Robert McClelland, MP, Member for Barton Attorney-General.

Robert was elected as the Federal Member for Barton in March 1996 and has been the Commonwealth Attorney-General since December 2007. Prior to this he was the Shadow Attorney General from 1998 to 2003, and also held the shadow portfolios of Workplace Relations, Justice, Homeland Security, Defence and Foreign Affairs.

Robert has a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of NSW and a Master of Law from the University of Sydney. Before entering Federal Parliament he was a partner in the Sydney law firm Turner Freeman where he specialised in labour and sporting law.

Robert grew up in the St George area of Sydney, attending Connells Point Primary School and Blakehurst High, where he was school captain in 1975. He continues to live in the local area with his wife Michelle, three daughters and a son. A former junior representative footballer, he still likes to play touch football and is a proud supporter of the St George Illawarra Dragons rugby league team. His other sporting passion is surfing.

Both at the Bar and since his appointment to the Bench, Justice Lindgren has maintained a lively interest in legal education. He is a foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.

Justice Lindgren is the convenor or a member of several committees within the Federal Court including convenor of the Corporations Panel of Judges within the New South Wales District Registry of the Court. He is also the convenor of the Council of Chief Justices’ committees on the harmonisation of rules of court on various subjects, including the rules of court governing corporations proceedings.

Heather Riley was appointed to the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia in 2006. Previously, Heather was at the Victorian Bar, doing commercial and administrative law. Before that, Heather was a solicitor with the Australian Government Solicitor where she also did commercial and administrative law. Heather frequently acted for ITSA, particularly in relation to void transactions.

Paul Barry is recognised as one of Australia’s leading journalists.

In the 1990s his films for the ABC’s Four Corners won him numerous television awards.

Since then, he has hosted The Times and Witness on Channel 7, reported for 60 Minutes on Channel 9, and presented Media Watch for the ABC.

He has also written for the Sydney Morning Herald, where his expose of tax-dodging barristers in 2001 won a Walkley award.

Paul Barry has also written five best-selling books.

The Rise & Fall of Alan Bond was described by one reviewer as ‘essential reading for anyone with even a passing interest in business and its morality during the turbulent 1980s.’

The Rise and Rise of Kerry Packer was praised for combining … ‘the highest standards of investigative journalism with admirable professional balance and a refusal to be intimidated by perceptions of power.’

His latest book is an updated version, called The Rise & Rise of Kerry Packer … Uncut

Ric Battellino is the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia and a member of the Reserve Bank Board. Prior to this he held senior positions in the Financial Markets and Economics areas of the Bank. He has had over 30 years’ experience in central banking.

David Bergman was born and educated in Cairns. He graduated from Queensland University of Technology in 1989 with Bachelor of Laws and also holds a Masters in Law from the Australian National University.

David was appointed Adviser, Policy and Legislation at ITSA in March 2002. Since then he has been responsible for implementing changes arising from the 2002 amendments to the Bankruptcy Act, the review of Part X and developing other significant policy reforms such as those relating to the interaction between family law and bankruptcy, strengthening the anti-avoidance provisions, recovery of superannuation contributions made to defeat creditors and improving the operation of debt agreements. David also manages ITSA’s in-house legal team.

Prior to joining ITSA, David held a number of senior policy and legal positions in the Australian Taxation Office and the Child Support Agency.

Stephen Blyth commenced his working career with the Commonwealth Bank (while still fully Government owned) before embarking on a 2-year backpacking adventure. On return to Australia Stephen joined Pyramid Building Society, very briefly (almost not worth mentioning really!) before joining Citibank where he became the Manager of the Melbourne high net worth group CitiGold and the Branch Operations Manager.

Stephen joined GE Money in 2002 as a Dispute Resolution Officer before becoming the Dispute Resolution Leader in 2004. During this time Stephen has overseen GE Money’s voluntary entry into the Financial Ombudsman Scheme (formerly the Banking and Financial Services Ombudsman scheme).

Stephen is married with 3 children including a teenager and a tweenager and believes Dispute Resolution is easier in the workplace than the family!

