The Scheme reports to a governing Council. The Council consists of fifty percent consumer, and fifty percent industry representation.
Three of the consumer representatives on the Council were appointed by a selection panel comprised of representatives from the Consumers’ Institute and TUANZ, with the fourth Consumer Representative appointed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.
The current Council members are:
David Russell (Consumer Representative, Chair).
David Russell has spent 35 years with Consumer NZ (formally the Consumers Institute), the last 12 as Chief Executive. He is a member of the Real Estate Agents Licensing Board, and an ambassador for Lifetime Design – an organisation promoting accessible housing for the disabled and the elderly.
Bill Bevan (Consumer Representative)
Bill Bevan has been actively involved in the Scheme through his participation in the TCF’s stakeholder workshops last year. He is currently in private practice in Porirua but for fifteen years Bill managed the Whitireia Community Law Centre, and formerly tutored law and business studies at the Whitireia Community Polytechnic. He has also taught in secondary schools in New Zealand and the UK. Bill has a weekly spot on TV1’s Good Morning show and was a contributor to National Radios’ Nine to Noon show for two years. He wrote regular columns called “Law Report” for local newspapers and has written a number of self-help legal resources along with textbooks on business and consumer law. Bill will bring a range of real-life consumer experiences to his role.
Shelley Dew-Hopkins (Consumer Representative)
Shelley Dew-Hopkins has a long association with issues impacting rural communities and is a knowledgeable voice for consumers on the Council. As past President of Manawatu Rangitikei Federated Farmers (Inc) Shelley has had wide-ranging experience in dealing with local and central government issues. She is a JP, currently Chairperson of the Horizons Balance Farm Environment Awards, Trustee on the Wanganui PowerCo Trust, and elected member of the Patea Community Board and continues to be involve in industry committees at local levels relating to the primary production sector. Shelley farms a mixed farming operation at Waverley comprising dairy, deer, sheep, beef and cropping.
Paul Brislen (TUANZ)
Paul is the Chief Executive of TUANZ, the Telecommunications Users Association. TUANZ represents users of the telco services throughout New Zealand and has a long history of standing up on behalf of telecommunications customers.
Prior to TUANZ, Paul was the head of corporate communications at Vodafone New Zealand, a role which gives him a good insight into the workings of the telco sector. Before that, he was a journalist working with various publications in the ICT space including as the editor of Computerworld newpaper. Paul is regularly called on as a commentator on ICT issues for television and radio.
Celine Gilbert (Vodafone)
Celine has been appointed as one of the two industry representatives for all other industry members. Celine has been working at Vodafone for 7 years in the Public Policy team. As an Industry Affairs Manager, she has represented Vodafone on a number of TCF Working Parties, including the Local and Mobile Number Portability Code; Transfer Code, and the Disconnection Code. More recently, Celine has been responsible for the fixed services regulatory portfolio, managing the relationship with the Commerce Commission on various issues. Celine has previous experience working with in a Customer Care environment as a Customer Service Project Manager. This role provided her with exposure to complex customer issues and a solid basis for understanding customer issues.
Susie Stone (Kordia)
Susie was appointed to the Council as one of the two industry representatives for all other industry members, and is on the TCF board representing group members. Susie is Kordia’s Group Corporate Affairs Manager with responsibility for Government relations, Regulatory Policy and Commercial Affairs. Susie's background has strong entrepreneurial, marketing, business development, management, regulatory policy and technology experience covering many industry sectors including IT, telecommunications and broadcasting.
Tania Shackleton (Telecom)
Tania is the Telecom representative on the Council. Tania has had extensive experience in customer service for over 16 years, and has received several outstanding service awards. As Operational Regulatory Manager for Consumers, Tania has daily opportunities to mitigate risk and address contentious issues, and has thus gained the specialist skills needed for dispute resolution. Tania has a background in contact centre and relationship management.
Sarah Howells (2degrees)
Sarah joined 2degrees as Chief Customer Operations Officer in August 2011 where she has responsibility for the end to end service delivery to Customer. She has extensive experience working on behalf of Customers in the telecommunications industry. Her previous roles include General Manager of Service at Vodafone and Customer Service Director at Virgin Media in the UK.
