2014 Judges

AccountantsDaily would like to thank the following judges for their involvement in the 2014 Australian Accounting Awards.

Mark Haron

Mark Haron was appointed to the Connective board of directors in 2005, having spent many years working for fellow mortgage aggregation group FAST. Mr Haron has a wealth of knowledge across all aspects of mortgage broking and lending. His vast experience and expertise also spans operations, sales and relationship management. Connective principals are active advocates of the industry bodies the MFAA and FBAA, with Mr Haron currently sitting on the MFAA National Broker Committee, having served on multiple committees over the past 10 years.

George Venardos

George Venardos is an experienced non-executive director with more than 30 years in finance, accounting, insurance and funds management.

George is currently a director of IOOF Holdings Ltd (IFL.ASX), Ardent Leisure Ltd (AAD.ASX), CUSCAL Ltd and STC. He is also non-executive chairman of BluGlass Ltd (BLG.ASX) and Guild Group Holdings Ltd.

Mr Venardos’ former positions include group chief financial officer of Insurance Australia Group, and for 10 years he was chairman of the finance and accounting committee of the Insurance Council of Australia. George also held the position of finance director of Legal & General Group in Australia.

Ben Kingsley

Ben Kingsley is the chair of Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) and founder and CEO of Empower Wealth, a property and wealth advisory firm. He is a Qualified Property Investment Adviser (QPIA); licensed real estate agent (in Victoria, NSW and Queensland); and a buyer’s agent. He also holds a diploma of finance and an associate diploma of business.

Mr Kingsley is one of Australia’s leading experts in residential property investing and a regular media commentator and keynote speaker. He speaks around the country and overseas on the Australian property market from an investor perspective, including at conferences and events run by CPA Australia and at expos such as the Home Buyer & Property Investor Show.

Doug Mathlin

Doug Mathlin is a consultant to the finance industry and founder of FrontRunner Consulting Group. FrontRunner is a sales training and sales management consulting company specialising in the development of finance businesses.

Mr Mathlin has written many programs focusing on the successful operation of finance businesses.

His areas of speciality include business planning, marketing strategies, analysing the strengths and weaknesses within businesses, scripting, sales presentations, lead generation, client service excellence, CRM, recruitment strategies and understanding buyer behaviour. He has also produced leadership development programs for business owners and senior personnel.

Craig West

Craig West is executive chairman of the SME Association of Australia and has over 20 years’ experience advising business owners. As well as a bachelor of business, Mr West has two masters degrees: in business (accounting and finance) and tax law.

Mr West also operates the largest business succession and exit planning firm in Australia and has recently commenced operations in the USA. He provides mentoring, advice and strategy for clients looking to prepare their business for a successful exit. Mr West acts as a strategic business and financial mentor for mid-market business owners and has written four books designed to educate business owners on employee incentives, succession planning, asset protection and exit strategies.

President of the Australian chapter of the Exit Planning Institute (EPI) as well as sitting on the board of EPI in the USA, Mr West is currently working on a PhD in business succession and exit planning.

Graham Lugsdin

Graham Lugsdin has been events operations manager at Cancer Council NSW since September 2010, responsible for the logistical and operational rollout of Cancer Council NSW’s iconic events, Daffodil Day and Pink Ribbon Day, as well as contributing to logistics management of Relay for Life, City Mile Dash and other mass participation fundraising events.

In 2007 and 2008 he was the federal Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism’s secondee to the NSW government’s World Youth Day Coordination Authority.

Prior to that, he was the business summit manager, business relations branch, within the APEC 2007 taskforce, and was responsible for scoping, planning and delivering all organisational arrangements associated with the APEC business summit, a key component of the APEC 2007 Leaders' Week in Sydney.

Graham is a fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and a member of the Fundraising Institute of Australia.

Douglas Driscoll

Douglas Driscoll is CEO of Starr Partners; Australia’s most innovative real estate brand. Originally from the UK, Douglas is widely regarded as one of the real estate industry’s preeminent thought-leaders, and is famed for his dynamic and pioneering approach.

Mr Driscoll’s business acumen stems from his own illustrious real estate career, where he eclipsed a number of sales records and was bestowed a number of industry accolades, including the Home Sale Network’s ‘Best Estate Agent in the UK’ award.

Brad Fox

Brad Fox is chief executive officer of the Association of Financial Advisers. Prior to joining the association in a full-time capacity in 2012, Mr Fox served on the board for five years while running a successful financial planning business in Melbourne.

He has also held a number of executive and consulting roles, including a senior management position at the Brisbane Lions AFL Club, and has completed the Executive Education Strategic Leadership Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

From 1991 to 1993, he was a professional Australian rules footballer, playing for Essendon and Richmond.

By Blair Dods • 12 December 2014 • 9 minute read