Council members
The Chair
A Vice-Chair and other “public members”, who have no affiliation with a media organisation
Nominees of media organisations, including major publishers of newspapers and magazines; a nominee for small publishers, as well as a nominee for the principal union for employees in the media industry
Independent journalist members, who are not employed by a media organisation
How are members appointed and selected?
The independent Chair is chosen by the Council. The public members and independent journalist members are appointed by the Council on the nomination of the Chair.
The nominees of publishers are chosen by the media organisations which have agreed to support the Council and be subject to its complaints system.
Council membership
Chair of the Council
Neville Stevens AO
Neville Stevens has broad experience at a senior level both inside and outside of government. His 30-year career in the Australian Public Service included senior positions in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Industry Department and the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. Mr Stevens was Secretary of the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts from 1993–2001. In that period, he was closely involved in telecommunications reform, broadcasting and media policy, and the development of the Australian information technology industry.
Prior to this, he served as Secretary of the Industry Department (1990–1993), following a five-year tenure as Deputy Secretary of the same department. Since leaving the public service in 2001, Mr Stevens has undertaken a range of assignments providing high level policy and strategic advice to public and private sector organisations. He has participated in and chaired a number of boards and panels. Major roles have included :
- Chair of NICTA, a large information and communications technology research centre which merged with elements of CSIRO;
- Chair of the Cooperative Research Centre Committee, tasked with oversight of the federal government’s Cooperative Research Program;
- Independent Chair of the Australian Communications Industry Forum, and later Communications Alliance, a body funded by the telecommunications industry to assist industry self-regulation;
- Chair of the NSW government’s Innovation and Productivity Council, with a remit to advise on ways of boosting productivity and jobs growth; and Head of review of Indigenous broadcasting for the federal government
Mr Stevens is originally from Adelaide. He graduated from Adelaide University with a Bachelor of Economics (Hons). He was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2002.
Neville Stevens AO
Chair of the Council
Neville Stevens has broad experience at a senior level both inside and outside of government. His 30-year career in the Australian Public Service included senior positions in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Industry Department and the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. Mr Stevens was Secretary of the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts from 1993–2001. In that period, he was closely involved in telecommunications reform, broadcasting and media policy, and the development of the Australian information technology industry.
Prior to this, he served as Secretary of the Industry Department (1990–1993), following a five-year tenure as Deputy Secretary of the same department. Since leaving the public service in 2001, Mr Stevens has undertaken a range of assignments providing high level policy and strategic advice to public and private sector organisations. He has participated in and chaired a number of boards and panels. Major roles have included :
- Chair of NICTA, a large information and communications technology research centre which merged with elements of CSIRO;
- Chair of the Cooperative Research Centre Committee, tasked with oversight of the federal government’s Cooperative Research Program;
- Independent Chair of the Australian Communications Industry Forum, and later Communications Alliance, a body funded by the telecommunications industry to assist industry self-regulation;
- Chair of the NSW government’s Innovation and Productivity Council, with a remit to advise on ways of boosting productivity and jobs growth; and Head of review of Indigenous broadcasting for the federal government
Mr Stevens is originally from Adelaide. He graduated from Adelaide University with a Bachelor of Economics (Hons). He was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2002.
Public Members
Jennifer Elliott
Vice Chair
Jennifer Elliott
Vice Chair
Jennifer Elliott is a senior executive who works with Boards and Executive Teams to drive performance and transformational change. Jennifer is the former Managing Director and Regional Head of Moody’s Asia-Pacific. She first worked with Moody’s in the Sydney office as an analyst in the Structured Finance Group. In 1996, Jennifer was transferred to the London office, where she was a Vice President – Senior Credit Officer. In 1999 she was appointed head of Moody's Australia. From 2005-2007 she was Chief Human Resources Officer in New York, after which she took over the company’s Asia Pacific operations.
Prior to joining Moody's, Jennifer worked as a banking and finance lawyer at Clayton Utz in Sydney. She received her BA in English Literature and LLB from the University of Sydney and earned an MA in Southeast Asian Business Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. Jennifer was appointed as a public member of the Press Council in May 2015.
Lyn Maddock
Lyn Maddock
After graduating in Economics from Queensland University, Lyn spent the first half of her career in the Prime Minister's Department in Canberra, specialising in micro economic and trade policy. A highlight was her deep involvement in advising on the major reforms to the Australian economy in the 1980s particularly with regard to transport, communications, industry and resources.
