Happy New Year! 

There is always such a build up to the Festive Season and then just like that, it’s over and we are into a New Year.  I hope everyone had a wonderful break. 

GA has a big year ahead.  We have laid the foundations with the national rules, participant survey and a significant body of work looking at industry data.  2022 will see the evolution of those projects which needed to be completed as the first stage for many other projects.  We’re set for a very productive year.

While GA is a very small team, the Board provide fantastic leadership and support to help us on our path to ensuring industry sustainability.  I thought it would be interesting to share some information about those that work for and with GA throughout the year.

Sean Hannan – GA Chair
Sean is an Independent Director and sits on several Boards in different sectors including racing, health, and telecommunications.  Sean is the Chair of Greyhound Racing New Zealand and has been the Chair of Greyhounds Australasia since March 2020.  He is also Chair of the tri-code Racing New Zealand body. 

Sean’s term as Chair will end in March and GA is currently advertising for a new Chair.

Dale Cartwright – Deputy Chair
Dale is a Director at Queensland Racing and is the Managing Director and Principal of the Cartwright Property Group. He has a long-standing personal interest in the greyhound industry and is a former President of the Brisbane Greyhound Racing Club. Dale Chairs the QLD Greyhound Industry Advisory Panel meetings and is also on the GA Finance and Remuneration Committee.

Grantley Stevens – Director
Grantley is the Chair of Greyhound Racing South Australia.  Grantley’s specialisation is Finance and Governance, and he is the Chair of the GA Finance and Remuneration Committee and a member of the Port Adelaide Football Club Finance Committee.  Grantley is a partner at Nexia Edwards Marshall, one of Adelaide’s leading accounting and financial services organisations.

Peita Duncan – Director
Peita is the Chair of Greyhound Racing Victoria and a former director of the Melbourne Greyhound Racing Association (MGRA). She has worked in business development and management in law firms, was a Non-Executive Director of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, and a Non-Executive Director of the Emergency Services Telecommunications.  Peita is also an administrator to the Whittlesea Council.

Michael Gordon – Director
Michael is Tasracing’s Greyhound Industry Liaison Board Director and Tasmanian Greyhound Reference Group chairperson. He has been consulting since 1998 in his own firm specialising in disaster recovery; road safety; health and wellbeing; strategic/business planning and community services. As well as owning, racing, and breeding greyhounds, Michael has bred and raced a number of thoroughbreds and pacers and was a licenced harness racing trainer.

Tony Mestrov – Director
Tony has moved from a playing sport professionally in the National Rugby League for Manly and South Sydney to sports administration.  He has held roles as the CEO of Hockey NSW, the COO of the Gold Coast Titans and since 2017 has been the CEO leading Greyhound Racing NSW.

Charlotte Mills – Director
Charlotte is Chief Racing Officer at RWWA.  Charlotte has held leadership roles in racing for over 15 years across three States (Vic, Tas and WA), and has also worked in Federal Politics and Government Relations, Corporate Communications and Public Relations.

Alastair Shields
Alastair Chairs the Racing Commission (NT) is Chief Executive Officer of the Darwin Waterfront Corporation and Chairs the Australasia Railway Corporation.  He is also the NT Government representative on the Joint Management Board for Kakadu National Park. Alastair likes fishing and classic cars and has qualifications in law and accounting from Charles Darwin University.

In terms of the GA team, we have an incredible knowledgeable and committed team.  In order of tenure:

Michelle Grima – Finance and Operations Manager
Michelle joined the GA team in June 2004 with a strong understanding of greyhound racing. As a registered participant she has owned, trained, and bred greyhounds for over 20 years. Michelle is a member of the GA Finance and Remuneration Committee and with a passion for dogs, she is also a registered member of Dogs Victoria.

Holly Neale – Member Services
Holly is currently employed part time at GA while she studies full time at Monash University completing her Science & Biomedical Science double degree. Holly has a wide knowledge base of all GA services. She assists with the frozen semen database, naming applications and compilation of the GA Stud Book each year.

Georgia Wyers – Administration & Project Support Officer
Georgia joined GA in March 2020 with an extensive background in member services & office administration for the purebred & domestic canine industry in Victoria.  She is responsible for maintaining the frozen semen and DNA databases and provides assistance on GA’s strategic projects. She uses her positive attitude to assist participants daily.

Ian McKay – Project Manager
Ian has been with GA since April 2020.  He leads the Project Management function at Greyhounds Australasia and has qualifications in Project Management, Change Management, and Internal Auditing. Throughout his career he has delivered national projects supporting continuous improvement and stakeholder engagement.    Ian has worked across segments including the military, commercial entities and state and local government.

As for me, I have been at GA for just over 2 years. Previously I held executive leadership roles responsible for many functions at News Corp and headed up national strategy and transformation projects.  I was the GM responsible for the Sydney Royal Easter Show and have run my own consultancy.  I am also a Director on the Board of Women Sport Australia.

We are all excited to jump into 2022, we have lots to do and look forward to delivering outcomes for our industry that will benefit all stakeholders.