About the Road Safety Council

Katie Hodson-Thomas is the Director of Corporate and Public Affairs at the Perth-based arm of global consulting firm FTI Consulting. She has extensive experience in public policy development, government relations and stakeholder engagement.

During her time in the Western Australian Parliament between 1996 and 2008, Katie served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health; held shadow portfolio responsibilities for transport, tourism, small business, environment, and road safety; and was Deputy Chair of the Community Development and Justice Standing Committee.

In addition to her road safety experience in her Parliamentary capacity, Katie took a proactive approach to road safety in her former role as Chief Executive Officer of the Caravan Industry Association WA.

She brings to the Council diverse board experience as the current Deputy Chair of the Gaming and Wagering Commission and former Independent Chair of the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council.

Robert (Rob) Slocombe is the Group CEO of RAC in Western Australia (RAC). Rob joined the RAC in September 2014 as Chief Operating Officer and from March 2019 became the Group CEO responsible for all group and subsidiary activities.

Prior to joining the RAC, Rob spent 27 years in banking and financial services, primarily in retail
banking, financial market trading and treasury roles.

Rob holds a certificate in Financial Markets, a Bachelor of Business degree, a Master of Business degree, a Master of Science and Technology degree and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.

Rob currently serves on the board of Royal Flying Doctor Service where he Chairs the Risk and Audit Committee, the Curtin Advisory Council - Faculty of Business and Law, Chair of the Australian Automobile Association and is a member of the FIA Senate.

Nick Sloan has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) since 2019. Prior to joining WALGA Nick was the Executive Director, Planning and Service Delivery at the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.

Nick has worked in Ministerial offices at State Government levels as Chief of Staff to the Minister for Local Government, and Principal Policy Advisor to the Minister for Sport and Recreation, Racing, Gaming and Liquor.

Nick has extensive experience at Executive level in State Government including roles in regional WA. During this time, Nick managed complex policy agendas at both State and Local Government level.

Nick is a Director on a number of Boards including LGIS, an industry based self-insurance Scheme for Local Government in WA; Auspire (Australian Day Council WA); and is Chair of Nature Play WA, an NFP established to increase the time Western Australian children spend in unstructured play outdoors and in nature.

Adrian Warner was appointed Commissioner of the Road Safety Commission in Western Australia in April 2020.   

With over 18 years of executive management experience in the WA public sector including four years as a CEO for WorkCover WA, he has held senior executive roles in the past six years within the Housing Authority and Department of Communities. 

During 2009-11, following a 22 -year career within the WA public sector, he made the career decision to relocate to Canberra to take up the position of policy advisor to senior Cabinet Ministers in the Rudd/Gillard governments, then moving to Sydney in 2011 as a strategic consultant for Novartis. 

Managing Director, Department of Transport Western Australia; Chair, Towards Zero Foundation (UK); Independent Director, Australasian New Car Assessment Program; Member, Queen Elizabeth II, Medical Centre Trust

Iain is the Managing Director of the Western Australian Department of Transport. He was Commissioner of Road Safety in 2017-18 and Executive Director of the WA Office of Road Safety and member of the Road Safety Council from 2000 to 2015.

Iain chaired the WA Road Safety Council from 2017 to 2022 providing advice to the Minister for Road Safety for initiatives to reduce road trauma.

The Council lead the development and implementation of the Driving Change road safety strategy for WA 2020-2030 following the Towards Zero Strategy 2008-2020 which achieved its aim to reduce serious road trauma by 40%.

Iain is an Independent Director on the Board of the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) and Chair and a Trustee of the Towards Zero Foundation (UK charity) which includes Global NCAP. He is currently co-chair of the Commonwealth Road Safety Initiative.

Iain has worked in diverse public-sector roles with policy, strategy and leadership experience in community, tertiary and school education, public health, drug strategy, transport, roads and road safety.

Nationally, Iain has chaired policy, strategy and research initiatives in road safety. Internationally, Iain has chaired and contributed to OECD/International Transport Forum working groups and he has participated country peer reviews for road safety, community education and research.

Iain seeks to achieve outcomes through a focus on people, engagement, values and collaboration for results to make a difference for communities locally and globally ensuring no-one is left behind.

In 2014 Iain was awarded as a Fellow of the Australasian College of Road Safety by Sir Peter Cosgrove, Governor-General of Australia and in 2016 Iain was awarded a Prince Michael of Kent International Award for Road Safety.

In the 2024 Australia Day Honours Iain was awarded the Public Service Medal (PSM), for outstanding public service through leadership in Road Safety in Western Australia, by the Honourable David Hurley, Governor–General of Australia

Kylie joined the Western Australia Police Force in 1988 and performed general duties in the Perth Metropolitan area until 1994 when she completed Covert Training and Detective Training. Kylie was appointed a Detective at the Perth Criminal Investigation Branch in 1993

In 2001 she was promoted to Sergeant in the Operational Safety and Tactic Training Unit at the WA Police Academy becoming a weapons and tactics instructor and worked on key programs. In 2003 Kylie returned to covert operations until 2007 she was promoted to the Officer in Charge of the South West Detectives in Regional WA.