After a short stint in banking, Lyn returned to economic public policy, working primarily on issues of government administrative efficiency. She became executive Deputy Chair and then Acting Chair of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and led it into a merger with the telecommunications regulator. She chaired the new body (The Australian Communications and Media Authority) as a full time executive for its first 18 months until a long-term Chair was appointed.
Lyn later became the CEO of Australia's Antarctic program, which has responsibility for managing the logistics for, and operation of,Australia's four permanent stations in the Antarctic and sub Antarctic. Since retiring from executive positions in 2011, Lyn has served on not-for-profit boards in screen funding and land conservation and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Economics faculty of Queensland University. Lyn was appointed as a public member of the Press Council in August 2019.
Mohamed el Roubi
Mohamed el Roubi
Mohamed el Roubi is a general counsel with extensive experience in a range of multinational companies and is currently senior legal counsel at Australian tech company Seeing Machines. Based in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Mohamed is a Director and member of the Audit and Risk Committee at Mental Illness Education ACT. He has lived and worked in the Middle East, US and Europe, and is bi-lingual in English and Arabic. He has broad legal, governance, risk and compliance experience across a range of industries and is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Mohamed is admitted as a lawyer of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and is also an Attorney and Counsellor at Law in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
Dr Sid Vohra
Dr Sid Vohra
Dr Sid Vohra is Director of Medical Services and Chief Medical Officer at Orange Health Service in NSW, with responsibility for Orange Hospital, one of Australia’s largest regional health facilities. He has extensive experience in developing and managing stakeholder relationships at a community, State and Federal level in matters relating to health care systems and rural and regional health care. Dr Vohra's general management covers full executive level management of all specialised medical services at the hospital. He has over 200 doctors reporting directly to him. Previously, he worked as a Medical Consultant in life insurance and was a Consultant at McKinsey & Company. Dr Vohra completed his Bachelor in Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) from Monash University. He is a specialist medical practitioner and a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (FRACMA). He is also a Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management (FCHSM). Dr Vohra’s qualifications include an MBA from INSEAD France, Master of Health Management from the University of NSW and he is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD). Dr Vohra is a Graduate of the Advanced Management Program (AMP) from the Wharton School University of Pennsylvania USA.
Diana Nestorovska
Diana Nestorovska
Diana Nestorovska is a governance and legal professional with extensive experience working across diverse sectors and industries in Australia and overseas. Ms Nestorovska is a former Australian diplomat, speaks multiple languages and understands the workings of government at an international, State and Federal level. She is currently employed as the Director of Legal Services, STEM, at the University of Melbourne. Based in Victoria, she is a non-executive Director of the South Gippsland Water Corporation and is a current MBA candidate at the Melbourne Business School. She is a sessional academic at Monash University’s Department of Business Law and Taxation and a Member of La Trobe University's Human Research Ethics Committee. She is a Member of the Association of Corporate Counsel Australia and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Simone Carton
Simone Carton
Simone Carton has been the CEO of the ACT Law Society (ACTLS) since 2020, leading a team advocating for the legal profession in the ACT and upholding legal professional standards through regulation, education, engagement, and representation. She was previously the CEO of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine. With more than 25 years in a range of legal, governance and operational roles, Ms Carton also spent nearly ten years as Legal Manager and Company Secretary for the Advertising Standards Bureau and the Australian Advertising Standards Council. She is a Director of Asthma Australia and a Board Member at public charitable foundation Greater Good, ACT.
