Our Board

A higher education consultant and experienced university leader, Professor Warren Bebbington AM is a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne and Professor Emeritus at the University of Adelaide, where he was Vice Chancellor for 5 years. He was Patron of Autism SA until 2017, and an experienced Chair and Director of Boards in professional education and the not-for-profit sector. 

Jason is a neuroscientist, innovation manager, business leader and company director. He is experienced in corporate governance, strategy, government relations, scientific research, innovation, finance and risk management. Jason is passionate about combining his capabilities and experience as a company director with his personal experiences with autism in order to catalyse better outcomes for all those in the autism community.

Peter Heard has had a career in senior leadership roles in corporate governance and risk management within the Victorian public sector, including the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority and the Department of Premier and Cabinet. These roles included responsibility for the delivery of a range of governance, reporting, communications and legal services and he has significant experience in and understanding of government and policy development.

Peter held non-executive Director, Secretary and Committee roles at Autism Victoria from 2008-2010 and was Secretary of the Autistic Family Support Association (AFSA) from 2004-2006.

Peter has extensive lived experience of caring for autistic people as the father of autistic adult sons, in particular the ongoing challenges of complex needs support.

Kathy has a significant involvement in Autism organisations and advocacy, including on the Boards of The Autistic Realm Australia (TARA) and Reframing Autism. She works for the Autism CRC, having previously been an oncology and palliative care nurse for over a decade. She completed the Sylvia Rodger Academy Governance Program and also has a Certificate in Governance for Not-for-profits from the Governance Institute of Australia. Kathy is Autistic and has Autistic teenagers. 

A Chartered Accountant of over 35 years’ experience, Gavan recently retired as a partner of the national firm KordaMentha, having previously been with PWC. He is a Director and Chair of the Risk Management Committee for a regional bank (Wangaratta Albury-Wodonga Credit Union), and a member of the Audit and Risk Committee for the Rural City of Wangaratta. Gavan has an Autistic grandson.

Check Tan’s qualifications include Engineering, Quality Management and an MBA. His career has been in quality management and has worked in this field as Operations Manager in large and small organisations including start-ups. He has no board experience, but has served on school council as Treasurer.

Check and his son Jonathon (a young autistic adult with an intellectual disability) are well known to Amaze, having participated in several Spectrospective films and Jonathon undertaking media interviews for Amaze. Check and Jonathon also fundraise for Amaze, most recently raising $2,000 for Amaze through the Melbourne Marathon.

Check has also mentored some young autistic people as a basketball coach in Doncaster All Abilities Basketball and is active on social media in advocating for autistic people.

Susan is a criminologist, artist, mother and strong advocate for inclusion. She has worked with many organisations and agencies exploring creative strategies for change and communicating effectively across the divide of individual and cultural differences. With her professional experience spanning across many different industries including construction, research, publishing, galleries, media (radio and TV), glass making, education, mentoring, coaching and evaluation, Susan encompasses a diverse skillset that brings a fresh and dynamic perspective to her duties as an Amaze board member.