Kathryn Anderson draws on thirty years of public sector experience to help people and organisations work better and deliver greater impact through her leadership facilitation and coaching, and her advisory work.

Kathryn’s public sector career involved policy development, program management and corporate roles, primarily in Queensland and Victoria. Her senior executive experience included Deputy Secretary roles in the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services, and most recently the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.

Kathryn’s skills in strategy, organisational development, transformation and driving change are underpinned by her strong commitment to inclusion. Her ability to help organisations transition to contemporary and innovative ways of working, while maintaining and strengthening their culture makes Kathryn a sought after and trusted advisor. She is a skilled facilitator with experience working with Boards, executive teams and management and staff groups to work through strategic challenges and strengthen high performance.

Kathryn drew on these skills and her experience as a Partner in a public purpose consultancy firm from 2020 to 2024 and in undertaking independent work, such as facilitating Executive Learning Groups as part of the Jeff Whalan Learning Group.

Having informally coached and mentored staff for many years, Kathryn became formally certified as a coach with the Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership in 2019. She works with people to unlock potential and build professional skills and results. She is energetic and respectful, bringing insights based on deep strategy and leadership experience.

Kathryn is co-director of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government’s (ANZSOG) Deputies Leadership Program, designed to support the successful transition of senior executives to Deputy level and equip participants with tools to make them more effective in their role.

Kathryn is a non-executive director on the board of Kids First Australia, a national child, youth and family services provider and early education specialist. She previously served as Deputy Chair of Whitelion Youth, a national NGO supporting highly vulnerable young people to build positive connections and pathways to work. She is also a Fellow of the Institute for Public Administration Australia (Victoria) and was named one of the Top 50 Public Sector Women in Victoria in 2019.

Kathryn holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Graduate Certificate in Business (Communications) and has qualifications from the Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Aurora Andruska works with people to help them achieve their career goals, performance and productivity. She does this through the provision of coaching/mentoring and tailored workshops. Aurora also facilitates Executive Learning Groups as part of the Jeff Whalan Learning Group.

Aurora provides services to a range of Australian Commonwealth and State/Territory Governments. Her focus is on working with people to assist them achieve their potential, and to have greater satisfaction, empowerment and engagement in what they do. Aurora is particularly experienced at helping people to identify their strengths and areas for development and using this information to position themselves for future opportunities, as well as preparing for selection processes.

Aurora spent the last 20 years of her public service career in a range of senior executive roles. Until May 2014 she was the CEO of the Australian Sports Antidoping Authority, leading it through the largest sports doping scandal in Australia's sporting history. Aurora's earlier senior appointments include Deputy CEO of Centrelink and a number of senior roles in the Commonwealth Department of Education.

Aurora’s notable achievements include developing and implementing organisational renewal/cultural change strategies to enable organisations to perform at their best. At Centrelink, Aurora established strong collaborative working relationships across the Australian Public Service that strengthened the organisation’s ability to influence the way social security and other policy initiatives were implemented.

Throughout her public service career Aurora supported, mentored and coached many people, assisting them with difficult workplace issues. She has a reputation of creating strong organisations with positive workplace cultures. Aurora now applies her considerable experience in this area to the coaching and facilitation work she undertakes.

In the 2006 Australia Day Honours list Aurora was awarded the Public Service Medal for outstanding public service in the development and implementation of a new national framework for vocational education and training in Australia.

Aurora has a Bachelor of Science and a Graduate Diploma in Computing Studies. She also has qualifications from the Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership.

Liza Carroll is a nationally recognised leader with a passion for leadership, strategy and organisational transformation. Liza is highly experienced in working with senior executive leadership teams and individual senior executive leaders on organisational change and establishing high performing teams.

Liza has a deep commitment to public sector capability, capacity and performance in all areas including through effective partnerships. In her leadership roles across the state and federal government Liza has driven strategy and policy reform as well as complex organisational and operational change.

Liza has worked in the most senior positions in Government for over 20 years. Most recently Liza was the Director-General, Housing and Public Works in the Queensland Government for over five years until October 2020. In this role, Liza had responsibility for a very diverse department which included housing and homelessness, sport, building policy, whole of government assets and whole of government digital technology policy and services. The department had over 5000 staff and a large capital and operating budget. Liza drove the Housing and Homelessness 10 year Strategy and implementation and the also drove reforms in building policy.