Sally Basser
Sally Basser
Sally is a consultant and board director with a deep interest in the creative industries, arts, social welfare, health, disability and not-for-profit sectors. Prior to 2018 Sally enjoyed a successful career as a senior Commonwealth public servant, holding senior executive positions in the Social Policy Division of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and as head of the Office for the Arts from 2007 to 2017. This is underpinned by over 25 years’ experience in the public and not-for-profit sectors across a range of specialties including human services, human resource management and as a social worker in a range of settings including child and family services and community health. Currently, Sally works as a consultant with a particular focus on working with NFP boards and CEOs on leadership, board effectiveness, governance, organisational change and strategic planning. She currently serves on the boards of the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Bell Shakespeare Company, the Australian National Academy of Music and the Australian Youth Orchestra. Sally has a Bachelor of Social Work (First Class Honours) a Master of Public Administration and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Aram Hosie
Aram Hosie
Aram Hosie is the Executive Director, Strategy and Public Affairs, at Save the Children Australia. A highly experienced public policy and advocacy leader, Aram has over 15 years’ experience working on health and human rights law and policy issues in both the government and non-government sectors. He has previously held executive positions with a range of organisations including the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission; community health provider cohealth; and youth mental health service ReachOut.com. Aram has also had experience providing high level advice to Ministers and senior government, including through his prior roles as a member of the Victorian Government’s LGBTIQ+ Taskforce, and senior advisor in the West Australian Department of Premier and Cabinet and Department of Indigenous Affairs. Aram currently serves on the board of Your Community Health and is primarily based in Naarm (Melbourne).
Industry Nominee Members
David Braithwaite
Fairfax Media part of Nine Entertainment co
David Braithwaite
Fairfax Media part of Nine Entertainment co
Dave Braithwaite is the Head of Editorial Operations for Nine’s Metro Publishing, with extensive experience in newspaper, digital and cross-platform journalism. Previously, he held positions of Head of Video at Fairfax, Digital Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald and Online News Editor of The Age.
Dave is a digital content and strategy specialist who has also worked as an Executive Producer for Digital News and Current Affairs at the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), and then Managing Editor, Online, overseeing digital content across the network.
Lachlan Heywood
Daily Mail Australia
Lachlan Heywood
Daily Mail Australia
Lachlan Heywood is executive editor of Daily Mail Australia, with more than 20 years of experience in newspaper and digital publishing. He is a former editor of Queensland’s The Courier-Mail and The Townsville Bulletin as well as a former deputy editor of The Sunday Mail.
As a young reporter, Lachlan spent several years at regional dailies and also worked as a political reporter for News Corp in the Canberra press gallery. During his tenure at The Courier Mail, Lachlan delivered rapid growth in digital subscribers and audience. Until recently, he was a member of the Queensland Premier’s Special Taskforce on Domestic and Family Violence. Lachlan joined Daily Mail Australia in late 2017.
Erik Jensen
Small publisher representative
Erik Jensen
Small publisher representative
Erik Jensen is the founding editor of The Saturday Paper and editor-in-chief of Schwartz Media. He has previously worked at The Sydney Morning Herald, where he won the Walkley Award for Young Print Journalist of the Year and the United Nations Association of Australia’s Media Peace Award. His first book, Acute Misfortune: The Life and Death of Adam Cullen, won the Nib Prize for Literature and was shortlisted for the Walkley Book Award and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. A film of the book, for which he cowrote the screenplay, won The Age Critics Prize at the Melbourne International Film Festival. He is also the author of On Kate Jennings and Quarterly Essay 74: The Prosperity Gospel. Erik was appointed as a small publisher Member of Press Council in August 2019.
Matthew Ricketson
Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance
Matthew Ricketson
Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance
Matthew Ricketson is an academic and journalist, appointed in 2009 as the Inaugural Professor of Journalism at the University of Canberra. From mid-2006 to early 2009, he was Media and Communications Editor for The Age. Matthew has worked at The Australian, Time Australia magazine and The Sunday Herald, among other publications.
He was appointed by the federal government in 2011 to assist the Finkelstein Inquiry into the Media and Media Regulation. He is a chief investigator on two Australian Research Council projects investigating the impact of mass redundancies on Australian newsrooms and the reinvention of journalism. He is the author of three books and editor of two, and he is President of the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia.
Glenn Stanaway
News Corp Australia
Glenn Stanaway
News Corp Australia
Glenn Stanaway is National Executive Editor for News Corp Australia. Previously, he held the posts of Executive Editor of News Corp’s Sunday newspapers; Executive Editor, Deputy Editor and Digital Editor of The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph; Executive Editor (Olympics) of The Daily Telegraph; Assistant Editor and Chief-of-Staff of The Daily Telegraph.
Glenn has also been News Corp’s European Bureau Chief and Parliamentary Bureau Chief in Canberra, and The Courier-Mail’s Canberra political correspondent. He has also been an editor at the China Daily in Beijing.
