National Council
AELERT’s National Council, the governing body of AELERT, sets strategic direction and ensures AELERT delivers value to its members.
It is with gratitude and well wishes that AELERT National Council members farewelled Chair Monica Collins, as she reached the end of her term as Chair. Read more.
Council Members
- Grant Barnes, Chair: Natural Resources Access Regulator (NSW)
- Gregory Abood: Chief Executive Officer (Seconded from NRAR)
- Lisa Docherty: Independent member, G-REG (Aotearoa New Zealand)
- Kate Gavens: Conservation Regulator (VIC)
- Amy Dennison: Environment Protection Authority (NT)
- Cindy Ong: Environment Protection Authority (Tas)
- Derek Poulton: Lake Macquarie City Council (Local Government)
- Germaine Larcombe: Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (WA)
- Paul De Ionno: Department for Energy and Mining (SA)
- Cameron Grebe: National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (Cth)
- Graeme Grosse: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (Cth)
Grant Barnes (Chair): Natural Resources Access Regulator (NSW)
Grant is Chief Regulatory Officer of the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR), and has been a member of the inaugural AELERT National Council since 2022, including a term as Deputy Chair.
Grant is a highly regarded regulator within the AELERT Community and beyond. As NRAR’s Chief Regulatory Officer, Grant is responsible for the day-to-day operations of NRAR.
He has led NRAR since its establishment in 2018 and has more than 15 years’ experience in senior leadership roles in natural resource management and regulatory practice.
As NRAR’s Chief Regulatory Officer, Grant is responsible for the day-to-day operations of NRAR.
This includes building NRAR’s regulatory capacity and capability to deliver on the NSW Government’s commitment to best practice regulation, as well as building and sustaining effective relationships with key stakeholders, establishing good governance and high levels of ethical practice within NRAR, and working with the board to progress its agenda.
Lisa Docherty: Government Regulatory Practice Initiative (G-REG) (Aotearoa New Zealand)
Lisa is the Director of the Government Regulatory Practice Initiative (G-REG) in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her team are building on the original vision for the G-REG Initiative, developing fit for the future programmes and resources for regulators, and ensuring that the initiative endures, and will adapt and grow to achieve its potential. She is passionate about creating space for regulatory professionals where they can learn from each other, share knowledge, and develop a shared culture.
Prior to G-REG, Lisa was Director, Regulatory Strategy & Performance with the Department of Internal Affairs’ Regulatory Services Group, and Director, Gambling Regulatory System, following a period at the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment as Director Regulatory Partners in MBIE’s Building System Performance Branch. She also has experience in professional membership organisations including the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, and the Institute of Directors in New Zealand.
As the Council's independent member, Lisa provides regulatory system design, capability, and stewardship across a broad range of operational contexts and regulatory function expertise.
Kate Gavens: Chief Conservation Regulator (VIC)
Kate is the inaugural Chief Conservation Regulator for Victoria. Commencing in 2019, Kate has led the establishment of the Conservation Regulator in Victoria and continues to lead significant reform to develop an effective, best-practice and effective regulator for wildlife, forestry and public land crime for Victoria.
Over her career Kate has delivered significant environment protection reforms and prior to this current role, lead the modernisation of Victoria’s Environment Protection Act, a once in a generation reform.
Kate is committed to championing innovation, collaboration and capability building within the areas she leads with a focus on empowering staff to deliver for the Victorian community.
Amy Dennison: Environment Protection Authority (NT)
Amy is the Executive Director of the Environment Regulation Division in the Department of Parks, Environment and Water Security.
She specialises in energy and environmental policy and has been committed to the sustainable economic development in the Northern Territory (NT) for over 12 years.
She first came to the NT in 2010 as a solicitor at the Northern Land Council. She moved to Government in 2014 and has been mainly working in the environment and energy space during that period. Amy has a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons 1, University Medal) and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales.
She has a Master of Laws (University Medal) from the Centre for Energy, Petroleum, Mineral Law and Policy at the University of Dundee, UK. She completed a Masters of Public Administration as a Fulbright Scholar from the Harvard Kennedy School in 2019 and is currently working on a Master of Liberal Arts (Sustainability) from the Harvard Extension School as a Monash scholar.
