Our members

Business and community members

Tim Matthews – Chair

A respected and active leader in the Central Highlands business community, Tim has expertise in marketing and small business. He heads many successful hospitality businesses and was previously a board member of Ballarat Regional Tourism and Chair of the Ballarat Business Centre. Tim’s commitment to the region he grew up in is clear, returning for his second term with the Central Highlands Regional Partnership.

Tim is passionate about listening to the Central Highlands community and bringing its voice to the heart of Government. In his first term with the Partnership, Tim was a key advocate for the tourism, hospitality and premium agricultural produce sectors. Now as Chair, he is keenly aware of the important role the Partnership can play in supporting the region as it recovers from the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Wendy Sturgess – Deputy Chair

Wendy has a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of the needs of children, young people, and families in the Central Highlands. As the CEO of Cafs, she has played a key role in advocating for and supporting vulnerable families in the region. Her expertise in strategy development, communication, and negotiation has been instrumental in driving effective advocacy and engaging with diverse communities. Wendy's leadership and commitment to making a positive impact in the community are evident through her involvement in various executive and advisory roles. She continues to be a driving force in creating a better future for families in the Central Highlands.

Karen Heap AM

Since becoming the Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative (BADAC) CEO in 2004, Karen’s leadership has driven a significant expansion of services and programs to meet the needs of the rapidly growing Ballarat region Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, including supporting them towards self-determination.

Karen is a proud Yorta Yorta woman and is widely regarded as an inspirational leader by her staff and colleagues, government agencies and bodies, and most importantly, by her Ballarat region Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Karen was inducted into the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll in 2020 and the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll in 2019.

Sophie Ellis

Sophie is a Senior Youth Advocate at Victoria Legal Aid, where she provides legal advice and support to young people. She has worked for many years in the community legal sector, including at Youthlaw Ballarat, where she assisted young people, workers and their families through the Health Justice Partnership with Ballarat Community Health and Federation University. Through her work, Sophie has built collaborative networks to improve understanding of how law can be a positive driver of change to improve health and life outcomes for children and young people. Sophie is a member of Australian Lawyers for Human Rights and a keen advocate for social justice and environmental sustainability. Along with Sophie's expertise in law, she also brings a strong skillset in research and analysis, mediation and communication and a deep knowledge of social justice issues in the Central Highlands.

Brett Edgington

Brett is the Secretary of Ballarat Trades and Labour Council, representing a diverse range of unionised workforces across health, manufacturing, education, emergency services, the public sector and many more. Brett has experience on many community boards including Prevention of Violence, the Tech School and the Foto Biennale. He brings a strong skillset in crisis management and communications, grassroots organising, state and local government, coaching, and the not-for-profit sector. Brett is passionate about supporting a decision-making process through the Central Highlands Regional Partnership that is consultative, thoughtful, evidence-based and community-focused.

Elizabeth Corbett

Elizabeth (Liz) lives in beautiful Daylesford within the Hepburn Shire. She is an experienced non-executive director, small business owner, tertiary educator and management consultant having worked with organisations across Australia and internationally. Liz has over 26 years governance experience as a non-executive director on a range of boards within government, health, community services, disability and professional associations.

Liz is currently a non-executive director with CVGT Employment, deputy chair on the Daylesford Macedon Tourism Board and independent member on the Nominations Committee of Outcome Health. Prior to these positions, she held numerous positions including Chair of Yooralla Society Victoria, Treasurer of General Practice Support Services Ltd. and President of the Victorian State Government’s Disability Services Board.

Liz is a graduate and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds a Master of Health Administration, Bachelor of Social and Graduate Diploma in Management.

Regional Development Australia representative

Stuart Benjamin

Stuart Benjamin is the Chair of RDA Grampians and has led the committee since 2012. He is a strong advocate for the region, with over 25 years’ experience across multiple business sectors and is the Director of the Elmstone Property Group – a multi-faceted land and construction group operating across Western Victoria – as well as the Director of Aviation Accommodation Australia.

Stuart also chairs the Small Business Ministerial Council (SBMC) and the Grampians New Energy Taskforce (GNeT) – working across the region to lead new approaches and practices to drive a low-carbon economy in Victoria.

Prior to these roles, Stuart was the Chair of the Australian domain name regulator auDA, founding Chair of Ballarat Regional Tourism Board and previously held a board position at Enterprising Committees (trading as VERB), a not-for-profit with a focus on strengthening the connections between communities.