(Brian) Hartley Higgins
Country Press Australia
(Brian) Hartley Higgins
Country Press Australia
(Brian) Hartley Higgins was appointed as representative for Country Press Australia on 11 December 2020.
Hartley Higgins is chairman and managing director of Provincial Press Group, a fourth generation regional and special interest publisher. Provincial Press Group publishes regional, rural and special interest newspapers in Victoria and New South Wales, and industry wine, viticulture, forests and timber journals in South Australia.
Hartley is a former director of a Lloyds insurance broking and risk management firm, the regional broadcaster 3NE/Edge FM, and digital property portal realestateview.com.au His special interests are regional development, tourism and snow sports. Qualifying and an Associate of the Australian Insurance Institute, he is a former Fellow of the Australian Insurance Brokers Association and Fellow of the Institute of Directors of Australia.
He is a past president and current a director of the Victorian Country Press Association Ltd.
Independent Journalist Members
Peter Greste
Peter Greste
Professor Peter Greste is an Australian-born journalist, author, media freedom activist and academic. He is the Executive Director of the advocacy group, the Alliance for Journalists' Freedom, and UNESCO Chair in Journalism and Communication at the University of Queensland. Before joining the university in January 2018, he spent 25 years as a foreign correspondent, starting with the civil war in Yugoslavia and elections in South Africa as a freelance reporter in the early 90s, before joining the BBC as its Afghanistan correspondent in 1995. He went on to cover Latin America, the Middle East and Africa for the BBC.
He hit the headlines himself in December 2013, when he and two colleagues were arrested in Cairo on terrorism charges. They were convicted and sentenced to seven years in a case that drew international condemnation as attack on press freedom. Under pressure, Professor Greste was released, and he went on to become a champion of press freedom around the world. His stance has earned him numerous international awards, including the Australian Human rights Commission Medal, the RSL's 2016 ANZAC Peace Prize, and the Australian Press Council's 2018 Press Freedom award. Peter was appointed as an independent journalist member of the Press Council in August 2019.
Julie Flynn
Julie Flynn
Julie Flynn is a retired journalist and media executive. During the transition from analogue to digital television, Julie was CEO of Free TV Australia, the industry body representing Australia’s commercial television stations. Julie joined Free TV after a distinguished career as a journalist and media executive. She was a senior executive at Radio 2UE but is best known for her work as a reporter and commentator in the Canberra Press Gallery with the ABC, the National Times and 2UE.
Julie has won a Walkley Award for Radio News reporting and was President of the Canberra Press Gallery. She has served on a range of Boards and Committees including the Walkley Awards Advisory Panel, the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Advisory Board, the Public Service Medal Committee, the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre Board and the Ronald McDonald Hospital Charity Board. Julie has undertaken some media consultancies in her retirement.
Alan Sunderland
Alan Sunderland
Alan Sunderland is an award-winning journalist with 40 years’ experience working for the ABC and SBS. Since retiring from full-time work in 2019, he has been writing and advising on editorial issues on a project basis. These projects have included editorial quality reviews for the ABC and The Conversation website and a report on potential media self-regulation models for Ukraine, prepared for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Mr Sunderland is a Board Member of the Local and Independent News Association and a member of the Walkley Public Fund Committee. He is also the winner of two Walkley Awards for news reporting. He is the author of "The Ten Rules of Reporting: Journalism for the Community".
Meggie Palmer
Meggie Palmer
Meggie Palmer is an award-winning journalist and producer with more than 15 years global reporting experience. She is the founder and CEO of PepTalkHer, a technology company focused on closing the gender gap. Meggie worked globally covering stories in Italy, Syria and Zimbabwe for networks including the BBC, CNBC, SBS Dateline and the Discovery Channel. Her films have won New York Festival TV & Film awards, UN Media awards, a Walkley award and a Logie nomination. Most recently she ran branded content for the Financial Times in New York City. Meggie has been a contributing author with Vogue and an Adjunct Lecturer at Columbia University. She regularly speaks at events globally on gender equality. Based in the USA for the past five years, Meggie maintains strong ties to Australia in a professional and personal capacity. She’s a passionate angel investor and board member.
