By Abbie Bryant

Five members of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and a CA ANZ committee chair, were recognised for their years of service to the community, business and accounting in the 2022 Australia Day Honours List.

In announcing the Australia Day Honours List, Governor-General David Hurley highlighted that of the 732 awards in the General Division of the Order of Australia, the highest ever percentage (47%) were for women and 45% were for service to local communities.

Alison Watkins AM FCA, who for seven years was Group Managing Director at Coca-Cola Amatil, was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) honour for her significant services to business. In an outstanding career she has also held roles at McKinsey & Company, GrainCorp and Berri.

Back in 2020, she spoke with Acuity about Amatil’s response to the COVID-19 crisis and how she approached steering the business through challenging times: “It’s a healthy process to take stock and reprioritise, to recognise that there are different things that matter in this [current] environment than there were previously,” she said.

Picture: Picture: Alison Watkins AM FCA.

“It’s a healthy process to take stock and reprioritise, to recognise that there are different things that matter in this [current] environment than there were previously.”

Watkins currently is on the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia, is a non-executive director at CSL and Wesfarmers, and chancellor of the University of Tasmania.

Rachel Grimes AM FCA gained a Member of the Order of Australia honour for her significant service to business in the field of accountancy, and to professional associations. Grimes has been an active member of the CA ANZ community since 1991 and helped lay the foundation for CA ANZ as the 2011 President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia.

Picture: Rachel Grimes AM FCA.

She is the chief financial officer of Challenger Limited and has also worked with Westpac, BT Financial Group and PwC in her 30-year career.

Jennifer Morison AM FCA was awarded her AM for her significant service to business in the field of accountancy and professional associations. A former chair of the CA ANZ Council in the ACT, Morison established her own firm, Morison Consulting, in 1996. She has been closely involved in developing and implementing improvements for financial reporting and risk management within government departments and agencies.

Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) awards were also announced for leading GST adviser and lawyer Kevin O’Rourke OAM for his services to the law; Gregory Blashki OAM CA for his services to the Jewish community; and Mark Sheridan OAM FCA for his services to community health.

Picture: Gregory Blashki OAM CA.

O’Rourke has almost 40 years of experience in the accounting industry, including as a former senior partner at PwC where he was the National GST Leader and chief executive officer of PwC Legal. He chairs CA ANZ’s Indirect Tax Committee and is a member of the ATO’s GST Stewardship group which has a charter to improve the operation of Australia’s GST system.

Blashki has worked with Pitcher Partners for more than 30 years, heading its forensic accounting and business valuation services. He has also for decades volunteered his services as treasurer on the board of numerous major Jewish organisations in Victoria.

Sheridan, a partner at Mazars in Brisbane, has been on the board of the Queensland Eye Institute since 2004 and its chair since 2010.

He says on its website: “I joined a Board that had big aspirations, but limited resources. Since then, we have built a fantastic network of researchers, educators, clinicians, nursing staff, and administrators… This all ultimately has resulted in better outcomes for thousands of patients. And the future? The belief that we can prevent blindness, and improve lives and the community, draws us forward to do more together.”

Acuity congratulates all these Australia Day honours recipients.