Members of Council

The Honourable Kim Beazley AC was the 33rd Governor of Western Australia.

Prior to being installed as Governor, Mr Beazley had dedicated almost three decades to a career in Federal Parliament, representing the Western Australian seats of Brand and Swan.

In 2009, Mr Beazley was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia for service to the Parliament of Australia through contributions to the development of government policies in relation to defence and international relations, and as an advocate for Indigenous people and the community.

Mr Beazley was born in Perth, Western Australia. He completed a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts at the University of Western Australia. In 1973, he was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for Western Australia, subsequently completing a Masters of Philosophy at Oxford University.

Mr Beazley was a Minister in the Hawke and Keating Labor Governments (1983–1996) holding, at various times, the portfolios of Defence, Finance, Transport and Communications, Employment Education and Training, Aviation, and Special Minister of State.

From 1995 to 1996, Mr Beazley was Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Australian Labor Party. He was Leader of the Opposition from 1996 to 2001, and 2005 to 2006. Mr Beazley served on parliamentary committees, including the Joint Intelligence Committee and the Joint Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee.

After his retirement from politics in 2007, Mr Beazley was appointed Winthrop Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Western Australia.

In July 2008 he was appointed Chancellor of the Australian National University, a position he held until December 2009. Mr Beazley was a member of the Council of the Australian War Memorial from July 2009 to December 2009.

Mr Beazley took up an appointment as Ambassador to the United States of America in February 2010, serving until January 2016.

Returning to Australia from Washington in 2016, Mr Beazley was appointed President of the Australian Institute for International Affairs (2016–17), Co-Chairman of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue (2016–18), Distinguished Fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and Director and Distinguished Fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre.

Dr Karen Bird joined the Council of the Australian War Memorial on 24 October 2024 for a three-year term.

With a 30-year career in property management and body corporate engagements, Dr Bird is an experienced businesswoman and intellectual historian. A postdoctoral fellow with the Australian Research Centre Project at Flinders University, Dr Bird explores how we form knowledge, what shapes our understanding, and the values we choose to live by. Her work focuses on the ethics of war and the role of human differences (including race and religion) in the transaction of geopolitical affairs.

Dr Bird’s early career as a critical care registered nurse has greatly informed her approach to life and continues to guide her intellectual pursuits and deeply personal commitment to veteran advocacy. Her 32-year-old son, Jesse Bird, an Afghanistan veteran, took his own life in 2017.

She serves as Deputy Chair of the National Advisory Committee for Open Arms: Veterans & Families Counselling and is a founding committee member of the Sufferings of War and Service Project. This was an initiative of the Australian War Memorial to commission a work of art to recognise and commemorate the suffering caused by war and military service. The sculptural installation, Alex Seton’s For Every Drop Shed in Anguish  was dedicated at a ceremony on 22 February 2024. For Every Drop Shed in Anguish provides a place at the Memorial for those who have experienced and witnessed the ongoing trauma that can result from service, and for Memorial visitors to reflect on this experience.

Wing Commander (Retd) Sharon Bown AM was appointed to Council in June 2016 and re-appointed for consecutive three-year terms in 2019, 2022 and 2025. Wing Commander Bown served as a nursing officer in the Royal Australian Air Force for 16 years, discharging from service in 2015. Wing Commander Bown deployed to Timor–Leste in 2000 and 2004; Afghanistan in 2008 as Officer-in-Charge of the Australian Medical Task Force in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan; and on various aeromedical evacuation tasks, including Papua New Guinea in 2001, Solomon Islands in 2003, and Bali following the terrorist bombings of 2005.

Wing Commander Bown is a passionate advocate within the field of military and veterans’ health and demonstrates a unique insight into the welfare and healthcare needs of those adversely affected by their service. She has cared for Australian Defence Force personnel and their families in Australia and overseas, and survived life threatening and enduring injuries in a helicopter crash while serving on operations in East Timor in 2004. 

Wing Commander Bown is a registered nurse with Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Psychological Science degrees, and is the author of One Woman's War and Peace: A Nurse's Journey in the Royal Australian Air Force. She has served as a judge of the Prime Minister's Veterans' Employment Awards since its inception in 2018, an ambassador for Phoenix Australia, Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health since 2019, a Fellow of the Australian College of Nursing since 2020, an ambassador for the Air Force Association since 2021, and National Vice President of the Air Force Association from 2020 to 2021.

