Melba board
Andrew
Cairns
President
Currently the Group Chief Executive Officer of Haven Home Safe, Andrew Cairns works collaboratively with government, public and private partners to keep Victorians in safe, secure and affordable homes.
In his executive career, he has experience that spans many industries including banking, social finance, community engagement and mobilisation, community strengthening, affordable housing, philanthropy, telecommunications, information technology, software development, pay television, recruitment, electronic payments, engineering, manufacturing, thermoplastics, ventilation, water and waste management.
In his director career, he is currently a non-executive director of Melbourne Water, a Fellow of the Australian institute of company directors and has over 17 years of chair/director and governance experience with listed public companies, private companies, regulated government statutory authorities, joint ventures, not-for-profit organisations and independent advisory committees.
Andrew is a strong believer in the importance of corporate social responsibility. He passionately believes that you can be a good business and do good business at the same time.
dr andrew
Giddy
Vice President
Andy is a veterinary surgeon who has spent the last 25 years working in executive management in medical research and education fields. He has more than ten years of experience as a Chief Executive Officer and has been a director of numerous boards for the last 15 years. Amongst these, he was Chairman of Australian Centre for Health Innovation and also Chairman of Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE. Andy is a member of the Roadmap Implementation Governance Group for the National Roadmap for Improving the Health of People with Intellectual Disability. He is a member of Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Roger
Chao
Treasurer
​Roger is an experienced CEO, Board Consultant, Non-Executive Director and Chair, with experience in the health, human services, law enforcement, education, transport, and environmental industries. He has sat on and Chaired numerous private company, public sector and not-for-profit boards and Audit and Risk Committees. Roger has also consulted to numerous Boards, published numerous articles and conducted webinars on corporate governance, risk and strategy. He brings strong governance experience, commercial acumen, risk management and strategy skills combined with a passion for innovation and business development. Roger is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and their Boardroom Master program, as well as a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia. Roger joined our Board in November 2021.
natasha
Ludowyk
​
Secretary
Natasha (GAICD) is a policy evaluator and research consultant and runs her own freelance practice, Ludowyk Evaluation, consulting to all levels of government, non government agencies and not for profits. She holds degrees in Arts and Science and a Masters in Criminology. Natasha routinely works across sectors including health, mental health, disability and community development.
She has served on the Melba Board of Directors since 2019 and also sits on Melba’s Reconciliation Action Plan working group.
Arvind
Nathan
Director
Arvind (BSc MBuss GAICD) is currently a Group Strategy and Performance Lead at Telstra Enterprise bringing his expertise in emerging technologies, strategy and operations together to help accelerate Telstra’s T25 strategy execution in the enterprise market. Previous experience includes Philips Lighting where he led their emerging technologies and smart city/campus solutions as well as independent advisory roles focusing on digital transformation and smart city feasibility studies.
Sam
Davies
​
Director
Samantha joined the Karden Disability Services board in 2014. After the merger with Melba in July 2018, she joined the Melba Board. Samantha lives in Ballarat and has a Bachelor of Commerce. She runs her own businesses and has a background in both corporate and small business across a number of industries including retail, food, community and retirement living.
SHYAM
KALYANJI
Director
Shyam is a Certified Practicing Accountant with over 20 years of experience in both industry and public practice across various sectors including Education, Tourism, FMCG and Banking. Shyam currently leads the Corporate Finance division for La Trobe University, including managing its Treasury Function and Asset portfolio with significant experience in complex financial transactions and funds management. Shyam has been associated with Melba since 2018, when he first joined as a member of Audit and Risk Committee and has also served as a Director for the University’s recruitment franchise in Australia. In his spare time, Shyam loves spending time with his two boys and playing music.
Melba executive
Hayley
Dean
​
Chief Executive Officer
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Hayley is a dynamic and innovative leader with over 30 years of experience in the disability, aged care and community sectors. Hayley has been with Melba since 2017 and played a key role during the transition to the NDIS and the successful transfer of government services.
Hayley is passionate about putting power in the hands of the person with a disability to live the life they choose. Hayley possesses a wealth of knowledge in human rights service design, governance and compliance.
Under Hayley’s guidance Melba has transformed from a small, regional service to one of Victoria’s largest disability service providers.
