The State Records Commission consists of three ex-officio members: the Auditor General, the Information Commissioner, and the Ombudsman; and a Governor's appointee with recordkeeping experience from outside Government (that is, someone who is not a public service officer under the terms of the Public Sector Management Act 1994).
The current members of the State Records Commission are:
Mr Chris Field (Chairperson)
Western Australian Ombudsman
Ex-officio Member
Ms Caroline Spencer
Auditor General
Ex-officio Member
Ms Catherine Fletcher
Acting Information Commissioner
Ex-officio Member
Mr Alan Ralph
Governor's Appointee
Mr Chris Field
Chairperson
Ombudsman for Western Australia
Ex-officio Member
(Commission member 2007-
Chair March 2016 -)
Chris Field is the Western Australian Ombudsman. He concurrently holds the role of Energy and Water Ombudsman. Chris is also the Chairman of the State Records Commission.
Chris is the Treasurer of the International Ombudsman Institute and a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of the Institute. He is also a member of the Integrity Coordinating Group.
Chris is an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Western Australia and founder and co-coordinator of the unit, Government Accountability – Law and Practice. Chris is also the author of a range of publications on law, economics and public policy, including the university text, Current Issues in Consumer Law and Policy. He is also the 'Consumer Dealings' editor of the Australian Business Law Review.
He commenced his career as a lawyer at Arthur Robinson and Hedderwicks (now Allens Linklaters), prior to holding the roles of Executive Director, Consumer Law Centre Victoria and Chairman, Australian Consumers’ Association (now Choice). Immediately prior to his appointment as Ombudsman, he was an inaugural Member of the Economic Regulation Authority. He holds Arts and Law (Honours) degrees.
Acting Information Commissioner
Ex-officio Member
Catherine holds law degrees and a graduate diploma in business management from the University of Western Australia. She was admitted to practice in Western Australia in 1991.
For most of her career, Catherine has worked as a legal officer in the public sector at both State and Commonwealth agencies including the (formerly named) Crown Solicitors Office, at the Commonwealth and State Offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions and at Legal Aid WA.
Catherine, for several years, taught law and legal practice courses at the Articles Training Program (run by the Legal Practice Board) and at the Universities of Notre Dame and Western Australia.
In addition to her legal work Catherine has held numerous voluntary roles on boards and committees including the Law Society of WA, Notre Dame University, Women Lawyers WA and several sporting organisations and governing bodies.
Catherine has always been active in several sports including Masters division water polo, representing WA on several occasions at national amateur surfing titles throughout Australia and has completed, in a team of four, the Rottnest Channel swim on four occasions.
Catherine has always had a keen interest in archival materials and historical research.
Caroline Spencer began her 10-year term as Western Australia’s 19th Auditor General in May 2018.
Caroline has extensive experience in state and federal public sector financial and performance audit. Prior to commencing as Auditor General, Caroline was Managing Partner and co-founder of a Canberra-based professional services firm where she led a team of financial and performance audit professionals, specialising in public sector audit and governance. In 2015, Caroline was appointed by the Parliament of Western Australia to lead the first statutory review of the performance of the Office of the Auditor General.
Having worked with public sector entities, audit offices and regulated entities across Australia and the Pacific, Caroline has a passion for promoting accountability and continuous improvement across the public sector and the audit profession – to enhance trust and performance for the benefit of the communities they serve.
Caroline has held a number of predominantly public sector appointments on boards and committees in multiple jurisdictions.
Having also worked for a ‘Big 4’ and a smaller Chartered firm, Caroline has audited publicly listed companies and some of Australia’s largest utilities. She is a Fellow and non-executive Director of CPA Australia, Chartered Accountant and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Governance Institute of Australia. She has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology Sydney.
Mr Alan Ralph
Governor's Appointee
Alan Ralph currently has his own Consultancy Services company specialising in Archive analysis and advice.
Alan was the State Director, National Archives of Australia (NAA) Western Australia (WA) from 2003-2018, leading and managing the performance and delivery of NAA archive and recordkeeping services to the public and government agencies in WA.
Alan has over 34 years’ experience in the National Archives working as a leader and manager of teams in both the NAA WA and Canberra (National) offices, focused on the development and delivery of archive and recordkeeping programs.
This experience also includes managing the performance, improvement and effectiveness of a unique multi-story 5500sqm archival facility in Perth.
Throughout his career Alan has held numerous voluntary roles on archive, records management and public sector boards and committees including Curtin University of Technology, Department of Information Studies, Edith Cowan University, School of Computer and Security Science, Records and Information Management Professionals Australasia (RIMPA), Australian Government, Public Sector Leadership (WA) Executive committee. He was the Convener of Australian Society of Archivists, WA Branch for over 10 years.
Alan has been an active participant in several amateur sports including Australian Rules Football, as a player, official for over 35 years and President of 13 years for a Perth based amateur football club. In 2014 he was awarded Life Membership of the Western Australian Amateur Football League (WAAFL) for his extensive commitments, efforts and involvement in amateur football. Currently based in Sydney, Alan continues his commitment and involvement in AFL. He regularly assists at the Sydney Swans AFL Academy.
Former members of the State Records Commission
Mr Des Pearson (Inaugural Chairperson)
Ex-officio Member (Auditor General), July 2001 – September 2006
Ms Bronwyn Keighley-Gerardy
Ex-officio Member (Information Commissioner), July 2001 – October 2003
Mr Murray Allen
Ex-officio Member (Western Australian Ombudsman), July – September 2001
Ms Kandy-Jane Henderson (First Governor's Appointee)
Governor’s Appointee (Archivist, John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library), July 2001 – December 2008
Mr Alex Errington
Ex-officio Member (Acting Western Australian Ombudsman), September 2001 – March 2002
Ms Deirdre O’Donnell
Ex-officio Member (Western Australian Ombudsman), March 2002 – March 2007
Ms Darryl Wookey
Ex-officio Member (Acting Information Commissioner), November 2003 – October 2007
Mr John Lightowlers
Ex-officio Member (Acting Information Commissioner), October 2007 – May 2009
Mr Sven Bluemmel
Ex-officio Member (Information Commissioner), May 2009 - September 2017
Mr Colin Murphy
Ex-officio Member (Auditor General), January 2007 - May 2018
Ms Su Lloyd
Ex-officio Member (Acting Information Commissioner), October 2017-April 2018
Ms Lisa Ward
Ex-officio Member (Acting Information Commissioner), April 2018-August 2018
Ms Justine McDermott
Governor's Appointee, March 2009 - December 2018
Last updated 18 January 2019