Liza left this role to join Nous Group Consulting as a Principal. Whilst at Nous, Liza worked extensively with senior government executives on strategy, organisational change and delivery reforms.

Prior to joining the Queensland government, Liza was the Associate Secretary, Indigenous Affairs, in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C). In this role Liza established the new Central Agency Indigenous Affairs portfolio which amalgamated operations from eight different departments. This role required complex organisational change processes to successfully establish and operate the new super-portfolio.

Liza also spent the three and a half years as Deputy Secretary, in the former Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. She led housing, homelessness, families, women and children policy and operations. Liza worked closely with the state and territory governments and the community sector to achieve policy reform and delivery enhancements in particular around domestic and family violence and the protection of children.

Immediately prior to taking up the position as Deputy Secretary, Liza led the PM&C whole of government Blueprint for the Reform of Australian Government Administration for which she was awarded a Public Sector medal. Prior to this, Liza worked in both PM&C and FaHCSIA.

More recently, Liza is undertaking board work, independent work for both the Commonwealth and state governments including organisational Capability Review, Program Reviews and facilitating Executive Learning Groups as part of the Jeff Whalan Learning Group.

Following a career in the private and public sector over 35 years, Michelle established a portfolio career providing executive coaching services in Australia and overseas. She also facilitates Executive Learning Groups as part of the Jeff Whalan Learning Group.

Michelle's public sector career of nearly 30 years comprised service delivery, program management, policy and corporate roles in the Commonwealth government, based in Canberra and Victoria. Fifteen of those years in the Australian Public Service (APS) were spent in the Senior Executive Service (SES) with the last six years as an SES Band 2 officer.

With a Singaporean Chinese mother and English father, Michelle is passionate about inclusion and diversity. Her early working life also forged a commitment to working with First Nations Australians. In her role as Secretary to the Company Secretary of Applied Ecology Pty Ltd, she understood the importance of building successful enterprises such as the Wiluna WA Emu Farm and the Edwards River QLD Crocodile Farm. She then worked as an Office Manager for a Government Relations consultancy and honed her accounting, administrative and stakeholder relationship skills.

Michelle has managed large teams of up to 4,500 people with 25 direct reports working across Australia; she has co-chaired a Taskforce to implement extensive Machinery of Government changes; and written significant policy and position papers on welfare reform and service delivery reform.

While working as a Group Manager (SES Band 2), Michelle was a member of an Executive Learning Group. As a result, she appreciates the need for senior leaders to 'get off the dance floor and onto the balcony', finding balance and equanimity to perform effectively and with humanity in demanding roles.

Michelle established and supported a range of employee networks while in the APS, focussing on First Nations Australians, women, people with differing ability, DV victims/survivors and the LGBTIQ+ community. She is passionate about managing people well to create and nurture high performing teams, with significant experience in developing and implementing creative people solutions to enhance employee engagement.

Her coaching is driven by compassion, humanity, empathy, equity and respect. She managed large virtual teams in service delivery networks and is a former Disability/Diversity Champion in two large Commonwealth departments. She has a deep understanding of issues such as wellbeing and psychological safety in the workplace, employee engagement, talent management, diversity, recruitment and leadership development.

With a Bachelor of Arts and a Graduate Diploma in Administration, Michelle has been a keen student and practitioner of public administration over four decades. She holds a Level 3 certification with the Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership. Her global coaching engagements include CEO and C-suite executives in the private and not-for-profit sectors, and SES and senior officers at both federal and state level. Michelle is accredited to run the GLWS (Global Leadership Wellbeing Survey), and has been an accredited Mental Health First Aider and a Practitioner FOS (Fearless Organisation Scan).

Jo is a recognised leader and skilled facilitator of groups and organisational processes. Her commitment to fairness, equality of access and opportunity, finding one’s strengths, becoming more aware of who you are and how you behave in your relationships inform her work. Values and experience shape how we are in the world and a lack of awareness of these driving forces often hinders personal and organisational development. Her approach is collaborative, sensitive and direct as she supports clients to explore and consider new learning or options. Jo utilises her well developed skills and experience as a groupworker and coach when facilitating Executive Learning Groups as part of the Jeff Whalan Learning Group.

