Our Advisory Board

The RITC advisory board consists of senior representatives from industry drawn from the sectors represented by the RITC, with additional representation from the State Training Board and the Department of Training and Workforce Development and union representatives. It is the responsibility of the RITC Advisory Board to act in the best interest of industry. Its role is to provide:

    • Forward looking, strategic and holistic industry perspective on workforce and skilling issues facing industry (including regional WA)
    • Insight into vocational education and training in industry
    • Thought leadership and influence on driving change that supports industry advancement and
    • Vision and willingness to translate strategy into action.

The boards extensive work experience, their perspective on issues and strong capacity to represent the interest of industry around training and skilling needs in Western Australia will strengthen the RITC’s capability in successfully creating a pipeline of talent into the resources sector.

Louise Bonser (Chairperson)

Louise is currently the Principal Consultant at the Deering Group and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Management) and a Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies and Japanese) from Murdoch University. Louise held a variety of roles with increasing responsibility across a series of resource companies, including the Operations Competency Assurance and Development Team Lead at Chevron, BHP Billiton Nickle West, BHP Billiton Stainless Steel Materials, BHP Iron Ore, and FMG. The roles ranged from targeted operations ones such as Training Advisory, Training Superintendent, Training Manager and various project lead roles in SAP, LMS, and other systems implementation based projects.

Prior to working within the resources sector, Louise spent 5 years working for the Commonwealth government in several roles as a civilian within the Department of Defence. During this period, she held several roles, including Research and Project Officer, Business Improvement Officer and Skilling and Performance Officer to name a few.

Daniel Archer

Currently the Director for 7th Element, Daniel Archer has worked in the resources sector as a Senior Business Development and External Affairs Executive with leading international mining houses and tier one mining contractors. He has achieved many significant career milestones, securing signature mining projects and infrastructure contracts throughout Australia. Daniel has been recognised nationally for his contribution to Indigenous economic participation and diversity in the resources sector and has strong and valued relationships with respected Elders in community and commerce throughout Australia. Daniel has served on Industry, State and Commonwealth government boards and advisory groups previously – including CMEWA Executive Council, Native Title Group, and both Pilbara & Goldfields Regional Councils, Minerals Council of Australia, Australian Jobs Accord, Business Council of Australia, N.T Minerals Council, AMEC, and Resources Industry Training Council. Daniel is an experienced, respected and highly effective Resources Market Strategist, Stakeholder Engagement Professional and Cross Sector Partnership Broker.

Drew Cronin

Drew Cronin is the General Manager for Training at Mineral Resources Limited. The role encompasses programs for apprentices, trainees, graduates, first time resource industry employees and pathways for traditional owner groups. In addition, the role maintains the operator competency framework across all the subsidiaries including exploration, planning, mine design and construction, the construction and operation of minerals process facilities, commodity transportation and marketing services in a pit-to-port mining and mining logistics services business.

Joining mining in Western Australia in the early 2000’s, Drew has worked on Iron Ore, Gold, Coal, and Lithium projects in the supply chain from Drill to Port for both contractors and principles. He has experience in operational roles, HR/IR, health and safety, leadership coaching and training. Drew has also contributed to the development and deployment of programs and products such as Multinational and Multi Language e-Learning to National F2F program to one Site/one topic courses.

Ronnie Hill

Ronnie has extensive experience and a skill set developed from over thirty years within the field of drilling in the mining industry. Acting in the capacity of both Operations and General Manager, Ronnie has successfully delivered various disciplines of drilling programs in Mineral Drilling, Integrated Hydrogeological and Geothermal projects. Having advanced as the founder of Anytime Exploration Services, providing both consulting and mining exploration resource hire, Ronnie is currently focused on establishing an additional business, Impact Drilling, to grow with his current portfolio. Ronnie is tenacious in seeking to develop and evolve his presence and impact change within the mining sector, in addition to advancing the achievements of those working alongside him.

