Meet the Board

Alexandra was a previous committee member of NAPCAN Australia and a general Board Member of PACT. She has also worked as a committee member of the Child Protection Week Committee.

Professionally, Alexandra has been a barrister in Queensland for 13 years practising in all jurisdictions. She previously worked as a solicitor for more than 11 years in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. She is a member of the Queensland Bar Association Professional Conduct Committee and Bar Practice Course Committee and provides pro bono assistance to a number of not for profit organisations.

Alexandra is a passionate advocate for children’s rights and has volunteered as Chair of PACT for almost 8 years.

Allan has recently retired from paid work after a lengthy career in the banking and stock broking sectors.

Allan was a qualified Psychologist and though the formal registration has lapsed, continues to use his insights and experience to guide PACT’s strategic and operational direction. He is a trained Lifeline Counsellor and participates on a junior sporting organisation Committee.

Having worked at an executive level at Commonwealth Bank, he has held a range of Board of Director roles for over 16 years and brings to PACT experience across a range of diverse sectors. In addition, Allan is a PACT volunteer so understands the tremendous rewards, complexity and challenges that arise as a volunteer who support children through the court process.

Jan joined PACT as a Volunteer in June 2010 and has served in a variety of roles over the last 10 years. She supports induction training for new volunteers, is a Group Team Leader, current Board Member and represents PACT on a number of forums.

Prior to her work with PACT Jan’s background as a Social Researcher, working primarily at The University of Queensland in the Department of Social and Preventative Medicine, saw her work with sections of the community when they were at their most vulnerable.

Jan also volunteers at the historical Franciscan Friary at Brookfield, where she has served in various positions on their Advisory Committee.  She has been a long-time advocate of Children’s Rights and sees volunteering with PACT as an opportunity to play some small part.

Melanie Mayne-Wilson, GAICD, is the General Manager, Marketing and Fundraising for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (South Eastern).

She was previously the Queensland State Manager for the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the largest governance Institute in the world, with over 45,000 members and a mission to strengthen society through world-class governance.

Melanie is a communication, public affairs and reputational risk specialist with over twenty years of experience in senior executive roles guiding boards and executive teams through periods of significant change, to protect and enhance their corporate reputation and social license to operate.

Stephen has almost 30 years policing experience, with more than 20 years as an investigator.

Stephen has worked in regional two-person stations and in challenging urban areas. He commenced in the specialised field of child protection in 1991. He worked in Homicide, Child and Sexual Assault and, Fraud and Cyber Crime. He was Investigations Leader into the murder of Daniel Morcombe.

Stephen was also instrumental in implementing the QPS Investigative Interviewing Strategy, traveling to the UK in 2014 to undertake training and becoming one of the first QPS members to be an Interview Advisor. In December 2015 he was promoted to Detective Inspector, Major and Organised Crime Squad, South Eastern Region. In October 2018 he returned to child protection as Operations Manager, Child Trauma and Sexual Crime Unit, State Crime Command.

An accomplished OHS Management Consultant, Certified Occupational Health and Safety Professional (Australian Institute of Health and Safety) and Occupational Health Nurse, Catherine assists organisations achieve their strategic objectives through cultural change and business improvement.

She holds a Graduate Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety (with distinction) a Graduate Certificate in Management and is an accredited Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems Auditor (Exemplar Global), Fire Safety Advisor (Queensland Fire and Emergency Service) and Licensed Private Investigator (Queensland Government). Catherine is a full member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australian Institute of Management Consultants and uses coaching and mentoring skills to work with senior executives and frontline managers to develop safety leadership skills, as well as coaching and mentoring junior health and safety professionals as a registered mentor with the Australian Institute of Health and Safety.

Catherine is Director and one of the founding partners of Lethbridge Piper and Associates which was established in 2014. Having led high performing, multi-disciplinary occupational health and safety teams across a diverse range of organisations and industries and worked in senior roles in the private, not-for-profit and public sectors, Catherine has established a solid reputation for risk management, leading change and business improvement.

Amanda is the Deputy Principal Registrar of the Supreme and District Courts in Brisbane. She holds qualifications in law and in justice administration and was admitted to practice as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2003.

Commencing her career with the Department of Justice over 30 years ago, Amanda has extensive experience in courts management, justice administration and in legal practice and procedure.

Amanda has held a variety of positions with Court Services Queensland and with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in Brisbane and in regional Queensland.

Teresa Knapp has now retired after a background in finance and administration, working in small to Corporate size companies as well as latterly owning a successful medium size manufacturing company with her husband for 12 years.

Teresa was a Child Witness Support Volunteer and Trainer for PACT for 10 years, attending and supporting the needs of child victims traversing through the Court system whilst gaining a wealth of knowledge of the Criminal Justice System and the parties involved. Teresa joined the PACT Board in 2014 and is also a volunteer speaker for Beyond Blue. She became a Beyond Blue speaker to share her experiences of mental health conditions, with audiences as part of her commitment to encourage and offer hope to those who are afflicted by mental health conditions.