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INDIGENOUS BUSINESS AUSTRALIA
IBA acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea, and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, to the Elders past, present, and emerging.
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our board

The IBA Board is made up of eminent Indigenous and non-Indigenous members with expertise in business. The majority of the Board including the Chair are Indigenous. Board members are appointed by the Minister under section 157 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005 (Cth).


Mr Edward (Eddie) Fry

Chair of the Board
Reappointed Chair of the Board, 18 December 2021
Term ends, 17 December 2024

Eddie Fry is a Dagoman-Wardaman man from the Katherine region in the Northern Territory. He has extensive experience within the Australian resource sector and is a specialist in Indigenous and native title issues. He holds a Diploma in Business Management from the University of South Australia and is a graduate of the International Lead and Zinc Study Group.

Based in Adelaide, Eddie is a former director and a retained consultant of TNG Ltd, an Australian resource company focused on the exploration, evaluation and development of a multicommodity resource portfolio in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. He is a member of the development team for the TNG Ltd Mount Peake project.

Eddie is an executive director of Gimbulki Ltd, a native title land access company he established in 2002, Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Board at Broadspectrum (since 2010), Deputy Chair of the Aboriginal Foundation of  South Australia Inc. and Chair of Todd River Resources Limited.

Eddie held senior executive roles with Normandy Mining Ltd, where he established the company’s Traditional Owner policy. He was also involved with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, Aboriginal Development Commission and Department of Aviation.

Eddie is a member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee.
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Ms Claire Woodley

Board Director
Appointed, 22 October 2012
Term ends, 24 October 2025

Claire Woodley’s diverse background includes experience in the banking sector, as well as clinical and managerial experience in the delivery of public mental health services. She has a passion for driving equal access to opportunity across the community, with a specific interest in providing opportunities for enablement for Indigenous people.

Claire brings to the Board her broad business banking experience and her corporate experience in governance, risk management, strategic planning, policy development, business re-engineering, and project and program management. She also has experience in project portfolio governance, including risk and quality oversight of the delivery of global change programs.

Claire has formal qualifications in occupational therapy, psychology and project management. She is also a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Claire is also a member of the Finance, Investment and Products Committee and the Remuneration and Nomination Committee.
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Ms Shirley McPherson

Board Director
Appointed, 18 December 2021
Term ends, 17 December 2024

Shirley McPherson is a Yamatji and Nyoongar woman from the Perth and Murchison regions of Western Australia. She has experience in program delivery and business development at the regional, national and international levels of government.

Shirley is a Chartered Accountant and has held senior positions in the private, government and university sectors. She is currently a National Business Development and Engagement Manager for AFL SportsReady.

Shirley has been a consultant to the mining industry in negotiating land use agreements in Western Australia and held roles as Group Manager of Indigenous Strategy and Business with Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd. She was member of the Australian Government delegation to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Her previous board appointments included Chair of Ngarda Civil and Mining Pty Ltd (2011–13) and the Indigenous Land Corporation (2001–11), and board member of McArthur River Mining Community Benefits Trust (2009–14).

Shirley is a member of the Audit, Risk and Performance Committee.
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Mr Richard (Rick) Allert AO

Board Director
Reappointed, 18 December 2021
Term ends, 17 December 2024

Rick Allert is a Chartered Accountant with many years of experience in the corporate sector. He is a director of Genesee and Wyoming Inc. and its Australian subsidiary, Genesee and Wyoming Australia Pty Ltd; Chairman of Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia Pty Ltd; Chairman of Kakadu Tourism (GLC) Pty Ltd and Kakadu Tourism (GCH) Pty Ltd; and Chair of AMP Superannuation Ltd and NM Superannuation Pty Ltd.

Rick’s previous appointments include chair of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited, Tourism Australia, Coles Myer Ltd and Coles Group Limited, Southcorp Limited, AustralAsia Railway Corporation, Voyages Hotels and Resorts Pty Ltd, and the Aboriginal Foundation of South Australia Inc.; and Director of AMP Limited and AMP Bank Limited.

In 2011, Rick was the recipient of the Ernst & Young Champion of Entrepreneurship Award, Central Region, for his long record of outstanding entrepreneurial achievement and contribution to the community.

Rick was awarded a member of the Order of Australia (1997) particularly for his work with the National Heart Foundation; a Centenary Medal (2003) for service to rail, business and taxation; and an officer of the Order of Australia (2008) for leadership in corporate social responsibility.

Rick is the chair of the Audit, Risk and Performance Committee and a member of the Finance, Investment and Products Committee.
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Mr Rick Callaghan

Board Director
Appointed,  17 December 2021 
Term ends, 16 December 2024

Richard (Rick) Callaghan is a Potaruwutj man whose Aboriginal family originate from the Padthaway region in SE South Australia, but was born in the Northern Territory. He has extensive experience within the Australian resource, community and business sector and is a specialist in business and heritage issues. He holds a Bachelor of Business Management from the University of South Australia and Graduate Diploma of Government (Fraud Investigation) Charles Sturt University.

Based in Adelaide, Rick is the founding Chairman and director of the Yaran Group of businesses including JLB-Yaran Pty Ltd a business working with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal defence force veterans, defence primes and Australian Government in defence related projects and TQCSI Yaran Pty Ltd an ISO accreditation business operating across Australia working alongside some of the largest defence primes operating in Australasia.

Rick is an executive director of Yaran Business Services established in 2000, having worked in a diverse range of business disciplines undertaking consulting projects, including; investigations, administrations, reviews and evaluations, heritage and native title management, health and aged care, business development, trust administration and other consulting projects. 

He is a member of the SA State Aboriginal Advisory Committee and the SA Industry Advisory Committee to the Premier and is an independent non-executive director on several Aboriginal Corporations.  He is also an independent non-executive director of Rural Remote Mental Health Pty Ltd a NFP body that promotes the “Deadly Thinking and Deadly Thinking Youth” Programmes, (Aboriginal Specific Mental Health programs) and the “Resource Minds” and “Rural Minds” programs. 

Rick is a Fellow of the South Australian Governors Leadership Foundation, a Certified Management Consultant with the Australian Institute of Management Consultants, and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
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Mr Josh Gilbert

Board Director
Appointed,  1 April 2022 
Term ends, 31 March 2025

Joshua Gilbert is a Worimi man, farmer and academic, who shares the narration of Indigenous identity through agricultural truths in light of modern contexts. His work seeks to connect traditional Aboriginal knowledge and history to current contexts, translating past wisdom and learning to future opportunities. Josh combines the old and the new, weaving them together to develop new insights and findings.

Josh is undertaking higher degree research at Charles Sturt University, is the Indigenous Co-Chair of Reconciliation NSW and was recently recognised within the world’s top 50 young gastronomers. He is an entrepreneur and business advisor, working predominantly in the Aboriginal cultural, agricultural and environmental spheres. He has worked with numerous of not-for-profits, businesses and the government to develop change and bring people on a journey of change. 

Josh pursues transformation through modern truth-telling, bringing new concepts to the forefront through acknowledgement of the past.

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The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flag
IBA acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea, and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, to the Elders past, present, and emerging.