Meet The Team

President of the Board

Debra Thurley, GAICD

Debra is an experienced Board member and Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Debra also sits as a Non-Executive Director on the COTA board, was formerly an Alderman on the Clarence City Council, Vice-President of Zonta International, President and Treasurer of the Australian Local Government Women’s Association.  Debra holds a master’s degree in Employment Relations.

Vice President of the Board

Liz Makin, GAICD

Liz is an Executive level People and Culture professional with her own HR and IT consultancy business. Liz brings a high level of expertise in strategic and operational Human Resources, Workplace, and Industrial Relations and in the achievement of organisational goals and objectives.  Liz holds qualifications in Human Resources, as well as a Bachelor of Behavioural Sciences (Psychology).

Vice President of the Board & Advisory Committee Representative

Matthew Richman, GAICD

Matthew is a highly skilled and experienced state servant and holds the position of Director of the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management’s Wellbeing Branch.  Matthew has completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors training and provides significant TAPCYC knowledge and expertise, having served as Director and Secretary of the TAPCYC for the past three years.  As current President of the Queenstown PCYC, he is now representing the Advisory Committee on the Board of Management.

Representative of the Commissioner of Police

Jonathan Higgins, APM

Jonathan Higgins has been a Tasmania Police officer for over 20 years and is currently serving as Assistant Commissioner (Operations).  In this capacity, Jonathan has also represented the Commissioner on the Board of Management for approximately four years.  Jonathan holds several tertiary qualifications including a Bachelor of Professional Honours (Leadership and Public Sector Management), Bachelor of Social Science (Police Studies and HR Management) and a Bachelor of Science.

Treasurer

Saumya Goenka

Sam is an experienced risk and controls advisory leader and an expert in financial management.  A Manager at Deloitte Australia, Sam is a CPA who also serves on the CPA Australia Corporate Committee. Residing in Melbourne, Sam is an expert in risk intelligent governance and has a proven track record in budget optimization through his rich and varied experience of more than 10 years across multiple industry domains.

Secretary of the Board

Sam Thompson, GAICD

Sam has served as Senior Advisor to the Tasmanian Attorney-General.  As the legal member on the Local Code of Conduct panel and a former Crown Prosecutor, he offers considerable knowledge of Tasmanian and Australian law.  Sam has significant experience in the responsibilities of a Company Secretary, currently holding this role in Work Cover Tasmania.   Sam is also a Board member with the Council of Law Reporting for Tasmania and holds a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Laws with Honours.

Member of the Board

Rebecca Draper-Schultheiss

Possessing over 25 years of law enforcement, transformational change, youth engagement and people development experiences, Rebecca is a member of the Victoria Police senior leadership team and provides an insight to strategic and operational pathways.    With a Master of Leadership and Management (Policing and Security), Graduate Diploma of Executive Leadership, Graduate Certificate in Applied Business Management and a Graduate Diploma in Fraud Investigation, Rebecca is currently serving a period of secondment as a Director within the Australian Tax Office’s National Assessment Centre national assessment centre.  Although currently resident in Victoria, Rebecca is relocating to Tasmania during 2022.