Appointments December 17, 2021

Anthea McKinnell will be chief financial officer at Santos from January 1. Ms McKinnell has been with Santos as deputy chief financial officer since 2019. Prior to this appointment, she spent 13 years at Woodside where she held senior executive roles, including senior vice president finance and treasury, vice president global operations planning and performance and acting chief financial officer.

Barking Gecko Theatre has appointed Ryan Taaffe as chief executive and executive producer. He joins the children’s theatre company after working as executive director at CircuitWest for nearly a decade. Prior to this, he was general manager at Koorliny Arts Centre.

Matthew Howard will be chair of the Law Access Board. Mr Howard is a senior counsel and teaches at the University of Western Australia. He is the past president of the Australian Bar Association. Former District Court judge and president of the Children’s Court of WA Valerie French; Women Lawyers Association of Western Australia president Clare Thompson; and K & L Gates national pro bono partner Adam Levine have also been appointed to the board.

Former Western Australian assistant commissioner Kellie Properjohn has joined Deloitte as a financial advisory partner for the forensic practice. Ms Properjohn joined the Western Australian Police Force in 1987. She went on to be chief information officer and headed the strategy and leadership portfolio.

Hayden Groves has been elected president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia. Mr Groves has served on the REIA board as deputy president since 2015. He formerly served as the president of the organisation’s Western Australian division. He owns and operates Fremantle agency dethridgeGROVES. REIWA president Damian Collins is joining the REIA board.

Kylee Schoonens has been appointed to the Landgate board. Ms Schoonens is the executive director of her own architectural, interior and urban design practice Fratelle. She serves on a number of boards including GENiUX Australia and is chair of Bethanie Housing. She was previously a board member at DevelopmentWA.

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority has made Pauline White chair. Ms White has experience as a classroom maths teacher as well as school leadership roles. She spent 15 years as the principal of Wanneroo Secondary College before retiring at the end of 2020. In 2018, she became a member of the Authority’s Standards Committee, before becoming a board member and chair of the audit and risk management committee in late 2020.

Panetta McGrath Lawyers has promoted Emma Jack and Prue Campbell to senior associate roles in the health law, aged care, seniors living and disability law team. Ms Jack has been working at the firm since 2013 when she joined as a law clerk. Ms Campbell started at Panetta McGrath in 2017 after working at Corrs Chamber Westgarth and Silver Chain Group.

Gemma McGrath and Susan Downes are joining the Alzheimer’s WA board. Ms McGrath is a director at Panetta McGrath, working with not-for-profit organisations across the aged care and disability sectors. Ms Downes has held roles in the environmental sector and has a passion for making a difference in the lives of people with dementia.