Born and raised in regional Victoria, Stuart studied and worked around the globe before settling in Ballarat in 2000 where he now lives with his four children.

Victorian Government representative

Dr Lance Emerson, Deputy Secretary, Victorian Agency for Health Information, Department of Health

Local Government CEOs

Dr Tim Harrison – Chief Executive Officer, Ararat Rural City Council

Dr Tim Harrison came to the Chief Executive Officer role at Ararat Rural City Council after a diverse career including senior roles in local government in Victoria and Queensland, developing social enterprise organisations in the community sector, as well as leadership, research and engagement roles in higher education. Tim’s local government experience includes senior roles in engineering, service delivery and corporate strategy.

Tim holds a qualification in engineering, a Master of Business Administration and a doctorate where he explored relationships between social policy and community engagement. He is the author of government-funded reports on regional social service delivery and regional population dispersal and he has undertaken significant economic development projects in regional communities. Tim established the Regional Incubator for Social and Economic Research (RISER) and remains passionate about working with communities throughout rural and regional Victoria

Eric Braslis – Chief Executive Officer, Golden Plains Shire Council

Eric Braslis was appointed Golden Plains Shire Council’s Chief Executive Officer in December 2017, bringing more than 30 years’ local government experience to the role. Prior to leading Golden Plains, Eric was Gannawarra Shire Council’s CEO for more than two years.

Over the last 15 years, Eric has worked in senior executive positions at City of Ballarat, Stonnington City Council, and Hobsons Bay City Council. During this time he has led several large and high-performing teams in areas such as City Infrastructure, Growth and Development, Planning, Environment and Community Services.

Adding to his vast experience, Eric has a Bachelor of Applied Arts, Urban and Regional Planning Degrees (Toronto, Canada) and a Masters of Business Administration (Deakin University). He has completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors course and the Executive Leadership program at Harvard University (Boston, United States), and is a graduate of LGPro’s XLP program.

Eric is a board member of PINARC Disability Services, Victorian Building Authority (Building Appeals Board) and G21 Regional Alliance.

Bradley Thomas – Chief Executive Officer, Hepburn Shire Council

Bradley joined Council in January 2019, having previously held the position of Executive Manager, Business Performance, with the Mount Alexander Shire Council. Bradley has extensive knowledge of local government finance, information technology and corporate reporting. Bradley holds a B.Comm, an MBA and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. He is passionate about ensuring a high functioning organisation that delivers quality services to the community.

Derek Madden – Chief Executive Officer, Moorabool Shire Council

Derek Madden commence as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Moorabool Shire in 2018 and was previously employed by Cardinia Shire Council as General Manager Corporate Services. Prior to this, Derek worked at the Moreland City Council, City of Melbourne and Exon-Mobile. Prior to moving to Australia Derek worked in Ireland and the United Kingdom. He holds a Certificate in Digital Strategies for Business, Masters of Applied Science in Organisational Dynamics, an MBA from Victoria Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Business from the University of Limerick, Ireland.

Jim Nolan – Chief Executive Officer, Pyrenees Shire Council

Jim was appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with Pyrenees Shire Council in December 2014. He has a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) and 25 years’ experience in local government at Glenelg, Southern Grampians and Northern Grampians. Jim has experience across infrastructure, project delivery, community and economic development.

As CEO, Jim is responsible for the day-to-day operations of Council, the delivery of the Council Plan and the implementation of Council decisions. Jim also has direct responsibility for economic development and communications.

Evan King – Chief Executive Officer, City of Ballarat

Evan King commenced as City of Ballarat in February 2021. Previously, Evan was Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hepburn Shire and has a Local Government career including executive roles at Pyrenees Shire Council as the Director of Corporate and Community Services and Hepburn Shire Council as the General Manager Corporate Services.

Prior to working in Local Government, Evan had an extensive career working in manufacturing and held senior management positions with Mars Wrigley and FMP (Bendix Mintex) as well as working within the social sector as the Business Manager for Salvation Army Western Victoria.

Evan has a Bachelor of Business from Federation University, is a qualified CPA and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Having lived and worked in rural and regional Victoria all his life, Evan is passionate about rural living and ensuring that those who live in regional Victoria have access to high-quality services and facilities.