Richard Brading is the principal solicitor of Wesley Community Legal Service, which is the only service dedicated to gambling related legal issues in Australia.

Wesley Community Legal Service provides legal advice and representation for problem gamblers and their families affected by criminal charges, relationship breakdown and financial issues.

Richard is a co-author of the second edition of “The Bankruptcy Handbook”, and “Consumer Debt Recovery Law”. He is a regular contributor to “Sharkwatch”, a journal for financial counsellors.

He was the recipient of the Minister’s Award for Consumer Advocacy in 2006, awarded by the NSW Minister for Fair Trading.

Carlo Cataldo has been Chief Risk Officer & Vice President of Risk Management for GE Money Australia & New Zealand since 2004. He joined GE Consumer Finance in 1999 and has worked in a variety of risk & compliance roles including working as the risk & compliance director with GE Money Argentina during the 2002 crisis.

Prior to GE Money, Carlo worked in a credit scoring, fraud and project consulting capacity for Experian Asia Pacific based in Melbourne working with a number of large institutions across Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia.

Carlo is a member of the rma (Risk Management Association) and holds a BSc (Hons – statistics) from Monash University.

Glenn Cooper has over 20 years experience in the insolvency industry. He is currently the Deputy Official Receiver in the Queensland branch of the Insolvency and Trustee Australia responsible for estate administration and is also the national coordinator for mandatory income contributions. Glenn has also worked in the Bankruptcy Regulation and Fraud Investigation branches of ITSA.

Bob Cruickshanks is a Deputy Official Receiver in the ITSA Sydney office where he has been for the past 33 years. During that time he has worked in all areas of the office including the administration of complex bankrupt estates, Proceeds of Crime matters and Special Trustee matters; exercising the powers of the Official Receiver to assist trustees, plus public education in respect of personal insolvency administration.

Bob is a qualified accountant and he is the author of the chapters on bankruptcy in The Law Handbook and the Lawyers Practice Manuals for New South Wales and Victoria. He is the consultant on the bankruptcy chapter in the Debtor’s Guide to the Local Courts in NSW and a consultant to the authors of The Bankruptcy Handbook

Bob has had a long and harmonious association with registered trustees and their legal advisers, financial counsellors, consumer credit legal centres, professional and business groups, and tertiary education institutions in Australia.

He holds the strong belief that technical knowledge is to be shared with all interested parties.

Stefan Dopking is a Senior Executive Leader in Insolvency practitioners and liquidators team, ASIC.

He was a Former Director, National Audit and Insolvency Group, ASIC. He was also a Former Director, Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) in Sydney and Brisbane.

Stefan leads ASIC’s national team of 40 insolvency and audit specialists. The team’s responsibilities include influencing the behaviour of registered liquidators so they maintain high standards of competence and integrity. Prior to joining ASIC, Stefan developed specialist skills in the area of insolvency and business recovery.

Mark Findlay was recently appointed as Regional Director in Bankruptcy Regulation located in ITSA’s Sydney Office.

Mark has been with ITSA since 1991 and has spent most of this time managing teams involved in the administration of bankrupt estates. He has also personally administered numerous bankruptcies of varying complexity and has managed ITSA’s NSW Bankruptcy Registry.

Mark initiated and managed a project in the NSW branch, investigating and dealing with unrealised real properties, after the decision in O'Brien v Sheahan [2002] FCA 1292 (21 October 2002) highlighted the need for a pro-active approach on the part of trustees in whom property was vested and great care in terms of any representations made to the bankrupt in respect to such property.

Robert Fitzgerald, Commissioner, Productivity Commission.

Robert Fitzgerald was appointed as a full-time Commissioner effective from 27 January 2004. He had previously been an Associate Commissioner on the Commission's inquiry into Australia's Gambling Industries in 1999. Currently Robert is the Presiding Commissioner on the inquiry into Australia's Consumer Policy Framework and the inquiry into Paid Parental Leave. Robert was also a Commissioner on the inquiry into National Competition Policy Arrangements and Health Workforce study and Presiding Commissioner on the inquiry into Smash Repair and Insurance Industries, the Consumer Product Safety study and the Standards and Accreditation study. He is the convenor of the Indigenous Disadvantage Working Group of the Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision which produces the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage Report.

