Principal Member of the Veterans' Review Board
Ms Jane Anderson
Ms Anderson has been appointed as the Principal Member of the Veterans' Review Board for a five-year term commencing on 31 January 2018. Previously she had been appointed as a Member of the VRB in 2015. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) degree from Flinders University of South Australia and a Master of Law degree from Cambridge University, United Kingdom. After working as a Senior Legal Officer for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions she was appointed as a Deputy President of the Guardianship Board of South Australia in 2009. She served in this role for five years before being appointed as a Senior Legal Member of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal in 2014.
Brigadier Mark Bornholt (Rtd)
Mark Bornholt graduated from Officer School Portsea in 1978. He served in the 3rd and 6th Battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his leadership of the 1st Battalion and was commended for distinguished service during the war against Iraq. His senior appointments included Chief of Staff Land Headquarters and Commandant Royal Military College of Australia. He retired in 2009 and worked as the CEO of a business unit of a publicly listed company until 2014 when he was appointed to the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal. He remains a Chief of Army delegate for Redress of Grievance issues, a Director of the Royal Australian Regiment Foundation and is the Colonel Commandant of the Australian Army Band Corps. He previously served as a Services Member of the VRB in 2010-2011.
Dr Anthony Bragg
Doctor Anthony Bragg is a Geriatrician and Stroke Physician and currently works as the Director of Rehabilitation and Geriatric Medicine at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Lismore. He has research interests in Stroke and Dementia and has a close interest in Veterans health in the Northern Rivers community. Prior to his medical career, Dr Bragg worked in corporate roles, including as a Management Consultant with the Boston Consulting Group and as a Group Manager with Boral Energy. He holds bachelor degrees in Science and Commerce as well as post-graduate degrees in Medicine and Business Administration.
Colonel Evan Carlin
Evan Carlin is a retired regular army legal officer. He served as Chief Legal Officer at HQ Land Command, the Deployable Joint Force Headquarters, Joint Operations Command and, latterly, at Command Legal Officer Forces Command. Colonel Carlin also served as an exchange legal officer at HQ Land in the UK and as ADC to the Judge Advocate General of the ADF. He has operational service in NATO, the Balkans (Kosovo), Iraq and Indonesia. He has been a Senior Member since 2015.
Colonel Catherine Carrigan
Colonel Catherine (Bunny) Carrigan is a business consultant, Board Director and senior Army Reserve Officer. She was appointed a VRB Services member in 2018. Colonel Carrigan has served in the Australian Army (Regular and Reserve) for forty years. She is a logistics officer with a breadth of ADF experience including operational service in Somalia, the Middle East and on domestic operations. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science, Masters of Defence Studies, Masters of Business, and Australian Institute of Company Directors Diploma.
Mr Steven Coghlan
Steve served as an Army Signals Officer from 1998 to 2006 during which time he saw service in Bougainville and Pakistan. Since transitioning he has held senior management positions within both the telecommunications and broader infrastructure sectors. He is a graduate of both the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) and Royal Military College - Duntroon (RMC-D) and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Politics (UNSW), a Masters degree in International Relations (Macq) and Diplomas in Business, Personnel Management and Administration.
Brigadier William Robert Date ADC
Brigadier Bill Date graduated from the Officer Cadet School, Portsea in 1980 and has served in the Army as a regular and active reservist. He currently writes joint doctrine for the Headquarters Joint Operations Command. His command appointments include 11th Brigade and 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment. His operational service includes Bougainville, Iraq and Afghanistan.
He was the Chief Inspector Petroleum and Gas from 2016-2024 responsible to regulate safety and health in Queensland’s gas industry including safe coal seam gas production and fracking operations. Brigadier Date holds a Master of Business Administration degree and other qualifications.
Ms Mary Desses
Ms Desses has been appointed as a Member of the Veterans' Review Board commencing 1 January 2019 for a period of five years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Griffith University, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales, a Graduate Diploma of Adult Education, and a Vocational Graduate Diploma of Family Dispute Resolution. She was admitted as a solicitor in 1992.
Mary worked as an Associate for two Federal Court judges, a Mediation Officer at the Retail Tenancy Disputes Unit, an advocate for the Repatriation Commission and a Conference Registrar at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Mary is a nationally accredited mediator with over twenty years' experience as an Alternative Dispute Resolution practitioner.
