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Review Panel Members
MAJOR
GENERAL GREG GARDE AO RFD QC
Major General Greg Garde AO RFD QC is a former Assistant Chief of Defence Force Reserves and Head Reserve Policy. He enlisted in the Army in 1967 serving in infantry and later in armour. He undertook full time service in Papua New Guinea. Greg was subsequently Commander 4th Brigade and Assistant Commander, Land Command.
Greg has conducted a major study into recruiting, and was the principal architect of the amendments to defence legislation to extend Reserve callout powers and provide employment and educational protection to Reservists. He subsequently sponsored the introduction of the employer support payment scheme and the introduction of new personnel regulations.
Greg has been a Queens Counsel since 1989 practising in commercial, property, planning and administrative law. He has a BA(Hons) in Mathematics and LLM from the University of Melbourne.
LEIGH PURNELL
Leigh Purnell is Executive Director – International with the Australian Industry Group and has been with the organisation for 25 years. In his current role with Ai Group, Leigh has responsibility for trade policy and the delivery of trade services to Ai Group members as well as a number of industry policy issues and government relations. He also has responsibility for the Defence sector and is Executive Director of the Australian Industry Group Defence Council, the National Executive of which comprises the CEOs and heads of defence business units of Australia’s leading companies, together with key SMEs, all working with and supporting the Australian Defence Force.
Leigh is a member of the Capability Development Advisory Forum (CDAF), Chairman of the Defence Exporters Council, and a member of the Defence Reserves Support Council. Leigh has many years of extensive experience dealing with government and industry around the world.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL CHRIS GRIGSBY, RFD
Chris Grigsby has served in both the Regular Army and the Reserve over the last 34 years. He commenced his Reserve service in 1969 and after a few years joined the Regular Army completing his officer training at Officer Cadet School, Portsea (Scheyville Wing) in 1973. He served in the Royal Australian Armoured Corps from 1974 to 1980.
In 1984 he joined the Army Reserve’s 4th /19th Prince of Wales’ Light Horse Regiment in Melbourne. Lieutenant Colonel Grigsby went on to command 4th /19th PWLH for three years from January 1997 to January 2000. Chris was the first “man on the ground” during the establishment the Office of Reserve Service Protection in late 2000 and has continued as the Deputy Director after the appointment of the civilian Director in 2001. Chris and the Director recently conducted an overseas study tour reviewing Reservist protection legislation and policies in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
In Chris’ civilian life he is Head of Sales and Marketing with Defence Health Ltd. He has a Master of Business Administration and a Masters in Dispute Resolution.
PHIL JOHNSTON
Phil Johnston was recruited to Canberra by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in 1995 after completing university studies in Business and Computing. He moved into a Human Resource Management role pursuing an interest in Industrial Relations, particularly the principles of Industrial Democracy and their potential benefits to Australian business.
After working in HR and IR roles for a number of organisations he was appointed as the inaugural Director of the Office of Reserve Service Protection upon its inception in 2001. In 2003 he took twelve months away from the Office to attend the Australian Defence College in Canberra where he completed the Australian Command and Staff Course as the Senior APS member.
Phil has Masters degrees in Arts and Management and is a qualified Mediator, Workplace Trainer and Assessor. He is a Certified Professional Member of the Australian Human Resource Institute and a Life Member of the ACT Rugby Union Club.
STEVE WILLIAMS RFD
Steve Williams joined the RAAF in 1982 and moved to Canberra in 1993 after attending the Army Command and Staff College. He then spent six years with Defence as a civilian in the then Defence Acquisition Organisation before working with the RAAF Reserve Staff Group on a variety of projects.
He joined Reserve Policy Division in 2001 and has worked in a number of uniformed and civilian roles, including 14 months as the Director of the Office of Reserve Service Protection. He is currently Director Reserve Support within Reserve Policy Division.
Steve has Graduate Diplomas in Management Studies and in Teaching English as a Second Language, and Masters degrees in Arts and in Industrial and Employee Relations. He is also a qualified mediator.