Lorraine Hatto­n OAM (Aunty Lorraine) grew up in an Aboriginal community on Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island). She is formally recognised as an Indigenous Quandamooka woman and elder. The Quandamooka people are an Aboriginal–Australian group that live around the Moreton Bay region in south-eastern Queensland.

Born in 1966, Aunty Lorraine is from the Ngughi /Nunukul tribes, with bloodlines to the Turrbal tribe of Brisbane. She is the youngest of 11 children of William Gardiner, a Second World War returned serviceman and Aunty Emma Enoch of Minjerribah, home to the Indigenous Quandamooka people for tens of thousands of years. She attended Dunwich Primary School, and then Balmoral Secondary School.

In 1986, Aunty Lorraine embarked on a highly successful military career spanning more than 21 years, providing loyal, dedicated, service to the Australian Army, her country, and her people. She is widely recognised as a pioneer for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous female servicewomen, distinguishing herself in peacetime and operations, involving peacekeeping, humanitarian, peace-monitoring and war operations, in various theatres and campaigns.

At the time of her promotion in 2003, Aunty Lorraine was the first Aboriginal female to be promoted to warrant officer in the Australian Army. Her career culminated in 2006 with yet another first, when she was appointed Communications Manager to the Australian Army Special Forces Task Group in Afghanistan. Aunty Lorraine retired from the army in 2007, after a nomadic career that saw her live widely throughout Australia and abroad. She settled on the Gold Coast, south-east Queensland.

Aunty Lorraine was appointed Indigenous Elder of the Australian Army in May 2020, reporting directly to the Chief of Army on a broad range of Indigenous issues and sitting on the Army Indigenous Capability Advisory Board. Some of her other responsibilities in this role involve representing serving and ex-serving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island personnel, providing advice to senior leadership, establishing long lasting and mutually beneficial relationships between the Australian Army and communities, and participating in representational duties and events of significance.

In January 2019, Aunty Lorraine was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM), for service to the Indigenous community.

Mr Glenn Keys AO is the founder, owner, and Executive Chairman of Aspen Medical, one of the world’s leading providers of outsourced healthcare solutions. He was invited to join Council in February 2021 for a three-year term and was re-appointed for a consecutive three-year term in 2024. He is also a member of the Memorial Development Committee.

Glenn was born and raised in Newcastle, New South Wales and joined the Australian Defence Force in 1980, studying mechanical engineering while completing his officer training at Royal Military College, Duntroon. He went on to study aeronautical engineering with the Ministry of Defence in the United Kingdom, and later studied flight test engineering at the UK International Test Pilots School.

Glenn had a distinguished career serving in the Australian Defence Force from 1980 to 1994. He was the first army flight test engineer at the RAAF Aircraft Research and Development Unit and chief engineer at the Army Aircraft Logistics Management Squadron from 1992 to 1993.

In 1994, Glenn started Aerospace Technical Services (ATS) as general manager. He helped grow the company from a start up until it was acquired by Raytheon in 1999. He worked at Raytheon Australia until 2003 when he founded Aspen Medical, which has celebrated a major milestone of 20 years of global operations.

Glenn founded the Aspen Medical Foundation in 2010. One of the programs it funded was the Australia-wide Ex-Service Support Organisations Mapping Project. The foundation has supported numerous veteran’s causes, from PTSD recovery programmes to the Invictus Games. In 2012, Glenn founded Project Independence, an innovative social housing development for people with an intellectual disability, the first of its kind in Australia.

Alongside operating Aspen Medical as the executive chairman, Glenn sits on several boards alongside the Memorial. He was a founding director of the National Disability Insurance Agency board, and served for nine years until 2022. He was one of the early proponents of the campaign to inaugurate the Invictus Games in Australia and became a Director of the Australian Invictus Games in 2018. In 2022, Glenn was invited by the Federal Government to chair the Australian ASEAN Council.

Glenn is an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Glenn has been awarded with the 2015 ACT Australian of the Year for his work in business and disability, was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017, and was selected as Australian Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017.

Glenn is passionate about social and community responsibility; these are central drivers at the heart of all that he does.

Dr Susan Neuhaus AM CSC was appointed to Council in April 2018 and re-appointed for consecutive three-year terms in 2021 and 2024. Susan commenced as Chair of the Memorial Development Committee in 2023.

Susan is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, holds an adjunct appointment as Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Adelaide, and is a practicing surgeon. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), and holds a Doctorate in Philosophy and qualifications in project management and quality audit.

Susan has completed a career spanning 20 years in the Australian Army and Army Reserve. She is a graduate of Australian Command and Staff College (Reserve). Her operational service includes deployments to Cambodia, Bougainville and Afghanistan. She was the Commanding Officer, 3rd Health Support Battalion, was promoted to colonel in 2008, and retired from military service in 2011.