Mr Robert Douglass
Mr Douglass holds Bachelor degrees in Economics and Laws from Monash University and a Masters degree in Arts (Military History) from the Australian Defence Force Academy. He joined the Department of Veterans' Affairs in 1993 and was an Assistant-Director in the Rehabilitation and Compensation Group from 1995 to 2010, before working as a Senior Lawyer in the Legal Services Group from 2010 to 2014. Mr Douglass has served as a Legal Officer in the Australian Army from 2007 and remains an active member of the Reserve. He was appointed a Member of the VRB in 2014 and a Senior Member in 2015.
Commodore Brett Dowsing, JP, RAN ret’d
Brett Dowsing is a career naval officer with 51 years’ permanent and reserve service. He qualified as a seaman officer and a helicopter pilot, and has had sea, air and shore commands across all officer ranks held. Recognition has included Vietnam and counterterrorist service along with international duties including in the USA, Republic of Korea, Mongolia and Timor-Leste. Brett serves on several veterans’ related boards from Perth, WA and commenced duties with the VRB, this year.
Clinical Professor Gerard Gill RFD MBBS PhD FRACGP FAFPHM FARGP
Gerard Gill RFD MBBS PhD FRACGP FAFPHM FARGP is the retired Professor of General Practice at Deakin University. He spent 37 years as an Army Reserve Medical Officer, deployed to the MEAO in 2008 and has a long involvement with caring for veterans and on DVA committees.
Mr Ross Glover
Ross Glover commenced practice at the NSW Bar in 2010, and has a varied practice including in the fields of including administrative law, inquiries, sporting tribunals, commercial law, insurance and Commonwealth criminal law. Since 2008 he has been a reserve legal officer in the Royal Australian Navy and in 2022, he was appointed as a member of the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal sitting in the Consumer and Commercial Division.
Rear Admiral Mark Hill AM CSC RAN
Rear Admiral Hill joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1980 where he served for 42 years. During his career he enjoyed Command appointments at sea and ashore and Operational service in East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq. His senior Command appointments include Joint Task Force 633, Maritime Border Command and Joint Agency Task Force Operation Sovereign Borders. He was appointed to the VRB as a Services Member in February 2024.
Ms Louise Hunt
Ms Hunt is a graduate in Law and holds a postgraduate Master of International Law. She entered private practice as a Solicitor in 1983 and joined the Royal Australian Air Force Reserve Legal Panel in 1984. From 2007 to 2021 she was a Panel Leader for the Royal Australian Air Force Specialist Reserve Legal Panel. As an Assistant Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force, Ms Hunt conducts complex inquiries and leads teams conducting military justice audits at Australian Defence Force establishments. Ms Hunt was appointed as a Services Member in 2015 and a Senior Member in 2019.
Dr Rondhir Jithoo
Dr Ron Jithoo is a Neurosurgeon of 25 years experience. He completed his medical degree in South Africa with the Dean’s commendation. Neurosurgical training was done at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and he has worked as a neurosurgical consultant at the Royal Melbourne, the Alfred and Royal Darwin hospitals.
He is an Adjunct Research Fellow of Monash University through the National Trauma Research Institute. He has been elected to the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons court of examiners for Neurosurgery and is currently the secretary of the Board of Neurosurgery of Australasia.
He is a past acting head of the department of Neurosurgery of the Alfred Hospital from 2015 to 2017.
He is currently an active specialist reservist at the RAAF with the Rank of Wing Commander, attached to No 1. Expeditionary Health Squadron based at Amberley. He has deployed on Operation Okra to the Middle East Region as principal Neurosurgeon Forward Surgical Group. He has received a meritorious unit citation of the US Army in addition to the OSM (MER) and ADM.
He is also a qualified aviation medical officer from the RAAF Institute of Aviation Medicine.
Ms Katie Jugowitz
Katie is a graduate of the Australian Defence Force Academy and the Royal Military College, Duntroon. She spent 11 years offering full-time service, including with the 2nd Reconstruction Task Force in Afghanistan and the Army Aboriginal Community Assistance Program. She holds a Bachelor of Science, a Masters of Business Administration, and a Masters of Counselling and Psychotherapy. Katie runs her own private practice in Adelaide, specialising in holistic counselling and psychotherapy.
Lieutenant Commander Mark Karlovic
Lieutenant Commander Mark Karlovic joined the Royal Australian Navy as a Reservist Legal Officer in 2010. His military career to date has seen him work in a range of positions including at Fleet Legal, HMAS Cerberus as the Command Legal Officer, Maritime Border Command, Defence People Group and Headquarters Joint Operations Command as well as serving on a range of warships.
