Executive

Gareth Downing (he/him), Chair

Dr Gareth Downing is Deputy CEO at the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) the peak body for communications consumers. An experienced consumer advocate Gareth oversees a team responsible for ACCAN’s policy work, community engagement and membership.  

Gareth’s career has focused on policy and regulation and he has worked across a number of regulated sectors including telecommunications, energy and water.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

Roberta Graelish (She/Her)

Roberta is the Principal Solicitor at Consumer Credit Legal Service WA (CCLS), a community legal centre specialising in credit, debt and consumer law. Since joining the team at CCLS in 2016 she has assisted many vulnerable consumers successfully pursue claims against financial service providers. Roberta takes a lead role in CCLS’ law reform submissions and stakeholder engagements in the belief that it is the role of consumer advocates to speak up for those who do not have the knowledge, resources, or capacity to advocate for themselves. Roberta currently sits on several national and state consumer advisory committees and previously sat on the board of the Financial Counsellors’ Association of WA, the Law Council of Australia Consumer Law Committee, and WA’s Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety Consumer Advisory Committee.

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. 

Nicola Howell (she/her)

Nicola is a Senior Lecturer in the Law School, Faculty of Business and Law, Queensland University of Technology. Nicola’s teaching responsibilities include commercial law, consumer law, banking and finance law, and insolvency, and her research focuses on legal and policy issues in consumer financial services, consumer credit and other consumer transactions, and personal insolvency. She has published widely on these topics, and is also a regular contributor to relevant policy and law reform processes. Prior to moving to academia, Nicola worked in a range of community and government organisations in roles focused on consumer law and policy.