Commissioner
Tracy Mackey is the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner. She commenced in the role in January 2022 and has been appointed for a three-year term.
Tracy has extensive professional experience in policy, programs and regulation across a number of portfolios including town planning, housing, environment and social services.
She has deep experience in government having spent time in all three tiers and comes to the NDIS Commission most recently from the NSW public sector. Tracy was most recently the Chief Executive Officer at the Environment Protection Authority leading the organisation through a period of transformation. During her time with the Commonwealth, Tracy held senior executive positions in immigration, health and ageing, community and emergency services.
Tracy has also spent time at the executive level at a large not for profit provider, at a multi-national consulting firm and leading her own consulting practice. Complementing her executive roles Tracy brings experience as a non-executive director on a number of Boards.
Complaints Commissioner
Sian Leathem is the Complaints Commissioner. She commenced in the role in January 2022 and has two decades of senior executive experience in both State and Commonwealth agencies across a range of dispute resolution and regulatory areas. Prior to joining the Commission, she was the Registrar and CEO of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), which is responsible for conducting independent merits review of administrative decisions made under Commonwealth laws, including a range of decisions relevant to the NDIS.
Sian led the project team responsible for merging twenty-two existing tribunals into the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) and performed the role of Principal Registrar of that amalgamated tribunal.
Prior to her role at NCAT, Sian was the Registrar of the Workers Compensation Commission of NSW. She also has a wealth of legal policy experience that she gained through various roles in the NSW Attorney General’s Department and in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Sian has received an Excellence in Government Legal Service Award from the Law Society of New South Wales and an Excellence in Leadership Award from the NSW Department of Justice. In 2011 Sian was the recipient of a Young Public Sector Leader Award by the Institute of Public Administration Australia.
Deputy Commissioner, Regulatory Operations (Registrar)
Catherine Myers is an experienced regulator, having most recently headed up the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) as their Chief Executive Officer. Catherine has held various Committee of Management and Board positions for not-for-profit organisations. She holds a Bachelor of Education and a Master of Business Administration and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Catherine is passionate about people and performance. She has a focus on building strong organisational culture, leading transformation and inspiring teams to deliver outstanding results. Catherine has leveraged her experience in change management and communication to deliver practice improvements in regulation. She has overseen the design of risk-based regulatory tools and implemented significant change programs resulting in improved capability, service delivery and regulatory outcomes.
In 2019, Catherine’s contribution was recognised by the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) in the Top 50 Public Sector Women (Victoria) which recognises women for their leadership, inspiration and accomplishment. Also in 2019, her organisation was awarded the IPAA (Vic) Innovative Regulation Award for the development of a new digital risk assessment tool.
General Counsel and Assistant Commissioner, Legal & Internal Integrity
Kenneth Teoh is the NDIS Commission’s General Counsel and Assistant Commissioner, Legal & Internal Integrity. He joined the NDIS Commission in November 2022.
Ken leads the provision of legal advice to the NDIS Quality & Safeguards Commissioner and the full range of legal services across the NDIS Commission. He also oversees the Commission’s accountability functions such as handling of complaints about the Commission, requests under the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act 1982, disclosures under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013, and review of decisions made by the Commission.
Ken has over 20 years experience working in legal roles within Commonwealth regulators, and has also spent time in regulatory and enforcement roles. Prior to that, he was a solicitor at the Australian Government Solicitor specialising in administrative/government law litigation.
Senior Practitioner
Jeffrey Chan commenced as the Senior Practitioner, Behaviour Support on 9 July 2018. Mr Chan has worked in disability and health services for nearly 30 years in government, non-government and statutory roles. He was the inaugural Victorian Senior Practitioner with the responsibility of protecting the rights of people with disability subject to restrictive interventions and compulsory detention. Mr Chan was also Queensland’s inaugural Chief Practitioner and Director of Forensic Disability (a Governor-in-Council appointment) where he was responsible for protecting the rights of people with cognitive impairment subject to restrictive practices and those in the forensic disability setting. Prior to his current role, Jeffrey Chan was Deputy CEO of the largest intellectual disability service provider in Singapore.
Chief Operating Officer
Lisa Pulko commenced as the NDIS Commission’s acting Chief Operating Officer in April 2022 for a 12-month period. Prior to this role, she was the Assistant Secretary, Finance Enabling Groups in the Department of Defence.
Ms Pulko has worked in a number of roles across the Department of Defence and the Department of Home Affairs and its previous iterations. She has been responsible for improving financial systems, policies and processes at Defence, as well as contributing to the design of sustainable budgeting arrangements. Ms Pulko delivered the Commonwealth Budget for Home Affairs, designed prioritisation frameworks and business improvement approaches, negotiated large contracts and delivered high quality and timely advice to support sound decision making by government.
Ms Pulko also has previous experience in a big four advisory firm and in a small Commonwealth Government agency.
Assistant Commissioner, Planning Performance Engagement
Niki Strachan is the (Acting) Assistant Commissioner, Planning Performance Engagement. Her role supports the Commissioner, parliamentary process, communications and engagement, and the implementation of the NDIS Commission’s strategy.
Niki is passionate about inspiring excellence in corporate and educational settings, which is executed in a socially responsible way. She cares deeply about social justice and creating agency for the next generation.
Niki has over 20 years’ experience in the public and private sectors; and has worked in the sport, financial services, digital and social services sectors. She has experience in the disciplines of leadership, problem solving, risk, strategy, governance, financial management and change management. These are supplemented by skills and experience in enterprise architecture, enterprise resource management, procurement, business process improvement, capability uplift, media and communication.
General Manager, Policy, Markets and Insights
Alisa Chambers is the (Acting) General Manager, Policy, Markets and Insights. She commenced with the NDIS Commission in February 2022 as the Assistant Commissioner Planning, Performance and Engagement. Her role supports the NDIS Commissioner to uphold the rights of NDIS participants through high quality evidence, analysis and policy advice on the regulations of the NDIS market.
Throughout her career, Alisa has worked in areas that deal with highly sensitive and complex social issues, such as aged care, disability and policy reform, child protection services, early childhood education, and environmental regulation. She is committed to improving communities, particularly for the most vulnerable among us.
Alisa has designed and delivered major reform and cultural change programs on behalf of government and organisations. She has an inclusive leadership approach, coupled with qualifications in change leadership, which allow her to skilfully manage diverse stakeholder priorities to deliver an optimal outcome.