In 2012 she returned to Perth and took on the role as Divisional Head at the Investigative Practices Unit leading and coordinating change in the agency’s investigation practices. She was awarded the Australian Police Medal in 2013.

In 2013 Kylie moved to the Mid-West Gascoyne District in the North of WA as Inspector and later was promoted to Superintendent of the District covering 19 Police Stations including the remote location of the Burringurrah Multi-Functional Policing Facility, reaching through to stations as far north as Meekatharra and south to Jurien Bay.

In 2015 Kylie was promoted to Commander in the State Crime Portfolio responsible for Forensic, Licensing Enforcement, Family Violence and a range of other agency priorities., In 2018 she implemented change to the Metropolitan Policing Operations across Perth. In 2018 she was appointed to Assistant Commissioner of the Judicial Services and Operations Support Portfolio before being appointed the head of Professional Standards encompassing Internal Affairs Division, Police Complaints, Security and Risk (Cybersecurity) and the Management Audit Unit.

Kylie then moved to the Deputy Commissioner role for the WA Police Force in January 2022 and was substantively appointed on 6th September 2022 being responsible for State Crime, Specialist and Support Services, Standards and Legal and the State Intelligence and Command Portfolio.

Melesha Sands was appointed to the position of Deputy Director General, Schools in 2021. She is responsible for providing leadership and strategic direction for eight education regions and networks of schools across the State. All Directors of Education report to this position.

Ms Sands was previously Executive Director, Recovery and Coordination, and has previously led the Department’s COVID-19 incident management team. Her extensive educational leadership includes principalships at Swan View Senior High School and Belridge Secondary College, and leadership positions in regional and metropolitan secondary schools.

A 2017 Principal Fellow, Ms Sands has made significant contributions to the public school system in strategic planning, innovation, and progressing the Department’s Leadership Strategy.

Dr Andrew (Andy) Robertson, CSC PSM, is the Chief Health Officer and Assistant Director General within the Public and Aboriginal Health Division in the Western Australia Department of Health (WA Health). With specialist qualifications in Public Health Medicine and Medical Administration, he served with the Royal Australian Navy from 1984 until 2003. Since 2003, in his role as Director, Disaster Management in WA Health, he has been involved in preparing for and managing health responses to a range of state and international disasters, including the Asian tsunami, Java earthquake, Nepal earthquake, Fukushima radiation incident and local cyclones, bushfires and heatwaves. He has been undertaking the current role since June 2018, including leading the WA Health response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

John has a wealth of knowledge having had state-wide responsibility for asset management, regional construction and maintenance delivery strategies and functions. In addition to working throughout the state, he has led the areas of heavy vehicle and road network operations. He also had national leadership responsibility and international experience as an Australian representative on the World Road Association (PIARC).

Director General – Transport

In November 2021, Peter Woronzow was appointed to the position of Director General – Department of Transport, which also sees him hold the concurrent roles of Chief Executive Officer of the Public Transport Authority and Commissioner of Main Roads. Peter had been undertaking the role since March 2020.

Peter is responsible for setting the strategic direction of transport for the State, shaping the development of all major integrated transport plans and leading the implementation of some of WA's most transformational capital projects. Prior to his appointment at Director General, Peter held the role of Managing Director Main Roads since 2016.

Peter is a member of CPA Australia, Chairman of the Australian Road Research Board, Director on the Board of Austroads Ltd, and is an ex officio Board Member of Infrastructure WA.

Director General

Anthony joined the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage as Director General in February 2022 with more than four decades of experience working in the Western Australian public sector.

Most recently Anthony was Managing Director of METRONET and was responsible for delivering one of the State’s most significant public transport infrastructure programs. Working collaboratively across government and with industry, Anthony led his team to undertake the initial planning and development of METRONET projects including the establishment of program timelines and budget. He oversaw the creation of a number of complex business cases and the start of construction of multiple METRONET projects.

Anthony has worked across several State Government agencies, mainly focussed on strategic advice to the Government on infrastructure prioritisation and investment, in addition to the general resourcing requirements of public sector agencies. From 2008 to 2014 he served on the Board of Infrastructure Australia.

Anthony is dedicated to building a future for our State supported by a strong economy and well-connected, diverse and affordable places that allow Western Australians to participate in all aspects of their community. His public service career and commitment to transport and infrastructure reform, particularly through METRONET, was acknowledged with the Public Service Medal in the 2022 Australia Day Honours.

Acting Chief Executive

Helen is the Acting Chief Executive at the Insurance Commission after joining as Chief Operating Officer in July 2024.

Helen previously held a range of leadership roles in finance, with St John of God Healthcare, Synergy and Western Power and was most recently the National Director (Operations) with Serco.

Helen brings a wide range of experience across government and non-government organisations, providing strategy and operational leadership across healthcare, utilities and facilities management.