In his civilian career he has worked as a senior Human Resources Executive with a range of ASX listed, Multinational and smaller organisations for over twenty years. Mark holds a Master of Commerce, Bachelor of Laws, and Master of Military Law.
Mark was appointed to the VRB in 2024 as a Services Member.
Major General Mark Kelly, AO, DSC
Major General Mark Kelly graduated from the Royal Military College in 1978 and served in the Army for 36 years as an Infantry officer. His senior command appointments include: 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment; 3rd Brigade; 1st Division; Land Command Australia; and Joint Task Force 633. His operational service includes: Zimbabwe/Rhodesia, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. He also served as the Repatriation Commissioner from July 2010 until June 2019. He was appointed to the VRB as a Services Member in March 2022.
Michael (Mike) Kelly
Mike Kelly is currently an Active Reservist holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He holds Bachelor degrees in Arts and Laws and a Graduate Diploma in Management. He is an admitted legal practitioner and a senior lawyer within an incorporated legal practice. He joined the Australian Army in 1986 and has held a range of RAAC regimental, and staff appointments. His service includes operational service in the Middle East Area of Operations.
Mr John Kirton
John first served as a an M113 driver for 2 years before serving over 17 years in the Air Force. Initially joining as a navigator, after conducting one tour on the C-130H Hercules he transferred to pilot then returned to fly the C-130H. In 2015 he then brought the C-27J Spartan into service. John was posted to 36 & 37SQNs during a very busy period that saw him involved in numerous operations such as the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, Timor, Solomons and of course multiple tours of Iraq and Afghanistan. John now owns and runs multiple businesses in Sydney and is also the President of the Kirribilli RSL Sub-branch.
Associate Professor David Letts
David holds an academic appointment at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), University of Wollongong, and is also an Honorary Associate Professor at the ANU College of Law. His academic work focuses on law of the sea, maritime security law and the application of the law to all aspects of military legal practice. David is also a Commodore in the RAN Reserve and has more than four decades of permanent force and reserve force service as both a supply officer and legal officer. He has held senior appointments in Navy and Defence, and in addition to his academic and VRB roles he works part time as an Assistant IGADF.
Ms Amanda MacDonald
Ms MacDonald has extensive experience working in Commonwealth Administrative Review Tribunals. She was a member, senior member and the Deputy Principal Member of the Migration Review Tribunal and the Refugee Review Tribunal, a member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal, a member of the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal and a Conference Registrar and District Registrar of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Amanda is currently contracted to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to design and implement changes to the Commonwealth biosecurity system. She is also contracted to undertake reviews for the Merit Protection Commissioner. Amanda holds a Bachelor of Science and a Masters in Administrative Law and Policy from the University of Sydney. She was first appointed to the Veterans’ Review Board in 2007 as a Senior Member and again as a Member from 2018 and a Senior Member from 2022.
Wing Commander Jodi Mather
Ms Mather is a legal practitioner in the Northern Territory (NT) with 20 years post admission experience. She was the former Associate to Chief Justice Brian Frank Martin (dec’d), Prosecutor within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and Senior Adult Guardianship Officer with the Office of the Public Guardian. Ms Mather currently practices in litigation, possessing an extensive background in Royal Commissions and Inquiries. She holds a current appointment as Legal Member of the NT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Ms Mather was commissioned as a Specialist Reservist Legal Officer to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 2006 and appointed Head of Panel to the Northern Territory Tri-Service Legal Panel upon being promoted to Wing Commander in 2019. She holds a current appointment as Assistant Inspector-General Australian Defence Force (IGADF) and is the Officer in Charge of the Women’s Integrated Networking Group (RAAF-NT).
Ms Mather also serves as an Aide-de-camp to His Honour Professor The Honourable Hugh Heggie, Administrator of the Northern Territory.
Ms Vicki McConachie
Commodore Vicki McConachie served in the permanent Navy from 1984 to 2012 undertaking senior roles in both a legal and non-legal capacity, including serving in Iraq. She has served in the reserve since 2012. After leaving the permanent force she served as a non-executive director for Defence Housing Australia. From 2012 until 2020 she served as Chief General Counsel to a Commonwealth government entity. She currently reviews and undertakes complex investigations for the Inspector General ADF among other reserve service. She holds Bachelors degrees in Arts and Law and a Masters degree in Law.
