Our Team

General Manager

Adam Pennington

 

Executive Officer

Rebecca Johnson

 

Board of Directors

Under corporation rules, a Director can hold position up to maximum of 2-years before they are required to step down from their position at the AGM. After stepping down, a former director may become eligible for re-nomination and maybe elected for a further 2-year period.

This governance model ensures an open and transparent process that provides members with new and fresh ideas, the opportunity to become actively involved in the management of the organisation.

Current Directors

Following the AGM held on Saturday 11th November 2023, the current Directors are:

  • Nick Cameron (Chairperson)
  • Rob Anders (Deputy Chairperson)
  • Jo Cameron (Contact Person)
  • Lorrinda Murray (Secretary)
  • Lyndon O’Neil (Treasurer)
  • Greg Murray
Director Profiles

Nick Cameron – Chairperson

Nick has been on the MTWAC Board of Directors since 2014 and held the position of Chairperson since 2016, he is also a Director of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service (TALS). He is a Pairrebeene/Trawlwoolway man from Tebrakunna Country (Coastal Plains Nation) and also has ancestry to the Paredareme of the Oyster Bay Nation. The son of respected Elder Aunty Patsy Cameron AO, Nick grew up on Flinders Island  listening to story telling and learning the traditional ways of mutton birding and hunting kangaroo with his Uncles. Nick left the Island in 1986 to undertake an Automotive Mechanical Trade Apprenticeship, he accepted an Aboriginal Cadetship as a trainee TAFE Teacher in 1994 and was awarded the TRAC Tasmanian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Trainee  of the Year in 1995, and runner-up in the National awards. Through a continuing 31 year career within the Tasmanian Public Service he has carried out many positions from Aboriginal VET Consultant, Statewide Coordinator of Aboriginal Training Programs, Customer Relations Manager, Acting Manager of Industry Relationships, and Education Manager of Automotive, one of the largest delivery teams within TasTAFE. Nick has recently taken up a senior leadership role of Manager Education and Training. With 15 years experience in leadership roles he has gained a Diploma of Management, Diploma of Adult and Vocational Education, and has recently completed a Tasmanian Government Manager Essentials Program. He also has completed a training program in Governance for Directors, Non-for-Profit Organisations by the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Nick has a strong passion for returning and caring for country at Tebrakunna, helping Elders passing on cultural knowledge to our young people by showing them how to make spears, music sticks and hunting sticks. “Whenever I’m back on Country (land or sea) I feel like I’m home, a strong sense of peace and belonging”.

 

Rob Anders – Deputy Chairperson

Rob has been member since 2009, shortly after the organisation was formed. He is an active member who has been on the Board of Directors for most of this time and is a representative on the Tasmanian Regional Aboriginal Communities Alliance (TRACA). Professionally, Rob has a surveying and spatial sciences background with 30 years’ experience working at the University of Tasmania as a Senior Technical Officer in the School of Geography, Planning and Spatial Sciences. He has used these skills to pursue his interest in the application of spatial mapping techniques to research Tasmania’s Aboriginal history and is the author of maps appearing in several books and other works. Since 2018, Rob has taken on a 0.5 fraction role within the College of Science and Engineering (CoSE) as the Aboriginal Education and Strategy Officer. This is a wide-ranging position that has the goal to elevate the level of staff and student understanding of and respect for Tasmanian Aboriginal culture, heritage, needs, aspirations, and interests, which is achieved through enabling curriculum development, research support, staff education, and providing strategic/policy advice and support. Recently, his effort was recognised by being announced in the College of Science and Engineering Awards by being awarded the joint winner of the Executive Deans ‘Engagement Award’. Rob has a keen interest in caring for Country through the management and protection of heritage sites and landscape, practicing culture, and sharing his knowledge and experiences. Since 2017, he has been a member of the statutory Aboriginal Heritage Council (AHC) under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1975.  Rob has particular interest in Sea Country and its management. He has been involved in the organising and running of each Mannalargenna Day event since its inception in 2016.

 

Jo Cameron – Contact Person

Jo is one of 6 founding members of MTWAC who formed the corporation in 2008. Jo rejoined the Board of Directors in 2019 and currently holds the voluntary position of Contact Person. Jo is passionate about health and healing, having been an accredited Social Worker for almost 30 years, with a career in youth mental health for most of that time. She is currently the manager of a youth mental health program in the community service sector, being awarded National Practice Leader in 2019. She recently Co-Authored a chapter on “Respect: A Tasmanian Aboriginal Narrative” in Effective Leaders by Mike Cameron 2021. Jo has an interest in Closing the Gap initiatives, higher education access and participation and return to country opportunities for Aboriginal people in her close extended community. Jo was raised on Flinders Island, within a large Aboriginal community. She was fortunate to observe and be influenced by strong, determined and vibrant women (her mother Aunty Patsy Cameron AO and many Aunties) during her childhood and their values remain central to her sense of identity as an Aboriginal woman. Jo hopes to find the time (when the kids finally leave home) to write, alongside her sister, about the voices of strength that exists in her community and the importance of honouring these as the narrative of healing in contrast to the message that has, for too long, been focused on notions of deficiency, failure and inferiority.

 

Lorrinda Murray – Secretary

Lorrinda is a proud trawlwoolway woman, born and raised in Launceston. She has been a Director of MTWAC since 2020 and currently is MTWAC’s Secretary. Lorrinda has a 25 year career in the Australian Public Service, focusing on Indigenous servicing and strategic program governance. Her passion is her family and ensuring current and future generations continue to learn and share the stories and practices that were passed onto her by her mother.

 

Lyndon O’Neil – Treasurer

Lyndon is a father of 4 boys. He is a grandson of Rex Kennedy and a descendant of Mannalargenna via Dalrymple. He is a proud and strong trawlwulway man who embraces all Tasmanian Aboriginal people. As a young child, Lyndon grew up amongst the Papuan peoples of Papua New Guinea until 1976. After moving back to Tasmania and completing grade 10 and then a mechanical apprenticeship with the Department of Main Roads (DMR), Lyndon owned and operated a Service Station and Workshop in Ulverstone. He has worked as a Therapeutic Mentor for at-risk, disengaged, and children living with trauma – this work was recognised in 2008 when he was recipient of the Tasmanian Community Safety and Crime Prevention Award. Since Lyndon and his boys have been welcomed into Melythina Tiakana Warrana Aboriginal Corporation, they have found their extended family and community and have embraced and supported MTWAC.  Lyndon is a contemporary practitioner of traditional ways, who embraces the guidance of our ancestors and the spirits of land, water and the sky. MTWAC helped Lyndon to heal and reconnect with Country – it has rekindled his life “like a breath of wind that brings life to a spark which has laid dormant in the ashes”.  Lyndon looks to engage with the wider community, the corporate world, and government on environmental and cultural matters, as we move forward together in reconciliation.

 

Greg Murray