Paul Russell -- AAGE Director and Chair
Director, Programme Delivery, Programmes, Australian Public Service Commission (APSC)

Paul has recently joined the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC). Previously Paul worked with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF) having played an active role in the recruitment of DAFF graduates for over nine years. Paul has brought to the AAGE a wide range of experience, knowledge and networks both in human resources and in the field of graduate recruitment/development. Based in Canberra, Paul has a strong public sector background and has interests in workforce and strategic planning, learning and development and evaluation. Paul has a degree from the University of NSW and joined the AAGE committee in 2006.

Lauren Pemberton -- AAGE Director
Principal HR Business Partner, Newcrest Mining Ltd

Lauren is Principal HR Business Partner with Newcrest Mining Ltd. Lauren works with senior stakeholders within the business to drive the delivery of Newcrest's HR strategy, which focuses on identifying, developing and retaining talent to drive a high-performance culture. Lauren also oversees Newcrest's employer branding, graduate, vacation and diversity programs. She has a Bachelor of Commerce (Human Resource Management)/Bachelor of Arts (Public Relations), and is currently undertaking her MBA.

Christine Garden -- AAGE Director
Senior Recruitment Consultant, Ernst & Young

Christine is a Senior Consultant with the Ernst & Young People & Culture team in Brisbane. She is responsible for delivering undergraduate and graduate recruitment strategies, as well as performing a HR generalist role. Christine commenced with Ernst & Young in 2005, holds a Bachelor of International Business and is currently completing her Masters in HRM. Christine has over five years' previous experience in recruitment within the professional services and information technology industries.

Naomi McQuaid -- AAGE Director
Accounting Graduate Program Manager, Department of Treasury and Finance, Victorian State Government

Naomi joined the Victorian Department of Treasury & Finance in 2002. In her current role, she manages the attraction, recruitment and development of accounting & finance graduates for all Victorian Government departments. She also delivers generalist human resources advice and projects within the Department of Treasury & Finance. Naomi has interests in talent management and employer branding and is currently completing a Masters of Commerce at the University of Melbourne.

Committee

Will Blott
Talent & Outreach Programs Manager, Australia & NZ, Google

Will joined Google in January 2007 as University Programs Manager for Australia and New Zealand. Before joining Google Will worked for Unilever for several years managing their future leaders graduate strategy and various learning and development initiatives. Will's previously consulted within organisational psychology and HR in the UK and Australia. Will completed a B.Sc (Hons) in Psychology in the UK, wanderlust bringing him to Australia in 2002.

Natalie De Boo
Recruitment Programs Manager, SA Water Corporation

Natalie joined SA Water in 2002 and is currently working as the Recruitment Programs Manager for the corporation. In her current role Natalie is responsible for the management of the apprenticeship, traineeship, graduate, scholarship and work experience programs. Since completion her Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Arts, Natalie has worked in the areas of risk management and business process review before moving into human resources.

Julie Ford
Graduate Program Co-ordinator, Reserve Bank of Australia

Julie has been with the RBA since 2001. Initially working in policy for a number of years, Julie has also been responsible for the training and development aspect of the Bank's graduate program and has been responsible for graduate recruitment since May 2006. In addition to the graduate program, Julie also looks after cadets, internships and industrial training programs.

Katherine Ross
Graduate Program Manager, JPMorgan

Katherine has recently joined JPMorgan Chase & Co. as the Graduate Recruitment Manager overseeing the recruitment of graduates and interns into the organisation. Prior to this she was the Graduate Program Manager at Insurance Australia Group (IAG) focussing on the strategy, recruitment, development and retention of their Graduates. Katherine also has experience in the FMCG industry having worked at Procter & Gamble for over 5 years in a Talent Supply role looking after graduate, intern and lateral recruitment, generalist HR and various global and regional projects involving on-boarding and training & development.

Louise Kiley
Programs Coordinator, Victoria Legal Aid

Louise joined Victoria Legal Aid in December 2006. Her primary role involves managing the traineeship and summer clerk program for law graduates and law students. This involves managing the entire recruitment process, from applicant attraction to selection. Louise's other duties include managing the daily operations of the program, including training and development, rotations and mentoring. After completing a Bachelor of Applied Science Louise worked extensively in the hospitality industry before turning her hand to human resources. Since her move to HR she has completed a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and is currently undertaking a Master of Human Resource Management at The University of Melbourne.

Michael Whitwell
Principal HR Consultant, Queensland Transport

Michael is a Principal HR Consultant in the People Capability Team in Queensland Transport. A key part of his role is to manage the agencies' Graduate Program. Michael has a strong public sector human resources background having worked with seven government agencies in three states over 27 years. Additionally, he has also had secondments to specific project initiatives in both the public and private sector.

Seren Wilson
Recruitment Manager, L'Oreal

Seren is currently the Recruitment Manager for L'Oreal Australia. This role predominantly manages L'Oreal's talent attraction, selection and career development strategies from graduate through to senior management levels, across both the consumer and professional products divisions. Seren joined L'Oreal in the UK in 2001 as HR Manager for the UK's Consumer Division and moved across to a line position in National Account Management before being transferred to Australia in 2006.