Mr Peter McCusker
Peter McCusker has been appointed to the Board for 5 years from December 2023.
From 1988, he served as a Judge in the District Court of South Australia. From 1990 he also served as a Judge in the Industrial Court of South Australia and the Industrial Commission of South Australia. He was appointed a Deputy President of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission in 1991. He has served as a Deputy President of the Workers Compensation Tribunal from 1995. On the establishment of the South Australian Employment Tribunal in 2015, he was appointed its first President. He served as the Presidential member on a number of administrative tribunals including the Police Promotions Appeals Tribunal, the Teachers Appeal Board, the Firefighters Disciplinary Appeals Tribunal and the Public Sector Appeals Tribunal.
Before his appointment to the Judiciary, he practiced as a barrister mainly in the areas of administrative law, employment and industrial law, workers compensation and personal injuries law. He appeared as such in all jurisdictions, including the High Court. He is a graduate of Adelaide University (LLB).
Dr (Squadron leader) Kim Morgan-Short
Dr Morgan-Short is a medical practitioner who has had a varied career working in many locations around the world, such as the UK, Ireland and Saudi Arabia. She has been an RAAF Reservist for 30 years and has operational service in the Middle East. She also has a Graduate Certificate in Law and a Post Graduate Diploma in Law (Medical Law and Ethics). Much of her working life has been spent as both a uniformed medical officer and a civilian doctor on military bases.
Unfortunately she is a War Widow having lost her first pilot husband in an RAAF F111 crash and also a Legacy Widow having lost her second husband to cancer whilst he was serving as a pilot in the RAAF. Her son is also an RAAF pilot. Dr Morgan-Short currently works at Defence Force Recruiting doing medical assessments and she was a former Board Member of Australian War Widows Queensland.
Mr Troy Newman
Troy Newman is a barrister in private practice. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Griffith University and a Bachelor of Laws from Queensland University of Technology. Prior to his legal career, Troy was a Queensland Police Officer for 24 years specialising in investigative and prosecutorial roles. Troy was an Army Reserve Military Police member from 2000–2002.
Troy serves on the Councillor Conduct Tribunal (Qld) and was appointed as a Member of the VRB in 2023.
Mr Joshua Nottle
Mr Nottle is a barrister in private practice. He has a Bachelor of Laws, Graduate Diploma in Military Law and a Master of Laws from the Australian National University. He served full-time in the Royal Australian Navy from 2003 as a Legal Officer before transferring to the Reserves and commencing practice as a barrister in 2017. He was appointed as a Member of the VRB in 2022.
Dr Roland Oak JP
Roland is a specialist medical practitioner and a fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. He holds a Master of Public Health, Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and he is an associate fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management and graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon.
He completed 20 years of service, initially as a soldier, General Service Officer and then pursued a career in medicine. Roland has been posted all over Australia in Artillery, Medical Corps roles and has had overseas operational service. Post service he has worked in General Practice, as the Medical Director for Calvary/Medibank, Director Medical Services in WA Health and as the National Senior Medical Officer for Defence Force Recruiting. Currently he is working as a civilian Medical Officer on military bases, part-time civilian General Practitioner and the Medical Director for locum work around Australia.
Lieutenant Colonel Glenn O’Brien
Lieutenant Colonel O’Brien is a partner in a law firm and a part-time member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. He was a member and Legal Officer of the Australian Regular Army and holds a Master of Defence Studies.
Lieutenant Colonel Gerard O'Shea
Colonel O’Shea joined the Army in 1999. He has served in the regular and reserve forces as an infantry officer and legal officer. He has served on operations in Australia, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. He holds postgraduate degrees in Law and Military Studies, and he is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Community Directors. Colonel O’Shea works in private practice as a lawyer and management consultant.
Mr Francis Roberts
Mr Roberts served as an Army Officer from 1970 to 2005. He then held a Senior Executive Service position in the Department of Defence from 2005 until 2013 before undertaking private consultancy work until his retirement in 2014. Mr Roberts has graduated with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering, Master of Science and Graduate Diploma in Management Studies.
Captain Felicity Rogers RAN
Ms Rogers joined the Royal Australian Navy as a full time legal officer in 1994. Her postings included Fleet Headquarters and Deployable Joint Force Headquarters - Maritime. She deployed to Dili, East Timor as a legal adviser to HQINTERFET in 1999. She transferred to the Navy Reserve in 2001, when she was admitted as a barrister at the NSW Bar, where she continues to practise.