Jo has worked as a senior public servant, academic, social worker and trainer. Her professional undergraduate and postgraduate training was at Sydney University where she was a postgraduate University Medallist. Jo’s first career as a social worker included work in immigration, health, child welfare, university counselling and community work. Her academic work includes teaching at Sydney and New South Wales Universities. She co-founded the University of Newcastle Social Work Department where she was a Senior Lecturer and Head of Department. Jo then spent ten years in the Commonwealth Public Service. At the SES level in Centrelink and the Department of Human Services, her drive, commitment and wisdom had a major impact in service delivery and policy development in a range of service areas including disability, rural servicing, Indigenous servicing and service delivery policy.

Throughout her career Jo has been involved in consulting, teaching, mentoring and coaching. She has supported the development of non-government organisations, training workers in communication, interpersonal, group and other professional skills, developing productive teams, and facilitating individuals and organisations to achieve their goals. In 2012 Jo established her own small business as a coach and facilitator.

As part of her commitment to excellence and lifelong learning Jo has completed numerous adult education and professional courses and her work is a synthesis of a number of influences.

Jo lives on a rural property, raises alpacas for their fleece and is an active member of her community, having volunteered in the Rural Fire Brigade, the Michelago Regional Community Association, Landcare and the Southern Harvest Co-Operative.

Suzi Hewlett provides facilitation, training and consulting services to government and non-government organisations, assembling the right mix of collaborators, advisers and subject matter experts to co-design innovative solutions to problems.

Suzi was a member of the Jeff Whalan Learning Group for a number of years and is passionate about the benefits of public service leaders having ‘time-out’ to reflect on their current work, their career and how that fits with other aspects of their lives. Undertaking this in the company of peers, who can help them explore their dilemmas and their leadership impact, is a powerful tool in developing healthy teams and a positive organisational culture back at the office. Suzi now helps others to benefit from this experience by facilitating Executive Learning Groups as part of the Jeff Whalan Learning Group.

Commencing in 1998, Suzi spent over two decades in the Australian Public Service (APS), the last 12 as a senior executive. Notable achievements include establishing and managing the Office for Learning and Teaching to enhance delivery of higher education and managing a range of initiatives to facilitate a ‘youth-centric’ approach to developing government programs.

After retiring from the APS in 2019, Suzi worked as a Director in PwC’s Skills Reform Unit, working on a range of education, future of work, skills reform and career pathways initiatives. She currently works part-time as a Strategic Adviser to the CEO of the Manufacturing Industry Skills Alliance.

Starting her professional life as a careers adviser in the East End of London, she has continued to use those skills to inspire, coach, support and steward staff through complex and challenging times (such as transitioning into a new organisation) as well as enabling the wellbeing, performance development and operations of teams. Suzi’s personal leadership style is all about guiding, supporting and developing with an emphasis on optimism. She is committed to enabling people to expand their opportunities through learning, including informal and peer learning, to create a career that they regard as successful.

Suzi has experience in building and supporting education systems and reform agendas in a range of positions within the Australian Government, local government, non-government organisations and the private sector. She also spent four years in the South Pacific, working at the University of the South Pacific and Solomon Islands College of Higher Education, developing and subsequently delivering a Diploma in Youth and Development.

Suzi provides advice to the National Youth Employment Body on skills and training issues and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success. She holds a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) with a major in Politics, a Master of Business Administration and Organisational Coaching Certification from the Institute of Executive Coaching and Learning.

Roxanne Kelley has recently retired from the public service after nearly 42 years of service. She is now moving into a portfolio career focused on working with organisations and leaders to assist them in delivering value, building their teams and making their organisations great places to work. Having been a longstanding member of Jeff Whalan Learning Group herself, she will now be taking on the role of facilitator for a number of Learning Groups.

Over her public service career, Roxanne has worked at senior levels in large, complex, national organisations in social policy, national security and central agencies with responsibilities covering service delivery, cross-government policy development, program delivery, international relations and foreign investment, compliance, investigations and enforcement, organisational re-design, change management, HR, ICT, finance, legal services, communications, audit and corporate governance.

Roxanne has led small policy teams and functions with a national footprint comprising between 1,000 to 5,000 staff. Over her career, Roxanne has focused on building strong teams and the next generation of leaders.

Roxanne commenced in The Treasury in March 2020. Most recently, Roxanne has been the Deputy Secretary responsible for the International and Foreign Investment Group and prior to this the Corporate and Foreign Investment Group where she was responsible for the department’s corporate, legal services and the foreign investment review functions.

