Leadership

Ms Annwyn Godwin was appointed as the inaugural CEO of the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) on 1 January 2018.

Ms Godwin has previously held the dual appointments of Australian Public Service Merit Protection Commissioner and Parliamentary Service Merit Protection Commissioner over two terms since 2008.

Ms Godwin joined the Australian Public Service in 1990 and has extensive experience in corporate and related fields. Over her career she has served in the Senior Executive Service in a number of agencies and departments including Customs, Immigration and Agriculture. She has also served as Norfolk Island Public Service Commissioner.

Chair—Ms Jillian Segal AO

Ms Segal has a broad range of experience both in the public and private sectors, particularly in the fields of governance, remuneration and audit. She is currently Director of Rabobank Australia, Director of the Sydney Jewish Community Centre, Chair of the General Sir John Monash Foundation, Chair of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (NSW), Director of the Grattan Institute, a Member of the International Board of the Weizmann Institute of Science and Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism.

Ms Segal has a BA LL.B from the University of New South Wales and an LL.M from Harvard Law School. She also has a Hon. LL.D from the University of New South Wales.

Ms Segal was a partner at the law firm Allens, then a Commissioner and later Deputy Chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), after which she became a review member of the Dawson Review into the Trade Practices Act. In 2003, she set out to pursue a non-executive career. Since that time, she has held a range of corporate and government advisory board positions.

Ms Segal was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2019 for distinguished service to the banking and financial regulation sectors, to not-for profit organisations, and to women, having previously been awarded a Centenary Medal in 2003.

Member—The Hon Dennis Cowdroy AO KC

Mr Cowdroy is a former Justice of the Federal Court of Australia, having served from 2006 to 2014. During that period, and until 2017, he was an Additional / Acting Justice of the Supreme Court of the ACT. Prior to that he was a Justice of the NSW Land and Environment Court.

Mr Cowdroy has a strong and enduring interest in administrative law having served as Judge Advocate of the Australian Defence Force and in various appeal tribunals, including the Defence Force Discipline Appeals Tribunal and with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Having previously been a Presidential Member of the AAT, he is currently a member of the Arbitration Panel NSW Government and Deputy President Mental Health Review Tribunal.

Justice Cowdroy is also an Accredited National Mediator and has previously been Chairman of the Australian Electoral Commission. He was made Queen’s Council in 1989 and became a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Returned Services League (RSL) of Australia as well as the legal community in 1995.

Member—The Hon Gary Gray AO

Mr Gray has an extensive public policy and political background. He was National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party from 1993 to 2000. He served as a Federal parliamentarian from 2007 to 2016 and as Special Minister of State and Minister for the Public Service and Integrity from 2010 until 2013, and Minister for Resources and Energy, Minister for Tourism and Minister for Small Business in 2013. Mr Gray was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 and was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2003.

Mr Gray was Ambassador to Ireland from 2020 to 2024. Mr Gray’s business background spans two decades, beginning as Executive Director at the WA Institute of Medical Research. He served as Director of Corporate Affairs at Woodside Energy until 2007; Senior Executive of Australia’s largest oil and gas company, Woodside Energy, which he represented before governments and customers on four continents. Until June 2020, Mr Gray was a Senior Executive at Mineral Resources Ltd in Perth; a board member of the Australian Submarine Corporation; a management committee member at the Perth Astronomical Observatory; and a trustee of the largest charity in Australia, Telethon Trust. He is currently a member of Civmec Board of Directors.

Member—Dr Julianne Jaques KC

Dr Jaques is a barrister practicing in the areas of taxation, commercial and administrative law. She maintains chambers in both Melbourne and Sydney and has appeared in the High Court and all superior courts in Victoria and New South Wales.

Also a Chartered Accountant, Dr Jaques has extensive experience in public administration, corporate governance and audit, and served as senior taxation adviser to the Assistant Treasurer from 1999 to 2001. She holds a Doctor of Juridical Science from the University of Melbourne.

In March 2020 The Tax Institute awarded Dr Jaques their Chartered Tax Adviser of the Year. Dr Jaques is a member of the Board of Taxation and a former member of the Tax Practitioners Board.

Ms Holly Kramer—ex officio Member 

Ms Kramer is a Member of IPEA by virtue of the office of President of the Remuneration. 

Holly is an experienced non-executive Director and chief executive, with extensive experience in retail and consumer markets across a range of industries. She is the former CEO of Australian retailer, Best & Less and has more than 25 years’ experience in general management, marketing and sales, including roles at the Ford Motor Company (in the US and Australia), Telstra Corporation and Pacific Brands. Holly was previously Deputy Chair of Australia Post, Chair of Lendi Group and director of Abacus Property Group (2018 to November 2022), AMP Limited, former director of the Goodes-O'Loughlin Foundation and former Pro Chancellor of Western Sydney University. In her role as Chair of the Board Sustainability Committee, Holly is engaged with numerous sustainability activities. Holly is a director of agtech start-up Nbryo Pty Ltd and a Senior Advisor to climate investment firm Pollination. 

Other roles: Director of Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited (since May 2020), ANZ Group Holdings Limited (since 1 August 2023), President of the Commonwealth Remuneration Tribunal (June 2024) and Chair of the Susan McKinnon Foundation Advisory Board (2024).