The Board

Photo of Mark Bagster - Chairman of the UnitingCare Children Young People and Families Board

Chairperson, Mark Bagster, BBus (HR & Law Majors) UWS, Dip
Mark is an Associate Director with Newport Consulting. Mark has had an extensive and broad functional and general management career in government and private enterprise, with companies such as Boral, BOC, Metal Manufacturers, Proudfoot Consulting and Overseas Telecommunications Corporation. Mark is a former Chief Executive Officer, Australia and New Zealand for Philips Electronics and Chairman of Medical Applications Pty Ltd.

Mark has been Chairperson of the UnitingCare Children, Young People and Families Board and a member of the Board for UnitingCare NSW.ACT, both since 2004.

Photo of Roger West - member of the UnitingCare Children Young People and Families Board

Deputy Chairperson, Roger West, LLB(Hons), BCom
A lawyer and partner in the human services consultancy firm, WestWood Spice, Roger has been a senior executive in both the public and private sectors. He was the founding President of the NSW Guardianship Tribunal, the first Commissioner for Community in NSW, a solicitor with Blake Dawson Waldron and barrister at the NSW Bar. Roger headed the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, the Welfare Rights Centre and Redfern Legal Centre.

Having contributed to government policy on child and welfare matters, Roger now works with community sector boards and management in areas such as service quality, governance, leadership, strategy, stakeholder relations, compliance and accountability, and change and communication.

Photo of Rev Harry Herbert - member of the UnitingCare Children Young People and Families Board

Ex-Officio Board Member, Reverend Harry Herbert
Reverend Harry Herbert is Executive Director of UnitingCare NSW.ACT, a position he has held since 1986 when he was appointed by the Synod as the General Secretary of the then Board for Social Responsibility. He serves as ex-officio on the Boards of UnitingCare Ageing and UnitingCare Children, Young People and Families. He is a Minister of the Uniting Church having been ordained as a Congregational Minister in 1972.

He is also Chair of the AGL Customer Council; Member of the Legal Aid Commission Board; Chair of the Responsible Gambling Fund; Member of the NSW Boarding House Expert Advisory Group, and Secretary of the Civil Chaplaincies Advisory Commitee (CCAC).  

Photo of Gillian Coutts - member of the UnitingCare Children Young People and Families Board

Gillian Coutts, BEc, Monash, Grad Dip Counselling (Performance Psychology), ACAP, Grad Dip Statistics/Operations Research, RMIT
An accomplished change and business management professional, Gillian is a business manager with Pacific Brands Limited. Gillian has worked in strategic management roles at RailCorp and David Jones Limited. She commenced her career with Shell Australia Limited.

Photo of Tony Engel - member of the UnitingCare Children Young People and Families Board

Tony Engel, B.Bus Acctng & Finance
Tony retired from the Commonwealth Bank in July 2007 after 39 years, with the last 10 years as Senior Executive Performance Management for the retail networks. This role together with previous positions including Chief Financial Officer of the Papua New Guinea Banking Corporation and executive responsible for Prudential Supervision across CBA have given Tony a deep understanding of financial control and management.

Kristal Morris (nee Kinsela)
Kristal is a proud Aboriginal woman, descendant of both the Wiradjuri and Jawoyn nations. Kristal was born and grew up in the Western Suburbs of Sydney.

Kristal's career has spanned almost 10 years in the education sector, beginning her career as an Aboriginal Education Assistant working in a high school supporting Aboriginal youth. She later progressed from the school to work in the University sector taking up positions with the University of Technology Sydney and the University of Sydney in roles that provided student support, program administration, tutoring and later lecturing Aboriginal studies.

Photo of Nigel Spence - member of the UnitingCare Children Young People and Families Board

Nigel Spence, BSW, MSW
As CEO of ChildFund Australia, an international development organisation that works to reduce or eliminate poverty for children in developing countries, Nigel was the former CEO of the Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies (ACWA) where he was closely involved in the reform of NSW child protection and out-of-home care policy and programs. Nigel worked for many years as a social worker, Manager and Director of Children & Youth Services with Centacare Catholic Community Services.

Abigail Jones, BA (Hons), BBL (Hons), MLM
Abigial Jones joined the Board in July 2009. Prior to this, Abigail worked for leading Australian law firm, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, practising corporate law and competition law, specialising in mergers and acquisitions, and financial services. During her eight years with Mallesons, Abigail served on the firm's Pro Bono and Charities Committee where she helped establish a salary sacrifice scheme for financial donations to a range of charities. This scheme was supported by the form and a voluntary scheme for the law firm's employees was set up.