Prior to joining The Treasury, Roxanne held Deputy Secretary positions as Chief Operating Officer at the Department of Human Services (now Services Australia), Chief Operating Officer at the Department of Social Services and Deputy Secretary People at the Department of Defence. Roxanne has also worked in senior executive roles in the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and Centrelink.

Before joining the Australian Public Service, Roxanne worked in the Queensland State Public Service for 19 years in the social welfare portfolio. Completing a Bachelor of Speech Therapy paved the way for her first job providing speech therapy to people with disabilities living in a government run institution in Queensland. One of the highlights of her career is that a decade later, she got to write the plan to close institutions like these in Queensland and give people with disabilities the opportunity to live in the community and experience a better life.

Roxanne was awarded the Public Service Medal in January 2017 for her substantial contribution to the reform efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Department of Defence as part of the First Principles Review of Defence and its implementation.

Roxanne is the Commonwealth Director on the Australian Business Growth Fund Board and is an Audit Committee member for a few agencies.

Roxanne has a Bachelor of Speech Therapy and an Executive Masters of Public Administration (ANZSOG). She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has completed the Oxford Advanced Leadership and Management Program at the Said Business School, Oxford University.

Elizabeth is a recognised leader, focussing on improving organisational performance by developing capability and supporting professional and personal growth. Her approach is to listen to the wisdom of others and support them to chart their career journeys. Elizabeth is a recognised mentor. She also facilitates Executive Learning Groups as part of the Jeff Whalan Group.

Elizabeth recently retired as a senior public servant within the Australian Public Service, having held senior roles in the Attorney-General’s Department, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. Elizabeth also worked at a senior level in the ACT Public Service and the Northern Territory Public Service. She trained initially as a lawyer and practiced in New South Wales and Fiji before moving into public sector policy roles.

Elizabeth’s most significant achievements include the passage and implementation of the ACT Human Rights Act, the first comprehensive domestic implementation of international human rights in Australia, as well as the introduction of the first marriage equality legislation in Australia. She was also responsible for the Operations and Security of Australia’s hosting of the G20 in 2014, the largest and most complex international forum ever held in Australia. Most recently Elizabeth has focussed on the development of Australia’s digital economy and the support necessary to underpin public confidence in new technologies.

Throughout her public service career, Elizabeth’s approach has been to identify and support the development of talent in others. She was a founding member of the APS Talent Council in 2016 and served on the Council until her retirement, giving her a deep understanding of capabilities and challenges across the APS Senior Executive cohort and strategies to support those who are committed to growth. Elizabeth was also a Councillor and Board member of the Institute of Public Administration ACT and was heavily involved in the development and delivery of the Institute’s capability program.

Elizabeth holds degrees in Economics and Law and a Masters in Law. She also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2012. She is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a fellow of the Institute of Public Administration. In addition, Elizabeth also has an IECL Level 1 Organisational Coaching accreditation.

In 2017 Australia Day Honours List Elizabeth was awarded the Public Service Medal for outstanding leadership in the Australian Public Service.

Elizabeth retired to the coast and spends her time walking, swimming, reading and practising yoga.

Robyn Kruk is a highly experienced former Chief Executive and Secretary who currently holds various statutory and board positions at state, national and international level. Robyn also facilitates Executive Learning Groups as part of the Jeff Whalan Learning Group.

Robyn works with Ministers, Chief Executives and their leadership teams in a wide range of policy, regulatory and service delivery agencies in the Australian and State/Territory Governments. She also holds various advisory roles in the non-government sector and works in a voluntary capacity in the mental health sector to help develop leadership and advocacy skills.

Robyn has a long history of driving policy, organisational and operational reforms in complex and politically sensitive areas. She has a strong commitment to public service and capacity building across the sector and the development of effective partnerships at the community level.

Robyn is an active participant in health and environmental governance reforms in China and the USA. She is one of the International Chief Advisors to the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. She is also an independent assessor for the Dubai Smart Government Awards and Chair Emerita and member of the Reforming States Group in the USA on health reform. She is currently Chair, Board Director or member on international, national and state statutory and non-government entities in healthcare, mental health, food standards/safety and disability. She is currently Chair of the Australian Eating Disorders Research and Translation Centre and a former member of the National Disability Insurance Agency Board and Principal Member of the Independent Advisory Council to the NDIS.

