Anthony Blunn AO

Independent Chairman Current term May 06 - Jan 09
A S (Tony) Blunn AO LLB was the Chairman of the Committee. Prior to his retirement in 2000, Mr Blunn held many senior appointments in the Commonwealth Public Service across a range of departments including Finance and Business and Consumer Affairs. He was the Secretary (CEO) of some six departments, retiring as Secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department. Since retiring, Mr Blunn has undertaken a number of consultancies for Commonwealth Ministers, Departments and Agencies and is Chair of a number of boards.

Julie Abramson

Member with relevant experience at a senior level of retail banking
Current term Mar 08 – Mar 11
Julie Abramson BA/LLB/LLM (Commercial Law) is a lawyer with a background in public policy and financial regulation including as a Senior Adviser to Government, with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the National Australia Bank. Over a four and a half year period, Ms Abramson held a number of senior roles at the NAB including the implementation of Financial Services Reform, Code-related issues and regulatory compliance. In particular she has worked very closely with the retail bank across consumer issues.

Nicola Howell

Consumer and Small Business Representative Current term Jan 09 – Jan 12
Nicola Howell LLB (Hons), B.Sc. (Hons), LL.M, is an Associate Lecturer at the School of Law, Queensland University of Technology. Nicola has wide-ranging consumer law experience in Australia, including previous policy and research positions in public, community and private sector organisations. She is currently Deputy Chair of the Consumer Federation of Australia and a member of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Regional Liaison Committee. Her research interests include consumer credit law, regulation, policy and protection and bankruptcy.

Brian Given PSM

Incoming Chairperson
Brian Given (Dip Law) joined the CCMC as Chairperson in 2009. Brian is a lawyer with an extensive career in the NSW Public Service, including more than 20 years senior executive experience in the Office of Fair Trading where his responsibilities included a strong focus on law enforcement and industry compliance with fair trading principles. Prior to that he worked with the Commonwealth Trade Practices Commission (predecessor to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission), including two years as NSW Regional Director. During his public sector career Brian also held many official appointments including as a trustee of the national Travel Compensation Fund, a trustee of the Financial Counselling Trust Fund, and chair of the Co-operatives Council of NSW, as well as having chaired a number of the advisory committees of the national Standing Committee of Officials of Consumer Affairs. In 2008 Brian was awarded the Public Service Medal for outstanding public service in promoting industry compliance with fair trading laws.

With thanks from the committee

The Committee thanks the staff for their assistance and hard work over the year.
The Committee also especially thanks:
Colin Neave and the staff of the Financial Ombudsman Service
The Banks and their staff who deal with the CCMC on a regular basis
Australian Bankers Association
Jan McLelland
Richard Viney
Anthony Blunn AO, David Tennant, Kirsten Trott and Barbara Schade for their dedication and contribution to the CCMC.

David Tennant

David worked with CCMC from May 06 to Nov 08 as the Consumer and Small Business representative.

Who we are: 2008-09 secretariat