NHVR CEO announces three new key leadership appointments to the regulator’s team.
The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has added three new executive directors to its ranks as it looks to put a tough 2014 behind it and focus on delivering for the trucking industry in the year ahead.
The NHVR has filled the positions announced in November last year, appointing directors to the roles of regulatory compliance, engagement and partnerships, and productivity and safety.
A former manager in Qantas’s safety department, Geoff Casey, will lead productivity and safety for the NHVR, while Tony Kursius takes on regulatory compliance after serving a lengthy stint as a senior-level bureaucrat within the Queensland Government’s transport portfolio.
The current director of tourism and stewardship at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Karen Vohland, has been appointed the NHVR’s executive director of engagement and partnerships.
“Geoff, Karen and Tony will join the NHVR over the coming weeks with all new executives on deck and ready for the year ahead by late February,” Petroccitto says.
“For me, last year’s priorities were to build relationships with industry and key government agencies and restore their confidence in our ability to get the job done.
“This year, the NHVR leadership team will deliver on those key initiatives that industry has been calling for, such as improvements to Australia’s heavy vehicle maintenance and accreditation regimes, fatigue management options tailored to industry needs and more consistency in roadside enforcement.”
The NHVR failed spectacularly when it launched in February last year, forcing it to overhaul its operations and spend most of 2014 trying to claw back lost ground.
Petroccitto says the regulator built up momentum in 2014 and is looking forward to carrying it over into 2015.
He says the the new appointments add new skills and capabilities to the NHVR’s leadership team and form a key part of the agency’s new organisational structure.
Prior to his time at Qantas, Casey held roles at Airservices Australia and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).
Vohland’s background includes senior communication roles in the public health sector, emergency services and media.
Kursius has previously worked with the NHVR when he held the temporary position of director of compliance and transition in 2013-2014 during the establishment of the agency.
The NHVR says Kursius has worked closely with road transport authorities across Australia in the years leading up to the establishment of the regulator.
It says he has extensive knowledge and understanding of the challenges in achieving national regulatory reform.
CORRECTION: The original version of this article referred to Karen Vohland as the director of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. This was incorrect. Vohland is the current director of tourism and stewardship at the Authority.