Until 2013, Robyn was the inaugural Chief Executive and Commissioner of the National Mental Health Commission and established the Commission to drive mental health reform initiatives with state and national jurisdictional agencies in partnership with people with lived experience. Robyn’s earlier appointments included Secretary of the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. At the state level, Robyn’s earlier senior executive appointments included Director General of NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, Director General of NSW Health and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. Robyn also led the NSW Public Sector Management Office in addition to her roles as Deputy of The Cabinet Office and NSW Premier’s Department.

Robyn was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in 2005 for her services in public administration in the areas of executive government, commonwealth/state relations and in the strategic management of health services, natural resources and environment. In 2018 she was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia for her work in mental health reform, environmental protection and food standards.

Robyn is an active mentor and coach at both the professional and personal level. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Public Administration and former Board member and now Fellow of the ANZSOG. Robyn has a Bachelor of Science (Hons) majoring in psychology, Masters in Administration and completed the Harvard Advanced Management Program.

Following a 37-year career in the Australian Public Service, Michael retired from full-time work in 2021. As an expert in public administration, Michael's leadership practice is characterised by collaboration and curiosity, looking for ways to achieve results by enabling people to be the best they can be. Michael believes the best way to lead is to enable teams to achieve and shine, rather than focusing on individual glory. As well as relishing the opportunity to work with people on Jeff Whalan Learning Groups, Michael serves on several audit and risk committees - he is a Member of the ACT Remuneration Tribunal and periodically undertakes independent reviews or other tasks in various public sector entities.

Michael’s last full-time role was that of Commonwealth Ombudsman. There he oversaw the administrative actions of, and complaints about, almost the entirety of the Australian Public Service, law enforcement agencies, Australia Post and various other entities. He was also the Defence Force Ombudsman, Immigration Ombudsman and the ACT Ombudsman. As the Chief Executive Officer Michael was responsible for an office of 300 staff and also worked actively with New Zealand and other counterparts to build the capacity of fragile Ombudsman offices in the Pacific. He protected and advanced the interests of people in their dealings with the system, many of whom are vulnerable (prisoners, refugees, survivors of abuse, minority groups) but in a way that sought to be constructive, respectful and influential with the agencies he oversaw.

Michael grew up in country Queensland and joined the Australian Public Service as a clerk in 1984. In the subsequent decades he worked on reforms spanning workplace relations, the labour market, early childhood education, school building, and immigration. He led major organisational reforms, including the bringing together of Customs and Immigration functions to form a new department in 2014. Michael also accrued extensive experience of and insight into dealing with the Parliament and Ministers, with all the attendant pressures and sensitivities. In 2010 Michael received the Public Service Medal for leading the Government’s response to the insolvency of ABC Learning Childcare, which was then Australia’s largest childcare operator.

Michael is passionate about the importance of integrity in public administration and getting things done in a way that brings colleagues and stakeholders on the journey: doing things with people, rather than doing things to people. As a former member of a Jeff Whalan Learning Group, Michael brings valuable experience to the role of facilitating the peer learning of others in this unique setting.

Michael served as a Deputy President on the Board of the ACT Branch of the Institute of Public Administration Australia from 2017-2023, and was awarded a Fellowship of the Institute upon his retirement. Michael holds a Certificate of Organisational Coaching from the Institute of Executive Coaching and Learning.

Cheryl-anne has a depth of experience in national security, central agency and social policy across the Commonwealth. Throughout her career she has specialised in working within organisations to build resilience, in both people and process, to ensure a strong people culture and the organisation’s longevity.

Cheryl-anne is passionate about people centric management and ensuring that leaders and managers understand their accountability to the present and the future of their organisation, including growing their staff to succeed them in time.

Following a successful career in banking and finance, Cheryl-anne joined the public service at the base level in search of a change. During her subsequent public service career spanning over 30 years, Cheryl-anne worked at all levels in local, State and Canberra offices, As such she has gained a unique personal experience and view of the breadth and depth of the Australian Public Service.

Most recently Cheryl-anne was Deputy Secretary Immigration and Settlement Services and Chief Operating Officer of the Department of Home Affairs. Within that Department, the Australian Border Force, Departments of Finance and Human Services and Centrelink, Cheryl-anne spent seventeen years in the Senior Executive Service managing a broad range of disciplines such as policy, governance, corporate, program, capability development, service delivery and operational delivery, including many high-profile programs and those that draw public scrutiny.