Susan has held board appointments including health, commercial and not-for-profit entities. She is Chair and President of the South Australian–Northern Territory Division of the AICD and a director on the AICD national board. Her former roles include Chair of the Repat Foundation – The Road Home, member of the South Australian Veterans Health Advisory Council, Co-Chair of the South Australian PTSD Centre of Excellence Ministerial Advisory Panel, and Chair of the Veterans’ Advisory Council, South Australia.

Susan is widely published including in areas of operational health care and has undertaken research investigating gender-specific effects of military service and deployment. Susan is co-author of Not for Glory: A Century of Service by Medical Women to the Australian Army and its Allies, which was adapted by the Shift Theatre into the acclaimed play Hallowed Ground Women Doctors in War.

Susan is patron of the Virtual War Memorial, Australia.

Susan has been admitted to the Roll of Fellows of the Australian Medical Association, was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross in 2009 for military service, and was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2020 for services to medicine and veterans and their families.

The Hon Warren Snowdon is an Australian former politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from July 1987 to March 1996 and again from October 1998 until retiring from politics in May 2022. During his time in politics, Warren served as Minister for Defence for Science and Personnel, Minister for Indigenous Health, Rural and Regional Health and Regional Services Delivery, Minister for Indigenous Health, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Centenary of Anzac.

Prior to his career serving as a politician, Warren was employed as a teacher in the Northern Territory, a researcher on the Aboriginal Children and Families Heritage Project at the Australian National University, and was a Senior Policy Officer for the Central Land Council.

Between 1996 and 1998, Warren established a consulting company, Warren Snowdon and Associates, which undertook a range of consultancies, including organisational review of an Aboriginal organisation, the negotiation of a satellite service agreement, and worked alongside Professor Mick Dodson to negotiate native title access for land in South Australia for Kistler Aerospace.

From March to December 2023, Warren was a member of a four-person panel for Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, consulting with stakeholders on the phase out of live sheep exports by sea. From July 2024 to February 2025, he was the chair of the panel which undertook a statutory review of the North Australia Infrastructure Facility Act 2016. Warren is a part-time government affairs advisor to Diabetes Australia (since 2022), an advisor to Phosphate Resources Limited (since 2023), a member of the Australian War Memorial Council and Finance, Audit and Compliance Committee (since 2024), and was appointed to the board of the Old Parliament House in February 2025.

Warren was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by Charles Darwin University in 2023 and jointly published, with Dr H.C. Coombes and Dr M.M. Brandl, A Certain Heritage: Programs for and by Aboriginal Families in Australia.

Lesley Alway was appointed to the Council of the Australian War Memorial on 7 November 2025 for a three-year term.

Lesley’s academic qualifications include BA (Hons) and B.Ed degrees, a Master of Urban and Cultural Heritage degree from the University of Melbourne, and an MBA from Monash University. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Lesley is a qualified Gateway reviewer and has participated in reviews for major cultural infrastructure projects in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia.

Lesley has had an extensive career as a CEO and senior executive in the leadership and management of Australian arts and cultural institutions, organisations and businesses at all levels of government, as well as in the non-profit and private sectors. Her roles have encompassed local, national and international organisations. She has been involved with a wide range of cultural infrastructure and redevelopment projects. Since 2018, Lesley has been the Chair of Geelong Arts Centre, a Victorian state government cultural agency and the largest regional performing arts centre in Australia. During her tenure she has overseen the $180m redevelopment of the centre that opened in 2023. Lesley has served as a member of the Australia ASEAN Council and on the boards of Opera Australia, the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (as deputy chair), and the Australia Council (as Chair of the Visual Arts Board).

Between 2010–2017 Lesley was Director of Asialink Arts at the University of Melbourne, building partnerships and delivering a broad range of cultural exchange programs including touring exhibitions and arts residencies between Australia and Asia. Lesley was the Managing Director of Sotheby’s Australia (2008–2010) where she had worked in the early 1990s. Between 2003 and 2008, Lesley was Director of the Heide Museum of Modern Art in Melbourne where she managed a major redevelopment of the museum, including new exhibition and education facilities.

Between 1995 and 2000, Lesley worked at Arts Victoria (now Creative Victoria). She was director (CEO) from 1997 to 2000, involved in the delivery of policy initiatives and capital redevelopment projects for major collecting institutions such as Museum Victoria, the National Gallery of Victoria and the State Library, and new professional and development opportunities for contemporary artists and arts organisations and marketing initiatives directed at expanding local, international and tourism audiences.

