Appointments April 6, 2023

The former mental health commissioner Tim Marney has joined the Department of Justice to implement a newly developed model of care at Banksia Hill Detention Centre. Up until January, Mr Marney was working at management consultancy Nous Group which was commissioned by the department to develop the service model to guide Banksia Hill over 2021 and 2022. Mr Marney was chief economist and principal at Nous during this time. He is currently Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre chair, Richmond Wellbeing chair and Reconciliation WA board member.

Steven Jones has been appointed as a judge for both the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, and for the Family Court of WA. Mr Jones practises in family law, child protection and care matters and became senior counsel in 2021. He also delivers lectures for the Family Law Practitioners Association and often chairs family law mediations. Mr Jones will succeed Simon Moncrieff who retires in May after 13 years of service.

The Autism Association of Western Australia chief executive Joan McKenna Kerr has been appointed as a board member for the National Disability Insurance Agency. Ms McKenna Kerr holds more than 25 years’ experience in the disability services sector and has served on several disability advisory bodies. Previously, Ms McKenna Kerr worked as national president for National Disability Services and as a board member for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Independent Advisory Council and for the Commonwealth NDIS Advisory Group.

Ashley Muirhead stepped up as Duratec interim chief financial officer in January and has now been appointed to the role permanently. She became CFO temporarily following former CFO Paul Ryan’s resignation. Ms Muirhead is an accountant and had worked at Duratec for more than two years as financial controller. Prior to this, she was the CFO at Neptune Marine Services for more than six years.

Alira Kelly has been hired by Communicare to fill its newly created position as director of Aboriginal Strategy and Capacity Building. In this role, Ms Kelly will work with Communicare to achieve its ongoing commitment to reconciliation by building connections with Aboriginal communities in WA. Ms Kelly previously worked as the senior executive officer at Langford Aboriginal Association.

Cash Converters International has recruited Jonty Gibbs as its permanent chief financial officer after serving as interim chief financial officer since December 30. Mr Gibbs has been with Cash Converters for two years, commencing in March 2021 as group corporate finance manager. He is a chartered accountant and has previously worked as Pioneer Credit group financial controller and Vix Technology regional finance manager.

Perth-based Ronak Bhimjiani has been promoted to director of JLL Australia’s real estate economics division. He first joined the company as WA research manager in July 2018 before becoming research director in 2021. Prior to moving to JLL, Mr Bhimjiani worked at REIWA for three years in its research team. He was also appointed as Economic Trends & Tax Committee chair at Property Council of Australia in January.