Associations Forum National Conference


28 - 29 April 2027 at National Convention Centre Canberra

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Speakers

Camilla Rowland

Chief Executive Officer, Australian Nursing & Midwifery Accreditation Council

Camilla Rowland (EMBA GAICD) is CEO of ANMAC, bringing more than 30 years of experience across Australia's health, education and community sectors. Camilla has held CEO, executive, clinical and educational roles throughout her career. She has lead national advocacy, strengthening partnerships across government and the health system, and advancing workforce capability and education initiatives to improve access to high-quality care.Throughout her career, Camilla has held representational and Board roles across regional, state and national not for profit organisations, including 16 years based in rural Australia across VIC, NSW and QLD. This work has been primarily with health advocacy and sector capacity-building organisations, giving her a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing health and community services at every level. Camilla is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA), complemented by qualifications in social work, adult education, human resources and executive leadership.

Nathan Clarke

Chief Executive Officer, Oral Health Association of Australia

Nathan Clarke is an accomplished executive and not-for-profit leader with more than 2 decades of experience driving strategic growth, innovation and organisational performance. As the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the Oral Health Association of Australia (OHAA), he is leading the organisation through a period of significant transformation, strengthening member value, advancing advocacy, expanding professional development opportunities and delivering major digital initiatives for the oral health profession. Prior to joining OHAA, Nathan served as CEO of the Australian Rehabilitation Providers Association (ARPA) from 2016 to 2025, where he led a significant organisational turnaround and grew membership and industry influence. He was also the founding CEO of the Personal Injury Education Foundation (PIEF), establishing it as a leading provider of education and capability development for Australia's personal injury and disability sectors. Nathan holds a Master of Public Policy and a Bachelor of Business (Economics).

Adjunct Professor Kathryn Zeitz

Chief Executive Officer, Australian College of Nursing (ACN)

Dr Kathryn Zeitz commenced as Australian College of Nursing’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in September 2024, and is an accomplished and respected health executive, academic, researcher, and nursing leader. Her distinguished career is marked by her dedication to improving healthcare delivery and outcomes with a commitment to patient-centred care. Dr Zeitz is an Adjunct Professor at The University of Adelaide and an Adjunct Associate Professor with Flinders University. Her commitment to patient-centred care is evident through her leadership in organisational development and service improvement programs that actively incorporate stakeholder engagement. Outside of her professional roles, Dr Zeitz is dedicated to community service. She has previously been the Chair of Variety SA and a Board Director for Variety Australia, for which she was awarded Life Membership in 2021. She is a long-standing volunteer and leader within St John Ambulance Australia, where she is currently a Board Director.

Leanne Emerson

Chief Executive Officer, Audiology Australia

Leanne Emerson is an accomplished executive leader with more than 35 years’ experience across the for-purpose sector, with expertise spanning strategy, governance, policy, service design, innovation and organisational leadership. Before joining Audiology Australia, Leanne spent more than two decades in executive roles across aged care and dementia services. Her leadership included overseeing the Victorian component of the unification of eight state-based organisations into a single national peak body, and subsequently securing $100 million in funding for the organisation. Leanne joined Audiology Australia as Chief Executive Officer in 2023. She is currently leading the organisation and profession through significant transformation, including audiology’s transition to national regulation under Ahpra, while strengthening professional standards, policy influence and sector leadership. With a background in organisational and applied psychology, Leanne combines strategic and analytical thinking with a creative approach to complex challenges and a strong focus on sustainable impact.

Jonathan Jones

Head of Education, Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia

Jonathan is the Head of Education at IPWEA, bringing almost two decades of experience in adult education, learning and development, education management and organisational capability across the finance, not-for-profit and higher education sectors. Prior to joining IPWEA, Jonathan held senior leadership roles with the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM@UNSW Sydney), including Head of Education Development and Director of Operations and Student Recruitment. His career has also included senior learning and development roles with Commonwealth Bank, education leadership with the Sydney School of Entrepreneurship, and roles with Mission Australia. Earlier in his career, Jonathan worked as a corporate recruiter. Across his career, Jonathan has led the design, development and implementation of a wide range of education, capability and organisational improvement initiatives. His experience spans education strategy, program development, student recruitment and operations, stakeholder engagement and the delivery of learning solutions designed to improve both individual capability and organisational performance.