Indukant Gautam (IK) is currently Country Credit Risk Director for Consumer Bank, Citi Australia overseeing Credit & Fraud Risk Management function for all retail lending products.

IK has been with Citi for 18 years and has held similar senior roles in India, Middle East and Indonesia managing Credit Risk, Fraud and Credit Operations functions for the Consumer Bank.

Prior to joining Citi, IK was an industrial project consultant for 5 years, working on technology transfer projects with Danish and German companies.

David Grafton, Chief Risk Officer, Retail Banking Services, CBA.

David heads a team of risk management professionals responsible for enabling the retail bank to make better credit and operational risk decisions at each stage of the account lifecycle.

Vanessa Goodey is the Deputy Official Receiver of the Debt Agreement Service of the Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia, a position based in Brisbane. The Debt Agreement Service is responsible for the registration and voting of Debt Agreement Proposals and ensuring compliance with the law.

She is an experienced insolvency practitioner having spent over 18 years in the industry. She was previously the Deputy Official Receiver in Tasmania moving to Queensland in 2004.

Wendy Jacobs, Partner, Dibbs Abbott Stillman.

Wendy is a member of the firm's Financial Services Group and the head of the Insolvency Sub Group.

Wendy joined the firm in 1995 and became a partner in 1997. She specialises in insolvency and , in particular, reconstruction. Her team works with clients dealing with actual and potential financial loss in a broad range of industries but with particular expertise in insurance, financial services and building and construction. She has been involved in many of Australia’s largest insolvencies/reorganisations including HIH, New Cap Re, James Hardie and Fincorp.

Wendy’s team also has specialist expertise in the law affecting directors and officers. They advise on avoidance of breaches and also dealing with the consequences of breaches including all insurance aspects. They understand the complex and expanding demands on directors, particularly those in high profile commercial enterprises.

In addition to general recovery work (both secured and unsecured) the team has valuable experience in regulatory investigation and litigation.

Norman Jones is the Director of Courtney Jones & Associates, and practices in the areas of insolvency, litigation support, and forensic accountancy.

Norman has in excess of 25 years experience as a chartered accountant in Australia and the UK. He is a Fellow of the ICAA and member of the IPA, and co-chairs the Bankruptcy Discussion Group Melbourne, and a general accounting discussion group on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. He is a registered company auditor and liquidator, tax agent, trustee in bankruptcy and official liquidator.

Norman is the author of a number of articles which have been published by respected journals. He is the author of a technical commentary published by Thomson/ Law Book Co (2003). and co-author of a chapter in the CCH published book “Collapse Incorporated” (October 2001).

Norman has made numerous presentations, including presentation of technical papers at the national conferences of the IPA, Institute of Taxation and Law Council. He is also regularly called upon to act as an expert or independent witness.

Michael Lhuede joined Piper Alderman as a partner in October 2004. Based in Melbourne Michael leads the Victorian arm of the firm’s national Insolvency & Reconstruction Practice Group.

Michael practises exclusively in the areas of corporate and personal insolvency law. He has an enviable reputation as one of Australia’s leading bankruptcy lawyers.

In recent years Michael has acted regularly for banks, financial institutions and other secured creditors providing advice in relation to the rights of the secured creditor and the enforcement of those rights. He acts for many of Melbourne’s insolvency practitioners. In addition Michael is often engaged to act for companies and directors in relation to insolvency matters and to advise in relation to the restructuring of financially stressed businesses. Michael has acted in some of Australia’s high profile bankruptcy administrations and regularly acts for the Official Trustee in Bankruptcy.

As the Law Council’s representative on the National Bankruptcy Consultative Forum, Michael has actively participated in the reform of the Bankruptcy Act in recent years preparing detailed submissions in response to reform proposals and giving evidence to Parliamentary inquiries into various bankruptcy reforms. Most recently Michael was responsible for Law Council’s response to the Government’s exposure draft of the Bankruptcy “Anti-avoidance” Bill which was ultimately withdrawn.

