Board

With a range of skills and expertise, our VicTrack Board members are experienced business leaders who work together to guide our strategic objectives and oversee the implementation of our goals. Sustainable management of Victoria’s transport assets is a key priority for the group, as is maintaining the highest standards of integrity as we work towards the state’s broader transport and economic objectives. Our VicTrack Board of Directors is responsible for overall business performance and our corporate governance practices. Our Board is made up of independent non-executive Directors:

  • Paul Hardy
    Paul Hardy

    BE, MEngSci., GAICD, FIEAust
    Chair

    Paul has over two decades of board experience with expertise in the infrastructure, engineering, healthcare, sport, education and not-for-profit sectors.

    At board level, he is passionate about driving growth and performance, having led one of the world’s leading engineering, project delivery, advisory and technical services companies and advising startup companies in the pharmaceutical, health, technology, AI and social investments sectors.

    He is currently a Partner at PAN Group, investing in and driving the commercialisation of startups and is a director on the boards of  Citywide and Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water Corporation. Paul is also a Member of Council of La Trobe University.

    Previously he was the Global CEO of Aurecon, managing 80 offices in 22 countries, leading a three-way merger and managing the subsequent strategy, structure and culture alignment along with the five-year strategic roadmap and overseeing multi-billion-dollar projects.

    Paul holds a Master of Engineering Science and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

    He has also been recognised by Engineers Australia as one of Australia's 100 most influential engineers (2009–13) and received a Monash University Distinguished Alumni Award in 2019.

     
  • W.R. (Bill) Kusznirczuk
    W.R. (Bill) Kusznirczuk

    BA(UrbStud) FIT; GradDip(UrbPlg) FIT; CPP, MPIA, MAAP, MVPELA, AFAIM, MBDAV, MAPA, MEIANZ, MAICD, MUDIA
    Deputy Chair

    Bill Kusznirczuk is a leading Urban and Regional Planner in Australia. He has extensive experience and knowledge spanning over 35 years in all aspects of planning, building, property development and how cities, regional and rural areas should look in the future. 

    He is the founder and Managing Director of Clement-Stone Town Planners.

    Bill Kusznirczuk was the inaugural Chief Commissioner of the VBA in 2013 regulating an industry contributing in excess of A$39 billion of economic benefit to the State by over 40,000 registered building and plumbing professionals. As Chair, he oversaw the most significant overhaul in the history  of Victoria‘s building and plumbing industry. 

    Bill is a Trustee of the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust. He is chair of the People and Culture Committee. 

    He is an advisor to the Victorian State Government on infrastructure and delivery as a member of the Office of Projects Victoria Advisory Board. He also provides expert advice on better building, planning and environmental regulation in Victoria.

    He was the former Chair of the Building Advisory Council, Deputy Chair of the Victorian Planning Authority, Board Member of the Growth Areas Authority and the Metropolitan Planning Authority.

    Bill also brings his experience in strategic and business planning, project management, stakeholder engagement, finance, risk and corporate governance.

    He is a Certified Practicing Planner and Associate Fellow of the Australia Institute of Management. He also provides his knowledge to the community, charities and not-for-profit Boards.

    Bill is an Australia Day Ambassador to Victoria.

  • Laurinda Gardner
    Laurinda Gardner

    BA (hons), GAICD, FIPAA
    Director

    Laurinda is a board director, organisational reform and change management consultant and career coach. 

    Laurinda has over 25 years’ senior executive experience and was formerly a Deputy Secretary with the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance and a Director at the City of Melbourne. 

    She has led large operational teams in diverse areas including strategic and business planning, HR, IT, communications, town planning, stakeholder engagement, finance and risk.  

    Laurinda has performed the role of trusted adviser to several CEOs, was an Administrator at the City of Greater Geelong, and is currently on the Board of the Victorian Planning Authority and a member of the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal.

    Laurinda also serves on several remuneration, and audit and risk committees.

     
  • Katrina Lai
    Katrina Lai

    BA/LLB (Hons), MBA, GAICD
    Director

    Katrina has an extensive career as a strategy advisor, with a focus on telecommunications, digital transformation and innovation.

    For over a decade, she was a consultant and senior executive at Telstra, and led the company’s product and innovation strategy for five years.

    Katrina has also worked as an independent advisor to state and federal government on telecommunications strategy and project management. 

    Katrina is an experienced non-executive director with over 16 years of service on government boards in the health, education and water sectors.

    She currently serves on the boards of Bendigo Kangan Institute and Gippsland Water and chairs the audit and risk committee of both boards.

    Katrina has previously worked as a corporate lawyer and is a graduate of the AICD Company Directors course.

     
  • Rosemary Martin
    Rosemary Martin

    BA (Hons), LLB (Hons), LLM, GAICD
    Director

    Rosemary is an experienced Non-Executive Director with a particular expertise in corporate governance. She brings to the board deep experience in a range of industries.

