International Advisory Board

International Advisory Board

Hon. Ken Wyatt AM JP (Chair)

The Honourable Ken Wyatt AM JP served as the Member for Hasluck in the Federal Parliament from 2010 to 2022. He was the first Indigenous Australian elected to the House of Representatives and first Indigenous Australian appointed to the Executive Council. 

Ken also served as Australia’s first Minister for Indigenous Australians, Minister for Aged Care, Minister for Indigenous Health and Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians.

He has a demonstrated track record of achievement in management and leadership roles across the public, private and political sectors. His key areas of expertise include realising new business opportunities; effectively contributing to international, national policy, program design; strategic planning; measuring and reporting performance; and leading organisations through significant change.

Professor Dewi Fortuna Anwar

Dewi Fortuna Anwar straddles the world of academia, political activism and government. She is a research professor at the Center for Political Studies-Indonesian Institute of Sciences (P2P-LIPI), and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Habibie Center (THC) in Jakarta.

Dewi was the Kippenberger Visiting Chair at the Centre for Strategic Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand from 1 October to 30 November, 2018 and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore from 1 August 2017 to 31 July 2018.

From 2010 to 2017, Dewi served as a Deputy Secretary to the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia (For Political Affairs, October 2010-May 2015; For Government Policy Support, May 2010-February 2017).

She has written widely on Indonesia’s democratisation, foreign policy, as well as on ASEAN regional political and security issues. Dewi sits and has sat in a number of national and international advisory boards. She is currently a member of the Governing Board of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and a Board Member of Shift Project based in New York.

Dewi obtained her PhD from Monash University, Melbourne, while her MA and BA (Hons) were from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

The Honourable Colin Barnett

Hon. Colin Barnett is the former Premier of Western Australia (September 2008 to March 2017) and former member for Cottesloe. He was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the seat of Cottesloe in 1990.

Mr Barnett has also served as the State’s Treasurer, as well as holding various other portfolios in Western Australia’s cabinet.

Prior to entering politics, he lectured in economics at the Western Australian Institute of Technology and served as an executive director of the Western Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Mr Barnett holds an economics degree from The University of Western Australia.

Professor Gordon Flake

Professor Gordon Flake is the founding CEO of the Perth USAsia Centre at The University of Western Australia.

Professor Flake has built an internationally recognised profile over 25 years in think-tank expertise and leadership in Washington DC. He relocated to Perth in 2014 to establish the Centre and build a broader world-class Indo-Pacific strategic community. 

Prior to joining the Centre, Professor Flake was the Executive Director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, a Senior Fellow and Associate Director of the Program on Conflict Resolution at The Atlantic Council of the United States and, prior to that, Director for Research and Academic Affairs at the Korea Economic Institute of America. 

Professor Flake is one of Australia’s leading authorities on the Indo-Pacific, with a particular specialisation on Korea having spent nearly three decades focused on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. Professor Flake has edited several volumes and authored numerous chapters on developments in the region.

Professor Flake holds a number of strategic leadership roles, including currently serving on the United States Studies Centre Board, the UWA Oceans Institute Advisory Board and as Fellow of the College at St Catherine’s College at UWA. He has previously served on the Board of the United States Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (USCSCAP) as co-Vice Chair of the Board of the US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, on the Advisory Council on the Korea Economic Institute of America, and on the International Advisory Board of the David M. Kennedy Centre at Brigham Young University. 

He received his BA degree in Korean with a minor in international relations from Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. He completed his MA at the David M. Kennedy Centre for International and Area Studies, also at BYU. He speaks both fluent Korean and Laotian.

 

Eva (Eve) Howell

After obtaining an honours degree in Geology and Mathematics from King’s College, London, Eve entered the resources industry in the UK. Her career continued after migration to Australia in 1981, culminating in roles as Managing Director of Apache Energy Ltd and Executive Vice President (EVP) for the North West Shelf Project at Woodside Energy Ltd and EVP for Health, Safety and Security for all Woodside’s operations and projects worldwide.

During her working career, Eve was involved with energy supply, marine and onshore infrastructure, shipping, the arts, environmental and safety issues, government and community engagement. She obtained an MBA degree from Heriot Watt University (Edinburgh Business School) and served as a Director of Fremantle Ports Authority, the West Australian Ballet and the Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi Foundation. 

