Board, governance, policies & procurement

Chair

Rebecca McKenzie

Rebecca is an accomplished public sector leader with a successful career at executive level in Australia, UK and the Republic of Ireland. Rebecca joined the Zoos Victoria Board in July 2018. CEO at City of Glen Eira since February 2016, Rebecca has held CEO and executive roles across local and state government, and in the higher education sector. Rebecca is passionate about creating resilient communities with a sense of pride of place. A values-based leader who invests in her people, Rebecca builds strong relationships at all levels, and acts as a mentor and coach for emerging leaders. Rebecca also sits on the South East Water Customer and Community Advisory Council and Advisory Council and the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Gender Equality. Rebecca’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts, Masters of Science and she is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Deputy Chair

Tony Hallam

Tony Hallam is a Chartered Accountant, whose career has included management and leadership positions over 20 years at PwC, including nine years as a Partner. He moved into the sports and major event industry in 2005 and has held senior executive positions within golf, football (FFA), and cricket, as well as his Chair and Board positions with Melbourne Stadiums Limited (Etihad now Marvel Stadium), Melbourne Boomers WNBL Club, and Yarra Bend Golf group of companies. He was one of the Founding Shareholders and Executive Chairman of Confirmations Asia Pacific that represented Confirmation.com (2013-2019) with offices in Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.  He has also been a Board Director at the Brotherhood of St Laurence since October 2018 and is the Chair of its Financial and Investment Committee.

Members

Dr Jennifer Beer 

Dr Jennifer Beer (BSc BVMS MBA) is the head of 1800RESPECT at Telstra Health, working collaboratively with specialist organisations to eliminate violence and harassment in all settings. She is a proud Darlot woman with a family heritage from the Western Desert region of Australia. With a Masters in Business Administration from Melbourne Business School, she is a motivated, team-orientated leader with diverse experience including veterinary medicine and surgery; community development and engagement; international sport; and roles in strategy, transformation and product delivery at Telstra and, previously, as Head of Education and Health, Regional and Remote at NBN Co, focussing on leading the development and implementation of regional and remote education and health strategies nationally. She is also passionate about sport, and was recently inducted into the WA Hall of Champions for Volleyball.

Dr Teresa De Fazio

Dr Teresa De Fazio has extensive experience in inclusion and diversity, and a strong background as an academic in the field of Education. She is the Director of Intersect Global Partners working with government, industry and community to lead and support a range of inclusive and equity practices. She served two terms as a Commissioner of the Victorian Multicultural Commission. She continues to be an Adjunct Fellow of the Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities at Victoria University where she worked for over 22 years, and continues to supervise research students and undertake research. In the Australia Day Honours 2021, she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her services to tertiary education. Among other roles, she is a Board member of Multicultural Arts, Victoria, works as Editor-in-Chief for Segmento Magazine, Regional Advisory Committee Member for the Victorian Multicultural Commission, Member of the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies Consortia, Melbourne Victory Football Club Ambassador, Asian Football Cup Ambassador and Love of Languages Ambassador. She is an advisor to the Society for South Sudanese Professionals Association and a past Board Member of the Edmund Rice Community and Refugee Services. She continues to work closely with community and refugee organisation and she is passionate about the protection of wildlife and contributing to a just and healthy world.

Greg Smith AM

Greg has had extensive experience in conciliation and arbitration, both in Australia and overseas, through his previous roles with the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, Industrial Relations Commission and Fair Work Commission. His skills in resolving industrial disputes across a range of industry sectors through conciliation, mediation and arbitration span more than 30 years. His non-executive Director experience includes being the Board Chair of the Country Fire Authority and a Director of Ambulance Victoria.

The Hon Marsha Thomson

The Hon Marsha Thomson is a former Member for the Victorian Parliament. She worked as a Research Officer, Electorate Officer, Manager and Ministerial Advisor. She was elected to the Legislative Council for Melbourne North Province in September 1999; and elected to the Legislative Assembly for Footscray in November 2006, November 2010 and November 2014. In her inaugural speech to Parliament, she said: “Government is responsible for providing social cohesion where everyone feels they have a place within”. She served as a Minister for Small Business and Consumer Affairs and was the first woman in Australia to hold the portfolio of Minister for Information, Communications and Technology; she was the first female Jewish minister in Australia and was Special Advisor to the Premier Daniel Andrews in the areas of trade and innovation. Since retiring from parliament in 2018, she has become a strategic consultant. She has been a Board Member of the National Ageing Research Institute since September 2019. 

Vijaya Vaidyanath

Vijaya Vaidyanath is the Chief Executive Officer of the City of Yarra in Melbourne since 2012.  Prior to this role, Vijaya spent more than decade as CEO at Waitakere City Council in New Zealand, and as the CEO of Rodney District Council in New Zealand.  She is a highly experienced Board/Advisory group member that includes public, private, NFPs, universities and international banks. She is currently a Board Member on Procurement Australasia and Parks Victoria. Vijaya has exemplary qualifications including a Senior Executive Fellow of the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, MBA from JMKatz Graduate School of Business in Pittsburgh USA, Master of Arts (Economics) and a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from the University of Bangalore. Her belief in building coalitions and developing the capability of the community has been her avowed work philosophy. She is renowned for her innovation, integrity, inspiring leadership style, ability to deliver results and has enormous commitment to social justice and value-based leadership.

Brendan Wintle

Brendan Wintle is Professor of Conservation Ecology at the University of Melbourne and the Director of Australia’s National Environmental Science Programme (NESP) Threatened Species Recovery Research Hub. He develops quantitative methods to support conservation decision-making and policy. He teaches Applied Ecology and Environmental Risk Assessment, publishes on monitoring design, cost-efficient conservation spending, actions for preventing extinction, and species distributions under environmental change. He has held numerous Australian Research Council (ARC) Fellowships and large grants, including as theme leader of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions.

Professor Ken Hinchcliff

A graduate of the Melbourne Veterinary School, Professor Ken Hinchcliff is former Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Melbourne. He is currently the Warden (CEO) of Trinity College, Melbourne. 

He is the author of more than 190 peer-reviewed scientific publications and is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, the highest ranked veterinary clinical journal. In addition to his veterinary and education interests, he has a lifelong fascination with conservation, and was a member of the Zoological Parks and Gardens board from 2008 to 2021, before re-joining in October 2022.