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 the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Director of Rabobank Australia, and Director of the Sydney Jewish Community Centre, Chair of the General Sir John Monash Foundation, Immediate Past President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Chair of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (NSW), Director of the Grattan Institute, and a Member of the International Board of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

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—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.

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 Deputy President, a part-time appellate member of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and member of the Arbitration Panel NSW Government.

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 appointed Ambassador to Ireland in July 2020. 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.