Ian Macintosh
Ian Macintosh
Ian Macintosh is a veteran international journalist and editorial manager. He held positions including Senior Vice President of CNN International (Asia Pacific), based in Hong Kong, and as senior consultant to CNN International in various regions. He also spent three years as a Vice President of CNN’s commercial arm, Turner International. Previously Ian was a radio and television journalist, news editor, and foreign correspondent with the ABC over 27 years, his overseas postings including Port Moresby, Singapore, Jakarta, Tokyo, New York and London. After 35 years in broadcast journalism, Ian founded and managed an international media consultancy. He is a passionate supporter of high standards and ethical practices in journalism, regardless of platform, technology and commercial influences.
Adjudication Panels
Community background
Andrew Podger
Claire Alder
John Fleetwood
Julian Gardner AM
Melissa Seymour-Dearness
Julie Kinross
Sarah Talbert
Vicki Williams
Jacquilene Lefevre
Media background
Bob Osburn
Barry Wilson
Chief Executive Officer and Secretariat
Yvette Lamont
Ms Lamont joined the Australian Press Council as CEO and Executive Director in 2021. She has extensive Corporate, Legal, Regulatory, Governance, Strategy, M&A, Corporate Affairs, Dispute/Reputation/Crisis Management and Commercial Leadership experience in ASX-listed and start-up/IPO environments.
Ms Lamont has deep industry knowledge and transaction experience - both in-house and as an external advisor - in the disrupted media sector and related emerging technologies across diverse media operations, including publishing, radio, out-of-home and digital. She has a background in subscription television and acting for commercial television.
She was previously Group General Counsel and Company Secretary of ASX-listed media and entertainment company HT&E Limited (formerly APN News & Media Limited). Prior to this she was General Counsel of Australis Media Limited, an ASX-listed subscription television company, and a Senior Associate at international law firm Allens (in the Media & Technology Group).
She is a Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is admitted to the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the High Court of Australia. She was HT&E’s representative on Australia’s Right to Know coalition, formed to address concerns about freedom of speech in Australia. She also sits on the Law Council of Australia’s Media & Communications Committee, is a member of the Communications and Media Law Association and Women in Media and was recently a Non-executive Director of a significant Indigenous media organisation, CAAMA (Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association).
Yvette Lamont
Chief Executive Officer
Ms Lamont joined the Australian Press Council as CEO and Executive Director in 2021. She has extensive Corporate, Legal, Regulatory, Governance, Strategy, M&A, Corporate Affairs, Dispute/Reputation/Crisis Management and Commercial Leadership experience in ASX-listed and start-up/IPO environments.
Ms Lamont has deep industry knowledge and transaction experience - both in-house and as an external advisor - in the disrupted media sector and related emerging technologies across diverse media operations, including publishing, radio, out-of-home and digital. She has a background in subscription television and acting for commercial television.
She was previously Group General Counsel and Company Secretary of ASX-listed media and entertainment company HT&E Limited (formerly APN News & Media Limited). Prior to this she was General Counsel of Australis Media Limited, an ASX-listed subscription television company, and a Senior Associate at international law firm Allens (in the Media & Technology Group).
She is a Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is admitted to the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the High Court of Australia. She was HT&E’s representative on Australia’s Right to Know coalition, formed to address concerns about freedom of speech in Australia. She also sits on the Law Council of Australia’s Media & Communications Committee, is a member of the Communications and Media Law Association and Women in Media and was recently a Non-executive Director of a significant Indigenous media organisation, CAAMA (Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association).
Sir Frank Kitto AC, KBE, PC (1976-1982)
Prof Geoffrey Sawer AO (1982-1984)
Hon Hal Wootten AC (1984-1986)
Prof David Flint AM (1987-1997)
Prof Dennis Pearce AO (1997-2000)
Prof Ken McKinnon AO (2000-2009)
Prof Julian Disney AO (2009-2015)
Prof David Weisbrot AM (2015-2017)
The staff of the Secretariat
Paul Nangle
Director of Complaints
Paul Nangle
Director of Complaints
Paul commenced with the Press Council in 2012 in the newly-created position of Director of Complaints. Prior to joining the Council, Paul worked at the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman where he undertook investigative, conciliatory and advisory work and managed a team of conciliators. He has also worked as a consultant in dispute resolution.
Paul completed a Bachelor of Laws Degree from Monash University.
Publishers and other constituent bodies
The constituent bodies of the Council are:
- a corporate or individual publisher
- an association of publishers
- an organisation representing journalists