Western Water’s Board of Directors is responsible for planning and managing the policies, strategies and objectives that drive Western Water towards a sustainable future.
The roles and duties of Western Water’s Board are established by legislation, Ministerial directions and letters of agreement.
The Western Water Board comprises seven Board Members with a wide range of relevant skills, experience and expertise.
Lucia Cade - Chairman
Appointed September 2012
Lucia is the Director Strategy and Development for Water and Infrastructure Services at AECOM.
Lucia has extensive experience in the infrastructure and construction industry previously consulting on business strategy, incentivised procurement models, strategic stakeholder engagement, and leading winning teams for major projects. Lucia has lectured in business case development and venture capital financing in the Biotechnology and Business Masters program at RMIT.
Lucia has previously held Executive and Management roles at City West Water and Melbourne Water.
Lucia is President of the Australian Water Association and was previously a Director of Western Water for five years.
She holds undergraduate degrees in engineering and economics, Masters Degrees in engineering
science and business administration and is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
and of Engineers Australia.
Neil Brennan - Managing Director
Appointed July 2012
Responsible for leading and managing the organisation, Neil was appointed Managing Director of Western Water in June 2012.
Prior to his appointment Neil was the Managing Director at Central Highlands Water for 15 years and he has previously held CEO positions at Western Water and Macedon Region Water Authorities.
Neil has been employed in the Victorian Water Industry for some 32 years, and has had various Ministerial appointments to industry committees. He is currently a Director of the Board of the Electricity and Water Ombudsman Scheme Victoria (EWOV), Executive Council Member of the Institute of Water Administration (IWA) and Chair of the Victorian Water Industry, Intelligent Water Networks Steering Group.
Mr Brennan's academic achievements include a Graduate Diploma in Management, a Masters in Business Leadership and completion of the Oxford Advanced Management Programme.
Russell Cooper - Board Member
Appointed September 2012
Russell Cooper has held Managing Director roles with Goulburn Murray Water (Northern Victoria), SUEZ/Degremont (Australia/NZ) and South East Water (Melbourne).
He has been a Director of Murrumbidgee Irrigation, the Cooperative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures, Vic Water and the Water Services Association of Australia and a special advisor to the Chairman of the National Water Commission.
Russell holds a Bachelor of Science, a Diploma of Management and is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Institute of Engineers.
Russell Anderson - Deputy Chairman
Appointed October 2007
Russell has extensive experience in financial management, governance, risk management and internal auditing gained from senior governance roles at Air New Zealand, Marsh Pty Ltd, CSIRO, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Qantas Group.
With a Bachelors Degree in Commerce and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Russell is actively involved in ensuring sustainability principles are adopted in corporate governance frameworks in the public and private sectors. He has provided independent governance reporting to listed public companies and government authorities incorporating financial and strategic risk analysis.
Miranda Douglas-Crane - Board member
Appointed September 2012
Miranda is a member of Austin Health, National Occupational Licensing Authority, RACV Foundation and Special Olympics (Victoria). Miranda has a background as an executive with RACV Pty Ltd including roles as acting Chief Executive Officer and General Manager Operations.
Miranda holds a Bachelor of Commerce, a Master of Business Administration and is a fellow of the
Australian Institute of Management and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Ross Johns - Board Member
Appointed October 2011
Ross is a grain grower and prime lamb producer. He is a former Director of the Australian Barley Board (1993 - 1996 and 1999 - 2009) and Grains Research and Development Corporation (2002 - 2008).
Ross has an Advanced Diploma of Business Management.
Tom Mollenkopf - Board Member
Appointed October 2011
Tom is the Chief Executive of the Australian Water Association and was
previously the Deputy Executive Director at the International Water Association (London).
Tom previously held various senior roles at South East Water (1995 - 2005) including General Manager Corporate Strategy. He is a member of the National Health and Research Council Water Quality Advisory Committee, ACCC Intrastructure consultative committee and a number of reference groups for the National Water Commissions and chair of the Water Industry Skills Taskforce and the Smart Approved Water Mark Steering Committee.
Tom has a Bachelor of Jurisprudence, Bachelor of Laws and Master of Business Administration.
Andrew Osborne - Board Member
Appointed October 2011
Andrew is self employed as the Managing Director of Osborne Management, which provides technical and commercial advice on large scale water projects. Andrew was previously a Principle Consultant with Marsden Jacobs and General Manager Business Solutions Earth Tech Engineering.
Andrew has a Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering Science and has completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course.
Board MeetingS
The Western Water Board meets eleven times per year. Summaries from their meetings are made available for download on this page.