Rob Love, Head of Unsecured Risk, Westpac Banking Corporation.

Rob is responsible for managing credit policy and strategy applied on Westpac's consumer credit card, personal loan and overdraft portfolios.

One of Rob's key activities is ensuring that the application of the banks principles of responsible lending results in improved outcomes for consumers from point of origination through to account management interactions.

Rob has an extensive background in consumer credit management, both from a credit provider and credit reference agency perspective in the UK, South Africa and Australia.

Peter Lowe BALLB, Executive Director, ITSA

For over 20 years Peter has been at the centre of ITSA’s role as the administrator and regulator of Australia’s personal insolvency system. At different times involved with many aspects of ITSA’s functional responsibilities, Peter has interacted with a wide range of ITSA’s clients and stakeholders. Much interested in the future of personal insolvency in Australia, as well as in the compilation of its history, Peter plans to lead a stimulating final session at this 7th Congress which will consider ‘hot topics,’ including ways in which the industry could work together to minimise the impact of financial failure on the community.

Dave McGrath is a director of D.R. Administration P/L and a registered debt agreement administrator.

Dave entered the debt agreement field in 1999 during its formative years and has seen considerable change in the operation of debt agreements since then. Prior to this Dave has had considerable management experience across various industries over twenty years. Dave lives on the Gold Coast with his wife of 25 years and three children.

Paul McQuade is a barrister-at-law having been admitted in 1990. He practices in the area of commercial litigation and personal and corporate insolvency. He is also Chartered Accountant.

Paul is the joint author of the Thomson Reuters services Australian Bankruptcy Law & Practice and Bankruptcy in Australia, A Guidebook.

John Melluish, Partner, Ferrier Hodgson.

John’s 20-year career at Ferrier Hodgson has given him an exposure to all facets of personal and corporate insolvency in a broad range of industries.

After becoming a partner in 1998, John assumed responsibility for the personal insolvency practice of the firm, and continues to control a number of staff dedicated to that area of practice. More recently he assumed the role of partner in charge of corporate recovery nationally, and undertakes all manner of insolvency assignments with a particular focus on property.

John has recently completed a two-year term as the National President of the Insolvency Practitioners Association where he played a major role in the negotiation of insolvency reforms liaising directly with ASIC, Treasury and the ATO. He continues to participate on the National Board of the IPA and has recently become a Director on the Insol International board.

Jim Murray has been an Accredited Financial Counsellor for over ten years. During this time he has worked throughout a majority of New South Wales assisting people from afar as Wee Waa to Tenterfield through to the mid north coastal regions in small and large towns and the farming districts. His work, similar to most financial counsellors, has ranged throughout all facets of financial counselling, from helping people to budget their weekly incomes, manage their mortgages, deal with creditors and numerous government departments through to bankruptcy and arrangements within the Bankruptcy Act.

He was instrumental as the project officer in setting up the first gambling counselling service on the Mid North Coast and as an administration officer on the establishment of the Mid North Coast Tenancy Advocacy and Advice Service.

Presently he is working as a Team Leader in Financial Counselling and his work involves helping non- indigenous and indigenous people along the Mid North Coast and inland areas of the State.

Sally Nash has been a practitioner since 1977, during which time she has developed a specialist commercial, debt recovery and insolvency practice. Her expertise and interest in these areas is known not only to the legal profession, but also to the accounting profession.

Sally is a member of the Law Council of Australia; IWIRC, Commercial Insolvency and Reconstruction Committee, Insolvency Practitioners Association of Australia; Turnaround Management Association Australia; Representative on the ASIC Regional Insolvency Co Ordination Unit and member of the Smaller Practice Issues Committee of INSOL International, International Association of Restructuring, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Professionals. Sally has also been appointed a Clinical Lecturer in Law at the University of Newcastle Legal Centre.

