Veterans' Review Board Veterans' Review BoardMichael Griffin, LLB, LLM
Mr Griffin was appointed on 26 June 2007 for a five year term. Previously he was in private practice as a solicitor, specialising in the areas of federal administrative law and criminal law. Mr Griffin was also a part time Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal from 2001 until his appointment to the Board. He has been a Senior Member of the Migration Review Tribunal and a Member of the Refugee Review Tribunal. He has been a Judge Advocate/Defence Force Magistrate and a Member of the International Association of Refugee Law Judges. Mr Griffin served in the Australian Regular Army for 22 years until his transfer to the Army Reserve in 1997. He was a Section Commander in 3RAR, a recruiting Sergeant and a legal officer and saw active service in Somalia and Iraq. He currently holds the rank of Colonel on the Active List of the Army Reserve.
In 2004 Mr Griffin was appointed as the Subject Matter Expert in Administrative Law for the Australian Defence Force and in 2005 was engaged by the President of the Senate as legal adviser to the Senate Inquiry into the Military Justice System. In 2005 Mr Griffin was appointed as Foreign Attorney Consultant to Mr David Hicks, at Mr Hicks’s request, before the United States Military Commission in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Mr Griffin has appeared as counsel assisting or counsel representing in numerous commissions of inquiry and boards of inquiry in Australia and overseas.
Ms Zita Antonios
Ms Antonios is a graduate in Social Studies. She is a current part time Member of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal and a former full time Member of Immigration Review Tribunal. Prior to that she was the Federal Race Discrimination Commissioner and Social Justice Commissioner at the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Ms Antonios has an extensive employment history as a mediator and advisor in grievance management and conflict resolution. She was appointed a Member of the VRB in 2001.
Commander Gary Barrow
Commander Barrow served as a permanent officer in the Royal Australian Navy for 26 years. In 1983 he graduated from the University of Sydney Law School, and also qualified as a Legal Officer in the Royal Australian Navy. He has been in private practice as a solicitor since 1986 and has continued to serve as a Naval Reserve officer. He was appointed a Member of the VRB in 2007.
Mr Graham Barter
Mr Barter is a Barrister in private practice and a member of the NSW Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee. He is a Reserve Legal Officer with the Command Legal Office, Land Headquarters, Paddington and studying for a Master of Military Law degree at ANU. He is a graduate of the University of New South Wales, and served in the Australian Army Legal Corps from 1981-1989, and again from 1999. He was appointed as a Member of the VRB in 2007.
Mr Frank Benfield
Mr Benfield is a graduate of the Army Apprentices School and the University of Southern Queensland. He was appointed to the VRB in May 1999 from Queensland University of Technology where he was working as an academic. He served in the ADF for 20 years including one tour of duty in Vietnam, one in Papua New Guinea and several tours of duty in Indonesia. As a civilian advisor he was attached to the Royal Thai Navy Air Wing for 3 years on a Defence Co-Operation Project with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Mr Benfield is a Services Member based in Brisbane.
Group Captain Dr Robert Black AM RFD
Group Captain Black is a Doctor of Medicine and has a Master of Surgery. He is a fellow of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons. He served in the Royal Australian Air Force Reserve for 46 years including duty in Butterworth, Rwanda, Bougainville and East Timor. He was the Senior Visiting Specialist of the Daw Park Repatriation General Hospital for 23 years and has conducted a self employed private surgical practice. He was appointed a Services Member of the VRB in 2006.
Major General Murray Blake AO MC (Retd)
Major General Blake (Retd) has been a Services Member of the Board since 1999. He has seen active service in Vietnam, Malaya and Borneo and has held positions including Commander of Land Command Australia, Commandant of the Royal Military College and Commander of the 3rd Brigade.
Mr Andrew Braban
Mr Braban has a Masters in Law from the United States Army Judge Advocate Generals School. He served in the Australian Regular Army from 1980 to 2002 in a number of legal officer positions including Senior Legal Officer to the Commander of the International Forces East Timor. He continues to work for Defence Legal Services and is the Executive Legal Officer for the Queensland College of Teachers. He was appointed a Member of the VRB in 2007.
