About

The Mission Of Awards Victoria Is To Advance The Education, Life Experience And Compassion Of Young Victorians, With A Focus On Supporting Youth With Disabilities Or Who Are Otherwise Disadvantaged.

To achieve this we offer experiential learning programs which build life skills, confidence, self-esteem, resilience and assist young people to find their purpose and place.

To support and enable inclusive participation in our programs we provide financial and other support to those in need, however most of the impact we achieve is through the direct work of our team.

Our Patron

Professor Margaret Gardner was the 9th and first woman President and Vice-Chancellor of Monash University from 1 September 2014 until 4 August 2023.

Prior to joining Monash, Professor Gardner was Vice-Chancellor and President of RMIT from April 2005 until August 2014. She has extensive academic experience, having held various leadership positions in Australian universities throughout her career, including at the University of Queensland and Griffith University.

She attained a first-class honours degree in Economics and a PhD from the University of Sydney. In 1988, she was a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow, spending time at MIT, Cornell and Berkley. In 2018, she was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

Professor Gardner was Chair of the Group of Eight Universities in Australia from 2020 to 2023. She was also a Director of Infrastructure Victoria from 2015 to 2023, the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) from 2015 to 2023 and Chair of CASE Asia-Pacific Regional Council from 2019 to 2023.

Professor Gardner was Chair of Universities Australia from 2017 to 2019 and Museum Victoria from 2008 to 2016 and chaired the Strategic Advisory Committee and the Expert Panel of the Office of Learning and Teaching (Federal Government Department of Education and Training). She has also been a member of various other boards and committees, including the Australian-American Fulbright Commission, the ANZAC Centenary Advisory Board and the International Education Advisory Committee, which led to the Chaney Report.

In 2007, Professor Gardner was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of service to tertiary education, particularly in the areas of university governance and gender equity, and to industrial relations in Queensland. Subsequently in January 2020, Professor Gardner was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for her eminent service to tertiary education through leadership and innovation in teaching and learning, research and financial sustainability.

Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC was inaugurated as the 30th Governor of Victoria on 9 August 2023.

Meet the Board

BACK ROW – STANDING L/R
Jenny Linsten, Company Secretary
Adrian Ponton, Governance Committee, Chair
Scott Chapman, Director
Gaye Wealthy, Director – Retired
Stephen Weber, Director – Retired
Stephen Mason, CEO

FRONT ROW – SEATED L/R
Rosemary Henderson, Director – Retired
Graeme Brauman OAM, Deputy Chair
Sue Lloyd-Williams AO, Chair
Tim Mitchell-Adams, AFR Committee, Chair

2021-Board-2

Meet Our Board

Sue Lloyd Williams AO

Chair

Graeme Brauman OAM

Deputy Chair

Tim Mitchell-Adams

AFR Committee, Chair

Adrian Ponton

Governance Committee, Chair

Scott Chapman AM

Director

Jenny Linsten

Company Secretary

Stephen Mason

Chief Executive Officer

Sue Lloyd-Williams AO

Chair

Sue is the Chair of Awards Victoria, and has an extensive background in business and administration both nationally and internationally. She had a long and distinguished 32 year career with the Victoria Racing Club (VRC). During that time, she successfully held Senior Executive roles including the position of Deputy Chief Executive from 2002 to 2011.

Since retiring from the VRC, Sue has worked as a consultant for the private sector and Victorian State Government. She undertook a lead role with Victorian Government Trade Missions to Asia, Turkey and the Middle East (Equine and Fashion sectors).

Drawing on her broad business skills, Sue has developed a portfolio of board positions around commercial, educational and cultural industries. She is Chair of the Advisory Board, RMIT University School of Economics, Finance and Marketing; Deputy Chairman and Audit Chair, Melbourne Fashion Festival Limited and Board Member Bendigo Art Gallery.

She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD). In 2012 Sue was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in acknowledgement of her many exceptional achievements for the thoroughbred racing industry; for the promotion of women and for her community work over three landmark decades.

Sue is also a Director of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award – Australia.

Graeme Brauman

Vice Chair

Member of Audit, Finance & Risk Sub Committee

Graeme graduated from The Bendigo College of Advanced Education (now La Trobe University) with a Diploma of Business (Accounting) in 1977. Since then Graeme has extensive experience in business, including gaining his Chartered Accountant membership in 1980 and has held various roles as a public accountant both as an employee and as a principal in public practice until his retirement in June 2019.