Throughout her career Cheryl-anne has coached and mentored public servants and private sector staff to improve their performance and to reach their potential as leaders and managers. She encourages and embraces a continual learning philosophy to ensure others are prepared for both the challenges they may face, and the opportunities they can optimise. Cheryl-anne now applies her significant understanding of the public sector, and her leadership experience, in facilitating Executive Learning Groups as part of the Jeff Whalan Learning Group.

Cheryl-anne holds a Master of Public Administration, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and is a Councillor of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA ACT). Cheryl-anne is also formally certified as a coach with the Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership.

Drawing on nearly twenty years’ experience as a senior executive in the Commonwealth Public Service including in regional network roles, Daniel has a deep understanding of workplace culture, settings and context.

Daniel has a strong record of achievement including senior leadership roles in education and training, asset sales and corporatisation, employment, Indigenous policy and programmes, youth affairs, regional economic policy and transport. Having also worked at a senior leadership level in a large, devolved regional network, he has a particularly strong understanding of the challenges of regional roles.

He is an experienced senior workplace/executive coach and facilitator, focussed on building leadership capability and enabling people to achieve success in the workplace. Daniel has always been a strong believer that the best results can be achieved through a positive focus on empowering people and has coached senior executives, executive officers and other staff across the Australian public, private and not-for-profit sectors. He has also coached people to deal with complex staff management issues and to resolve team conflict. He specialises in remote or distance coaching and can provide this service to both individuals and teams.

For Daniel, coaching is a collaboration which focusses on assisting people to identify and fulfil their potential at work.

He has designed and facilitated strategic planning workshops, business planning sessions, learning circles, team building workshops and stakeholder consultations across a number of organisations. He has a positive, conversational style and a good track record of creating the opportunity for genuine dialogue.

Daniel has been a facilitator of Executive Learning Groups for many years and is a great advocate of the power of senior leaders being able to improve their individual performance and learn to resolve their problems in a supportive and trusting environment. Through Learning Groups, Daniel has observed members being effectively supported to improve individual and organisational performance, better connect across organisations, exchange ideas and benefit from peer learning.

Daniel is a Certified Organisational Coach with the Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership and a member of the International Coach Federation. He holds a Graduate Diploma in Applied Economics and a Bachelor of Arts (Education and Communication).

Sandra Parker’s most recent role was CEO of the Jeff Whalan Learning Group, working with CEOs and senior executives from the Commonwealth, States and Territories as well as New Zealand to help them to improve their performance by facilitating Executive Learning Groups and providing executive coaching and mentoring.

Sandra is a former CEO and Deputy Secretary with over twenty years of experience in supporting public sector leaders and their teams to deliver policy, legislation, regulation and program reforms underpinned by sound governance.

Until 2023 she was the CEO of the Fair Work Ombudsman, the independent workplace regulator of two million Australian workplaces, leading her team through major reforms of the agency’s approach to education, compliance and enforcement resulting in significant improvements to performance.

Earlier senior executive appointments included Deputy Secretary roles in Commonwealth employment and workplace relations policy and programs. She was CEO of the Australian Safety and Compensation Council, a Commissioner on the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission and held senior executive roles in women’s policy and vocational education and training.

Sandra was awarded a Public Service Medal in 2018 for outstanding public service in workplace relations and work health and safety.

Sandra is passionate about supporting senior executives to excel as leaders and achieve outcomes that will build stronger and more inclusive communities. Throughout her career, she has mentored and coached many people, assisting them with professionally and personally challenging workplace issues.

Sandra is an IECL qualified coach and has greatly benefited from the guidance of coaches and mentors throughout her career. She is a recent member of the ANZSOG Alumni Council, a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a fellow of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She also holds a Bachelor of Education.

Sue Robertson is passionate about building teams that thrive and achieve meaningful results. She enjoys working with senior leaders who wish to be more intentional about their values in practice and increase self-awareness to grow individual and team performance. Sue is associated with Jeff Whalan Learning Group as a facilitator, coach and guest speaker.

