Executive Committee

Executive Committee

Committee Membership

The SIA Executive Committee comprises:

President
Michael Fitzgerald
 
About this person
Michael is a senior manager and engineer who is currently employed as the Executive Director of National Security Solutions Asia Pacific in the Aerospace, Technology and Nuclear line of business of Jacobs. Michael's career started in the Royal Australian Navy and he undertook a range of positing at sea and ashore. He served in surface ships as a Marine Engineer with his final posting being the Engineering Officer of HMAS MANOORA. He served in Oberon class submarines as a Seaman Officer.
Since leaving the Navy, Michael has worked in the Fire Services industry as the Northern Territory Manager of Chubb Fire, the telecommunications industry as a Management Consultant with Optus and is currently responsible for delivering professional services to clients in the National Security Space, predominantly the Department of Defence. Michael has served on the SIA committee as Treasurer since 2011.

Vice President
Toff Idrus OAM
 
About this person
Having recently completed 17 months as the Executive Director of Defence West, Toff now operates his sole trader Defence and Executive consultancy business. A 23-year veteran as a Commissioned Engineer Officer in the Royal Australian Navy and as a submariner, together with some 15 years’ experience in a variety of commercial businesses and industry, Toff is uniquely credentialed to contribute and assist in shaping the strategic initiatives of the SIA as its incoming Vice President and assisting to further the cause of the Institute and its members.
While in the Navy Toff served operationally in the Middle East twice, received the US Bronze Star during one of those operational postings and is a recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia. Toff retired from military service as a Navy Captain in 2007. He is a local of WA and together with his wife Rosemary of 34 years, Toff calls Safety Bay home. A father of two adult sons one of which is a paramedic in Perth and the other a ballet dancer in the Netherlands Toff now enjoys the independence of being a freelance management and strategic consultant.

Treasurer
Rebecca Brickhill
 
About this person
Rebecca is a senior executive with Saab Australia and is Chair of the Conference Committee for SubSTEC7. She was elected as Treasurer at the 23rd AGM in 2021.

Secretary
John Polglaze
 
 
About this person
John is a former submarine officer who is one of Australia's leading environmental consultants.

Committee Member
Ashleigh Langdon
 
 
About this person
Ashleigh Langdon is an experienced Project Manager with a history of working in the Defence and Management Consulting industry. She has a background in Risk Management, Procurement, Stakeholder Management, Contract Management, CLC and Capability Management, and Financial Analysis.
Ashleigh has a strong desire to lead the way for women pursuing a career in the program and project management field.

Committee Member
Bradley Robb
 
About this person
Bradley Robb is an accomplished risk and safety engineer, executive manager, and is the Managing Director of ALARP Solutions. He started his career in the Navy as a Marine Engineering Officer before transferring to the Fleet Air Arm where he also qualified as an Aeronautical Engineering Officer in the Fleet Air Arm. Brad subsequently transferred to the Air Force and continued his engineering career working across a broad range of projects and programs. During this phase of his career, he developed skills and gained valuable experience in Systems Engineering disciplines such as Software Development, Verification and Verification, Reliability Availability and Maintainability, and Systems Safety, while also taking on roles in Project Management, Joint Operations and Training Development and Delivery.

On leaving the ADF, Brad chose to become a risk and safety engineering specialist and soon found his way back working in the Defence sector on major acquisition projects such as LHD and AWD but was also worked in other sectors including Commercial Marine, Commercial Aviation, Oil & Gas, and Rail. Over the last 6 years, Brad’s involvement with the Collins Submarine Program has included supporting CASG as the System Safety, V&V and Certification Manager on the Collins Sonar Upgrade Program, and currently he supports Defence Industry working below the line delivering system safety training and undertaking detailed functional safety analysis to support the Collins LOT program.

Committee Member
Alan Rose
 
About this person
Alan is a retired Royal Navy submariner who served for over 22 years on various classes of UK ships, submarines and varied staff jobs. As well as this he worked in Collins Class support on exchange with the ADF (CASG) during his time in-service in Australia. Alan now works in the Defence Industry and maintains his interest in Submarines via the SIA.

Committee Member
Commodore Peter Scott, CSC, RAN (Retired)
 
About this person
Joining the Royal Australian Navy as a seventeen-year-old Midshipman in 1983, Peter Scott served in twenty different command and leadership appointments and rose over three decades to be the professional head of the Navy’s elite: the Submarine Arm.
Now retired from full time service, Peter holds a Masters in Coaching Psychology from the University of Sydney and works as an executive coach to help leaders develop, perform and succeed.
His memoir Running Deep. An Australian Submarine Life, was published by Fremantle Press in 2023.
Peter is married with an adult daughter and runs trail ultra-marathons for fun and relaxation.

Code of Ethics

Each member of the SIA Executive Committee has agreed to abide by a Code of Ethics which can be downloaded here.

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