The Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, the Hon Kelly O'Dwyer MP, today announced the reappointments of Mr Neville Mitchell, Ms Karen Payne and Mrs Ann-Maree Wolff as part-time members of the Board of Taxation (the Board) each for a further three-year period commencing from 14 May 2018.
The Board is a non-statutory advisory body charged with contributing a business and broader community perspective to improving the design of taxation laws and their operation. Board members are expected to be able to contribute at the highest level to the development of the tax system.
Mr Mitchell has been a member of the Board since 2015. He is currently an Independent Non-Executive Director of Sonic Healthcare, Sirtex Medical Ltd, Osprey Medical and Q'Biotics Ltd. He is also a member of the New South Wales Government's Medical Devices Fund and South East Sydney Local Health District. He has over 25 years as the former Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary of Cochlear Limited since its listing in 1994 and was Cochlear's Financial Controller since joining the company in 1990. He was formerly a Senior Audit Manager with KPMG in Johannesburg, South Africa, with responsibility for planning, reviewing and running major audits. He has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Ms Payne has been a member of the Board since 2015. She is currently the part-time Chief Executive Officer of the Board and was previously a Partner at Minter Ellison focusing on international and corporate taxes for the financial services industry among other sectors. She is a member of the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation. She has a Bachelor and Master of Commerce both from the University of New South Wales and a Bachelor of Laws also from the University of New South Wales.
Mrs Wolff has been a member of the Board since 2015. She has over 23 years' experience as a qualified tax professional with over 13 years' experience in senior tax roles within the mining industry. She is currently the Asia Pacific Head of Tax for Rio Tinto responsible for all tax matters relevant to Rio Tinto in Australia and the broader Asia Pacific Region. She has been extensively involved in tax policy development in her roles on the Tax Committees for the Business Council of Australia and Minerals Council of Australia as well as through consultation directly with the Australian Treasury. She has a Bachelor of Commerce from Griffith University.