CEnet Limited Adopts an Amended Constitution and Appoints a New Board of Directors
Following a comprehensive review of its governance arrangements, CEnet’s member dioceses have recently adopted an amended constitution and appointed a new board of directors.
The new board comprises nine directors including an independent chair, four independent directors and four member nominated directors. This replaces the previous board model of sixteen directors representing each member diocese.
Referring to a report prepared by Effective Governance, the new governance model has the advantage of retaining four directors intimately involved in the management of Catholic school systems whilst being complemented with directors specifically chosen to meet the key skills required by the board. It provides flexibility in appointing “skills–based” directors, while retaining the knowledge and experience of CEnet’s customer base at board level.
The model is also scalable in that new members can be added to the company without any change in board structure, and the board can be sized appropriately. Further, it allows the use of members’ reserved powers to ensure that the voice of members is heard in key matters.
The new CEnet board officially commenced on 1 January 2021.
CEnet’s Board of Directors
Mr Bill Armagnacq (Independent)
Formerly a senior executive at Heritage Bank, Bill is an experienced non-executive director, company secretary and chair with key skills in corporate governance, risk, finance and legal within the APRA regulated sector. Bill brings specialist expertise in the areas of corporate governance, risk management and compliance. Bill was previously chair of the Glennie School Board Toowoomba.
Mr Jim Clarke (Independent)
Jim brings extensive global ICT experience in investment management in the energy, utilities, telecoms and transport sectors. Having previously headed up Products, Pricing and Marketing for Telstra Global in Hong Kong, Jim has specialist competencies in the areas of stakeholder engagement, change management, strategic planning, transformation and board governance.
Mr Patrick Cooper (Member Nominated, Diocese of Bathurst)
Patrick is the Diocesan Financial Administrator for the Catholic Diocese of Bathurst. An experienced General Manager and Chartered Accountant, Patrick was previously employed as the General Manager, Information Services (CIO) for Essential Energy (formerly Country Energy). Patrick was appointed to the CEnet board in 2019.
Mr Peter Effeney (Independent Chair)
Peter has a strong shared services background with experience in complex stakeholder organisations. He was the inaugural CEO of SPARQ Solutions (the ICT service provider of Queensland’s two government owned electricity companies). Peter was also CIO and General Manager of Service and Process at Ergon Energy. Peter has been appointed by the members as the Independent Chair of CEnet.
Ms Joanne Ford (Independent)
Joanne has experience in dynamic start-ups and complex listed multinationals in retail FMCG, technology and health education businesses in ANZ, North America and South Africa. An experienced non-executive director, Joanne has strong leadership, finance, operations, governance, risk management and ICT experience in the for-profit and for purpose/not-for-profit sectors.
Miss Leesa Jeffcoat AM (Member Nominated, Diocese of Rockhampton)
Leesa has extensive experience as an educator and administrator in Catholic and independent schools having been the Diocesan Director of Catholic Education (Diocese of Rockhampton) since 2001. Leesa was the former Chairman of Mercy Health and Aged Care Central Queensland Limited and Chair of the Queensland Studies Authority. In 2013 Leesa was awarded the honour of Member of the Order of Australia in the General Division. Leesa has been a director of CEnet since 2007, having served as company chair for the past two years.
Ms Susan Rix (Independent)
An accomplished business leader and company director with over 35 years’ experience as a chartered accountant and corporate advisor assisting clients in varied aspects of commercial, financial and taxation matters. Susan's exceptional financial, audit and board governance skills were gained through her work with BDO, as non-executive director with the Queensland Rural Adjustment Authority (now QRIDA) and her experience as Chair of the Catholic Education Finance Committee.
Mr Milton Scott (Member Nominated, Archdiocese of Sydney)
Milton is the Director: Information Technology Services (ITS) at Sydney Catholic Schools having joined in 2002. Prior to joining Sydney Catholic Schools, Milton held commercial and senior IT executive roles with the ANZ Bank involving the deployment of business-critical systems throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Milton has been involved with CEnet since its inception as CASTNet in 2003 and has served on multiple committees and working groups during that time.
Mr Chris Smyth (Member Nominated, Diocese of Armidale)
As the Director of Schools in the Armidale Diocese since 2015, Chris has led the Armidale Diocese through a significant period of system and school improvement. This has resulted in building a learning culture of systemness that benefits from collaboration within and between schools resulting in improved academic growth and achievement. Chris has previously held leadership roles in secondary schools as Assistant Principal and Principal and Head of School K-12 and undertaken secondments at the system level in Wollongong, Broken Bay and Wagga Wagga.
CEnet serves seventeen Catholic dioceses in the provision of ICT services to 770+ Catholic schools across New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory.
