Welcoming new Council Member Anne Howells; congratulations to Teresa Corbin; farewelling Rohan Doyle

Anne Howells

Anne Howells, the General Manager of the TIO Governance Team at Telstra, has joined the TIO Council as Telstra’s representative. Having worked at Telstra for five years, initially as the Assistant Company Secretary with responsibility for compliance, Anne is a chartered accountant by profession. Before moving to Telstra, Anne was at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she gained extensive experience in governance, risk management and compliance. Anne is looking forward to blending her experience at Telstra with her work on the Council to provide good outcomes for telecommunications customers and the wider telecommunications industry.

Teresa Corbin

Congratulations to Teresa Corbin, who was recently appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN). She will formally commence this role in July. The establishment of ACCAN as the peak consumer body in telecommunications forms part of a raft of measures recently initiated by the Federal Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, which also included new powers being granted to ACMA.

Farewell Rohan Doyle

Rohan Doyle, who has been associated with the TIO on both the Board and Council since 2004, recently resigned. Formerly the CEO of US Telecom, Rohan joined the Council in January 2008, after having served on the Board as a representative of medium and small service providers for three years. While on the Council, Rohan was involved in commissioning a report that is examining the TIO’s complaint handling process from end to end. The staff, Council and Board of the TIO wish Rohan well as he takes on new challenges.

TIO Council members

Changes to the TIO Board

In April the Board appointed Ms Georgia-Kate Schubert as alternate director to Mr John Rohan. Ms Schubert is the General Manager of Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility at Vodafone Australia. She has been employed at Vodafone Australia since 2002.

Also in April, Telstra appointed Ms Leisa Fielding as a Director with her predecessor, Mr John Parkin, now filling the role of her alternate. Ms Fielding, who is Manager of Business Transformation for Telstra, had previously been the alternate for Mr Parkin.

In a significant development, at its meeting in May the Board invited current Chairman and Vodafone nominated director Mr John Rohan to fill an additional director’s position for a three-year term, commencing on 1 July 2009. “This new position will put the TIO Board in a good position to meet the increasing demands on its skills and structure,” said Board director Mr Trevor Hill. “With significant and continued growth in a complex telecommunications and difficult financial environment, this position will strengthen the Board’s ability to develop plans for the future, particularly succession plans, and will further strengthen our existing capabilities”. Mr Rohan has considerable telecommunications industry experience and expertise in corporate and financial management. His career has featured CEO level appointments and he has also had many years of service both as chairman and director of public companies.

TIO Board members