Ben Houston has been returned to a second term as President of Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) at the 2023 Annual General Meeting, held today.
Houston’s appointment will see him lead the CGA Board for another four years, having been intricately involved in the acquisition of the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games and Australia’s success at Birmingham 2022 across his most recent tenure.
He is the current CEO of Sailing Australia and an accomplished lawyer with a demonstrated history of working in the telecommunications industry, competition law, strategic planning, marketing strategy and stakeholder engagement.
“It is a privilege to serve as President of CGA with a home Games on the horizon and the success of Birmingham 2022 to build upon,” Houston said.
“The CGA Board and I have worked tirelessly to deliver against our strategy of First Among Equals and I look forward to continued collaboration with fellow board members as we look ahead to a future that begins with Victoria 2026.”
CGA Board Members Leeanne Grantham and Steve Moneghetti AM were also appointed to serve another four-year term, with Grantham elected by the CGA Board to serve as Vice President.
Grantham has over 25 years’ experience in senior executive and board roles including being the former CEO of the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL), the General Manager of Events South Australia and Head of Women’s Football at Football Federation Australia.
She is currently a Director of Table Tennis Australia and was previously involved with the local organising committee of the 2022 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.
Moneghetti has a long association with the Commonwealth Games, having competed at four Games for four medals (including gold in the marathon) and served as Chef de Mission at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games. He was also the Mayor of the Athletes’ Village at Melbourne 2006.
Since retiring from professional athletics, Moneghetti has held several prominent governance positions including Chair of the Victorian Institute of Sport, Director of the Australian Sports Commission and Athletics Australia and Vice President of the Victorian Olympic Council.
The CGA Board are elected based on a four-year term, with the terms of Daryl Clout and Grant Harrison expiring in 2024.
The CGA Board as at today, 19 May 2023, is as follows:
President
Ben Houston (Triathlon)
Vice President
Leeanne Grantham (Table Tennis)
Directors
Darryl Clout (Lawn Bowls)
Marlene Elliott (Netball)
Jayne Ferguson (Appointing)
Grant Harrison (Gymnastics)
David Mandel (Squash)
Steve Moneghetti AM (Athletics)