    Previously Deputy Chair at Parks Victoria, Rosemary also sits on the board of the CFA, is a nonexecutive Director of MerriBek Affordable Housing and is Company Secretary of the Rippon Lea Endowment Fund. Rosemary is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a trained mediator.

    Rosemary has over three decades’ experience in legal practice across the public and private sectors. She has held General Counsel roles at Public Transport Victoria, Covid19 Quarantine Victoria and the EPA (Victoria) as well as senior leadership positions across other Victorian government agencies.

    She is admitted to the High Court of Australia, the Supreme Court of Victoria and the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

    In addition to her legal and leadership skills, Rosemary brings risk management, audit, mediation, stakeholder engagement, decisionmaking and regulatory expertise.

    Previous appointments include the role of Senior Commissioner of the Land and Environment Court of NSW with a focus on planning, land use and environmental issues.

  • Narayan Prasad
    Narayan Prasad

    MBA, FCPA, GAICD
    Director

    Narayan has extensive finance management experience in the private and not-for-profit sectors.

    Narayan is currently a member of RMIT Council and a Director on the Boards of Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Cancer Council Victoria. He is also a member of the Victoria Police’s Audit & Risk Committee. Narayan has previously served as a Director on the Board of Linfox Australia Pty Ltd.

    Prior to his career as a non-executive director, Narayan has served in senior finance management positions in the private sector and in not-for-profit organisations.

    Finance management positions held include Chief Financial Officer at Linfox Australia Pty Ltd, GM Commercial Services at Linfox, Chief Financial Officer at Yooralla (Disability Services) and Group Planning Manager at Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Ltd. 

     

Executive team

The VicTrack Executive team comprises the Chief Executive and Executive team members:

  • Chris Olds
    Chris Olds
    Chief Executive

     
    Chris is an EY trained chartered accountant with more than 17 years of experience across financial services and utilities in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Australia. Chris has broad private and public sector experience and is passionate about using technology to provide better business outcomes and reshape business support processes.
     
    Prior to starting at VicTrack in May 2015, Chris spent four years working across finance and revenue functions in the state-owned utility Western Power in Western Australia. This included the establishment of a billing and revenue assurance function that combined both operational and finance functions to service the business.

    Before coming to Australia, Chris worked for 11 years in the financial services industry in London. Chris finished in London as the finance director for a start-up insurance broker, and set up the finance and reporting controls to enable the business to grow niche insurance products to be placed into the Lloyd’s Market.

    Chris previously held other senior roles in the London reinsurance market, including overseeing the European reinsurance programme for Chubb Insurance.

     
  • Kristen Georgakopoulos
    Kristen Georgakopoulos

    Executive General Manager
    Corporate Services


    Kristen oversees VicTrack’s corporate services including People & Culture, Finance, Health & Safety, IT and Procurement. Before taking on this role Kristen was the Executive General Manager People & Culture for seven years.

    Prior to starting in this position, Kristen worked at VicTrack as Manager People, Culture and Systems; Acting General Manager Business Services; and Manager Information Technology.

    Kristen has extensive public sector experience in senior leadership positions and a strong background in information technology.

    She had 15 years’ experience in senior leadership roles covering functional areas including Finance, Customer Service and Billing, Information Technology, Risk and Safety and People and Culture.

     
  • Deanne Leaver
    Deanne Leaver

    Executive General Manager
    Property Group 


    Deanne leads VicTrack’s Property Group, a multi-disciplinary team responsible for land management and commercial activities including property sales, leasing, development, and freight operations. The team works to manage and optimise transport assets. 

    She is a highly respected leader in the public sector with extensive property and asset management experience. Deanne has held senior management roles in various Victorian government agencies, including the Victorian Health Building Authority. She was recognised in the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) Victoria 2022 Top 50 Public Sector Women Awards. 

    Deanne has led multi-discipline teams to deliver value through the development and implementation of project pipelines, encompassing billion-dollar precinct developments and other infrastructure projects. She is adept at bringing together the strategic, technical and operational advice and functions in complex governance settings. 


  • Andrew Peel
    Andrew Peel
    Executive General Manager
    Telecommunications Group 


    In his role Andrew oversees VicTrack’s commercial operations, striving to meet the needs of VicTrack’s telecommunications customers by setting the strategic direction for our network infrastructure, contracts, commercial evaluation and the products and services VicTrack offers.
  • Anna Vourtsis
    Anna Vourtsis

    Executive General Manager
    Strategy & Transformation


    Anna joined VicTrack in 2011 and has been a member of the Executive team since 2015.  

    Anna is a dynamic senior executive with a proven track record delivering strategic change for high profile government and private organisations. An expert in strategy development and organisational transformation, Anna leverages the collective wisdom of the executive and operational arms of a business to get universal alignment and buy-in.  

    Anna has led teams of professionals to take the enterprise’s strategy and then facilitate its execution throughout the business and measure results.   

    Prior to joining VicTrack, Anna worked in private consulting, providing strategic advice around communications strategies, stakeholder engagement and advocacy. Anna also spent eight years in local government in natural resource management, and corporate and community planning.