Since 2011, when she retired from fulltime employment, Eve graduated from the Australian Institute of Company Directors and served on several ASX, private and not-for-profit boards. She is currently the Chair of Ember Connect Ltd, a charity providing an Australian-wide, on-line support program for women of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent. 

 

 

Winthrop Professor Carmen Lawrence

After training as a research psychologist at The University of Western Australia and lecturing at a number of Australian universities, Dr Lawrence entered politics in 1986, serving at both state and federal levels for 21 years.

She was, at various times, WA Minister for Education and Aboriginal Affairs and was the first female premier and treasurer of a state government. Dr Lawrence shifted to federal politics in 1994 when she was elected as the Member for Fremantle and was appointed Minister for Health and Human Services, and Minister assisting the Prime Minister on the Status of Women. She held various portfolios in Opposition, including Indigenous Affairs, Environment, Industry and Innovation, and was elected national President of the Labor Party in 2004.

Dr Lawrence retired from politics in 2007 and is now Professor Emerita in the School of Psychological Science at UWA and President of the Conservation Council of WA.

Ms Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence was appointed CEO of Brightwater Care Group (Brightwater) in 2016 and is a strong advocate for change and innovation in the aged care and disability care sectors. She joined the organisation in 2003 as General Manager, Care Operations and most recently held the position of General Manager, Disability, Research and Risk.

Prior to moving to Brightwater, Jennifer held a number of executive roles in the private pathology industry, both in Perth and interstate.

With a strong focus on innovation and technology, and considerable strategic development and management experience, Jennifer also has a strong clinical background in medical science.

During her time at Brightwater, Jennifer has been responsible for overseeing the building of new aged care infrastructure and a $20 million redevelopment of the Oats Street rehabilitation service site. She also established the Brightwater Research Centre and has published and presented research internationally.

Jennifer is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member of the Australian College of Health Service Management.

Mr Shivshankar Menon

Ambassador Shivshankar Menon is currently a Visiting Professor at Ashoka University, India; Chairman, Advisory Board, Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi; Distinguished Fellow of Brookings India; Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore; Member, Board of Trustees, International Crisis Group; and a Distinguished Fellow, Asia Society Policy Institute, New York.

He was previously National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of India, January 2010 to May 2014; Foreign Secretary of India, October 2006 to July 2009; and has served as the Indian Ambassador or High Commissioner to China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Israel.

In 2016 he published Choices; Inside the Making of Indian Foreign Policy (Brookings & Penguin Random House, 2016).

He has been a Fisher Family Fellow at the Kennedy School, Harvard University, 2015 and Richard Wilhelm Fellow at MIT in 2015. He was chosen one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine in 2010.

 

Dr Marty Natalegawa

Dr Marty Natalegawa served as Foreign Minister of Indonesia from 2009 to 2014. He is the author of Does ASEAN Matter? A view from Within (ISEAS Publishing, 2018).

He, inter alia, is serving as a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Advisory Board on Mediation; ASPI Distinguished Fellow; the International Academic Advisory Committee of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies; the Southeast Asia Advisory Board of the CSIS, Washington, DC; International Crisis Group Board of Trustees; Prominent Research Scholar of the Bank of Indonesia Institute and Global Advisory Committee of the Jeju Forum.

He served in the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Global Response to Health Crises and UN President of the General Assembly’s Team of External Advisors.

He was Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the UN (2007–2009); Ambassador to the UK and also to Ireland (2005–2007);  and Indonesia’s Director General for ASEAN Cooperation.

He has been cited as “one of the most respected foreign policy and international security thinkers of his generation, both within Indonesia, in Southeast Asia, and in the broader Asia-Pacific region”.

Dr Natalegawa earned a DPhil from ANU, an MPhil from University of Cambridge, and a BSc (Hons) from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Professor Anna Nowak (ex officio)

Professor Anna Nowak (MB BS PhD W.Aust., FRACP) is Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at The University of Western Australia and has responsibility for research policy development and leadership of the University's research activities, postgraduate education, industry liaison, intellectual property and commercialisation. 