Ms Rogers holds a Bachelors degree in both Law and Politics and a Masters degree in International Law. She is also a registered counsellor.
Mr Scott Seefeld
Scott Seefeld is a barrister in private practice in Brisbane. He holds Bachelor degrees in Science and Law, and Masters degrees in Business Administration and Engineering Science. Prior to his legal career, Scott was an RAE officer in the Australian Army. He is a graduate of the Australian Defence Force Academy and the Royal Military College - Duntroon. He has over 25 years’ service as both a regular and reserve officer, including operational service in East Timor in 1999 and 2000. Since 2019, he has continued to serve as a legal officer in the RAAF Specialist Reserve.
AVM (retd) Mark Skidmore AM, BSc, Grad Dip Mil Av, FRAeS, tp
Air Vice Marshal (retd) Mark Skidmore AM is Chairman of Skykraft, Chairman of Seitec, Director of Swift Aerospace Consulting Pty Ltd and also provides support to the International Test Pilot School Canada and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Reserves. Mark is a fellow of the RaeS and past President of the Australian division.
Mark has more than 30 years’ experience in both civilian and military aviation.
Mark had an outstanding military aviation career, beginning as an F-111 pilot in the RAAF in the early 1980s. A qualified test pilot, he led RAAF research and development squadrons and was promoted to Australia’s Air Commander, holding oversight for Australia’s air operations, and reached the rank of Air Vice Marshal before retiring in 2012. Mark has also worked in civilian aviation as Director of Aviation Safety and CEO, Civil Aviation Safety Authority, and as a test pilot and business development manager. He has led large teams of operational, technical and administrative support staff providing leadership for operational, training and support functions.
In 2007 Mark was awarded a Commendation for Distinguished Service for distinguished performance of duties in warlike operations as the Director of the Coalition Combined Air Operations Centre in the Middle East Area of Operations. In 2010 Mark was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his exceptional service as the Air Commander Australia and in a range of other senior appointments.
Today Mark is part of the general aviation community, owning and regularly flying a Globe Swift GC-1B aircraft and an ex-RAAF CT4A.
Mr Raymond Smith
Ray Smith served full-time in the RAAF from 1990 to 2010 as an Intelligence Officer. He saw active service in the Middle East, including as a contingent commanding officer in Iraq. He also served as the Australian Liaison Officer to the United Nations Command and Assistant Defence Attaché in Korea.
After leaving the full-time ADF, he worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva and Kabul, and as a barrister in Victoria and the UK. He has experience as a social security tribunal judge in the UK and as a workers’ compensation arbitrator in WA. He is currently a full-time member of the Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal and a part-time RAN legal officer. He is a graduate of the Australian Command & Staff College, and has bachelor’s degrees in politics and law, and master’s degrees in business administration, international relations, and strategy and policy.
Mr Scott Warr
Scott Warr is an Army Officer who served for 22 years in the Regular Army and continues to serve in the Reserves. He is a highly effective and capable senior executive leader with a track record for delivering results. He has over 30 years of broad experience in the military, private and public sectors in Australia and overseas. His most recent experience was as national CEO of Legacy Australia Incorporated and Acting CEO of RSL NSW. He was recently appointed as a Trustee on the RAAC Colonel John Haynes Trust and is currently the President of the Terrigal-Wamberal RSL sub-branch in NSW.
He brings significant capability and experience in all aspects of the charities and NFP sector, finance and investments, human resource management, and emergency and business continuity management.
Scott Warr was appointed to the VRB as a Services Member in December 2023.
Ms Sophia White
Sophia White served in the Royal Australian Navy for 16 years, full time, transferring to the Active Reserves in 2018. She has operational experience in Afghanistan, on border protection operations, in Headquarters Joint Operations Command and served as the Fleet Legal Officer in 2017. She is a lawyer and holds postgraduate qualifications including a Master of Laws (Maritime Law) and Master of Military and Defence Studies. She is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Mr Neville Wyatt
Mr Wyatt served full-time in the Royal Australian Navy from 1981 to 1993. Since then he has continued to serve with the Royal Australian Navy Reserve. He is a graduate in Law and Communications. Since 1993 he has been in practice as a private solicitor. In 1999, he started up his own successful firm now known as Wyatts Lawyers and Advisors, which he continues to run with his legal practitioner wife