ISSN ISSN 1443-0568 | no. 65 | October 2003
The National Library of Australia Council
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Standing
from left:
Mr Brian Long, Dr Colin Rubenstein, Mr Fergus Ryan, Ms Helen Williams,
Mr Martin Ferguson, MP, Ms Winnie Pelz, Professor Iain McCalman. |
Section 10 of The National Library Act 1960 states that a Council shall conduct the affairs of the Library. The Council consists of 12 directors, including the Director-General, one Senator elected by the Senate, and one member of the House of Representatives elected by the House. The remaining members are appointed by the Governor-General, on the basis of their knowledge and experience across a range of areas including information technology, finance and research and education. Appointments are usually for an initial term of three years, with an option for an extension. As directors, the duties of Council members are as stipulated under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997.
The Council meets on the first Friday of every even month, i.e. February, April, June, August, October and December, usually in Canberra. In addition to a range of general and administrative issues, Council members are required to endorse general policy and strategic directions for the Library, including new programs and initiatives.
For the first time in several years there are no vacancies on Council. Since the last report to Gateways the following new members have been appointed:
Mr Fergus Ryan was appointed on 24 June 2003. A former Senior and Managing Partner with Arthur Anderson, (working in Sydney, Melbourne, London and Hong Kong) Fergus is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years experience in accounting, audit, finance, and risk management. He is highly regarded within the domestic and international business communities.
Fergus currently holds directorships on the Boards of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the Australian Foundation Investment Company and Clayton Utz. He is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnerships Roundtable and from 1999–2002 was the Prime Minister’s Strategic Investment Coordinator and Major Projects Facilitator.
Mr Brian Long was appointed on
28 May 2003. Brian has worked for Ernst & Young in Sydney, Perth and Toronto,
Canada and is currently the Chairman, Board of Partners, Ernst & Young Australia.
He brings to the Council a wealth of experience from his work as a Senior Audit
Partner with Ernst & Young since 1995. He is an associated member of the
Institute of Chartered Accountants and a member of Australian Stock Exchange
Corporate Governance Council.
Professor Iain McCalman was appointed
5 September 2002. A former Director of the Humanities Research Centre (HRC)
at the Australian National University, he is the current President of the Australian
Academy of the Humanities and Federation Fellow at the HRC.
Professor McCalman is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a Fellow of Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. He has held many visiting research Fellowships in Britain and the United States, most recently at All Souls College, Oxford. He was awarded the Inaugural Vice Chancellor’s Prize for Teaching Excellence at the Australian National University in 1994.
Professor McCalman is a specialist in eighteenth and early-nineteenth-century British and European history and has a particular interest in popular culture. His most recent book is The Seven Ordeals of Count Cagliostro.
The Hon. Sir James Gobbo, AC, CVO has been Chairman of Council since June 2001 and Professor Alan Robson has been the Deputy Chairman since April 1999. The other members of Council are Professor Susan Bambrick (re-appointed for a second term in August 2002), Mr Martin Ferguson, MP (re-elected by the House of Representatives in August 2002), Ms Winnie Pelz (re-appointed for a second term in August 2002), Dr Colin Rubenstein (appointed in February 2001), Senator John Tierney (re-elected by the Senate for a third term in February 2002), Ms Helen Williams (appointed in March 2002), and Ms Jan Fullerton following her re-appointment as Director-General in August 2002.
Further information on the background of Council members can be accessed on the Library’s website <www.nla.gov.au/council/>.
| Contents list for this issue of Gateways |
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: mbrooks@nla.gov.au