Here are some details of your Council

As at 4 December, 2009.

Jolyon Forsyth, FCIS (Mackay, Qld) President

Jolyon qualified as a Company Secretary in 1953 and migrated from South Africa to Australia in 1959. His career has covered being an actuarial student, Company Secretary, Accountant, Management Consultant, Internal Auditor, and Business Manager. He has been an investor for the last 25 years. He left full time employment in 1995 to work as a consultant but is still not fully retired. Jolyon joined the AIA in 1999 and became a member of the Council in 2005.  He was nominated President in October 2008.

Scott McKenzie BSc, MSc, MEdSt, DipFP (Brisbane, QLD) Vice-President

Scott has been an investor for 15 years having taken early retirement from the Queensland public sector in 1996. In that time he has retrained as a financial planner, and now is a partner in a financial services business, Financial Force Pty Ltd. He joined the AIA at about the time he retired from the public service, in 1996, becoming a member of Council in 2000. Scott was nominated Vice-President in October 2008 and is Chair of the Media & Publications Committee and the Membership & Marketing Committee, a member of the Education & Research and also coordinates the Brisbane Managed Investments Group.

Jenni Eason BSc (Hons), Grad Dip (Admin), BBus (Acctg) (Brisbane, Qld) Secretary & Treasurer

Jenni is a retired accountant and financial planner. She worked in the Australian Public Service in Canberra, Adelaide and Darwin before working in a number of accounting firms in Darwin and Port Macquarie. Jenni has been an active AIA member since 1999.  She has previously served on Council and edited Investors’ Voice and the SMSF Email Bulletin. Jenni was nominated Secretary and Treasurer in October 2008 and is also a member of the Education & Research Committee, Computer & Internet Committee and Queensland Committee. Jenni also co-ordinates the Brisbane SMSF Discussion Group.

Graeme Bottrill (Sydney, NSW) NSW Committee Chair & Computer & Internet Chair

Graeme trained in building and quantity surveying and for the last 25 years has been involved in construction industry computer systems. He has worked mostly in Sydney, but also frequently travelled to work in Asia. Graeme retired from full-time work early in 2008, and is currently working as a consultant to many construction companies. He has been a member of AIA since 2006, and manages the family superannuation fund and other family investments. He has a keen interest in technical analysis. In addition to coordinating the activities for NSW and the North Shore Group, Graeme is also Chair of the Computer and Internet Committee. Graeme joined the Council in April 2009.

Bill Dodd PhD (Alta), MSc (Adel) (Brisbane, Qld)

Bill was an academic in science for 25 years. His discipline was the plant biotechnology of tropical plant species, working mainly with plantation crops in southern and south-eastern Asia. He resigned from university life 15 years ago to become a private investor/ trader and manages the family self managed super fund. Bill has been a member since 1999 and joined the Council in October 2008. He is a member of the Education & Research Committee.

Ron Gibson BDSc (Brisbane, Qld) Education & Research Chair

Ron’s life centred on being a Brisbane dentist and he ran a large practice until arthritis forced his retirement in 1998. His community interests involved several election campaigns and being an office bearer for Kindergarten and Toastmasters. Australian Dental Association activities included Vigilance Officer and Superannuation Information officer. Ron joined the AIA in 1999 and manages an extensive share portfolio. He became a member of the Council in 2005 and, in addition to being Chair for the Education & Research Committee, he is also a member of the Queensland Committee. Ron also coordinates the Brisbane Equities Discussion Group.

Alison Harrington (Brisbane, QLD) Queensland Chair

Alison is a retired Podiatrist who has worked in hospitals, her own practice and lectured in WA and Queensland. She was WA State President and on the National Australian Podiatry Council for many years. Alison has been an active committee member of many other organisations throughout Australia. Having joined the AIA in 2000 Alison has slowly become more involved in the Queensland group and is now the Queensland Committee Chair. Alison joined the Council in October 2008.

Bruce McBryde (Brisbane, QLD)

Bruce spent his career in teaching and educational research. Twenty-five years ago he started investing in residential property, and later expanded his investments to the sharemarket. He is President of the Property Owners' Association of Queensland and teaches a course on investment strategies. Bruce has been a member of the AIA since 1996, a Councillor since 1997, is a member of the Education & Research Committee and the Queensland Committee.

Bill Murphy (Canberra, ACT)

Bill started his working life in the RAAF. He spent eight years as a technician and 23 years in the maritime branch of the Air Force as an Air Electronics Officer. After six years in various management positions in Canberra he retired in 1984 from the position of Deputy Director of the Defence Trials Organisation. The following sixteen years he worked as a consultant before he retired and commenced his SMSF. He had started investing during the Poseidon era (1968) and has been involved ever since. Bill joined the AIA in 2000, became a Councillor in 2007 and has been the Coordinator for ACT meetings since 2005.

Bill Shirley (Melbourne, Vic) Victoria Chair

Bill’s career of almost 30 years in the business equipment and IT industries was, until recently with Honeywell, Bull HN and Wang for 25 years. During this period he has held positions in sales, marketing, sales management and senior executive roles. Bill also has had 16 years experience in all aspects of marketing within the Federal Government environment while being located in Canberra. Bill joined the AIA in 2000 and has been an active Councillor since 2002, with previous roles including Membership & Marketing Chair and Vice President, and is Coordinator of the Frankston Discussion Group.

John Venn (Perth, WA) WA Chair

John was trained as an electrical/mechanical engineer in the UK and migrated to Australia in 1963 to take up position as design engineer for power generation systems. The Australian downturn of 1982/83 forced John to leave engineering and he retrained as an insurance agent and then financial planner from which he retired in 2001. John has taken an active role in the community for over 30 years having volunteered in the local parish, WA soccer, Apex and the local tennis. John has been an active AIA member since 1997 and is responsible for coordinating the AIA activities in Perth. John joined the Council in 2001.

Kymberley Vickery  BSc(Hons) PhD (Brisbane, Qld)

Kymberley was trained as a research scientist and patent attorney and has relevant commercial senior executive and Board experience in start-up life sciences companies. She is Australian Institute of Company Directors accredited and manages her own Scientific Intellectual Property Consultancy. Since 2000 Kymberley has managed both her property investment and equity portfolios and has since established a self managed super fund portfolio. Kymberley has been an associate member since 2005 and joined the Council in October 2008. Kymberley is a member of the Media & Publications Committee.

Adrian Vorbach (Adelaide, SA) SA Chair

After completing his medical degree and registrarship, Adrian joined the Royal Australian Navy with whom he served for over forty years. During this time he served in several ship and shore postings as a surgeon, rising to be Surgeon Commander at his retirement in 2002. During this period Adrian took leave to further his surgical skills at hospitals in London and Birmingham in the UK & Newport, Rhode Island; Boston, Massachussets & Seattle and Washington. Adrian has been a member of the AIA since 2001, a member of the Council since 2003, coordinates the quarterly Property Bulletin and AIA activities in Adelaide.