Sue works with peoples’ strengths to encourage a widening of their perspectives and options. She is particularly interested in assisting leaders to think clearly and make better decisions, including by managing reactivity in the workplace. Sue focuses on practical frameworks to assist people to bridge the ethical gap between values and behaviour.

Sue understands the pressures and priorities of government. She brings ten year’s experience advising government on national security, defence policy, criminal justice and international law. Most recently in 2023 she led the APS Integrity Taskforce in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet which developed integrity and ethical leadership recommendations currently being implemented across the Australian Public Service.

Sue’s commitment to the rule of law and human rights has led her to work as an international legal advisor in the United Nations including in Egypt, Bhutan and Sudan. She has led teams from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to achieve their goals in areas such as refugee policy, ethnic minority rights and reporting on the laws of war in armed conflict.

She holds bachelor’s degrees in law and literature from Melbourne University, a master’s in international law from ANU and is an accredited professional organisational coach with the Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership (PIECL). Sue’s commitment to ongoing learning has led her to start postgraduate study in the psychology of coaching at the University of Sydney.

Sue lives in Canberra with her daughter and husband. She loves horse riding, King Parrots, and the Australian bush.

Darren Stephenson is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Jeff Whalan Learning Group (JWLG). He is a leadership, culture and performance expert, working with senior public sector leaders across all jurisdictions in Australia and New Zealand.

Darren spent 14 years in the Commonwealth public sector before establishing his own leadership consultancy service in 2009. Since then Darren has also been facilitating several Learning Groups as part of the Jeff Whalan Learning Group. At the beginning of 2025 Darren became the CEO of JWLG.

Darren is passionate about continuing the Learning Group model that Jeff Whalan established so successfully, by continuing to support and make a meaningful difference to the performance of the Learning Group members. In addition Darren is excited to lead an outstanding team of facilitators, executive coaches and support staff.

Darren continues to work closely with Departmental Secretaries; Agency Heads; CEO’s and their senior teams. He offers high trust leadership support that helps senior leaders achieve results with their Ministers; stakeholders; peers and staff.

He has substantial experience working with senior public sector leaders as an Executive Coach and also through the highly regarded ‘United Leadership Program’ he created to embed high performing teams in the public sector.

The Program fosters and sustains high performance by enhancing: alignment; trust; accountability; team governance; and embedding meaningful behaviours/standards that enable performance to improve.

SESB3 Commonwealth public service feedback example from 2024:

‘Darren thank you so much for your work with my senior team. I could see how much they enjoyed and valued the experience. You have such wonderful and intelligent insights into senior leaders, the public sector and teams working in challenging public sector environments. What I hope you saw was that your leadership expertise and guidance is having a meaningful impact for each of us. It has helped us embed a high performing environment, that is making tangible impacts for our Department’.

Darren has completed post-graduate studies in Human Resource Management, and completed Executive Coaching qualifications with the Coaching Psychology Unit, University of Sydney.

Jodie is the Operations Manager at Jeff Whalan Learning Group (JWLG). She is an experienced leader with a strong background in the Australian Public Service; as a board member; and as a business owner. She is a D’harawal woman who lives in Canberra.

Jodie provides operational management oversight for the JWLG. She also helps high performing public servants enhance their leadership capability and achieve their career aspirations through her executive coaching services delivered through Kirribilli Partners.

Jodie also has a proven track record of working with teams to help them thrive by delivering results together in complex environments.

Jodie currently holds several Board and Council positions (including a Ministerial appointment to the ACT Reconciliation Council and as Board Member of the Canberra Indigenous Business Network).

She previously spent close to 20 years working in the Australian Public Service (at the same time as juggling a young family of three children). Jodie worked in the Aviation policy environment and represented Australia as a Delegate at the 35th General Assembly of the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organisation while at the Department of Transport (now Infrastructure). She also held roles for several years at the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Immigration, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Austrade. Jodie has worked offshore and travelled extensively. Inthe early phase of her career, she worked in the aviation sector with Ansett Australia Airlines for nearly 10 years.

Jodie enjoys helping the JWLG team and the Learning Group members thrive. She has a conversational style that demonstrates a love of learning and a curious mindset.

Jodie’s qualifications include: a Bachelor of Business from Monash University; a Graduate Certificate in Management from the Australian National University; and a Graduate Certificate in Psychology from James Cook University.