During his career he was a founding partner of Zanacorp Accounting Group Pty Ltd, Certified Practising Accountants, in 2007 and later, Principal of Brauman Accounting. Graeme’s business focus during his career was taxation, financial reporting, business consulting and corporate secretarial compliance.

Utilizing these skills and experience to give back to the broader community, Graeme is a founding director and current Board Member of Riddiford Nominees Pty Ltd established in 2009 to provide charitable relief for young people through The Riddiford Trust.

As a Board Member, he is involved in allocating funds to organisations that facilitate financial assistance to financially and socially disadvantaged young people to provide them with the opportunity to achieve their full potential in life. He is also the administrator of the Trust’s operations.

From 2017 until his retirement in 2019, he held the position of honorary accountant for The Order of Australia Association Foundation (OAAF), having been involved with the OAAF through The Riddiford Trust since 2012.

Tim Mitchell-Adams

AFR Committee, Chair

Tim is the Chair of the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee of Awards Victoria. He is an experienced business and commercial executive who, over the last 30 years, has held senior executive roles across the wealth management, education and not for profit sectors. During this time, Tim has built a broad range of experiences across technology, distribution, finance, governance and people leadership. Prior to our review of Board Executive Roles, Tim held the Treasurer Position (eliminated March 2020).

He is the Director of Operations at World Wide Generation (WWG), a sustainability fintech designed to help all stakeholders in the investment chain comply and lead ahead of the sustainability regulatory wave that’s upon us, and more importantly, accelerate the financing and delivery of the SDGs and the Paris Agreement by 2030

Tim is a Board member and Chair of the Fundraising Committee for the Robert Connor Dawes Foundation whose mission is to bring awareness and funding to the battle against paediatric brain tumours and to support patients during treatment.

He holds a Diploma of Marketing and Management and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is also graduate of one of Victoria’s premier leadership development programs, the ‘Williamson Community Leadership Program’.

Tim lives in Melbourne and is married with 2 children. In his personal time, he is a keen motorcyclist and has a passionate interest in a broad range of sports.

Adrian Ponton

Governance Committee, Chair

Adrian has actively participated in the governance and risk areas of the business from the outset and currently chairs the Governance sub committee. Adrian’s vocation was in the rail industry with over 40 years’ experience in change management, logistics, project delivery as well as statutory compliance.

Adrian retired from rail in mid 2016, expecting a less hectic lifestyle. However, his consultancy business has more than taken over his spare time. Until July 2020 Adrian was also a lecturer at the Central Queensland University, specialising in Accident Investigation.

He is a member of a number of professional associations including AICD, IRSE and RTSA.

Scott Chapman AM

Director

Scott has spent over 30 years in the corporate, government and community sectors. He is currently Chief Executive of the Royal Flying Doctor Service Victoria and during his tenure has driven exponential growth in health service delivery across regional and remote communities.

Scott has held chief executive and senior leadership positions across the private, public and not for profit sectors over many years, with organisational and community capacity building at the fore of his work.

A believer in the power of strengthening communities through volunteering, Scott is currently Chair of the Boards of AMREF Fling Doctor (Africa), Doutta Galla Aged Care Services, Western Melbourne Tourism, Dafydd Lewis Trust, Cottage by the Sea, Malebag Foundation (Prostate) and the Enterprize Ship Trust.

In January 2024, Scott was appointed as Member of the Order of the Australia (AM) by the Governor-General for significant service to the community of Victoria through a range of governance roles.

Jenny Linsten

Company Secretary

Stephen Mason MAICD

Chief Executive Officer

Stephen has led our organisation since 2017, focusing on expanding the impact, access and inclusion to youth development programs through a shared approach with the sector and our delivery partners.

Stephen is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australian Institute of For-Purpose Leaders. He has an MBA in Global Sustainable Management from the Kisho Kurokawa Green Institute at Anaheim University.

Stephen’s passion is to drive a societal shift towards an equitable education sector, a fair and just economy, and a society living within its planetary boundaries. He believes this is best achieved through a benefit mindset and collaboration.

Awards Victoria Ltd is committed to being a child safe and child friendly organisation. It recognises, respects and promotes children’s rights and is committed to protecting and empowering children who come into contact with the organisation. At Awards Victoria Ltd children are to be listened to, taken seriously and treated with sensitivity and compassion.

Awards Victoria Ltd acknowledges that children’s safety is the responsibility of the whole community and recognises its own responsibilities in keeping children safe from abuse. It has a zero-tolerance approach to child abuse.

Awards Victoria Ltd values diversity and will not tolerate discriminatory practices. It recognises the vulnerabilities of particular groups of children and pays particular attention to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children and children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and the safety of children with a disability.