Following a comprehensive review of its governance arrangements, CEnet’s member dioceses have recently adopted an amended constitution and appointed a new board of directors.
The new board comprises nine directors including an independent chair, four independent directors and four member nominated directors. This replaces the previous board model of sixteen directors representing each member diocese.
Referring to a report prepared by Effective Governance, the new governance model has the advantage of retaining four directors intimately involved in the management of Catholic school systems whilst being complemented with directors specifically chosen to meet the key skills required by the board. It provides flexibility in appointing “skills–based” directors, while retaining the knowledge and experience of CEnet’s customer base at board level.
The model is also scalable in that new members can be added to the company without any change in board structure, and the board can be sized appropriately. Further, it allows the use of members’ reserved powers to ensure that the voice of members is heard in key matters.
The new CEnet board officially commenced on 1 January 2021.
CEnet’s Board of Directors
Mr Bill Armagnacq (Independent)
Formerly a senior executive at Heritage Bank, Bill is an experienced non-executive director, company secretary and chair with key skills in corporate governance, risk, finance and legal within the APRA regulated sector. Bill brings specialist expertise in the areas of corporate governance, risk management and compliance. Bill was previously chair of the Glennie School Board Toowoomba.
Mr Jim Clarke (Independent)
Jim brings extensive global ICT experience in investment management in the energy, utilities, telecoms and transport sectors. Having previously headed up Products, Pricing and Marketing for Telstra Global in Hong Kong, Jim has specialist competencies in the areas of stakeholder engagement, change management, strategic planning, transformation and board governance.
Mr Patrick Cooper (Member Nominated, Diocese of Bathurst)
Patrick is the Diocesan Financial Administrator for the Catholic Diocese of Bathurst. An experienced General Manager and Chartered Accountant, Patrick was previously employed as the General Manager, Information Services (CIO) for Essential Energy (formerly Country Energy). Patrick was appointed to the CEnet board in 2019.
Mr Peter Effeney (Independent Chair)
Peter has a strong shared services background with experience in complex stakeholder organisations. He was the inaugural CEO of SPARQ Solutions (the ICT service provider of Queensland’s two government owned electricity companies). Peter was also CIO and General Manager of Service and Process at Ergon Energy. Peter has been appointed by the members as the Independent Chair of CEnet.
Ms Joanne Ford (Independent)
Joanne has experience in dynamic start-ups and complex listed multinationals in retail FMCG, technology and health education businesses in ANZ, North America and South Africa. An experienced non-executive director, Joanne has strong leadership, finance, operations, governance, risk management and ICT experience in the for-profit and for purpose/not-for-profit sectors.
Miss Leesa Jeffcoat AM (Member Nominated, Diocese of Rockhampton)
Leesa has extensive experience as an educator and administrator in Catholic and independent schools having been the Diocesan Director of Catholic Education (Diocese of Rockhampton) since 2001. Leesa was the former Chairman of Mercy Health and Aged Care Central Queensland Limited and Chair of the Queensland Studies Authority. In 2013 Leesa was awarded the honour of Member of the Order of Australia in the General Division. Leesa has been a director of CEnet since 2007, having served as company chair for the past two years.
Ms Susan Rix (Independent)
An accomplished business leader and company director with over 35 years’ experience as a chartered accountant and corporate advisor assisting clients in varied aspects of commercial, financial and taxation matters. Susan's exceptional financial, audit and board governance skills were gained through her work with BDO, as non-executive director with the Queensland Rural Adjustment Authority (now QRIDA) and her experience as Chair of the Catholic Education Finance Committee.
Mr Milton Scott (Member Nominated, Archdiocese of Sydney)
Milton is the Director: Information Technology Services (ITS) at Sydney Catholic Schools having joined in 2002. Prior to joining Sydney Catholic Schools, Milton held commercial and senior IT executive roles with the ANZ Bank involving the deployment of business-critical systems throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Milton has been involved with CEnet since its inception as CASTNet in 2003 and has served on multiple committees and working groups during that time.
Mr Chris Smyth (Member Nominated, Diocese of Armidale)
As the Director of Schools in the Armidale Diocese since 2015, Chris has led the Armidale Diocese through a significant period of system and school improvement. This has resulted in building a learning culture of systemness that benefits from collaboration within and between schools resulting in improved academic growth and achievement. Chris has previously held leadership roles in secondary schools as Assistant Principal and Principal and Head of School K-12 and undertaken secondments at the system level in Wollongong, Broken Bay and Wagga Wagga.
CEnet serves seventeen Catholic dioceses in the provision of ICT services to 770+ Catholic schools across New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory.
