13 September 2001

Appointment of Member of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission

The Governor-General in Council has today appointed Professor Berna Collier as a full-time member of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The appointment is for three years commencing on 5 November 2001.

Professor Collier will join the ASIC Chairman, Mr David Knott and Deputy Chair, Ms Jillian Segal, on the Commission, returning its membership to three. Professor Collier's skills and experience will be of great benefit to ASIC, particularly with a number of major corporate investigations currently under way and with ASIC likely to be involved in the HIH Royal Commission.

Professor Collier is currently Clayton Utz Professor of Commercial Law in the Faculty of Law at the Queensland University of Technology. She is also Co-Director of the Centre for Commercial and Property Law, Queensland University of Technology and a consultant with Clayton Utz, Brisbane. Professor Collier previously practised law in both Melbourne and Brisbane and has written extensively in relation to insolvency, corporate and commercial law, and medico-legal practice. She chaired the Government's Taskforce on Industry Self-regulation from August 1999 until August 2000, earning the respect of Taskforce members and stakeholders, and was recently appointed to the Advisory Board of Axiss Australia.

Additional biographical information is attached. Professor Collier will be based at ASIC's Office in Brisbane.