement.
Leith Boully
Director
Leith Boully is the Independent Chair for the Review of the Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan Land Management Targets, Interim Chair of the Water Security CRC bid, and a member of the Australian Water Partnerships Advisory Committee.
Dr Deborah Nias
Director
Deb Nias is CEO of the Murray Darling Wetlands Working Group, a former Director of the International River Foundation and Wetland Care Australia. Deb brings 25 years’ experience in natural resource and landscape management in Australia, and much of this work has had a substantial focus on engagement with a wide range of stakeholders.
Robbie Sefton AM
Director
Robbie Sefton AM is Managing Director of Sefton & Associates, a national strategic communications consultancy, and a partner of Nangandie Pastoral Company.
Prof Rob Vertessy FTSE
Director
Rob Vertessy is an Honorary Enterprise Professor (Water Resources) in the School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne. He chairs the Great Barrier Reef Restoration Program, the Water and Environment Research Program for the Murray–Darling Basin, and the Committee on Social Economic and Environmental Sciences for the Murray–Darling Basin Authority.
Tim Gordon
Director
Tim Gordon is Executive Partner at Gilbert + Tobin where he advises listed companies and private equity fund managers in relation to mergers and acquisitions, capital raisings, joint ventures, restructurings and regulatory investigations. Tim has extensive experience advising on transactions around critical infrastructure assets including natural resources and agriculture.