Professor Nowak is a medical oncologist and clinician scientist. Anna has been a clinical academic in the UWA Medical School since 2005, and has built a strong research program encompassing laboratory, murine, translational and clinical trials work, with a focus on mesothelioma. Her research has been funded by NHMRC, Cancer Australia, Cancer Council WA, the US Department of Defense, and through industry partnerships and philanthropy.

In 2018, Anna was named Cancer Researcher of the Year by the Cancer Council of WA, and in 2021 received both the International Mesothelioma Interest Group’s prestigious Wagner Medal for her contribution to mesothelioma research, and the Medical Oncology Group of Australia’s inaugural Martin H Tattersall’s Heroes Award for her mentorship, advocacy and contributions to the discipline.

Anna is passionate about mentoring, collaboration, building a positive culture for research staff and students, and women in science.

Ms Maria Osman

Maria Osman M.Ed GAICD has over 30 years’ experience as a senior policy adviser on the intersections of gender equality, multiculturalism and human rights. She has worked in the government, community and university sectors as an advocate, policy adviser and strategist, speaker and mentor.

Maria has held a diverse range of senior State government positions including Executive Director, Office for Women’s Policy,  Executive Director, Office of Multicultural Interests and A/Executive Director, Community Building and Services in the Department for Local Government and Communities. In 2015 she was an official delegate to the United Nations 59th Commission on the Status of Women.

Maria currently serves on multiple national, state and community boards and committees including, Chair of the Humanitarian Group; the National Harmony Alliance for Migrant and Refugee Women; the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Interests Advisory Board: The Premier’s Supporting Communities Forum; the National Education Toolkit for FGM/C Awareness Project, and the Somali Women’s Association.

Professor Peter Robertson

Peter Robertson is a Professor of Economics at the University of Western Australia.

He has previously held positions at The Productivity Commission in Australia and The University of New South Wales and has been a Visiting Scholar at the University of Otago, The University of British Columbia, Rutgers University and St Anthony’s College, Oxford.

His research mainly involves economic growth, and international trade, but also developing economies, economic modelling, defence economics, human capital and environmental trade disputes. Peter was educated at the University of Otago, New Zealand, the University of New England, Australia, and Simon Fraser University, Canada.

He is currently Dean of The UWA Business School and a Fellow of the UWA Public Policy Institute.

 

Professor Shamit Saggar (ex officio)

Shamit Saggar is the Director of the Public Policy Institute and Professor of Public Policy at The University of Western Australia. He is also Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College, London.

He was previously Senior Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister in the UK Cabinet Office; Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Essex; Harkness Fellow at UCLA; Yale World Fellow at Yale University; and Visiting Professor of Public Policy at the University of Toronto.

He is a Fellow of Academy of Social Sciences, former Chair of the Campaign for Social Science, and was awarded a CBE in 2017 for services to social science and public policy.

He takes an active part in public leadership roles at board level, spanning the Financial Services Authority, Solicitors Regulation Authority, Law Society of England & Wales, British Future, National Asylum Commission, Better Regulation Commission, National Consumer Council, Whittington Hospital Trust, Peabody Trust, Accountancy Foundation, Institute for Citizenship, Foreign Policy Centre, RSA Migration Commission and UPP Group Holdings Ltd.

He has also held advisory roles with Unbound Philanthropy, Demos, Policy Exchange, Institute for Public Policy Research, Policy Network and Fabian Society, and served as Special Advisor to the Commonwealth Secretariat and the House of Commons Speaker’s Conference on Parliamentary Representation.

Linda Savage

Linda Savage has a BA (Hons) in Politics (UWA) and a law degree from Cambridge. Throughout her working life she has focused on law reform and the rights of women and children.   

She is a former Director of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal, Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Member of Parliament, and was the Inaugural Convener of the Valuing Children Initiative. She has co-authored two books, written numerous opinion pieces and academic articles and served on a wide range of advisory committees and boards. 

She is currently on the Boards of the National Drug Research Institute, the Voluntary Assisted Dying Board, the Australian Council on Children & the Media and Upswell Publishing.

In October 2018 she was appointed as an Ambassador for Children and Young People. In 1997 she was awarded the Law Society of Western Australia’s annual award for Outstanding Service to the Community. In 2010 she was named Woman Lawyer of the Year.