Executive

Gerard Brody (he/him), Chair 

Gerard is CEO of the Consumer Action Law Centre, an independent, not-for-profit consumer organisation based in Melbourne. Consumer Action provides financial counselling, legal advice and representation to support vulnerable and disadvantaged Victorian consumers, and draws on its direct knowledge of the consumer experience in modern markets to pursue consumer interest campaigns and policy reform at both state and national levels. Gerard represents consumer interests on a range of bodies, including the Australian Securities & Investments Commission External Advisory Panel and the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s Consumer Consultative Committee.

Gordon Renouf (he/him), Deputy Chair

Gordon is one of the team at Ethical Consumers Australia: an organisation dedicated to making it possible for consumers to buy products and services that match their values. ECA created Good On You, a service that provides comprehensive ethical ratings for clothing and accessory brands via the Good On You app (goodonyou.eco). Gordon represented consumers on the Banking Code Monitoring and Compliance Committee and the Board of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. He is Deputy Chair of Justice Connect and a board member of Good Environmental Choice Australia. Gordon was previously Director, Policy and Campaigns, for CHOICE, a member of the Commonwealth Consumer Affairs Advisory Council, Director of the Northern Territory Alcohol Framework, and Foundation Director of the National Pro Bono Resource Centre.

Chandni Gupta (she/her)

Chandni is a Policy and Program Director leading the Consumers in a Digital World workstream at the Consumer Policy Research Centre – an independent, non-profit, consumer think-tank. Chandni brings compliance and community engagement experience from various state and federal agencies. Prior to CPRC, she designed and led the online compliance initiative for product safety at the ACCC, working closely with digital marketplaces to deliver safer outcomes for Australian consumers. She also brings a global perspective from experience in the Strategic Communications arm of the United Nations, and most recently leading global consumer policy development in product recall effectiveness at the OECD. A tech geek earlier in her career, she’s passionate about digital products and markets that are safe, accessible, and meaningful for consumers. Chandni is also a member of the Consumer Data Right’s Data Standards Advisory Committee.

Professor Gail Pearson (she/her)

Gail is a leading academic in the fields of financial services, commercial and consumer laws. She is the author of Financial Services Law and Compliance (Cambridge University Press 2009) and co-author of Commercial Law: Commentary and Materials (ed2) Lawbook 2004, the major Australian text in this area. She has also published numerous articles in Australian and international journals including a piece on risk, self regulation and innovation in financial services.

Ian Jarratt (he/him)

Ian is a retired economist and policy analyst. He is a member of the Queensland Consumers Association and undertakes research and advocacy on a range of topics including energy, market information, trade measurement, and labelling. Ian lead the national campaign that in 2009 resulted in large supermarkets being required to display the unit price (price per unit of measure) for prepacked food and grocery products. Ian is a consumer representative on several advisory/consultative committees and represents CFA on FSANZ’s Consumer and Public Health Dialogue. In 2006, he was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study unit pricing in the USA and Europe, in 2010 he was the inaugural recipient of Choice’s Consumer Champion Award, and in 2017 he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his consumer work.

Philip Cullum (he/him)

Philip is a highly experienced consumer advocate and regulator in Australia and the UK. He is a board member of the Consumer Action Law Centre, a member of the Consumer Policy Research Centre’s reference group and the Consumer Member of the Customer Owned Banking Code Compliance Committee. In the UK he held senior roles at Which?, the National Consumer Council and Consumer Focus, and he has chaired or been a member of various UK consumer panels and advisory committees in financial services, food safety, aviation and water. He was a senior advisor to the Australian Energy Regulator in 2017–2020, working on strategy, governance and change. Philip was previously at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, on secondment from the UK energy regulator Ofgem, where he was the Consumer and Sustainability Partner and created its influential Consumer Vulnerability Strategy. He was appointed by the UK Government to its Better Regulation Commission, Risk and Regulation Advisory Council and Regulatory Policy Committee.

Kerry Connors (she/her)

Kerry Connors is Director of Energy Inclusion at Energy Consumers Australia, having been with ECA since its inception, building on her extensive experience on energy consumer issues, previously as Executive Director of the Consumer Advocacy Panel, and the inaugural Executive Officer of the Consumer Utilities Advocacy Centre. She has also worked in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, including a posting to the Australian Embassy in Seoul, and has managed her own consultancy business, strengthening relations between the private and community sectors

Sam Kininmonth (he/him)

Sam Kininmonth is a consumer advocate and communications researcher. Sam is a policy adviser at the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) where he represents consumer interests on phones, internet and emerging communications services. He contributes to ACCAN’s advocacy for consumers of digital platform services.

Sam’s academic research examines the use of automated decision making in communications infrastructure. His doctoral research draws on interviews with advertising executives and documents from the ACCC’s Digital Platforms Inquiry (2019) to understand the adoption of programmatic advertising in Australia. Sam has published work in leading academic journals and presented his research internationally and domestically.

Bev Jowle (She/Her)

Bev Jowle has over three decades of experience in the community services sector and is currently the Chief Executive Officer for Consumer Credit Legal Service. Bev has held many leadership roles in the human services sector, more recently as the Sector Partnerships Manager at Department of Communities, Manager of Grants Development at Lotterywest, Executive Officer of the Financial Counsellors Association of WA.

Bev completed a Graduate Certificate in Social Impact at UWA in 2019 and holds a BA in Youth Studies. Bev has a keen interest in family and domestic violence, particularly in relation to economic abuse and helped lead the development of the Economic Empowerment Project for Women whilst at the Financial Counsellors Association, a resource for financial counsellors and women’s refuge workers in delivering groups to women experiencing economic abuse. Bev also assisted in the development and delivery of family violence training nationally for the financial counselling sector. Bev is a strong advocate for financial and consumer rights and represents Consumer Credit Legal Service on a range of forums and groups based in WA. Bev has extensive Board experience and is well regarded as a champion for social and economic justice. Bev was also a finalist in the Department of Consumer Protection’s Rona Okley Award for individual achievement in 2019. 

Katelyn Cameron (She/Her)

Katelyn is the Head of Media at CHOICE, Australia’s leading consumer advocacy group. She has been at CHOICE for over four years and works on sharing their campaigns, investigations and test results through the media. She is also responsible for training and supporting campaigners and experts to present their knowledge confidently across print, digital, radio and television platforms. Katelyn has degrees in media and communications and health communication, and prior to CHOICE worked for a number of media organisations.