Mr Spence retired from Woodside Petroleum in 2008 after 14 year of tenure in top executive positions in the company. Mr Spence held many roles during his period with Woodside, including Chief Operating Officer, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Director - Oil Business Unit, Director - Northern Business Unit and Exploration Manager - North West Shelf. Most recently, he was Executive Vice President Enterprise Capability and was responsible for ensuring the business operated with the best people, technology and processes. Mr Spence has gained a broad knowledge across the industry having over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry including 18 years with Shell.

Mr Spence is Chairman of the federal government's Carbon Storage Taskforce and also chairs the Independent Assessment Panel for the Carbon Capture and Storage Flagships program. He is the Chair of the State Training Board of Western Australia and the Industry Advisory Board of the Australian Centre for Energy and Process Training. He is a member of the board of Skills Australia and the Australian Institute of Management (WA). He is a Non-Executive Director of Clough Limited, Geodynamics Limited and Verve Energy.

Mr Spence graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Science in Geophysics (First Class Hons) and is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.

Tony Pooley is recognised as one of Australia's most respected risk management specialists. He is the Section Executive for Strategic Risk Management at Parsons Brinckerhoff and an adjunct Associate Professor on Risk Management in the Human Factors and Safety Management Systems masters course at University of South Australia.

Tony was member of the Newcrest Mining Executive Committee until the end of 2008 and prior to that was a valued advisor to a range of well known resource companies including BHP Billiton, Exxon-Mobil, Rio Tinto and Santos. In 1992 he formed the Qest Consulting Group, Australia's first local consultancy providing quantified risk assessment services. In that capacity he was involved in assisting BHP Petroleum complete the first offshore safety case in Australia and also led teams working on three of the early onshore safety cases that were undertaken in Victoria.

Dr Michael Ollis retired in 2008 as BHP Billiton Petroleum's Vice President Asset Team Leader, Australia Operated. In this role Dr Ollis was responsible for all operated exploration, appraisal, production and project development in Australia, including the FSPO Griffin Venture (WA) and Buffalo Venture (NT) and the Minerva Gas plant (VIC). He has extensive work experience internationally in the offshore petroleum industry and has worked in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Brunei in both management and operational positions. Dr Ollis has completed a PhD (Fluids).

Dr Chester holds the position of Senior Research Fellow, The John Curtin Institute of Public Policy, Curtin University. An economist, she has written extensively on the Australian electricity sector and her current research focus includes energy security, energy market design, electricity pricing, competition policy and infrastructure provision. She has taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in economics, public policy, risk management and research methods. Dr Chester has also been a consultant to the Asian Development Bank, a senior executive with two of Australia's largest utilities (EnergyAustralia and Sydney Water), Chief of Staff to Federal Government Ministers, and an economic adviser to the South Australian Premier. Her public policy expertise, gained over 25 years in the public sector, extends from specific areas of knowledge to the process of decision-making, accountability and implementation across many areas of government activity.

Mr Kym Bills is the former Executive Director of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), and had held that position from 1 July 1999 when the ATSB was established until 30 June 2009. Mr Bills retired from the public service in September 2009 and joined the NOPSA Board the same month. Prior to the ATSB position, Mr Bills was head of the Commonwealth Maritime Division from 1994 when he was on the Board of ANL Limited and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and chaired the Commonwealth/State Marine and Ports Group.

In 2005 he worked with the Rt Hon Sir John Wheeler reviewing Australia's airport security and policing. In July 2009, Mr Bills completed appointments as the Commonwealth's expert panel member for the Inquiry into Offshore Petroleum Safety Regulation and as an Inspector under WA legislation investigating the Varanus Island gas explosion. Since November 2009 Mr Bills has been the Project Director for the National Mine Safety Framework developing nationally consistent mine safety legislation and regulation.

Mr Bills' initial degrees were a B.A (Hons I) from the University of Adelaide and a M.Sc from the University of Oxford. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, the Safety Institute of Australia, the Australian Institute of Management, and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Dr Hayes has 25 years' experience in safety and risk management.

Her project experience covers a range of industries including offshore oil and gas, onshore petrochemicals, gas pipelines, mining, manufacturing and transportation (including air traffic control). She has worked as a consultant for operational sites, major projects and regulators. She began her career in 1983 in oil and gas process plant operations, and then moved to detailed design. She was involved in the initial Australian oil industry response to the Piper Alpha incident in 1988 and has been working almost exclusively in industrial safety since then.

Dr Hayes was a director and part owner of Qest Consulting Pty Ltd (one of Australia's best known industrial risk and safety consultancies) between 1991 and 2004. Holding a number of operational roles, she managed up to 50 staff and was personally responsible for projects ranging from technical safety studies (such as safety cases, HAZOP studies, QRAs and reliability studies) to organisational psychology reviews and human factors studies.

She has recently completed a PhD on operational decision making with Professor Andrew Hopkins at ANU. She also works part time with a small group of clients on safety performance improvement projects. She holds a Batchelor of Engineering from the University of Adelaide and a Master of Business from Swinburne University.

Mr Michael Large has more than 50 years experience as an engineer. From 1986 he served as Chief Engineer for a number of companies across the maritime and offshore petroleum industry. Over this period, Mr Large spent time on diving, trenching, and pipe carrying / laying vessels, dynamic positioning, supply and anchor handling vessels, and was also closely involved in the successful installation of outlets in relation to the Sydney Outfalls (sewerage) Project.

Throughout his time in the maritime and offshore petroleum industry, Mr Large has maintained and encourage a culture of safety at the workplace and was instrumental in the production of the Port Lincoln Ship Yard Safety Policy and Procedures Manual.

Mr Large retired from full-time seagoing duties in November 2006, but remains active in the industry.