Ms Sharon Brennan
Ms Brennan was appointed as a Member of the VRB in 2006. She has a Masters in Business and is a graduate in Arts and Education and works as a Conciliation Officer at the Accident Compensation Conciliation Service. She has an extensive employment history in Human Resources in both the private and public sectors.
Frank Brown, LLB
A former national serviceman, later promoted sergeant and then commissioned from OCS Portsea in 1971. Army service included Vietnam in 1968/69 and an exchange posting with the British Army in Germany 1976-1978. He left the Army in 1993 as a lieutenant colonel, following which he worked for the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption. After graduating in law from the University of New South Wales in 1997, worked as a solicitor in private practice. Appointed to the Board in 2001, he also continues to practice law as a sole practitioner.
Mr Robert Brumm
Mr Brumm has qualifications in Farm Management and Public Sector Management. He had operational service in Vietnam with the Australian Army. Post-service he worked for the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries for 29 years in regulatory, technical and legislative support management. In 1998 he was awarded the Public Service Medal. He was appointed a Member of the VRB in 2006.
Wing Commander Stuart Bryce (Retd)
Wing Commander Bryce (Retd) as been a Services Member of the Board since 1991. He served in the Royal Australian Air Force for 23 years initially as an aircraft instrument fitter and later as a pilot completing several tours with No 37 Squadron and over four years as a VIP captain with No 34 Squadron. He saw active service in Vietnam as an air support officer with the 1st Australian Task Force at Nui Dat. He retired from the RAAF in 1986 when he was serving in Hobart as the Senior Air Force Officer, Tasmania.
Air Commodore Frank Burtt OBE (Retd)
Air Commodore Burtt (Retd) served in the Royal Australian Air Force for 33 years including operational service in Malaya and Vietnam. He is a graduate of both the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College and the Joint Services Staff College. He retired in the rank of Air Commodore and was appointed as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1983. He was appointed a Services Member of the VRB in 1998.
Mr Ivan Cahill
Mr Cahill is a graduate of the University of Queensland, Macquarie University, the Royal Military College, Duntroon, the Joint Services Staff College and the Army's Command and Staff College. He served in the ADF for 27 years, including one year in the Army Reserve. He had operational service in South Vietnam (two tours) and in the Middle East, where he was Chief United Nations Military Observer in Southern Lebanon. He has also served in Papua New Guinea and Japan (Okinawa). He was previously employed as Director Litigation with the Department of Veterans' Affairs. He was appointed as a Senior Member of the VRB in 2007.
Rear Admiral A.M. Carwardine AO RAN (Retd)
Gerry Carwardine has been a part time service member of the VRB since January 1998. He served in the RAN for over 41 years as a seaman warfare officer. He had four sea commands and a squadron command. He had active service in Malaya and Malaysia. Professional training and education has included gunnery and missile courses in the UK and the USA and management at the USN Post Graduate School, Monterey, California. He is a graduate of the Joint Services Staff College, Canberra and the USN War College, Newport, Rhode Island. His last three service postings, prior to retiring in 1995, were Chief of Naval Personnel, Head of the Australian Defence Staff in North America, including Defence Attache to the USA, Canada and the United Nations, and Commandant of the Australian Defence Force Academy. He bred Murray Greys on a small holding at Bungendore from 1995 to 2002 and was a journalist for the Queanbeyan Age in the late 1990s. He has been involved in a number of professional, charitable and voluntary organisations, including Chairman of the Defence Attaches Association in Washington, DC, Chairman of the ACT Support Group to the Australian War Memorial and the lay member of the Human Ethics Committee of the University of Canberra.
Mr John Cooke
Mr Cooke qualified in Law in 1968 through the Barristers’ Admission Board, NSW. Prior to his appointment as Senior Member of the VRB in 1990 he was Director of the Legal Aid Commission in NSW and, before that, Chairman of the Corporate Affairs Commission NSW. He has acted as Principal Member of the Board on several occasions. He served in the Army as a National Serviceman (12 NS Trg Bn and HQ I Armd Bde) 1953-55.