John Peacock AM

Chief Executive Officer, Associations Forum

John is one of Australia’s most experienced advisors to associations and charities and is a thought leader for the associations sector. He is a regular presenter, both nationally and internationally, on matters essential to the governance and operations of associations, charities and other mutual bodies. Since 2000, John has trained and consulted to hundreds of associations and charities, large and small, on strategic planning, governance, Board effectiveness, operations, restructuring, financial issues and external reviews. John’s work with associations was recognised in the 2021 Australia Day Honours List with his appointment as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia (General Division) for significant service to the associations and not-for-profit sectors through a range of initiatives.
 

Kathy Nguyen

Managing Lawyer | Head of Operations, Governology

Kathy has extensive experience working with associations both nationally and in Asia-Pacific. Her speciality is association structure, governance and operations. She has over 20 years’ experience working for and with associations as a senior manager or advisor.In her work, she has reviewed hundreds of constitutions, and regularly presents to organisations on governance, membership and other topics relevant to associations. Kathy has worked for Associations Forum, the Governance Institute of Australia, Ernst & Young, the Trade Association Forum in London and for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Kathy holds Bachelors of Laws & Business. She is a Certified Association Executive (CAE) from the American Society of Association Executives.
 

Michael Bell

Senior Associations Advisor, Associations Forum

Michael is a Chartered Accountant, Fellow of the Governance Institute and Graduate of the Institute of Company Directors. He has worked in chartered accounting practices and the banking and finance industry holding General Manager roles in Finance, Strategy and Operations. More recently he has consulted in governance, financial control and risk management to a range of organisations. He has been an active Committee Member in several Not for Profits and joined the board of Coeliac NSW&ACT before becoming President of Coeliac Australia in 2016. During his time as President he successfully transformed the organisation from a federated to a national company limited by guarantee. Michael brings a broad governance, finance, project management and risk perspective to his roles ensuring this works in a positive way to achieving strategic goals.
 

Andrew Gosbell

Associations Advisor, Associations Forum

Andrew Gosbell (PhD, GAICD, BAppSc) is based in Melbourne and provides a range of advisory services for Associations Forum based on his broad experience in governance, change management, leadership development, government relations and policy development, risk management, strategic planning, negotiation and partnership development. Andrew has over 15 years senior executive experience working in medical colleges and associations, including successful tenures as CEO of General Practice Registrars Australia and Deputy CEO at the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. He has a track record of working collaboratively with volunteers, association members and office bearers, and professional staff to successfully deliver a range of strategic initiatives at both national and state levels. He has well-developed networks in the health and associations sectors. Andrew also has governance experience as a non-executive director and currently holds a number of Board and Committee positions in the NFP and tertiary-education sectors.
 

Tony Gleeson

Associations Advisor, Associations Forum

Tony Gleeson MBA GAICD is Associations Advisor at Associations Forum. He has over 30 years of experience in the fields of association management and governance, leadership, project and change management, organisational integration and talent development. Tony has been Chief Executive of Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air-conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) and the Australian Institute of Management (AIM), and was an Executive General Manager with CPA Australia. Prior to his roles with membership associations, he held senior consulting roles in strategy, process re-engineering and change management with PwC, Deloitte and Terra Firma Consulting. Tony is an innovative and energetic leader, skilled communicator / team builder, and adept negotiator. He has significant experience in providing support and guidance to CEOs and boards in areas of governance, strategic planning, change management and more.
 

Lewis Kaplan

Associations Advisor, Associations Forum

Lewis has over 30 years’ leadership and management experience, including over 20 years in CEO roles in peak consumer and health organisations including Diabetes Australia, Australian Red Cross NSW Division and Alzheimer’s Australia NSW. He has governance, management, policy, lobbying and advocacy expertise across a range of sectors including primary health care, ageing, aged and community care, public health, health promotion, community development, international development and mother and child health. Lewis has a proven track record in initiating new organisations and concepts and bringing together diverse stakeholders to achieve outcomes which individually are unattainable. 
 

Simon Rountree

Associations Advisor, Associations Forum

Simon has over 30 years leadership experience in the Not-For-Profit sector with 24 of those years being the General Manager and/or CEO of Starlight Children’s Foundation, Camp Quality and Tour de Cure. His extensive experience in growing businesses extends across governance, leadership, board development, cultural change, strategic and operational planning, revenue generation, risk, workplace wellbeing, volunteering and coaching.Simon has also developed and implemented social enterprises aligned to the businesses purpose and mission whilst linked to commercial strategies in order to deliver growth and diversify revenue streams. His personal traits include being values based, a good listener, having clear communications without ambiguity and adopting a collaborative approach to achieving great results.