Having retired from the higher education sector John now works full time in his fine woodworking business in Narooma NSW doing a wide variety of private and commissioned work.Prior roles included work as an Associate Consultant with HR Global specialising in management and HR in the University and College Sector. This work included work for Australian universities and the African Union’s Pan African University initiative supported by the German Governments International Development agency GIZ. Prior to working as a specialist consultant John was the Foundation Executive Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at UOW. Immediately prior to the Executive Dean role, John was the Director of HR at UOW and is respected in the sector for his depth of knowledge of the higher education environment as well as strategic insight and innovation in HR practice. John graduated from the University of Sydney as a Social Worker in 1978 and later completed post graduate studies in Social Administration and Human Resources Management. Prior to joining UOW in 2002 John held positions as Director of HR at the University of Western Sydney and at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom and as a Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Griffith University in Queensland. Before moving into the higher education sector John worked as a Social Worker in family intervention and in senior national industrial relations roles in the health insurance and gas industries. John has also worked as a consultant and taught in academic programs at QUT and Griffith universities in the areas of HR Management, organisational psychology and industrial relations negotiation and advocacy. He is a Non-Executive Director of Yumaro Pty Ltd, an Australian Disability Enterprise and former Board Member of the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association.