Michelle McAullay

Although born and raised in Perth, Michelle’s heritage is the Yamatji Nanda people whose lands are located along the Midwest/Gascoyne region of WA extending from Geraldton, Kalbarri and through to Shark Bay.

Since 2015, as the General Manager of B.O.A.B, Michelle has maintained her focus of improve the quality of life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. She is a strong role model with extensive experience with the Aboriginal community allowing her to implement comprehensive and successful Aboriginal Employment Programs which includes the promotion of healthy lifestyle choices. Michelle has worked in management within the building and construction industry, banking and finance Industry and law firms. She has experience in both Commonwealth and Local Government.

Her mission is to improve the outlook for Aboriginal Australians by reducing the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in our society.

Trevor McCrystal

Currently serving as the Learning and Development Manager for Monadelphous Group, Trevor leads the companies Learning and Organisational Development Function across their 23+ national and international operations. Monadelphous is a leading Australian engineering group providing construction, maintenance and industrial services to the resources, energy, and infrastructure sectors, which employs over 7,000 people.

Trevor holds an extensive career spanning over 25 years in senior leadership and operational experience. Trevor’s career spans several industries including RTO’s, Organisational L&D, Apprenticeships and Traineeships, Resources, Professional Services, Engineering, and the Not-for-Profit sector.

In the decade prior to Monadelphous, Trevor served as the Capability Development Manager for Rio Tinto and Training Transformation Project Manager at BHP. Additionally, Trevor has held senior executive and operational management positions across several organisations including the Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (formerly ACPET), the YMCAWA and the Howard Governments Australian Technical Colleges.

Trevor is an active member of CME’s Skills and Training Working Group and a Board Member of the Western Australian College of Agriculture.

 

Aden Van Den Beld

Aden is the Group Manager of Learning and Development at MLG Oz. This encompasses the development of programs providing career pathways for apprentices, trainees, and leaders. He also provides governance for training systems, standards, and policies to ensure the ongoing development of skills and talent pipelines for the MLG Oz workforce. His portfolio is also complimented through diversity and inclusion, new to industry traineeships and visa-based employment deployment.

In over 20 years, working in both operations, training and education within the resources sector, Aden values the importance training offers and enjoys giving back to the industry by developing current and future sector leaders. The move from maintenance and operations means Aden brings a wealth of experience and knowledge into the training delivery space.

Aden has well established experience in training and education at tertiary level and possess a broad range of technical skills. Some areas of expertise are curriculum and qualification initiation development and reform, Indigenous development and education, high impact coaching and mentoring programs.

Aden is active in stakeholder engagement with industry representative bodies and regulators via working steering groups such as the RITC, Minerals Councils of Australia, The Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA, The Department of Workforce Development and Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA and the Department of Miners, Industry Regulation and Safety.

Elicia Collard

Elicia is a seasoned professional in the resources industry, currently serving as the Manager of Capability Development – Future Skills at Rio Tinto Iron Ore. With over 15 years of experience in resources, she has honed her expertise across Talent Acquisition, Generalist HR, and Capability Development functions.

In her current role, Elicia is responsible for Iron Ore development programs, steering initiatives encompassing apprenticeships, traineeships, university pathways, school work experiences, aboriginal training and liaison, and internal diversity-focused development programs.

The Future Skills team partners closely with internal leaders, industry, and education partners to shape the industry’s future workforce.

Before her current position, Elicia’s role was focused on education partnerships and future skilling strategies – partnering with RTOs, industry experts and higher education institutions to focus on critical skills and preparing the mining industry for a green future.  She has also spent time working with graduate and internship programs as part of a global graduate talent team and with Rio Tinto Iron Ore.  Previous to her time in the resource industry, Elicia spent time working in the retail and commercial contracting industries and local government in generalist human resources roles.  She has also held a senior consultant role with Lee Hecht Harrison providing her with a broad perspective, working across various industries.

A true advocate for people development, Elicia finds fulfilment in people leadership roles, viewing coaching and mentoring as the most rewarding aspect of her role. Her passion for diversity and inclusion resonates through her work, alongside her commitment to effective workforce strategies and nurturing talent.