Hayley currently serves on the Lilydale Revitalisation Board, is the Victorian State Chair and national Board member of National Disability Services (Disability peak body) and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Hayley has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Disability from Deakin University and completed Strategic Perspectives in Non-Profit Management at Harvard Business School.
Mark Burke
Chief Financial Officer
Mark has over 30 years of commercial experience working across a broad spectrum of industries, most recently in Health. His experience spans the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Mark holds a Bachelor of Business(Accounting), is a CPA, a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and holds a Graduate Diploma of Applied Corporate Governance (AGIA-ACG). Mark has led many corporate teams over his career including Finance, Business Transformation, HR, IT and Company Secretariat. Mark is a current member of the Governance Institute Victorian Council and is a current serving director and Audit Chair of Gowrie Victoria. Mark also served as a Director of Crime Stoppers Victoria for nine years, fulfilling a number of roles, including a stint as Board Chair until his compulsory retirement.
Penny Harris
General Counsel
​Penny is a qualified lawyer with 15 years experience. Prior to joining Melba in 2020, Penny was the Principal Legal Officer at the Disability Services Commissioner for two years after working for six years as a Barrister at the Victorian Bar. Penny worked as a Solicitor and Judge’s Associate before that. Penny has broad experience in commercial, administrative, and regulatory law, as well as coronial and other inquiries including Royal Commissions.
Andrew Johnston
Chief Engagement Officer
Andrew has nearly 30 years' experience in Executive and senior leadership roles spanning program management, operational management, human resources management, organisational development, and quality and risk management. This has included roles within leading organisations providing disability and aged care services, mental health and suicide preventions services and overseas aid and development. Additionally, Andrew has also undertaken extensive work as an Independent
organisational development consultant supporting a range of not-for-profit agencies in the health and community service sectors. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Business Studies (NZ) and is a Fellow of the Williamson Community Leadership Program.
Carol Redrup
Chief Transformation
Officer
Carol is an accomplished Executive Director and brings extensive experience across diverse business sectors offering subject matter expertise and guidance on strategy, planning and execution to achieve business outcomes and uplift performance. Carol has successfully led Strategic Business Transformations, Corporate Services & Operations, Strategy & Planning and Enterprise PMO’s, while bringing a human-centered approach to her work in leading organisations and teams.
Bridget Thakrar
Chief Employee
Experience Officer
Bridget (GAICD) is a strategic People, Safety and Culture executive with a passion for driving high-performance outcomes by way of cultural transformation. She brings a wealth of experience in the people field, gained across various industries including technology, utilities, construction and manufacturing. Her domain expertise includes strategy execution, inclusion and diversity, employee experience, industrial and employee relations, payroll, safety and wellbeing. Bridget is passionate about technology and is the co-founder of In The Game, a culture-building platform. An AICD qualified board member, Bridget is the Deputy Chair of Refuge Victoria and Board member at Muaythai Victoria Incorporated.
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Melissa
Webster
Chief Home, Living and Community Services Officer
Mel is a proudly neurodivergent and forward-thinking executive with 20 years of experience spearheading improvements across Operations, People and Culture, and Safety and Quality within the community services and healthcare fields.
With expertise in service environments and leadership roles, Mel consistently delivers business, financial and stakeholder objectives to ensure greater quality, excellence, learning, innovation, and outcomes. Her ability to build capable and confident teams to improve service outcomes has underpinned Mel’s career to date.
Mel is committed to ethical leadership and embeds a culture of continuous improvement and better practice in her teams by fostering work environments centred around engagement and collaboration.
Mel has a solid history of success in implementing strategic plans and leading the delivery of innovative service models to exceed quality and best practice standards. Her in-depth knowledge of dynamic funding and service environments serves to improve practice across the lifespan of disability, aged care, nursing, and residential services.
Mel is a non-executive director of several non-for-profit organisations, including The Lab Network and Brainwave Australia and she is also the voluntary CEO for ADHD Australia.
With a passion for ‘making human rights a reality for all’, Mel tackles life and career management scenarios with meticulous strategies based on her areas of expertise.
Kerrie White
Chief of Human Rights and Practice Innovation
Bio coming soon.