Bradley O’Brien joined ITSA in May 2005 commencing in the Bankruptcy & Registry Compliance section. Since then Bradley has worked in various sections of ITSA including estate administration and the Property Project. Admitted to the Supreme Court of New South Wales as a solicitor in 2007, Bradley currently manages ITSA’s NSW Bankruptcy Registry.

Hugh Parsons is a Non Executive Director of FSA Group public company, which specialises in a wide range of Debt Solutions for both Personal and Corporate of which FoxSymes and Associates is a principal and wholly owned subsidiary and the leading provider of Debt Administrations under Part IX of the Bankruptcy Act.

Immediately prior to his appointment to FSA, Hugh was the Executive Director of the Insolvency Practitioners Association ( IPA ) where that Association including Liquidators , Trustees and Insolvency Lawyers was active in the progression of recent reforms both in Personal and Corporate legislation and practice including active liaison with ITSA, ASIC and the ATO.

Hugh 's personal experience in the field stems also from six years as Finance Director of Schroders Australia a leading Investment bank and as a former partner of Ernst & Young specialising in audit and consultancy for Banking , Property and Insurance .

In addition to his current role at FSA, Hugh consults to clients predominantly in the mid range SME sector.

Scott Pascoe is a partner of PPB in charge of the Statutory Recovery division. Scott is a Chartered Accountant, member of the Insolvency Practitioners Association, Registered Liquidator, Official Liquidator and a Registered Trustee in Bankruptcy.

With more than 15 years insolvency related experience Scott has worked on all types of formal and informal insolvency appointments and litigation support assignments. Scott has been appointed to more than 600 Court winding ups and 750 bankruptcies.

Scott is the author of many insolvency related articles which have been published in various professional journals together with in-house publications and has presented at numerous professional conferences.

Robert Patch is a Principal Legal Officer within the Legal Services and Personal Property Securities Division of the Attorney-General’s Department. In his more than twenty years in the public sector, Robert has worked in Government on issues relating to corporate law, taxation, superannuation and bankruptcy. Robert has been a key figure in PPS reform since its inception in February 2006.

Robert’s primary responsibility is the development of the legal framework that will shape the new PPS system. He has worked with colleagues from New Zealand, Canada and the United States to learn from jurisdictions that have well established PPS systems. Robert has represented Australia at meetings on secured transactions law organised by the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

Maria Polczynski is a partner at Sydney-based law firm, Henry Davis York (HDY), where she heads the retail banking practice.

In addition to her recognised practice in retail banking and banking regulation, Maria is an experienced change agent and has been at the forefront of successive waves of regulatory change and their implementation projects within financial services organisations over the last 15 years. She currently leads HDY's personal property securities reform team and anti-money laundering initiative.

She is currently a member of the Federal Attorney General's Consultative Group on Personal Property Security Reform, which seeks to streamline Australia's state and territory-based laws addressing security over all types of assets other than land. Maria is a member of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia and was the 2005-2006 National Chair of its Financial Services Committee.

Kate Preston is the manager of the Governance and Insolvency Unit in the Markets area of the Commonwealth Treasury. She has primary responsibility for providing advice to Ministers on corporate governance and insolvency issues. Before transferring to the markets area, she worked in Treasury’s revenue group, instructing on the drafting of law in the area of fuel tax and business payments. Prior to joining Treasury in 2002, Kate was with the ATO for nine years in their Sydney and National office’s where she was engaged in both advisory and managerial roles.

Mark Robinson is a Partner in PPB's New South Wales office.

Mark has successfully managed large and complex turnaround and insolvency administrations with assets in excess of $320 million plus, ranging down to small and discrete family company matters and personal bankruptcies. Mark is regularly appointed by the major trading banks and other finance institutions in local and inter-state matters. He is a Deputy President of the Insolvency Practitioners’ Association.

Significant appointments have included the Autogroup Group of Companies; ARG Limited; Peridon Retirement Village; Pan Asia; Republic of Nauru Australian assets; TJF Group of companies; John Cummins QC – Bankruptcy; and Ray Williams (HIH) – Bankruptcy.