Ms Julie Cowdroy
Ms Cowdroy is a graduate in Law. She is a former part time Legal Member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal; a part time Deputy Chair Person of the Drug Aid Assessment Panel Adelaide; Deputy President of Guardianship Board Adelaide; a member of the Residential Tenancy Tribunal; a part time Member of the Police Disciplinary Tribunal QLD; a part time Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and is currently a part time Member of the Guardianship and Administration Tribunal and the Children’s Services Tribunal. She was an Assistant Crown Prosecutor Officer of the Director of Prosecutions South Australia and Senior Solicitor Commercial Divison in the Crown Solicitor Office Adelaide. She is a Senior Member of the VRB, having held the position from 1993-1996 and again from 1998.
Ms Jennifer D’Arcy
Ms D’Arcy has been a part-time Senior Member of the board since 2001 and also is a part-time legal member of the Mental Health Review Tribunal and the Social Security Appeals Tribunal, as well as being a part-time presiding member of the Guardianship Tribunal.
Captain Allan Farquhar RAN (Retd)
Captain Farquhar (Retd) served in the Royal Australian Navy for 28 years, including operational service in the Far East Strategic Reserve during 1962. He is a graduate of the Royal Australian Naval College and the Australian Joint Services Staff College. He is qualified in Accountancy and Business Management and has worked as a Senior Consultant and Human Resources Manager in the private sector. He was appointed Services Member of the VRB in 2001.
Group Captain Collins Fagan (Retd)
Group Captain Fagan (Retd) served briefly in the CMF before joining the Royal Australian Air Force for 30 years after the outbreak of the Korean War. He resigned from the RAAF and while awaiting discharge he was appointed a part-time Services Member of the Repatriation Review Tribunal (RRT) in 1980 just after that body was formed but was employed full time. He then was appointed as a full time member on the Veterans’ Review Board in 1985.He is the only member in the jurisdiction to have served on the RRT and the only original member of the Board from when it was formed.
Ms Jackie Fristacky
Ms Fristacky has Master of Public Policy, Master of Public Policy and Management and Master of Laws degrees. She has been a senior member of the WorkCare Appeals Board, an industrial advocate for the Australian Public Service Board and held senior roles in the Victorian Public Service and in industrial relations and management consulting. She was appointed as a Member of the VRB in 1997. Since 2002, she has held this role concurrently with her role as a municipal councillor of the City of Yarra where she was Mayor in 2006.
Ms Ann Graham
Ms Graham holds Bachelor degrees in Arts and Laws as well as a Master of Laws from Monash University. Between 2001 and 2007 she held an appointment as a Member of the Migration Review Tribunal and the Refugee Review Tribunal. Ms Graham also served for four years as an Australian Federal Police Officer. Ms Graham was appointed as a Senior Member of the VRB in 2008.
Ms Andrea Marilyn Hall-Brown
Ms Hall-Brown is a graduate in Laws and Science, and is currently a Barrister. She is senior member of the VRB, having held the position from 1998-2006 and presently from 2007.
Mrs Jan Hartmann
Jan Hartmann served in the Australian Army for 22 years, retiring with the rank of Major. She is a former Veterans’ Advocate for the Returned and Services League (NSW Branch) and assessor for Veterans’ Home Care program. She was appointed a Member of the VRB in 2001.
Mrs Elayne Hayes
Ms Hayes is a graduate in Arts and Social Work. She is a former Member and Executive Member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal (1983-1989, 1999) and a part time Member of the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal (1997 – present). She has worked as a Human Resources and Communications Manager at the Department of Health and Aged Care; a Consultant to Federal Health Insurance Commission Sofia, Bulgaria; Consultant at the Australia Japan Foundation; Manager at Centrelink and Department of Social Security. Ms Hayes has also undertaken HR consultancy work in South Africa and Switzerland. She was appointed a Member of the VRB in 2006.