Jodie has completed an Australian Institute of Company Directors Course (MAICD), is a Certified Executive Coach (IECL), an Accredited Facilitator and Consultant (DISC); and an accredited Quality Assurance Lead Auditor (QAS).

Lee Walton has over fifteen years’ experience in senior executive roles in the Australian Public Service. Previously he held many other professional positions in the public and private sectors in Australia and the UK. His diverse experience together with his strong relationship and people management skills equips him to advise on the broad range of challenges faced by executives. Lee has deep experience in corporate, ICT, program delivery, service delivery and engineering roles.

Lee retired from his public service career in early 2020 to establish his consulting business focusing on senior executive coaching and public service governance. Lee is passionate to enable leaders to realise their full potential. As a Jeff Whalan Learning Group facilitator and people person, he creates a relaxed and safe environment to allow others to explore some of the complex challenges that they face.

Lee has recently moved to Darwin to work with remote indigenous and non-indigenous communities, using his skills and management experience to address some of the significant challenges faced by those who live far away from the major population centres.

Most of Lee’s career was in the Intelligence, National Security and Law Enforcement sectors. He steadily progressed from a junior engineer to his final public service role as the Chief Operating Officer of the Office of National Intelligence. Lee was First Assistant Secretary Intelligence Policy in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and Executive Director Technology and Innovation at the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. As the Chief Information Officer at CrimTrac he provided critical real time information services to Australia’s police agencies and, in doing so, gained valuable experience working with state and territory governments. He was instrumental in rebuilding the agency’s relationship with the police.

As the Australian Signals Directorate’s senior executive responsible for its technology, including advanced computing, communications and highly classified systems, he led much of the organisation’s technical response to 9/11 attacks in the USA.

Lee is a Chartered Engineer, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an accredited Executive Coach. He has formal qualifications in project management and public service procurement. Lee is married with four adult children and ten grandchildren.

Chris Wardlaw has wide and deep experience in leading high performance in organisations and reform agenda across the education and sporting domains. He is currently Deputy Chair of the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership and finished a nine-year term as Chair, Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority in May 2023. Having been a highly regarded guest speaker for Jeff Whalan Learning Group for several years, he now also facilitates Executive Learning Groups.

Chris began his teaching career as an Economics and Economic History tutor at Monash University and later taught at Victorian Government secondary schools. He then moved into management roles in the Department of Education, initially in regional positions and then in central office. Chris held key roles in many leading edge Victorian education reforms, most recently serving as Deputy Secretary, Strategy and Review from 2009 to 2013.

Chris also served as Deputy Secretary for Education in the Hong Kong Government from 2002 to 2008, where he had responsibility for curriculum, assessment and quality assurance for education. During this period he oversaw a comprehensive reform program, which resulted in Hong Kong adopting a modernised curriculum and assessment system. These changes made a major contribution to Hong Kong’s development and have further improved its high standing in a range of international learning assessments.

Chris simultaneously engaged in a sporting career as an Olympian in the 10,000 metres and marathon events at the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Games. Since then he has established an impressive record as an elite sports coach. Chris was a career long coach to highly successful marathoners Steve Moneghetti and Kerryn McCann and middle distance runner Craig Mottram.

Chris was the Head Coach of the Australian Track and Field Team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and up to Paris 2024, the most successful team since the halcyon days of 1968. He was a Director on the Board of Athletics Australia 2015-22. Chris remains a member of the Athletics Australia High Performance Committee.

This exemplary record of leadership in education and international sport gives Chris a unique combination of experience and insight to leadership and management across jurisdictions and in different reform contexts. Chris was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2013 and made a Fellow of Monash University in 2014. He holds a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) and a Diploma of Education.

Jeff Whalan is the Founder of the Jeff Whalan Learning Group. He has been supporting Senior Executives from the public sector in Australia and New Zealand to perform at their best since 2009.

Jeff now works as a facilitator of the Secretary/Director-General/Chief Executive level Learning Groups.

Until September 2008 Jeff was the CEO of Centrelink, the then largest Agency of the Australian Public Service, which had 27,000 staff and an annual expenditure of over $63 billion. He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2008 for his work as CEO of Centrelink.

Jeff’s earlier senior executive appointments included CEO of Medicare Australia and Deputy Secretary positions in the Prime Minister’s Department, the Department of Defence and the Department of Family and Community Services. He was also a senior executive in the Queensland Department of Family Services.