Our Board

Jeffrey R. Ellison AM
B. ACC, FCA, FAICD
Chair
Mr Ellison holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Accounting from the University of South Australia, is a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and the Institute of Company Directors. He previously held the position of Chief Executive Officer of Kelsian since 1997 and was appointed Managing Director in 2008. Mr Ellison retired as Managing Director and CEO on 16 January 2020 and following a month of transition as an Executive Director, became a non-executive director from 17 February 2020. He was subsequently appointed Acting Chair with effect from 1 July 2020 and Chair on 23 February 2021.
Mr Ellison is Deputy Chair of Tourism Australia and Chair of Hayborough Investment Partners Pty Ltd. Mr Ellison is a former Board member of the South Australian Tourism Commission, Tourism and Transport Forum Australia, the Adelaide Convention Centre and the South Australian Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium Board.

Fiona A. Hele
B.COM, FCA, FAICD
Deputy Chair, Non-Executive Director
Ms Hele is a Non-Executive Director and an experienced Audit & Risk Chair with a strong commercial and finance background. Ms Hele is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years’ experience in both the private and public sectors specialising in strategic business advisory, mergers and acquisition, risk management and corporate governance.
Ms Hele is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Australia and New Zealand, and a Fellow of the Institute of Company Directors.
Ms Hele is also a Director of Adelaide Venue Management Corporation, the South Australian Water Corporation, Argo Global Listed Infrastructure Limited and Celsus Securitisation Pty Ltd. Past Directorships include the South Australian Tourism Commission and the Adelaide Fringe Festival.
Ms Hele joined the Board in 2016 and is Deputy Chair of the Board and Chair of the Company’s Audit, Risk and Sustainability Committee.

Christopher D. Smerdon
MAICD
Non-Executive Director
Mr Smerdon has extensive experience in the Information Technology and Cyber Security field having established and built companies with national and international operations. He is currently Managing Director of Vectra Corporation, a company that provides specialist Cyber Security services to organisations globally handling sensitive data, financial information, and large volumes of credit card transactions. Clients include banks, telcos, payment gateways, airlines and utilities.
Mr Smerdon has previously held directorships on both government and public company boards and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Mr Smerdon is a member of the People, Culture and Remuneration Committee.

Terry J. Dodd
Non-Executive Director
Mr Dodd has extensive experience in business management and the marine industry. After qualifying as a commercial diver in the USA and working as a commercial diver in the onshore and offshore oil and gas industry, he successfully established a recreational diving business and a travel agency in North Queensland.
Mr Dodd is Managing Director and owner of Pacific Marine Group Pty Ltd, one of Australia’s largest marine construction and commercial diving companies. Mr Dodd was previously Managing Director of Sunferries, a ferry transport business based in Townsville, prior to its sale to Kelsian in March 2011 when Mr Dodd joined the Board of Kelsian.
Mr Dodd is Chair of the Nominations Committee and is a member of the Company’s Audit, Risk and Sustainability Committee.

Neil E. Smith
MTM, B.ARTS, FCILT
Non-Executive Director
Mr Smith was one of the founding shareholders and the former of the Transit Systems Group prior to the acquisition by Kelsian. He has over 30 years of commuter transport operations experience.
Mr Smith commenced his career within the Sydney bus industry, before acquiring a number of bus operations in rural NSW and then Queensland. In 1995, Mr Smith joined with Graham Leishman and Lance Francis to found Transit Systems and in 2013, was a founding shareholder of Tower Transit.
Mr Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree and a Masters of Transport Management from the University of Sydney and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics.

Lance E. Hockridge
FCILT, FIML, MAICD
Non-Executive Director
Mr Hockridge has extensive international experience in the transportation, manufacturing, and logistics sectors with a focus on safety, operational and financial transformation of businesses.
Mr Hockridge was previously the Managing Director and CEO of Aurizon Holdings Limited (2010 to 2016) following the demerger of Queensland Rail and QR National from a government owned railway to an ASX50 company. Other notable accomplishments as an executive include the oversight of BHP’s global transport business, together with key roles in financial and operational reform in the heavy industrial sector and leading a major turnaround for BlueScope Steel’s North American operations.
Mr Hockridge is also currently Chair and member of AVADA Group Limited, and Chair of the Salvation Army Queensland Advisory Council, and an active advocate for diversity in the workforce.
Mr Hockridge is Chair of the People, Culture and Remuneration Committee and a member of the Audit, Risk and Sustainability Committee.

Diane Grady AO
BA (Mills), MA (Hawaii), MBA (Harv), FAICD
Non-Executive Director
Ms Grady is a highly regarded company director with extensive international experience across a variety of industries. She has been a full-time independent director since 1994 serving on a range of public company and not-for-profit boards, and was previously a partner of McKinsey & Co where she led the Consumer Goods, Marketing and Retailing practice in Australia and was a global leader of the Firm’s Organisation, Culture and Change Management practice.
Ms Grady is currently a non-executive director on the Boards of Grant Thornton and Tennis Australia and is on the Strategy Council of Heads Over Heels (a not for profit that supports women entrepreneurs seeking to scale up their businesses). Her former directorships include the Macquarie Group, Woolworths, BlueScope Steel, Goodman Group, Lend Lease, and Wattyl. She has also served as a Trustee of The Sydney Opera House, President of Chief Executive Women, Chair of Ascham School, and Chair of The Hunger Project Australia.
Ms Grady is a member of the People, Culture and Remuneration Committee.

Andrew Muir
B.EC, MBA
Group Chief Financial Officer and Joint Company Secretary
Andrew joined Kelsian Group in 2017, bringing extensive experience in strategy and planning, debt and equity markets, mergers and acquisitions and leadership of cost reduction programs. Prior to Kelsian, he has held various financial and commercial senior management positions, including ASX-listed Hills Limited as Group General Manager of Business Development, and then as CFO and Company Secretary, Ahrens Group and E&A Limited. He is a chartered accountant and holds an MBA with substantial experience across ASX-listed and non-listed companies in a range of sectors.

Joanne H. McDonald
LLB (HONS), B.EC, GAICD, FGIA
Chief Legal and Risk Officer and Joint Company Secretary
Joanne joined Kelsian in 2018 as General Counsel and Company Secretary, and in 2022 became Chief Legal and Risk Officer for the Group. Joanne is responsible for overseeing the legal, risk and corporate governance requirements of the Group as well as being Company Secretary for Kelsian and many of its subsidiaries.
Joanne holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Economics from the University of Adelaide and has over 25 years’ experience in commercial and corporate law at senior levels in a range of industries, together with extensive strategic risk and executive management experience.