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The Board
The Board consists of 11 members nominated by the Minister for Education and appointed by the Governor of South Australia, and the SACE Board's Chief Executive (ex officio).
Members have a broad range of relevant backgrounds and expertise required to enable the Board to carry out its functions effectively.
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Diarmid LEE
Presiding Member
Diarmid Lee is the Founder and Director of Leed Consulting, an organisational development consultancy that supports boards, executive teams and organisations to strengthen leadership, culture and performance. He works across Australia with a focus on building high-performing, inclusive and values-led workplaces.
Diarmid studied Psychology and Law at the University of Adelaide and began his career as a corporate lawyer. After relocating to London in 2008, he led senior leadership and organisational development projects across the UK and Europe before returning to Australia in 2010 to establish Leed Consulting.
Diarmid has more than 15 years’ experience as a board director across the education, community and not-for-profit sectors. In addition to serving as Presiding Member of the SACE Board, he is Chair of Relationships Australia South Australia and Chair of the Relationships Australia Federation National Council. He is also a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Corporate Directors Program.
His expertise spans leadership, governance, strategic planning and culture, with a strong commitment to creating environments where people, organisations and communities can thrive.
Susan JAMES RELLY
Deputy Presiding Member
Professor Susan James Relly is the Dean of the School of Education in the College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences. Susan completed a Bachelor of Education at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and read for a MSc in Comparative and International Education and a DPhil in Education at the University of Oxford. Susan’s entire career has been in education in various forms: she taught in secondary schools in Australia and England before starting her academic career.
She is an Honorary Research Fellow and former Deputy Dean of the Department of Education and Associate Head (Education) of the Social Sciences Division at the University of Oxford. Her research interests are in the areas of technical and vocational education and training policy, vocational excellence, apprenticeship, the tertiary landscape and skills economy.
Tim BROWNING
Board Member
Having enjoyed a distinguished career across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and the United Kingdom, Tim Browning was commissioned at the start of 2018 as the 15th Headmaster of St Peter’s College.
Tim attended the University of Queensland, obtaining Honours in Mechanical Engineering. He also holds a Graduate Diploma in Education , Master of Educational Studies, and Graduate Certificate in Theology.
Tim is passionate about education, curriculum development, and finding opportunities for students to experience both enthusiasm for, and a depth of, study. In 2018, Tim collaborated with the University of Adelaide to pilot Year 12 early entry to tertiary study based on prerequisite school subject results. Soon afterwards, he initiated the SACE Cyber Studies curriculum development project, which has now moved to pilot stage . This project has drawn in schools and students from all three sectors (Government, Catholic, and Independent) and sees industry experts delivering up-to-date curriculum material to South Australian students.
Georgette ELSTON
Board Member
Georgette is an experienced director with a demonstrated history of working in the public sector on high profile and transformational projects. Georgette is skilled in industrial policy, strategic planning, project management and stakeholder relations. She is a strong public administration professional with a Master of Arts (M.A.) focused in International Affairs from Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (Carleton University).
Becky HIRST
Board Member
Becky Hirst FRSA is a strategic planning consultant and Founder of HeyEngage, where she works with councils and government agencies on strategic planning and community engagement. Through her consulting and training work, she supports organisations to strengthen governance, build capability and involve communities meaningfully in decision-making.
With more than 27 years’ experience across Australia and the UK, Becky has served on ministerial and community boards, contributing to strategic governance, policy development and risk oversight. She has worked across sectors including health, environmental reform, child protection and state records, ensuring people affected by or interested in decisions - including young people, parents, carers, and First Nations communities - help shape policy and systems change.
Becky is the author of For the Love of Community Engagement and host of an international podcast. Her areas of expertise include strategic governance, change management and participatory decision-making. She has a particular interest in vocational education pathways, inclusive and flexible models of learning that recognise neurodiversity, and advancing equality in education systems.
Jayne HEATH
Board Member
As an educator and leader with 47 years of experience in the South Australian public school system, Jayne has in-depth understanding and knowledge of schools across a range of contexts. She holds a Degree in Education, and a Master of Education focused on professional learning.
