Patron-in-Chief, Commonwealth Games Australia
Patron, Commonwealth Games Australia
CGA BOARD
President
With over 20 years’ experience as a commercial and sports lawyer, Ben has negotiated, managed and implemented major commercial sponsorship and digital sports rights deals with national and international athletes and sporting bodies, movie studios and television broadcasters. He has extensive corporate and sports governance experience having been a Director and President of Triathlon Australia, a Director of the Australian Association of National Advertisers and Company Secretary for a number of Telstra Corporation Ltd subsidiaries.
Ben was elected as President of Commonwealth Games Australia Ltd at its first AGM in November 2018 for a four-year term and re-elected in 2023 for a further four year term through to 2027. He is currently the CEO of Australian Sailing and a member of the CGA Brand and Marketing Committee. He is also a Director for the Australian Commonwealth Games Foundation Ltd, and is a member of the CGF Executive Board.
Vice President
Grant has been involved with CGA since his appointment to the previous Board of Management in 2011 and was elected to the new Board of CGA in November 2018 for a one-year term and re-elected in 2019 for a further four-and-a-half-year term. He was elected for a second four-year term in 2024, and subsequently elected CGA's Vice President.
Grant has extensive experience in business management and finance, having been General Manager of the SA TAB for almost ten years. He has held many Board positions throughout sport, including current roles as the Vice President of the CGA SA State Division, Director and Deputy Chair of Thoroughbred Racing SA, Independent Complaints Manager with Table Tennis Australia and Member of the SA Olympic Appeal Committee. Previously, Grant was Director and then President of Gymnastics Australia, Vice President of the Commonwealth Gymnastics Confederation, President of Gymnastics South Australia and Chair of many committees and working groups. For his service to Gymnastics, he was appointed Life Membership to Gymnastics Australia.
Grant is a Director for the Australian Commonwealth Games Foundation Ltd, a member of CGA’s Finance & Audit Committee and is Chair of the Investment Committee for the Australian Commonwealth Games Foundation.
Director
Having held senior executive and leadership roles with KPMG and Bendigo Adelaide Bank for over 30 years, Marlene was first elected to the CGA Board in November 2018 for a two-year term and was re-elected in 2020 for a four-and-a-half-year term to 2025. Marlene is a Director for the Australian Commonwealth Games Foundation Ltd, a member of the CGA Brand and Marketing Committee and Chair of the CGA Heritage and Awards Committee.Passionate about sport, Marlene has represented South Australia in Netball, as well as playing in the Australian National Super League. A graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Marlene is also currently a Director of Diving Australia, Workways Australia and Peninsula Leisure. Previously, Marlene has served on the Triathlon Australia and Netball Victoria Boards, and has been a Director of Netball South Australia and the Asia Pacific Professional Marketing Association.
Marlene is an expert in client experience, including the analysis and translation of client feedback to increase client retention, diversify revenue and enable organisational change. Her experience extends to stakeholder management, marketing, sponsorship and community engagement, where she has developed and led strategic partnerships and sponsorships across the public and private sectors. She is currently the General Manager / Associate Director of VUCA Trusted Advisors, a Director of Diving Australia, Peninsula Leisure Pty Ltd, and Workways Australia.
Director
Jayne’s business career spans over 30 years with extensive experience as a General Manager, Marketing Director and Digital Director. She was previously the General Manager Women’s Lifestyle and Entertainment at Bauer Media for six years and led brands such as the Australian Women’s Weekly. She is currently a Partner in a consultancy practice Edit'd, providing specialist advice in brand strategy and development, content planning, website review and development, social media planning and marketing plans.
Jayne was previously a member of the Media Advisory Board for the Stay Kind Foundation and the Business Advisory Board for EmpoWEr. She is a Director of Little Athletics Australia and was recently appointed to the Board of Women in Media. She holds one of CGA’s only appointed Director positions and was initially appointed for a two-year term through until 30 June 2023 with her appointment extended until 31 December 2025. She is a Director for the Australian Commonwealth Games Foundation Ltd and is the Chair of the CGA Brand and Marketing Committee and a member of CGA’s Reconciliation Action Plan Advisory Group.
Director
Duncan is a renowned figure in the rowing world, with an illustrious career that includes participation in four Olympic Games, earning himself a gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the Men's Coxless Pair alongside Drew Ginn. A two-time world champion, Duncan also represented Australia at 11 World Rowing Championships in both scull and sweep events.
Duncan brings a wealth of experience from his role as Director of Sports Engagement at Griffith University. There he oversees high performance, partnership and sponsorships digital marketing and branding, high-level strategic plans, elite athlete program and managed significant financial budgets. In 2009, Duncan was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Duncan was elected to the CGA Board in 2024 for a four-year term.
Director
David is an experienced Board Director with considerable business acumen gained from executive leadership roles and a portfolio of non-executive appointments in both ASX listed, private and not-for-profit organisations. Following a successful career in general management and finance and a current appreciation of corporate governance requirements, David has made valuable contributions to Boards across the health service, medical therapy and devices, biotech, software and FMCG sectors. David is an Independent Director of Miwatj Health Aboriginal Corporation, an independent member of the Freemasons Victoria Commercial Council, serves as Chair of the Equestrian Australia Fees & Levies Committee and is an independent member of the Equestrian Australia Finance, Audit, & Risk Committee. David also served as President of Squash Australia for a number of years until 2019. David is currently a Director of Gymnastics Australia and Chair of the World Squash Federation Governance and Audit Commission.David was elected to the CGA Board in 2018 for a two-year term and has since been re-elected for a further four-and-a-half-year term to 2025. He is a Director for the Australian Commonwealth Games Foundation Ltd, Chair of the CGA Finance & Audit Committee and a member of the Investment Committee for the Australian Commonwealth Games Foundation.
Director
Steve has a long association with the Commonwealth Games and as a professional athlete he competed at four Commonwealth Games winning one Gold, one Silver and one Bronze medal in the marathon and a Bronze for the 10,000 metres on the track. He was Mayor of the Athletes’ Village at the Melbourne 2006 Games and subsequently held the position of Chef de Mission for the Australian team at three Games (2010, 2014 & 2018). Steve also competed at four Olympic Games and six World Championships throughout his athletics career, which included a number of top 10 finishes.
Since retiring from professional athletics, Steve has held a number of prominent governance roles in the sports industry including previous roles as Chair of the Victorian Institution of Sport, Director of the Australian Sports Commission and Vice President of the Victorian Olympic Council. He is the Race Director for the ‘Run for the Kids’ Fun Run and is also a Director of Athletics Australia. He is a member of CGA’s Reconciliation Action Plan Advisory Group and operates his own sports consultancy business focusing on event management, mentoring, ambassadorial roles, training programs and professional development.
Steve was elected to the CGA Board in 2018 for a four-year term and re-elected in 2023 for a further four year term to 2027. He is also a Director for the Australian Commonwealth Games Foundation Ltd.
