Board
The Board is chaired by an Independent Director and contains a balanced mix of Directors with industry and consumer experience, an Independent Director with not-for-profit governance experience and Independent Director with commercial governance experience. The Board has adopted a charter that set out its roles and responsibilities.
For TIO governance-related matters, the TIO Board can be contacted via email. The Company Secretary monitors messages sent to this address. Please note that the TIO Board does not have a role in handling complaints under the TIO scheme. It is the responsibility of the Ombudsman to resolve complaints submitted via the different channels listed on our complaints page.
Independent Chair
Professor The Hon. Michael Lavarch - AO, LLB
Michael has held senior roles in government, including serving as Australia’s Attorney-General (1993-1996). He has also held the roles of Secretary-General of the Law Council of Australia, Commissioner for the Australian Skills Quality Authority and Chair of Australian Catholic Safeguarding Limited. He is an Emeritus Professor of Law at the Queensland University of Technology and Chief Adjudicator on the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code adjudication panel. Michael is Chair of Way Forward Debt Solutions and is also a Member of the Queensland Treaty Independent Interim Body. In 2012, Michael was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to law, education and human rights.
Director with Industry Experience
Mira Bashi - BBM (Marketing) & GAICD
Mira is the Customer Experience Executive for Telstra Corporation Limited. Mira has worked in the telecommunications industry for over 25 years, across several major international brands, with experience in product management, development, designing and improving end to end customer experiences.
Director with Consumer Experience
Dana Beiglari - BInSt, LLB (Hons)
Dana is the manager of Legal Aid NSW's Consumer Law practice group. As a social justice lawyer, she helps the most vulnerable people in NSW access their consumer protection rights in credit, insurance and general consumer protection matters. Dana is a non-executive director of the Ecstra Foundation and is a Consumer Panel Member for the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. She is also a member of the Law Council of Australia’s Consumer Law Committee and represents Legal Aid NSW on Australian Securities & Investments Commission's Consumer Consultative Panel.
Director with Not-For-Profit Governance Experience
Julie Hamblin - BA LLB (Hons) (Syd), LLM (McGill), FAICD
Julie has more than 25 years’ experience as a lawyer and policy consultant in the health, disability and not-for-profit sectors, specialising in governance and risk. She currently chairs the Boards of AVI and Maluk Timor Australia and is an independent Board member of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Previous Board roles have included Chair of Autism Spectrum Australia, Deputy Chair of Plan International Australia and Deputy Chair of the Australian Research Integrity Committee. She has a particular interest in global health and governance having worked with the United Nations Development Programme and other organisations on projects relating to public health and HIV/AIDS in more than 20 countries in Asia, the Pacific, Africa and Eastern Europe.
Director with Industry Experience
Maha Krishnapillai - BSc Mathematics & GAICD
Maha has had a career-long history promoting competition and the benefits of technology to deliver better results for all consumers in the telecommunications industry. This has been over 30 years, firstly as a Government regulator, then via a new entrant (Macquarie Telecom) and then to drive competition through the NBN campaign at Optus.
Independent Director with Commercial Governance Experience
Geoff Nicholson - BEc, MBA, FCA, GAICD, CSEP
Geoff is a Trustee of the R E Ross Trust and Chair of its subsidiary, Hillview Quarries. He is a consultant to Endeavour Energy, as well as well as Chairing Endeavour Energy’s Audit, Finance and Risk Committee. Geoff’s former positions include Vice President of Athletics Australia, Chairman of Hanover Welfare Services; non-executive director of United Energy, Launch Housing, Sensis, the KAZ Computing Group, and Marchment Hill Consulting Pty Ltd, Chief Financial Officer at AusNet Services, and Executive Director, Finance at Telstra Corporation Limited. He was also Foxtel's first Chief Financial Officer.
Director with Industry Experience
Andrew Sheridan - CA, MA (Hons)
Andrew is the Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs for Optus with responsibility for managing Optus’ relationship with key external stakeholders from the Government, regulatory bodies such as the ACCC and the ACMA. The group also develops Optus’ position on industry structural issues, competition, and compliance policies.
Director with Consumer Experience
Thu-Trang Tran - LLM (Intl. Law), GradDipLP, LLB, B.Comm (Info. Sys.)
Thu-Trang began her career as a commercial and information technology lawyer. She has since combined her social justice values, strategic leadership, and regulatory expertise in private and public sector organisations in Australia and overseas over the past two decades.
Thu-Trang also serves as a Commissioner on the Victorian Liquor Commission, and serves as a Board Director with auDA, Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, and the Victorian Interpreting and Translating Service Language Loop. She has also held executive roles in regional and state peak NFP organisations, and was previously a Commissioner on the Victorian Building Authority Board.