Jayne’s leadership roles have involved working with international, national and state level professional education networks and local school communities to plan and implement strategic agendas aimed to improve educational outcomes for young people.
Jayne is motivated by her commitment to equity of access to high quality learning environments and programs. Ensuring our young people are able to access an education that prepares them for successful participation in an increasingly complex, local, national and global society drives her work.
Eva KANNIS-TORRY
Board Member
Eva’s 40-year career as an educator has provided her with experience in a range of educational settings in both the city and country. Leadership roles she has held include Counselling, Curriculum, Timetabling, and Development. For the past 10 years, she has been Principal at Thebarton Senior College, a category three index of disadvantage site that is also a school-based RTO and has a senior secondary new arrivals program, with students from over 76 cultural backgrounds speaking 55 different languages.
She has developed a deep understanding of the diverse needs of complex educational communities and secondary students, in particular those from CALD and disadvantaged backgrounds. Eva has actively advocated for the rights and educational opportunities of disadvantaged students in a range of forums.
For the last four years, she has served as the President of the South Australian Secondary Principals’ Association (SASPA). This role has given her unique insight into the needs of schools and leaders across the system.
Daniel LYNCH
Board Member
Daniel is an experienced school leader, and in 2023 was commissioned as the 21st Principal of Sacred Heart College. Prior to that appointment, Daniel was Principal at Christian Brothers College.
Daniel holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of South Australia, and a Masters of Educational Leadership from ACU.
Daniel has a great belief in students, a passion for improving student outcomes, and a determination to provide the right culture and opportunities for students to flourish.
Brad SNELL
Board Member
Brad Snell is Deputy Principal at Wilderness School, where he has held executive and senior leadership roles since 2013 and has served on the Executive Leadership Team since 2018.
Brad brings more than 15 years of SACE experience. He chairs the SACE Board's Accreditation, Recognition and Certification Standing Committee and serves as a SACE Board Member. Over his career he has contributed to the SACE as a Chief Examiner, Chief Moderator, and Lead Practitioner, alongside extensive curriculum writing and quality assurance work.
He holds a Bachelor of Education from Flinders University and a Master of Education from the University of Melbourne. He is currently completing an Executive MBA at Adelaide University and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors' Company Directors Course.
Ben TEMPERLY
Board Member
Ben Temperly is the Deputy Chief Executive, Strategy and Corporate Services at the Department for Education, responsible for strategic planning, finance, infrastructure, data and ICT.
A member of the department’s senior executive group since 2010, Ben has previously held positions across communications, inter-government relations, organisation development and business intelligence. He has led major transformation initiatives such as the move of Year 7 from Primary to High School in the public education system.
Ben is the co-sponsor of the Department’s Reconciliation Action Plan and a passionate advocate for providing equity in education opportunities and experiences to address social disadvantage.
Michaela BENSLEY
Board Member (ex officio)
Chief Executive, SACE Board of South Australia
Michaela is the Chief Executive of the SACE Board of South Australia. Michaela has a history of leading an education organisation at a range of levels across a diverse range of functions and has been the Deputy Chief Executive of the SACE Board for the last three years.
In close partnership with the Chief Executive, Michaela worked to implement the Board’s vision by supporting the leadership direction and governance necessary to ensure the successful delivery against strategic and financial goals.
Michaela is heavily invested in the SACE Board’s purpose of shaping education so that students thrive. Her deep understanding of the SACE ensures there is essential alignment between this purpose and its articulation in the pillar of Connected Qualification.
Michaela is excited by the opportunity to build on the SACE Board’s business maturity as a Bold Leader, particularly in the areas of continuous improvement, evaluation, automation, and customer service excellence.
With a commitment to adaptive leadership Michaela’s approach supports and promotes an innovative and inclusive workplace culture, focussed on delivering services that align with strategic purpose and create maximum impact.
Michaela continues to represent the SACE Board on a range of state and national committees and forums.