Our board and executives

Ms Joanne Butterworth-Gray

Chair

Joanne Butterworth-Gray is a professional Chair and non-executive director. She is recognised as a skilled leader in strategy and transformation, with a reputation for bringing the art of facilitation to a board table, influencing and negotiating a team effort to deliver corporate outcomes for the organisation.

Her board experience includes agribusiness, land management and precinct development, utilities and logistics, asset management and construction, tourism and regional economic development.

Joanne is the independent chair of Northern Territory Seafood Council and a Trustee for the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve Trust. Prior to this, Joanne was chair of Seafood Industry Victoria, a board member of Gippsland Ports and has held public service roles in justice – leading reform across emergency management, and economic development, where she facilitated agreement to regional economic partnership across state, federal and local governments. Joanne was appointed to Chair of the board on 1 October 2021.

Mr Michael Browne

Director

Michael Browne is a Barkandji-Wemba Wemba man, who grew up in rural NSW.

Michael has a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) and has worked in the water industry for over 15 years in planning, project management and asset delivery. He is currently on secondment with Melbourne Water, involved in the delivery of the Burndap Birrarung burndap umarkoo - Yarra Strategic Plan. Michael's substantive role is with Yarra Valley Water working on integrated water management planning.

Michael is a non-executive director for the Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering Place.

Michael was appointed to the board of Southern Rural Water on 1 October 2023.

Dr Jane Doolan

Director

Jane is currently a Member of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. She has recently completed a term as the Environment Commissioner with the Australian Productivity Commission. Jane has more than 25 years’ experience in sustainable water resource management, providing policy advice on issues such as urban and rural water supply and security, national water reform, river health, environmental water allocation and catchment management, and the management of water during drought and climate change. Previous positions include Director, Western Water Authority, Professorial Fellow in Natural Resource Governance at the University of Canberra, Deputy Secretary for Water in the Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries, Commissioner with the National Water Commission and Chair of the Murray Darling Freshwater Research Centre.

Mrs Michelle McCrum

Director

Michelle was appointed a director of the board on 30 April 2019 and brings extensive management consulting, leadership and project delivery experience to the Southern Rural Water Board. She is also a director and chair of the board of Knox Basketball Inc. Michelle has held previous executive director and secretary roles at CBUS Industry Super and Hawthorn Citzens Junior Football Club. She has a Bachelor of Science, Maths (Hons), from Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia USA, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Mr Anthony Scarff

Director

Anthony Scarff  is a Chartered Accountant with more than 20 years of finance, operations, strategy and transformation experience working for large organisations (Australia Post), the education sector (La Trobe University), and more recently with multi-national companies in the health and wellness technology sectors (International WELL Building Institute and Delos Living LLC). Anthony has a Bachelors Degree in Commerce (Accounting and Finance) and a Bachelors Degree in Science (Geography and Environmental Science). Anthony is a non-executive director for the Bates Family Foundation, and an active board member for local sporting clubs. Anthony was appointed to the board of Southern Rural Water on 1 October 2023.

Ms Kylie Steel

Director

Kylie Steel has a professional specialisation in environmental science and climate change. Kylie has over 20 years’ experience in natural resource management and environmental science roles.  Kylie is the founding director and principle consultant of SCB Consult that provides specialist consultation in the fields of climate change, bushfire science and emergency management. Kylie is a current member of the Expert Technical Panel of the Resilient Building Council of Australia and the Bushfire Building Council of Australia, advising on sustainable climate resilient buildings across Australia.  Kylie provides specialised Bushfire knowledge to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) and Planning Panels Victoria for a range of applications and is a guest lecturer at Victoria University and Deakin University.  Kylie is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), has post and undergraduate scientific qualifications from The University of Melbourne and has a post graduate certificate in business from The University of Notre Dame.  Kylie is a director of the Barwon Health Foundation and was appointed to the Southern Rural Water board on the 1 October 2019.

Mr Cameron FitzGerald

Managing Director

Cameron has two decades of professional experience with 14 of these years in the water sector. Having successfully delivered high profile transformative programs across the sector, Cameron is committed to driving outstanding outcomes for Southern Rural Water’s customers and local communities. He has worked at EPA Victoria, KPMG, City West Water and Melbourne Water and holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) with Honours from the University of Melbourne. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Scott Cornish

General Manager, Asset Futures

Scott is responsible for developing and delivering SRW’s capital plan including critical modernisation projects, with a focus on outstanding asset management and dam safety management.

With 19 years of experience as a Civil Engineer in private consulting for diverse clients, including State Government Authorities, Local Government, and private industry Scott joined SRW Executive Team in July, 2021 bringing with him a wealth of experience as a Civil Engineer and multi-disciplinary senior leader having managed programs across teams in the Middle East, India, South Australia, New South Wales, metropolitan Melbourne, and rural Victoria.

Scott joined SRW, from Western Water, with a personal commitment to the sustainable growth and well-being of local communities.

Elisa Hunter

General Manager Strategy, People and Culture

Elisa leads our strategic planning, including of our water resources, business performance monitoring, pricing and communications and engagement activities for customers, stakeholders and communities. In addition to this she is responsible for our people and culture and driving a culture of excellence at Southern Rural Water.

Elisa joined Southern Rural Water in April 2020, having held senior leadership roles in both the public and private sector. With over two decades in the water industry, she has worked in a wide range of roles across the whole asset lifecycle bring a unique perspective to strategy development, community engagement and water resource planning. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Environmental Engineering.

Stuart Wrigglesworth

General Manager Finance, Safety and Risk

As our CFO Stuart is responsible for supporting and delivering financial management as well as oversight of our risk management framework. Stuart is also responsible for our safety and delivering on our value of ‘always safe’.

Having grown up on a family farm supplied from the Macalister system, Stuart joined Southern Rural Water as Finance Manager in late 2005 and was appointed Chief Financial Officer in March 2011. He has 6 years’ experience working in professional practice for PriceWaterhouse Coopers in Melbourne and South Africa, as well as over 5 years in the UK working in Finance and Accounting roles for a number of commercial and public sector businesses. Stuart holds a Bachelor of Commerce and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Simon Wilkinson

General Manager Service Delivery

Simon is responsible for the delivery of services to our customers through our regulated and unregulated water supply systems.

Having first joined Southern Rural Water in 2020, Simon brings a breadth of experience in senior leadership from across the water industry.

A key focus for Simon is how we connect service delivery with outstanding asset management. This relates to enhancing operational outcomes at an everyday task level; in parallel with bringing a whole-of-life and sustainability perspective for solutions to improve our water supply performance.

He holds a Bachelor of Natural Resource Management and Honours (Science).

Melissa Jeal

Corporate Secretary

Melissa is responsible for corporate governance and compliance.

Melissa joined Southern Rural Water in April 2021, having previously held senior governance and finance positions.  With over two decades in the public sector, she brings a strong background in leading, developing and implementation of best practice frameworks in governance, compliance, risk management and finance.  She holds a Bachelor Business (Accounting) and is a member of the Governance Institute of Australia and Certified Practicing Accountants.