Major Edward Bertram Mark Jolly
Major Jolly has a Masters in Law from Melbourne University, and is currently a Barrister in private practice. He served as a Legal Officer in the Australian Regular Army from 1993-1998 and continues to serve in the Army Reserve. He was appointed a Senior Member of the VRB in 2007.
Mr Christopher Keher
Mr Keher is a solicitor in private practice and is a part-time Member of the Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal. He has previously been a part-time advocate for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and was a member of the Refugee Review Tribunal from 1997 to 2004. He was appointed a Senior Member of the VRB in 2008.
Ms Hilary Kramer
Ms Kramer is a graduate in Arts and Law. She is a part time member of the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal and a former part time Legal Member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal and the Guardianship Tribunal of NSW. She has practised as a Solicitor in private practice and for the Legal Aid Commission representing clients in criminal, prison and mental health law. She has conducted research with the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research and compiled the final report of the 26-member Women in Prison Task Force to the Minister for Corrective Services. She was appointed Member of the VRB in 1998 and Senior Member in 2006.
Kerrie Laurence
Ms Laurence is a graduate in Arts and Disability Education. She is a member of the Guardianship Tribunal and a former part time Member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal. She has previously worked as an aged care quality assessor for the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency, NSW TAFE Commission, and the NSW Department of Community Services. She was appointed a Member of the VRB in 2001.
Ms Amanda MacDonald
Ms MacDonald has a Masters of Administrative Law and Policy and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Sydney. She is currently a Member of the Migration Review and Refugee Review Tribunals, after acting as a Senior Member of those Tribunals from 2005-2006 and a Member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal. She was appointed a Senior Member of the VRB in 2007.
Lieutenant Colonel Rick Main (Retd)
Lieutenant Colonel Main served for 23 years in the Australian Army including operational service in Vietnam. He graduated from the Army Staff College Queenscliff and the Officer Training Unit Scheyville. His service also included instructional postings at the Royal Military College Duntroon and as an exchange officer at the British Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Following eight years as an advocate with the RSL Queensland State Branch he was appointed as a Services Member of the VRB in 2006.
Major Gregory Mawkes MBE (Retd)
Major Mawkes (Retd) served in the Regular Army for 22½ years including two tours of Vietnam with 1 SAS Squadron. He was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to SAS in the 1982 New Years Honours list, specifically for establishing Australia’s military counter-terrorist capability. He was appointed Services Member of the VRB in 1993.
Ms Morag McColm
Ms McColm is a graduate in Social Studies and Adult Education. She is a former Member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal and was a member of the Legal Aid panel of chair people, Brisbane. She has an extensive history of employment in a wide range of medical, mental health and family work areas. She was appointed Member of the VRB in 1997.
Brigadier Terrance Nolan AM (Retd)
Brigadier Terry Nolan retired from the Australian Army in 1996 after a career spanning 34 years. His Army service commenced in 1962 when he enlisted as a soldier in the CMF, but in 1965 he transferred to the Regular Army where he served for the remainder of his career. He saw active service in South Vietnam as a junior officer. He left the Army in 1996 to join Royal Dutch Shell as the Regional Security Manager for South-East Asia /Pacific. He retired from that position in March 2008 to take up the appointment as a Services Member of the VRB.
Mr Victor Kent Patrick RFD
Mr Patrick was a solicitor/barrister from 1967 to 1986 and a Stipendiary Magistrate and Deputy Coroner of South Australia from 1986-2007. He also served as a Legal officer in the Australian Army from 1974 - 1977 and in the Army Reserve from 1977 - 1997. On reaching retirement age he held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was also a Defence Force Magistrate. He was appointed a Member of the VRB in 2007.
Colonel Robin Regan CSC (Retd)
Colonel Regan (Retd) served in the Australian Army for 34 years including active service in South Vietnam. He was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross and Deputy Chief of Army Commendation. He has previously been an advocate for the Returned and Services League of Victoria. Colonel Regan (Retd) was appointed a Services Member of the VRB in 1999.
