Appointments February 24, 2023

Fremantle Chamber of Commerce has announced the appointment of Chrissie Maus as chief executive officer. Ms Maus has worked as chief executive of not-for-profit group the Chapel Street Precinct Association in Melbourne since August 2016. In this role, she operated Melbourne’s retail and entertainment precinct on Chapel Street. Ms Maus will start her new role once she has returned to Perth on March 8.

Real estate company Cushman & Wakefield have launched a new national government advisory service based in WA and appointed Vlad Mrdak as national director. Mr Mrdak will lead the business line and will focus on providing strategic asset and property management advice to government. Mr Mrdak has professionally advised Australian businesses and governments for more than 15 years.

Senior counsel Fiona Seaward has been appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of WA, effective March 7. Ms Seaward has worked at the State Solicitor’s Office for the past 22 years, first as a barrister and solicitor before becoming senior assistant state counsel in 2014, and then acting deputy state solicitor in 2021. Ms Seaward became senior counsel in 2022.

Energy infrastructure company ATCO Australia has appointed John Ivulich as country chair, following the resignation of Patrick Creaghan. In this role, Mr Ivulich will oversee the delivery of all common group functions supporting distribution, renewables and emerging transmission in Australia. He has worked with ATCO since 2006 and was appointed to chief financial officer in 2014, a position Mr Ivulich will continue to hold concurrently with his new role.

John Finlay-Jones has been recruited as Perron Institute Research Advisory Committee chair and Perron Institute board director. Mr Finlay-Jones has a clinical microbiology and immunology background and has held roles as chair and board member for several medical organisations around Australia. He has taken over from Rebekah Puls as committee chair, a role Ms Puls has held since August 2021.

Two senior Clayton Utz partners have taken on additional roles, with Cameron Belyea appointed to the global board of Chicago-based Turnaround Management Association and Nick Cooper has been named Clayton Utz national deputy chief executive partner. Mr Belyea is a former president and chair of TMA Australia and his goal in his new role is to increase discussion on turnaround planning as a speciality. Mr Cooper currently oversees the commercial litigation practice.

Core Lithium has announced the appointment of Doug Warden as chief financial officer, effective from April 17. Mr Warden has worked in financial management for more than three decades, experiencing senior roles in resources, agriculture and professional service sectors. Mr Warden has worked as chief financial officer at Resolute Mining, CBH Group and Iluka Resources.

Accounting firm RSM Australia has appointed three new principals to its Western Australian team. Marie Van Blommestein has joined the Katanning office, Reagan Manns has joined the Jurien Bay office and Rhys Edwards has joined the Perth office. All three new recruits will use their accounting experience to lead their appointed teams. 

Western Australian Gaming and Wagering Commission has appointed Michael Schaper as its new chair. This comes after several reforms from the government to strengthen regulatory framework following the Perth Casino Royal Commission. Dr Schaper has been appointed for a three-year term, taking over from Lanie Chopping, who had been working concurrently as Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries director general.