Prior to joining Arts Victoria, Lesley was Director and CEO of Artbank from 1991 to 1995, leading the transformation of the organisation to a self-funding entity. Artbank is a Commonwealth Government organisation that supports contemporary Australian artists by purchasing their work for the Artbank Collection and leasing it to Australian and international clients. She has also worked in arts education, arts management education and cultural policy to various interstate and federal arts-based organisations. She has taught and been a guest lecturer in postgraduate cultural policy and arts and cultural management courses at the University of Melbourne and Deakin University.

Lesley is the daughter of a Second World War returned serviceman who arrived on the Malay peninsula in mid-1941 and became a prisoner of war in Changi and on the Burma-Thailand Railway after the fall of Singapore. Her experience as the child of a returned prisoner of war, and academic and personal research into the history and experiences of Second World War Australian prisoners of war has given her insights and perspectives into significance of the prisoner of war experience, as well as the multi-generational impact of war and service in the defence forces on families and broader society.

The Hon Peter Tinley AM is a veteran, business leader, and former Western Australian government minister, currently serving as National President of the Returned & Services League of Australia (RSL).

Mr Tinley’s 25-year military career included 17 years with the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR), rising from enlisted soldier to major, commanding at every level of the regiment up to squadron commander. He was the first enlisted SAS member to attend the Royal Military College, Duntroon, returning to the regiment as an officer. His operational service included Lebanon, Syria, Bougainville, Afghanistan, and Iraq, including key leadership roles as Deputy Commander of Special Forces Task Groups following the 9/11 attacks. In 2003, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his strategic planning and leadership in warlike operations.

Following his military service, Mr Tinley dedicated 15 years to the Parliament of Western Australia, holding portfolios such as Veterans Issues, Housing, Mines and Petroleum, Asian Engagement, and Youth. As Minister for Veterans Issues, he initiated significant reforms, including embedding veteran status in the national census, increasing funding for veteran services, and developing Western Australia’s first Veterans and Families Strategy.

A member of the RSL for over 15 years, Mr Tinley has been a strong advocate for veteran welfare and community engagement. He currently chairs the Veterans Transition Centre in Western Australia, supporting veterans suffering from or at risk of homelessness.

Mr Tinley brings to Council a unique perspective shaped by his military service, political leadership, and commitment to supporting veterans and their families. His vision is grounded in service, accountability, and strengthening the institutions that honour Australia’s military history and support those who have served

Wade Stothart was appointed to the Council of the Australian War Memorial on 7 November 2025 for a three-year term.

Wade was raised in central Victoria and served for 38 years in the Australian Army. As an infantry officer, he served in both the 1st and 3rd Battalions, the Royal Australian Regiment, and commanded the 3rd Battalion. He also deployed on operations overseas, to Bosnia, East Timor, Afghanistan and the Middle East. In senior appointments, he held responsibility for a range of human resource functions in both Army and Defence, including workforce planning, recruiting, career management, family support and veteran transition.

Wade holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Politics from the University of New South Wales. He also holds Master’s degrees in International Relations, Business and Policy from Deakin University and Canberra University. He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course and a Member of the Australian Human Resources Institute. He has previously served as chair of the Army Relief Trust and Army Amenities Fund, and on the boards the Royal Australian Regiment Foundation and the Veteran Committee of the Prince’s, then King’s Trust. He also served as a member of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission between 2021 and 2024. He is currently on the Management Committee of the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund.

In October 2025, Wade was appointed as Director War Graves in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. In this role, he and his team are responsible for providing and maintaining official commemorations of Australia’s war dead, acting as an agent of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Australia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands and maintaining official Australian Memorials overseas.

Air Marshal Chappell joined the Royal Australian Air Force in January 1993, graduating from the Australian Defence Force Academy in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts.

He completed Pilot’s Course in 1997, F/A-18 Operational Conversion in 1998, and Fighter Combat Instructor course in 2001. Following instructional and flight commander assignments, he was the inaugural exchange officer with the United States Air Force 65th Aggressor Squadron.

Air Marshal Chappell has held command appointments at Squadron, Wing and Component levels and has accumulated over 2,900 flying hours on the F/A-18A, F-15C, F/A-18F and EA18G.