Annabelle Cummins
Australia Graduate Recruitment Lead, Accenture

Annabelle joined Accenture in August 2005 starting out as the Melbourne Graduate Recruiter. In early 2007 Annabelle took on the role as the Australian Graduate Recruitment Lead. Annabelle is responsible for the overarching graduate strategy, which involves setting direction on how Accenture brands, sources, selects and on boards its undergraduates and post graduates. Prior to joining Accenture, Annabelle was involved in running graduate programs within the Legal and Accounting spaces.

Tamara Seaman
Graduate Recruitment Manager, Recruitment Section, Department of Immigration and Citizenship

Tamara joined the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) in 2001 and has worked on both the Graduate Development and Graduate Recruitment Programs in DIAC for five years. In her current role she manages the Graduate Recruitment Program and Indigenous Cadet Program. Tamara also performs a role of senior recruitment advisor to business areas throughout the department.

Carla Acuna
Manager, Talent Acquisition and Retention, Australia Post

Carla's career extends between various functions, including a business partner role for the CFO, business development and to her current strategic talent acquisition role in their corporate office. Having experience in change management, she has implemented major HR initiatives in Australia Post including the roll out of emotional intelligence and HR process re-engineering. In her current role, Carla is responsible for Australia Post's talent acquisition strategy covering recruitment, employment value proposition and branding.  She then launched their Enterprise-wide Graduate Program leveraging from their employment value proposition and linking to their organisation's overall talent management strategy. Carla has a Bachelor of Business in HR and a Masters in Organisational Change and Development.

Ainsley Gilkes
Senior Advisor - Sourcing & Talent Pipelines, OneSteel

Ainsley is Senior Advisor – Sourcing & Talent Pipelines at OneSteel, where she leads the Talent Pipelines recruitment team and performs a strategic role, advising the business on sourcing opportunities through institutional pipelines and creative channels. Ainsley came to HR from roles in international marketing and global student programs with universities and VET. She holds a BA Communication and a Master of International Relations.

Staff

Ben Reeves -- AAGE Chief Executive

Ben has worked in a variety of talent management and recruitment roles with Baker & McKenzie, BankWest, Minter Ellison, KPMG, Arthur Andersen and Philips Fox. Before this he worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers in London for several years, initially as a chartered accountant and then in various HR-related roles. Ben has been involved with the running of the AAGE since 2003. He has held the roles of Committee Member, Treasurer, Director and Executive Director. In early 2007 Ben was appointed as the AAGE's Chief Executive. Ben has a degree in physics and is a Chartered Accountant. Contact Ben.

Wendy Whitla -- AAGE Marketing Manager

Wendy joined the AAGE in 2004 to assist in maintaining & growing the member base, news & activities, responding to queries and initially handling the accounts. In 2006 Wendy also took on the conference manager role, but relinquished the accounts and events from her fold, as the AAGE welcomed two new staff members. Prior to joining the AAGE, Wendy was a senior consultant for Clemenger Harvie Edge, handling the public relations (PR) for a number of retainer clients and a part-time lecturer in Marketing for RMIT University. Wendy also previously worked in PR & advertising for Melbourne's Hilton Hotel and cosmetics manufactuer, Natio. Contact Wendy.

Rachal Morice -- AAGE Accounts Manager

Rachal Morice joined the AAGE in May 2007 to manage the accounts. Rachal has a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Accounting, a Bachelor of Education, and a Post Graduate Certificate in Human Resources. Rachal commenced her professional career as an Accountant at KPMG; working on several audits of the ASX Top 200 listed companies. Rachal moved across to KPMG's Human Resources division and until January 2006 Rachal was the National Graduate Recruitment Manager. Rachal is a former member of the AAGE. Contact Rachal.

Samantha Duff -- AAGE Events Coordinator

Samantha joined the AAGE in May 2008, after we farewelled Jane Davies to have her first baby. Samantha has extensive experience in event co-ordination after many years working in the hospitality industry and also running her own cafe/catering business. Past employers include Peter Rowland Catering, Epicure Catering and the National Gallery of Victoria. Samantha also has a Bachelor of Business with a major in Human Resources. To view the current AAGE events calendar please view the 'AAGE Current Events and Activities' web page. Contact Sam if you have any queries regarding AAGE events.

Shanan Green -- AAGE Research Manager

Shanan's involvement with the AAGE began in 2005 when she first joined the AAGE Committee, before becoming an AAGE Director in 2006. Until her departure in October 2007, Shanan spent eight years with Macquarie Bank where her most recent appointment was as the Head of Recruitment. During her career at Macquarie, Shanan also lead the Graduate Recruitment Team for three years, worked in IT recruitment and was responsible for the MBA Scholarship Program. Shanan has an honours degree in Economics (Social Science) from the University of Sydney. Contact Shanan.

Katrina Harrington -- AAGE Research Manager

Katrina's involvement with the AAGE has spanned eight years now, having originally joined the committee back in 2001 and taking over the role of President in 2002. Katrina's experience in the graduate recruitment and human resources arenas has been extensive, notably with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Katrina spent over three years as National Graduate Recruitment Manager, and later moved into the role of Senior Human Resources Manager, High Performance Culture, a role which focussed on cultural and organisational change. Prior to joining PricewaterhouseCoopers, Katrina's roles included generalist HR positions with both MLC and Lend Lease and customer service with Westpac. Katrina has a degree in Psychology from Macquarie University, and a Masters in Employment Relations with the University of Technology, Sydney. Contact Katrina.

Australian Association of Graduate Employers Ltd
PO Box 1148, Mitcham North VIC 3132
Telephone/Fax: (03) 9893 0188