The MATES in Construction (Aus) Board

The MATES in Construction (Aus) Board is comprised of industry and research directors with the shared motivation of saving lives in the construction, mining and energy industries.

Colin Emmott Director (Non-Executive) - Colin is, a Chartered Accountant and was a Partner of HLB Mann Judd from July 1987 to June 2018 and has been in the profession for over 35 years. He is well regarded by many WA businesses, providing a broad range of business advisory services including succession planning, family business advice, strategic planning consulting and management advice. Colin is the Independent Chair of ReddiFund Ltd and Mates in Construction (WA) Ltd. He is also a Director of Nolan UDA Pty Ltd..  Colin holds a Bachelor of Business and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. Michael Harper Director (Non-Executive) - Michael is the Director of Michael Harper & Associates. This business provides consulting services and advice to the civil engineering and construction sectors, including project and business management, governance, business strategy and tendering. With a career spanning more than 40 years, Michael has held several senior management positions with major construction companies and has had executive responsibility for the safe delivery of many large-scale building and infrastructure projects across Australia. Professor Tony LaMontagne Director (Non-Executive) - Professor Anthony D (Tony) LaMontagne is Professor of Work, Health & Wellbeing in the School of Health & Social Development and the Institute for Health Transformation at Deakin University in Melbourne. His broad research interest is in developing the scientific and public understanding of work as a social determinant of health and translating this research into policy and practice to improve workplace and worker health. Specific areas of interest include workplace mental health, improving job quality and psychosocial working conditions, and evaluating workplace interventions. Intervention research studies have included process and effectiveness studies, quantitative and qualitative methods, and study designs ranging from case studies to large-scale cluster randomized controlled trials. His research and 300+ publications have influenced policy and practice in workplace health from the local to the international levels. Associate Professor Jacinta Hawgood Director (Non-Executive) - Dr Jacinta Hawgood (BSSc, BPsy(Hons), MClinPsy, PhD (MAPS, MCCLP)) is Associate Professor and Program Director of Suicidology Programs at the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, Griffith University where she has worked since 2000. Jacinta has specialist clinical and research interest in psychosocial needs-based assessment, suicide prevention education and gatekeeper training and evaluation, impacts of client and co-worker suicide on the worker, personal suicide stigma and its impacts on suicidality. Jacinta has operated a private clinical practice since 1999 and has supervised other psychologists since 2005. She is the lead author of Systematic Tailored Assessment for Responding to Suicidality (STARS) protocol published first in 2015 and updated in 2018 and 2024. She has provided expert advice and guidance on a range of suicide-related and prevention domains; specifically suicide assessment and training development and evaluation to a range of State, Commonwealth and local government and non-government organisations. Jacinta has worked on numerous research projects and consultancies and has presented research findings at a range of state, national and international conferences. She has co-authored and edited a book, book chapters, and published numerous peer-reviewed articles and government reports in the field. David Mier Dave did his electrical apprenticeship at the Port of Melbourne starting in 1980. For over 40 years he has championed the rights of electrical workers and been a stalwart of the union movement. For 14 years Dave was an organiser with the Victorian ETU and was a National Official of the Electrical Trades Union for 12 years Dan Ashby Director (Non-Executive) - Dan is a Non-Executive Director of Icon New Zealand. Trained in structural engineering, Dan has led multiple major construction projects and businesses in New Zealand and internationally, including the project team on the iconic 60 storey, 7-star Burj al Arab Hotel in Dubai. Before leading the establishment of Icon in New Zealand from 2017, Dan’s business leadership roles included NZ Regional Managing Director for Multiplex Constructions, and Executive General Manager of Hawkins Construction. Throughout his career Dan has been passionate about building and the people who are the foundation of our industry. Construction is an exciting, but very demanding industry and Dan sees MATES as a key initiative in enhancing the wellbeing of our people "on the ground". He was on the establishment committee for MATES in NZ, a member of the inaugural Mates NZ Board and appointed as Chair in 2021.