Colonel Roger Tiller AM CSC (Retd)
Roger Tiller was appointed to the VRB as a part-time services member in 2006. Conscripted in 1972 he was commissioned into the Royal Australian Infantry Corps and served in the Australian Regular Army for 33 years. He commanded ADF's Parachute Battalion Group as the Commanding Officer of 3 RAR and was the Commander of the Liverpool Military Area during the period coinciding with the initial deployments into East Timor, the operation in support of Kosovo refugees and the Sydney Olympics. Colonel Tiller has served as a military observer with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) in the Middle East. His last appointment from 2002 to 2005 was as the first Australian Defence Attaché in the Gulf - based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was cross accredited to Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman (and initially Qatar and the UAE) and spent time with ADF elements in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Iraq. Colonel Tiller was appointed a Member of Order of Australia (AM) in 1999 and awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC) in 2005. He now has a one-man consulting company facilitating opportunities between Australian industry and business entities including governments of the Gulf region.
Dr Andrea Treble
Dr Treble has been a part time Senior Member of the Board since 2001. She has recently completed doctoral studies in social policy and administrative law. She has past experience as a solicitor in private practice, as well as in the government and community sector, and formerly taught administrative and community law in the tertiary sector. She is a member of the Teachers’ Disciplinary Proceedings Committee and the Accreditation Decisions Review Committee, a legal member of the Mental Health Review Board and the Social Security Appeals Tribunal along with being an independent reviewer for Victoria Legal Aid.
Colonel Anthony Wales (Retd)
Colonel Wales (Retd) is a graduate in Law. During his 27 year military career he had operational service in Borneo and Vietnam and attained the rank of colonel in the position of Deputy Director Army Legal Services. After retiring from the Army he entered private legal practice. Colonel Wales was elected Mayor of Mt Barker Council in 2003. He was appointed a Member of the VRB in 1997 and has acted as a Senior Member on a number of occasions.
Colonel David Wilkins (Retd)
Colonel Wilkins (Retd) is an honours graduate in Law and Arts. He served for 26 years in the Australian Army which included infantry operational service in South Vietnam. Since then he has worked as a Barrister, Defence Force Magistrate and Judge Advocate, Army Reserve. He was appointed a Member of the VRB in 2006.
Ms Sylvia Winters
Ms Winters has been a Member of the Board since 2006, and was appointed a Senior Member in 2008. She previously served as an officer in the Australian Army and was a barrister at the New South Wales Bar.
Air Commodore Bruce Wood (Retd)
Air Commodore Wood (Retd) served in the Royal Australian Air Force for 35 years which included a posting in Ubon, Thailand during the Vietnam War flying Sabre aircraft, and later a tour in South Vietnam as a Forward Air Controller working with the US Army 25th Infantry Division. Towards the latter part of his Air Force career he was the Air Attaché in Washington DC and his last posting before retirement was as Combined Air Component Commander INTERFET and Commander of the Australian Contingent, in East Timor. He is still a member of the RAAF Reserve Staff Group and was appointed a Services Member of the VRB in 2006.
Mr Christopher Wray
Mr Wray is a graduate in Law with a post graduate diploma in Art History. He is a self-employed solicitor and has an extensive history of employment as a senior associate, partner and sole principle in law firms in Melbourne and Perth. He has lectured in legal studies and has authored publications relating to Australian Military History.
Colonel Leslie Young (Retd)
Colonel Young (Retd) has a Diploma in Law and a Diploma in Criminology. He served in the Australian Army for 22 years holding appointments as Judge Advocate Administrator, Judge Advocate, Defence Force Magistrate and Chief Legal Officer. In his capacity as a Judge Advocate he sat on military trials in Somalia and Cambodia. Prior to his appointment as a Senior Member of the VRB in 1997 he worked as a solicitor advocate which he continues to do on a part time basis as a sole practitioner.
Major Warwick Young
Major Young is an Army Officer in the Australian Defence Force and has been since 1992. Major Young saw active service in Iraq in 2006. He was appointed Services Member of the VRB in 2008.
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This page was last updated on 26 June 2007