His senior staff appointments include: Chief of Staff to the Chief of the Defence Force, 2017, supporting Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin AC and General Angus Campbell AO DSC; Head of Military Strategic Commitments, responsible for the strategic level management and situational awareness of current and potential Australian Defence Force commitments; and selection as Chief of Air Force and promotion to air marshal in July 2024.

Air Marshal Chappell deployed to the Middle East with No. 75 Squadron on Operation Falconer in 2003, and with No. 1 Squadron in 2014 contributing to the Air Task Group commitment to Operation Okra.

Air Marshal Chappell received a Conspicuous Service Cross for outstanding achievement in air combat development and preparedness as Commander of No. 1 Squadron in January 2017, and a Distinguished Service Cross in recognition of his distinguished command and leadership on Operation Okra in June 2017.

He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for meritorious service to the Royal Australian Air Force in the field of air combat in the 2013 Queen’s Birthday Honours, and received the United States Meritorious Service Medal for performing outstanding services as Assistant Director of Operations, 65th Aggressor Squadron from December 2005 to December 2007.

In 2013, Air Marshal Chappell attended the Australian Command and Staff College, completing a Master of Military and Strategic Studies, and was awarded the Chief of Air Force Prize. He graduated from the Defence Strategic Studies Course at the Australian War College in 2017. He has completed the Pinnacle General and Flag Officer Course at the National Defense University in Washington, DC.

Air Marshal Chappell is a keen student of history, an avid reader, and enjoys a multitude of sports.

Hammond served extensively in Collins Class submarines and gained international experience in French, British and US nuclear attack submarines and Dutch conventional submarines. His command of HMAS Farncomb included submarine operations across the Indo-Pacific. Subsequent shore postings included: Assistant Naval Attaché in Washington, DC, roles in submarine capability and joint exercise staff, and 12 months as the Chief of Staff to the Chief of the Defence Force.

On promotion to commodore, Hammond was appointed Director General Maritime Operations. He returned to the United States as the Liaison Officer to the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was awarded the United States Legion of Merit (Officer) for his performance in this role, and in 2018 was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for exceptional service to the Australian Defence Force in senior command and staff roles.

On promotion to rear admiral, Hammond assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Navy in 2018, and in late 2020 was appointed Commander of the Australian Fleet. In these demanding appointments Hammond first oversaw substantial workforce growth, and then focused on enhancing the resilience and warfighting capability of RAN people and fleet during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vice Admiral Hammond assumed command as Chief of Navy on 7 July 2022, the first RAN Recruit School and ADFA graduate to do so, and the second submarine commanding officer to be appointed to the role. In 2023 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to the Royal Australian Navy in senior command roles.

Vice Admiral Hammond holds a Bachelor of Science, Masters in Management and Masters in Maritime Studies, and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program. His interests include antique wooden boats, cricket, rugby league (South Sydney Rabbitohs), AFL (Port Adelaide), chess and submarine warfare in the Second World War.

Lieutenant General Simon Stuart AO DSC is the Chief of Army and was appointed to the Memorial’s Council in July 2022 as an ex-officio member for a three-year term.

Enlisting as a soldier in 1987 and commissioning into the Royal Australian Infantry Corps in 1990, Lieutenant General Stuart has more than 35 years’ experience across a range of leadership, operations, training and program management appointments. His regimental appointments were in the 2nd/4th and 2nd Battalions, the Royal Australian Regiment, and culminated in his command of the 8th/9th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment from 2008 to 2010. He held command positions on operations on five occasions – at the platoon, company, Joint Task Force (East Timor), brigade (Afghanistan) and multinational force levels (Sinai).

For much of the past 20 years, Lieutenant General Stuart has worked in joint, whole of government, international and multinational environments. Before assuming command the Australian Army in 2022, Lieutenant General Stuart was Head of Land Capability in Army Headquarters following his command of the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai from 2017 to 2019.

Lieutenant General Stuart is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon (1990), the United Kingdom’s Joint Services Command and Staff College (2003), the United States Army War College (2015) and the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program (2022). He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of New England and Masters’ degrees in Project Management (UNSW), Arts – Defence Studies (Kings College, London), and Strategy (US Army War College).

His honours and awards include appointment as Member of the Order of Australia (2011), the Distinguished Service Cross (2014) and advancement to Officer of the Order of Australia (2020). Lieutenant General Stuart has received foreign awards from the United States, Timor Leste, Columbia, Uruguay, Czech Republic, and Japan. 

Lieutenant General Stuart is the patron for Army AFL and the Army Drone Racing Team. He and his wife Katy are from Perth, Western Australia, and have two teenage children and a labrador retriever.