Movers & Shakers: One police commissioner in, two out
ACT pinches fire and ambulance chiefs from NSW, board movements in Queensland, police commissioner movements in Victoria, NSW, and Tonga.
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Ruth Sparks has been promoted to assistant director-general for enterprise workforce at the Australian Submarine Agency.
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs has named Alicja Mosbauer chief data officer.
The next general counsel for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s environment and dispute resolution branch is Hoang (Lam) Nguyen.
ACCC recruits CEO
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has appointed Sarah Proudfoot CEO.
Proudfoot started with the ACCC and the Australian Energy Regulator in 2005, when she joined the agency’s Infocentre.
She has since held a range of senior roles in the agency, including executive general manager of the ACCC’s infrastructure division between 2020 and 2024.
Proudfoot became executive general manager of the National Anti-Scam Centre in August last year and has been acting CEO since February 2025.
AFP picks commissioner for Tonga
Geoff Turner will succeed Shane McLennan as the Australian Federal Police’s (AFP) second commissioner of Tonga Police.
Turner is AFP’s commander of specialist operations. He has 34 years’ experience in community policing, recruit training, and national operations, including postings to Timor-Leste and Afghanistan.
The appointment was approved by King Tupou VI this week as part of the Tonga-Australia Police Partnership.
Turner starts on Monday.
NSW police commissioner retires early
NSW’s first female police commissioner, Karen Webb, will retire on September 30, three years into her five-year term.
Webb replaced Mick Fuller as NSW police commissioner in 2022 after 35 years of police service.
She joined the force in 1987, ascending through the rank and file to take on senior roles, including local area commands, operations manager, and assistant commissioner for police transport & public safety, and traffic and highway patrol. She received the Australian Police Medal in 2015.
Webb has recommended Peter Thurtell fill the role if a suitable candidate isn’t found prior to her departure.
Victoria gets third and fourth police commissioners this year
Mike Bush will become the fourth Victoria Police commissioner this year when he takes the role in June.
Deputy commissioner Robert Hill took up the role in the interim this week, replacing interim commissioner Rick Nugent, who took over when Shane Patton resigned in February.
Bush is a retired New Zealand Police officer who served as chief police commissioner until 2020.
He led the operational arm of the COVID-19 all-of-government response to COVID-19, continuing in this role after his retirement from policing.
Bush was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2006 for relief work in South-East Asia after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and a Companion of the Order for services to the New Zealand Police and the community in 2020.
Since leaving the police, he has been a private investigator.
Double appointment to ACT emergency services
The ACT government has named David Dutton chief officer of the ACT Ambulance Service (ACTAS) and Peter Cleary chief officer of ACT Fire and Rescue.
Dutton began his career as a student paramedic with ACTAS in 1996. In nearly two decades with the service, he worked across a wide range of fields including intensive care, aeromedical operations, operational support and senior executive management roles.
In 2013, he was appointed NSW Ambulance’s executive director for service delivery, later serving as deputy commissioner and executive director of clinical operations. He returned to the ACT in January this year to take on the role of assistant commissioner for collaboration, community engagement and intelligence support.
Cleary is also making the move from NSW where he was most recently Fire and Rescue’s chief superintendent for the Northern region.
He has also worked with NSW Police counter terrorism command, in the private sector fire safety and emergency response training.
ICAC SA appoints deputy commissioner
Ben Broyd is the new deputy commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, South Australia (ICAC SA).
Broyd has been director of legal and compliance with ICAC SA since October 2022. This included six months as acting commissioner prior to the appointment of Emma Townsend in February.
He has previously worked as a senior solicitor within the Crown Solicitor’s office, a senior legal officer with ICAC SA, a prosecution officer with the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions and a lawyer with the NSW Police Integrity Commission.
NT names Legal Aid director
Catherine Voumard will be the new director of Legal Aid NT.
Over the past four years, Voumard has mentored junior legal practitioners, worked as an independent barrister at Len King Chambers, and contributed to the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement.
She has previously worked with key legal institutions in the territory, including the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA), NT Legal Aid Commission, the Director of Public Prosecutions, and Maley’s Barristers and Solicitors.
Voumard will take the position next month, replacing acting director Jaquie Palavra.
Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council
Queensland Attorney-General Deb Frecklington has appointed three new members of the sentencing advisory council.
Nathan Crane is a deputy director of public prosecutions who works in north Queensland.
Kristy Bell is a long-serving member of the QLS Criminal Law Committee. The director of Bell Criminal Lawyers, she brings more than a decade of experience in prosecution and defence.
Douglas Wilson is a Brisbane-based barrister who has appeared in Queensland’s District and Supreme Courts. Before obtaining his legal degree in 2006, he was a police officer in Caloundra, Mitchell, and Doomadgee.
Queensland Academy of Sport advisory board appointed
The state government has named an eight-member advisory board to oversee the transition of the Queensland Academy of Sport to a statutory authority.
Corporate lawyer and experienced director David Lyons will act as chair. Lyons is currently a director of RZ Resources Limited and was deputy chair for Diving Australia for more than 21 years.
The other appointees are:
Eight-time Olympic swimming medallist Cate Campbell.
Wheelchair basketball and rugby champion Ella Sabljak.
Marketing and communications specialist Mark James.
Queensland Rugby League CEO and former player Ben Ikin.
Swimming legend and former Swimming Australia CEO Alex Baumann.
BDO consultant and tax expert Susan Rix.
Former Townsville Hockey administrator and real estate CFO Annette Maidment.
Queensland sends tourism leaders to the tropics
Natassia Wheeler and Michael Nelson have been appointed to the Wet Tropics Management Authority board.
Wheeler is the CEO of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council. Prior to this, she was CEO of Moreton Bay Region Industry & Tourism
Nelson is the managing director of Pinnacle Tourism Marketing.
He has three decades’ experience promoting tropical north Queensland’s most iconic experiences, including Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park and Green Island Resort.
First female chair of the Rural and Industry Development Authority
Sixth-generation farmer Caitlin McConnel has been named chair of Queensland’s Rural and Industry Development Authority.
McConnel is a former senior associate of Clayton Utz and currently a farmer near Toogoolawah. She has also been a director and chair of the Future Farmers Network.
McConnel will be the organisation’s first female chair, succeeding John Corbett.
She will be joined by three new board members in Bruce Vandersee, Danica Olsen, and Ari McCamley.
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