Cindy Ong: Environment Protection Authority (Tas)
Cindy joined the Tasmanian State Service in 1999, having previously taught natural sciences at the University of Tasmania.
Since that time, she has worked as a principal policy officer for biosecurity, took a two-year secondment into the Deputy Premier’s Officer as a Departmental Liaison Officer and managed a team responsible for supporting economic development in northern Tasmania.
More recently, Cindy spent a year as Acting Director Natural Heritage, a year as acting Deputy Director, EPA, and enjoyed a shorter stint as acting General Manager, Parks Operations, in the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service.
Cindy came to the Tasmanian EPA in 2015 as an operations manager. Cindy is currently Director, Environmental Regulation, responsible for strategic oversight of staff undertaking environmental industrial, waste and contaminated land regulation, investigations and enforcement, incident response, and marine pollution operations.
She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Tasmania, with Honours in Ecology, and a Graduate Certificate in Public Sector Management.
Derek Poulton: Lake Macquarie City Council (Local Government)
Derek has been working in Local Government specialising in the Environmental, Health, Regulation and Enforcement and Emergency Management functions for the past 20 years in QLD and NSW councils.
He has an interest in exploring principles of best practice regulation and standardising program delivery and decision making, to improve the regulatory outcomes for the community whilst managing increased demand.
Currently as the Environmental Regulation and Compliance Manager at Lake Macquarie City Council, Derek leads a department of specialised compliance teams that historically operated in silos.
The development and implementation of a risk based regulatory activities policy and frame work has seen the creation of a uniform and risk based compliance team that deliver transparent and measurable services to the community.
Germaine Larcombe: Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (WA)
Germaine is a Senior Regulatory Executive with over 20 years’ national and international experience in regulatory delivery and reform under a range of legislative frameworks to deliver a variety of government priorities and objectives.
Germaine has experience in international waste shipment regulation under the European Union’s Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law Program and in the practical application of a wide range of environmental legislation both in Ireland and Australia.
She is on the Steering Committee of both the Australian Environmental Regulators Network and the Western Australian Chapter of the National Regulators Community of Practice. She is passionate about contemporary regulatory practice and effective public service as well as values-based leadership.
Germaine holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Paul De Ionno: Department of Energy and Mining (SA)
Paul is an experienced leader with a proven record of achievement in the public and private sectors, including 16 years as a regulator across the mining and environmental sectors.
Paul holds a Bachelor of Environmental Science (First Class Honours) and a Master of Business Administration. Paul is employed as the Director, Mining Regulation with the Department of Energy and Mining, South Australia.
In his current role, Paul is responsible for all aspects of the regulation of the mining and quarrying sector in SA under the Mining Act 1971 and related legislation, including environmental assessments, licencing and approvals, compliance, investigations and enforcement, and mine closure.
Paul is passionate about change management and driving regulatory capability development. He looks forward to providing a strategic contribution to the broader regulatory network through the AELERT National Council, where he can share his knowledge, experiences, leadership skills and understanding of the regulatory environment, whilst continuing to learn from others.
Cameron Grebe: National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (Cth)
Cameron Grebe leads NOPSEMA’s Environment, Renewables and Decommissioning Division since joining the regulator in August 2011, following 16 years as an environmental engineer, adviser, and manager at BHP, Woodside Energy and Shell Global Solutions International.
Cameron is responsible for leading NOPSEMA’s regulatory oversight of offshore renewables as well as decommissioning and environmental management for all offshore petroleum activities in Commonwealth waters.
Cameron led the inception and implementation of NOPSEMA’s regulation of environmental management, which involved a comprehensive stakeholder engagement and streamlining program. He continues to work within NOPSEMA's leadership team to ensure offshore energy industries take place with appropriate protections for offshore workers and the environment. This has included substantial stakeholder engagement, reforms to improve transparency, consultation processes and more recently decommissioning and leads NOPSEMA's work with the Federal Government to establish and implement the offshore renewable energy regulatory framework.
Cameron is Australia’s representative and current Chair of the International Offshore Petroleum Environment Regulators forum (IOPER) and a member of the National Committee for the Australasian Environmental Law Enforcement Network (AELERT).
Cameron holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental Engineering) from RMIT University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Energy Studies from Murdoch University.
Graeme Grosse: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (Cth)
Graeme is the Assistant Secretary, Environment Compliance with the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