Digby Ross has been Official Receiver Queensland and head of the Queensland branch of ITSA since 1993. He leads offices in Brisbane and Townsville which deliver a complete range of ITSA’s services. He has been an official receiver and head of a state branch of ITSA since 1982. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and a fellow of CPA Australia.

In addition to his role as Official Receiver Digby was appointed the National Manager of ITSA’s Debt Agreement Service in January 2006. This service has teams in Perth and Brisbane and is responsible for the registration and voting for debt agreement proposals ensuring compliance with the law. Digby’s current challenge with the support of his staff is working with creditors and administrators to make debt agreements a valued option to assist people with unmanageable debt and avoid bankruptcy.

Digby has insolvency in the blood with a deep interest in the personal insolvency systems overseas. He has visited offices of official receivers in England, Scotland, the Channel Islands, Singapore and Hong Kong and hosted visits from overseas colleagues from many countries such as New Zealand, Thailand and Japan.

A director of a credit union for 15 years and chairman for 6 years, Digby has first hand knowledge of the credit industry. His contribution to the development and operation of credit unions was recognised when he was presented with a national Distinguished Service award from the credit union movement in 1993.

Digby enjoys teaching people and educating the community generally about personal insolvency. He lectures at universities and speaks at conferences and seminars. Digby is an adjunct professor in the School of Law at the University of Queensland.

A family man Digby has enjoyed wonderful opportunities in his career with the support of his wife, Susan, three sons, all engineering graduates from the University of Queensland, and a daughter in third year engineering.

Digby’s love of adventure is expressed in exploring Australia and the world with Susan. He adores flying; having his first flight before he could remember in the late 1940’s. He takes after his late father as an accomplished fossicker collecting bygones, antiques and books. He and Susan are restoring a 1920’s Queenslander.

David Thorpe is the Associate Director of the Australian Finance Conference (since 1999) as well as Chief Executive Officer of the Queensland Association of Permanent Building Societies. He has previously worked in the Commonwealth Treasury and Department of Business and Consumer Affairs as well as the Queensland Premier’s Department - dealing with economic development, housing policy, companies legislation and general insurance legislation. David has also worked in Company Secretarial positions for private and public companies.

David has a Bachelor of Economics with Honours from the Australian National University. He is a Fellow of the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Adam Turner has worked in various forms of finance, from Administration to Settlements to Hardship since he was 19 years old working for both large and small companies from GE and Citibank to his current employment at Fox Symes where he has been for over 3 years now. He is currently in charge of the quality control department here at Fox Symes and Associates.

Paul Weston is a Deloitte Corporate Reorganisation Partner and a Registered Trustee in Bankruptcy.

Paul has extensive experience in all facets of corporate and personal insolvency administrations over a period of more than 25 years. Paul started his career in the 1970s with the pioneer insolvency specialist firm, BO Smith & Son. He joined Horwath Sydney in 1985, where he worked exclusively in the insolvency field until joining Deloitte in February 2007 as a result of the Deloitte – Horwath Sydney merger.

Paul has extensive experience in corporate and personal insolvency administrations including voluntary administrations, receiverships and liquidations (Court and Voluntary) as well as in bankruptcy and the available alternatives to bankruptcy (Part X arrangements). Paul also has extensive experience in business investigation and monitoring assignments and has experience across most industries.

Graeme Woods is the Head of Risk for Personal Division and Chief Retail Credit officer for ANZ Globally. He stepped into this role in October 2007. Prior to this move, he was the Head of Risk Esanda and was in that role from December 2006. Before joining Esanda, Graeme worked in a number of risk roles for Personal Division, including Head of Operating Risk for Personal Division, Head of Credit Personal Division and Head of Credit for Consumer Finance.

Graeme joined ANZ in 1985 on the Graduate program. He enjoys being in roles that can significantly add value to ANZ and is passionate about getting involved in issues outside his normal brief, that will benefit a broad range of people within and external to the organisation. He has represented ANZ on a number of industry consumer credit forums and spoken to consumer groups about responsible lending practices in the community.

He is married to Elaine with three children, Alexandra, Jarryd and Madeline and is actively involved in their sporting and other pursuits.