The Federal Government has appointed interim Commissioners to Infrastructure Australia (IA) following the amendments to the Infrastructure Australia Act 2008, which passed the Parliament in December 2023, coming into force earlier this month.
These appointments are part of the Federal Government’s broader reforms to restore IA as the Commonwealth’s pre-eminent adviser on infrastructure planning and investment. The new governance structure introduces three commissioners to replace the existing IA board.
Gabrielle Trainor AO has been appointed to the role of interim Chief Commissioner, while Clare Gardiner-Barnes has been appointed as interim Commissioner effective 15 April 2024.
Trainor and Gardiner-Barnes take on the new roles after previously serving as Chair and Director of Infrastructure Australia’s Board respectively.
Both are highly regarded within the infrastructure sector, with extensive experience across the public and private sectors.
They will lead the agency until the Government completes its merit-based recruitment process to permanently fill all three Commissioner roles as outlined in legislation.
Now that Infrastructure Australia is operating under its new governance structure, the former Board has been dissolved.
The Government will also shortly establish a new Advisory Council to assist the Commissioners and IA CEO.
Federal infrastructure and transport minister Catherine King commented on the announcement.
“I would like to thank all the outgoing Directors for their contributions to Infrastructure Australia’s Board and supporting our efforts to restore the agency as the country’s expert independent infrastructure adviser,” she said.
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