Membership and contact information



The Working Group was established as one of the initiatives to come out of the Tax Forum in October 2011. The Working Group includes representatives from the business community, unions, the tax advisory profession and academia.

Information about the Working Group, including previous reports and information about current consultations can be found on the Working Group consultations and reports page.

Membership

Chris Jordan — Chair

Chris Jordan is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Taxation Institute in Australia, and the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

He is the Chairman of the Board of Taxation which is an advisory body to the Federal Treasurer and is a board member of the Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation and the Bell Shakespeare Company.

Chris was awarded the honour of Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2005 Queens Birthday Honours list for high-level advice to Government.

Jennifer Westacott

Jennifer Westacott took up the role of Chief Executive at the Business Council of Australia (BCA) in April 2011.

Jennifer has extensive policy experience in both the public and private sectors. She has held critical leadership positions as the Director of Housing and the Secretary of Education in Victoria, and most recently was the Director-General of the New South Wales Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources.

Jennifer was a Director and National Lead Partner at KPMG and provided advice and assistance to some of Australia's major corporations on climate change and sustainability matters, and provided advice to governments around Australia on major reform priorities. She previously chaired the Public Sector Performance Commission in South Australia, and was a member of the Commonwealth Grants Commission.

Teresa Dyson

Teresa Dyson is a Tax Partner in Ashurst's Brisbane office, specialising in providing income tax advice on corporate and financing issues to domestic and international businesses. Teresa is a member of the Board of Taxation and the Resource Taxes Implementation Group.

Teresa is the National Chairman of the Law Council of Australia, Business Law Section, Tax Committee and, in that capacity, represented the Law Council of Australia at the Tax Forum. She is currently recognised as a leading individual in tax in Chambers Global 2012 and Best Lawyers 2012.

Frank Drenth

Frank Drenth has been in the role of Executive Director of the Corporate Tax Association (CTA), since 1998. The CTA represents the taxation interests of about 120 of Australia's largest companies. He is also Deputy Chair of the Business Coalition for Tax Reform, which brings together the views of the broader business community on tax reform issues.

Over a period of many years Frank has had extensive experience as an external stakeholder in the development of Australia's tax policy and law, as well as aspects of tax administration that are relevant to large companies. Frank has previously occupied corporate tax roles in large Australian companies. He has also worked a large chartered accounting firm after starting his career with the Australian Taxation Office.

Tim Lyons

Tim was elected as Assistant Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) in August 2008. Prior to that, he was an official of the National Union of Workers (NUW) for over 13 years, and represented members in a wide range of industries, including logistics, food, plastics, oil and gas and general manufacturing.

Tim is also a member of a range of government committees, including in relation to superannuation, workplace relations and procurement. Tim is a Trustee Director of HESTA superannuation fund, a director of The Union Education Foundation and the Australian representative on the Global Unions Committee on Workers' Capital.

His work as an industrial officer and advocate focused on bargaining and industrial action, including in appellate and test case proceedings, particularly the low-paid.

Rob McLeod

Rob was appointed Ernst & Young's Oceania Managing Partner and CEO in 2010 and was previously Ernst & Young's New Zealand Country Managing Partner. He has more than 30 years experience in corporate and international tax.

Rob has held a number of high profile roles in New Zealand including Chairman of the New Zealand Business Roundtable. In 2001, he conducted the most recent comprehensive New Zealand government tax review — the McLeod Review. In 2009, he was appointed to the government-sponsored Tax Working Group and the Capital Markets Development Taskforce, both of which had a strong focus on tax reform. He was also a member of the New Zealand Government appointed Consultative Committee on Capital Gains Tax in 1989.

He has been appointed to numerous government committees, the latest ones focusing on defence, infrastructure and Maori economic development.

Peter Burn

Dr Peter Burn, Director of Public Policy, Australian Industry Group (Ai Group), has extensive experience in taxation policy through his role at Ai Group since 2002 and as Director — Policy at the Business Council of Australia with particular responsibilities for taxation policy from 1997. Peter was also the Secretary of the Business Coalition for Tax Reform in the years around the Australia's New Tax System.

Prior to these roles, Peter lectured in public finance and microeconomic policy at the University of Queensland and the University of Newcastle and still earlier served in the Tax Policy Division of Treasury during the 1980s reforms to Australia's tax system.

Rob Heferen

Rob Heferen is the Executive Director of Treasury's Revenue Group which is responsible for providing advice and assisting in the formulation and implementation of government taxation and retirement income policies and legislation as well as providing information on material changes to taxation revenue forecasts and projections.

John Freebairn

John Freebairn holds the Ritchie chair in economics at the University of Melbourne. He has degrees from the University of New England and the University of California, Davis. Prior to joining Melbourne in 1996, his preceding career includes university appointments at the ANU, LaTrobe and Monash, and periods with the NSW Department of Agriculture and at the Business Council of Australia. John is an applied microeconomist and economic policy analyst with current interests in taxation reform and environmental economics.