Kelly has more than 28 years experience in the Australian Public Sector, in the portfolios of Social Security, Tax, the Bureau of Statistics, Communications and Information Technology, Transport and Regional Services, Finance and Administration, and the Environment. She has a Bachelor of Business and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Economics. Since 2004, Kelly has played a key role in the delivery of major environment programs, including as Head of the Natural Resource Management Division. From 2008 Kelly led the Branch responsible for the development and implementation of the COAG endorsed National Waste Policy (2009), the new Product Stewardship Act (2011) and a national television and computer recycling scheme. Since May 2012, Kelly has been acting First Assistant Secretary of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) Regulatory Reform Taskforce – implementing the government’s environment regulatory reform agenda and supporting COAG Environmental Regulation Reform initiatives.

Adam Fennessy is the Deputy Secretary, Natural Resources and Environment Policy, Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE).

He is responsible for providing support and advice to the Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Change across the areas of Environmental Policy and Climate Change; Natural Resources and Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

Prior to this, Adam was Executive Director, Infrastructure and Economics in the Department of Premier and Cabinet. Adam has also held an executive role in DSE’s Office of Water.

Before this, Adam worked as a Commonwealth Government policy and legal adviser in the areas of transport, communications and the arts.

Althea Kannane is an environmental policy specialist with over ten years’ experience at senior levels in the public sector. Althea currently leads the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage team responsible for administering the BioBanking Scheme and supporting the implementation of other biodiversity assessment and offsetting programs. Althea has extensive experience in NSW and Commonwealth policy and legislative reform and has made contributions in areas such as water management, forestry agreements, land clearing regulation, contaminated land and pollution regulation, greenhouse emissions mitigation and climate change adaptation planning. Althea has also worked internationally on sustainable agriculture and socio-economic issues in East Asia.

Peter has a background in engineering, planning and management with a Master of Engineering Science in Transport Planning and a Master of Urban Planning both from Melbourne University.

His background encompasses both government and private enterprise roles.

With a professional career starting in planning new towns in the UK and Australia, much of Peter’s career has been in Local Government as the CEO of several cities including Essendon, Greater Bendigo, Whitehorse, and the City of Sydney.

Peter was the CEO of Federation Square during its building phase and its first few years of operation and since mid 2007 has been CEO of the Victoria’s Growth Areas Authority.

In this time the Authority has been responsible for the planning of 32 new suburbs and has a program to plan an additional 68 suburbs to house some 1 million new residents using innovative, highly liveable and sustainable planning to build a future for Melbourne and to successfully manage its growth.

Marty White has Bachelor in Applied Science- Natural Resource Management and 15 years experience in Natural Resource Management for State and Local Government in Victoria. Marty has strong experience in developing policy, procedures and strategic planning for biodiversity conservation. Marty has been with the Yarra Ranges Council in the outer east of Melbourne, Victoria for seven years and leads a team of ecologists that support biodiversity conservation through a diverse range of local government programs.

Debra has held the position of Chief Executive Officer for the WA Branch of the Urban Development Institute of Australia since May 2007 and has become a familiar figure in the industry. As the peak body for the urban development industry, UDIA has achieved significant profile under Debra’s leadership as she continues to represent the views of members to government and through ongoing media commentary.

After studying for a double degree in Public Administration & Information Science in the late 1970s Debra has had a varied career representing the interests of private industry and held the key role of Chief Executive Officer for Transport Forum prior to taking up the position at UDIA. Debra’s broad understanding of the needs of industry has seen her involvement on an enormous variety of committees, councils and boards at state and national level including diverse roles as a Trustee Director for a multi-billion dollar industry superannuation fund, Director of the Land Surveyors Licensing Board and a member of the Wildlife Corridors Advisory Group reporting to the Federal Minster for Environment. Development of sustainable communities is a personal passion and Debra is a keen supporter of the industry’s EnviroDevelopment Certification program.

Aaron is the Director – Consulting Services and a Senior Consultant Botanist with Biosis. Over the last five years Aaron has worked closely with the Growth Areas Authority and the Victorian State Government on the Strategic Impact Assessment of Melbourne’s growth areas. Aaron regularly provides high level technical advice on major projects throughout south eastern Australia including the Victorian Desalination Project, Peninsula Link and the Melbourne to Geelong Pipeline.

Ted Lefroy is an agricultural scientist who worked in rural extension in Australia and Papua New Guinea for 15 years before taking up a research career focused on the environmental consequences of agriculture. In 2005 he was appointed Director of the Centre for Environment at the University of Tasmania. He currently leads the Landscapes and Policy research project which is examining the likely implications of climate change and different scenarios of human development on two case study regions and the policies and institutional reforms that would best protect biodiversity with least impact on social and economic values.

*Co-presentation with Cathy Botta, Soil Scientist, Educator and Facilitator

Peter is a natural resource manager with a background of over 15 years in environmental consulting throughout Australia and internationally. Peter’s areas of expertise are in ecological survey and assessment, environmental impact assessment, environmental strategic planning and the application of spatial technologies to a broad range of asset management objectives. Peter has worked with local and state / territory governments and industry bodies in the development of strategic plans to support sustainable development in infrastructure, industry and residential developments. More recently, Peter has been conducting a strategic assessment under the EPBC Act in the Australian Capital Territory.