Board & Executive Members

Our organisational structure

Minister

The VenuesWest Board reports to the Hon. David Templeman MLA. Minister Templeman is the Minster for Culture and the Arts; Sport and Recreation; International Education; Heritage.
Chair

VenuesWest provides for the establishment of a Board of Management to administer the legislation established under the Western Australian Sports Centre Trust. The Board is appointed by and is responsible to the Minister for Sport and Recreation.
Mary Anne Stephens was appointed to the Board of VenuesWest on October 29 2015, and brings over 25 years' experience in finance and operational roles both in the commercial and not-for-profit sectors, and key strengths in finance, risk and governance. She has spent the past 13 years of her career in senior roles also focusing on strategy, leadership and business intelligence. Mrs Stephens is VenuesWest's first female Chair with her appointment commencing on July 1, 2022 through to October 30, 2024.
Board

Ms Priya Cooper
Ms Cooper joined the board in 2018 with her current term expiring on 31 December 2023. Priya is an Australian world champion disabled swimmer, winning nine Paralympic gold medals, multiple world championship medals and setting a number of world records. Significantly, Priya won the most medals of any Australian athlete at the Barcelona Paralympic games in 1992, which saw her honoured with an Order of Australia Medal for her service to sport, and becoming an Australia Day Ambassador. In 2023, Priya achieved Legend status in the Hall of Champions. Furthermore, in 1996, Priya was appointed Female Captain of the Australian swimming team at the 10th Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia and was named Young Australian of the Year for Sport in 1999.
Mr Gary Dreibergs
Mr Dreibergs is a former Deputy Police Commissioner of the Western Australia Police Force. At a National level he was a member of the Board of Studies at the Australian Institute of Police Management, the Australian New Zealand Counter Terrorism Committee, and the Australian New Zealand Police Advisory Agency. Mr Dreibergs was the Police Operational Commander for the COVID response, during which he was a member of the Premiers Emergency Management Team, and periodically performed the roles of the State Emergency Coordinator and Vaccine Commander.
Mr Dreibergs is currently the Chair of the Gaming and Wagering Commission, and a Board Member of Venues West, the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) and the WA Police & Community Youth Centres (PCYC).
Mr Dreibergs holds a Master of Business Administration and was conferred as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Western Australia in 2011. He actively supports sport in Western Australia and is a Patron and Life Member of the WA Police Sports Federation. Mr Dreibergs was awarded the Australian Police Medal (APM) in 2010.

Ms Donna Oxenham
Ms Oxenham was appointed to the Board of VenuesWest on 1 September 2017, and her current term expires on 31 December 2024. A researcher at the University of Western Australia, Donna’s 20 year sporting career saw her achieve 35 state and two national titles in the sport of Judo. Donna has worked with Indigenous people, groups and organisations throughout Western Australia and the broader Aboriginal Indigenous community, particularly within the fields of arts, history, cultural heritage and native title.
Ms Michelle Hoad
Ms Hoad joined the Board on 1 September 2021, for an initial term of two years. She has over 20 years of senior leadership experience in vocational education and training (VET) and is experienced in the delivery of services and implementation of government initiatives, in both metropolitan and regional context, in large complex organisations. As the Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer of North Metropolitan TAFE since 2016, she manages delivery of training to in excess of 29,000 students under activity-based funding arrangements to the value of $190m. In this role, she successful led the establishment of North Metropolitan TAFE under the Training Sector Reform project, amalgamating three TAFE colleges to form the largest training provider in Western Australia. Ms Hoad has strong facility management experience from her time at TAFE.
Mr Tim Colmer
Mr Colmer joined the Board on 14 September 2022. He brings over 25 years of experience as a teaching and research academic at The University of Western Australia, where currently he is Professor and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor. Mr Colmer has facilitated research infrastructure partnerships and also previously chaired the UWA Capital Investment Advisory Group which works with internal stakeholders to prioritise and review business cases related to physical and digital infrastructure investments across the University. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) and a PhD in Plant Biology.
Ms Melanie Cave
Ms Cave joined the Board in May 2024. She is a qualified lawyer with nearly three decades of experience in commercial and property law specialising in the end-to-end delivery of strategic infrastructure projects nationally and internationally. As a previous partner of Herbert Smith Freehills, she was a key advisor to the Western Australian government for over 10 years, and has a deep understanding of the additional responsibilities in delivery public services. Ms Cave is also an experienced Non Executive Director and Board Chair with that experience spanning over 15 years. Her areas of industry experience include health infrastructure and services, community services, transport (road and ports), water and waste management, and social infrastructure, such as stadia, hospitals and desalination plants. Her current term expires on 31 December 2024.
Executive
David Etherton is the Chief Executive Officer of VenuesWest and leader of the Executive Team. The organisation has four major directorates, along with Finance, and Governance and Executive Services reporting directly to the CEO.
Portfolio Management
- Facility Management
- Capital Works
Venue Management
- HBF Park - Event Delivery, Venue Operations, Administration
- Commercial - Business Development, Bookings, Event Delivery, Catering
- Venues - Customer Service, Health & Fitness, Programs, Aquatics & Swim School, Venue Delivery, Venue Operations
Strategy and Partnerships
- Marketing
- Communications
- Planning, Research & Reporting
- Contracts
- Procurement
Business Support Services
- People & Culture
- Risk & Safety
- Information Technology Communications