Trustees
Rhondda Dickson
Chairperson
Rhondda had a thirty-year career in the Australian Public Service where she made substantial contributions to tackling many national environmental challenges.
Read more
She became a Deputy Secretary in the agriculture department in 2010. In 2011 she was appointed Chief Executive of the Murray Darling Basin Authority and led the Authority in the development, negotiation and passage into law of the Basin Plan.
Her last role before retiring in 2016 was as Deputy Secretary in the Department of Environment and Energy responsible for climate change policy.
Philip Finley
Philip has a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from ANU. He was admitted as a Barrister to the Supreme Court of NSW and solicitor to the High Court and ACT Supreme Court.
Read more
This was followed by serving as a legal member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal. He currently provides legal assistance to the Canberra Community Law Centre in Canberra. Philip has provided legal advice and assistance to the Australian Seed Bank Partnership [ASBP] since April 2013. This has involved assisting the National Coordinator in relation to a range of legal issues arising from agreements and funding arrangements with partner organisations as well as agreements with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and other donor organisations.
Guy Fitzhardinge AM
Guy has extensive experience in land management, in supporting aspirations of indigenous people, in business and philanthropic activities. He holds many qualifications including a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Economics, a Master’s Degree in Applied Science and a Doctorate of Philosophy looking at the relationship between people and landscape. He is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Read more
He has previously been a director of Bush Heritage Australia, Meat and Livestock Australia, the Meat Research Corporation and Chairman of the Beef Genetics Cooperative Research Centre. As a member of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee for twelve years, Guy provided advice and guidance from a community perspective on the listing of threatened species and communities under the EPBC Act.
Sarah Hardy
Sarah is an experienced chief executive officer, senior executive and board member with a demonstrated history of working in philanthropy, local government and the non-profit sectors for over 33 years.
Read more
She is particularly interested in ethics, responsible investing and exploring an organisation’s social license to operate. With a particular interest in regional and rural Australia, mental health and education, and placed-based initiatives, in 2010 Sarah co-foundered the national not-for profit, Youth Live4Life.
Her experience is underpinned by national and international academic study, including post graduate study at Melbourne University, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Sarah is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Executive Colloquium at Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership.
She holds board positions as a Director of the Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS), a Trustee of the National Parks Conservation Trust and board member of the Port Phillip Community Foundation.
Minda is a proud Yorta Yorta Duduroa woman. She has spent the most part of her life so far on country along the Murray River, enjoying learning about culture and the environment. She has a Bachelor of Environmental Science and 12 years in the environmental management sector in the Victorian public service, catchment management authorities and Aboriginal organisations.
Read more
Stephen was appointed as Trustee in 2024. Stephen has over 20 years’ experience as a finance, transformation and M&A executive in multiple industries, including education, utilities, banking and finance and travel and tourism.
Read more
Judy West has extensive biodiversity conservation experience and knowledge, and before her recent retirement from Assistant Secretary role in the Australian Public Service she carried oversight of Parks Australia’s science, natural resources, and knowledge management activities.
Read more
Prior to her appointment to Parks Australia Judy consolidated more than 30 years’ experience in scientific research and policy as a research scientist in CSIRO and Director of the Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research and the Australian National Herbarium.
Judy’s scientific expertise is in plant taxonomy, systematics and phylogenetics, and conservation biology. For her contributions to Australian plant systematics, she was awarded the Nancy Burbidge Memorial Medal in 2001. Recognising the importance of linking science and conservation to deliver improved outcomes has seen her play a strong collaborative role in the development of significant partnerships, particularly at the national level. This includes a long history working with research institutions and the philanthropic sector to connect independent funding to science based on-ground conservation actions.
She was awarded an Order of Australia in 2003 for her influential leadership in the establishment of Australia’s Virtual Herbarium. In her capacity of Trustee Judy will continue to play a critical role in the direction and evolution of the Parks Trust.
