Office Staff:
Biographies of the Executive Secretary and the staff

The office is run by a small full-time staff, headed by an Executive Secretary appointed by the Council. The office is in Sydney but deals with matters from all over Australia.

The current staff are:

Jack is the Executive Secretary of the Press Council. He is responsible to the Council for the day-to-day running of the Council office, management of its finances, and all other relevant administrative duties. He handles the processing of public complaints about the press, including attempts to mediate them. Additionally, he edits the Council's publications, including the Press Council News, the Annual Report, the Conference papers series and any occasional papers. Jack has been Executive Secretary since April 1994 and for the three years previous to that acted as the Council's Administrative Officer.

Among his other duties at the Council Jack has been responsible for the computerisation of the office and its use of the Internet, including the establishment of its Website, and has overseen the development of the Case Studies Seminars, writing many of the case studies and developing the Teachers' Notes that will enable them to be used in the classroom.

Jack came to the Press Council after a varied career that included sixteen years as a High School teacher (where in addition to teaching English, History and General Studies, he spent four years as a teacher of English as a Second Language), and time as a Professional Conference Organiser, a Reader for a press clipping service, a partner in a desktop publishing consultancy and a Director of a website development agency.

In 1995-6 he completed his B.A., by correspondence, at the University of New England, specialising in History, graduating in April 1997, 29 years after he matriculated to the University of Sydney where he studied for several years before dropping out, after majoring in student politics and debating. In 2001-2 he studied for and graduated with a Graduate Certificate in Accountancy in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Technology, Sydney.

In his spare time, Jack is an avid reader, with particular interest in fantasy, crime fiction and historical works, and movie watcher. He and his wife, Cath, like to travel, exploring various parts of Australia and taking the occasional bush-walk. They are members of the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard, in the flotilla that patrols Botany Bay and the Georges River and are avid supporters of the Sydney Swans, attending as many of their matches as possible. They dream of paying off the mortgage but keep extending it.

Jack has been a competition debater, winning the NSW A Grade Championship on 4 occasions, and the Singles Debating Championship once. He twice represented NSW at the Australian Debating Championships and was once named to the Australian Universities' Debating team. He has also written a number of articles for literary journals, particularly on subjects relating to fantasy and to the work of Professor J R R Tolkien. As a result of these essays, he was awarded the William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review in 1980.

Jack edits most of the Council publications and writes articles for the Press Council News. See the list of his articles and publications.

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Deborah has been with the APC since 1993. She joined as the assistant to the then-Executive Secretary and has, since 1994, been employed as the office manager.

Prior to coming to the Council, Deborah spent the majority of her working life in the legal field.

She left that area to study for the matriculation as a full-time student, and followed that up with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Sydney, majoring in History. Subsequently, she completed her Master of Arts, with a thesis on the history of the Australian Press Council.
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Deborah's role is to assist the Executive Secretary in the handling of complaints and, where possible, to mediate between publications and the public. Sometimes, she finds herself lending a sympathetic ear to an aggrieved person who simply needs someone to listen to their tale.

Deborah also writes articles for the Press Council News - see the list of her articles - and for other publications including an article (pages 62-63) on Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Press Council complaints process, published on-line by the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators Austrlia.

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Inez Ryan has an Honours BA, majoring in Political Science and a Bachelor of Laws, both at Macquarie University. Subsequently she has taken an Advanced Diploma of Art (Fine Arts) from the National Arts School. In a varied career, Inez has served as a Policy Officer within the NSW Attorney-General's Department, been a Research Associate to the NSW Industrial Court, acted as a Legal Editor for a major publisher, and an analyst for the NSW Police. Inez' major role will be to assist the Council to develop and strengthen its advocacy role in promoting the freedom of speech, by researching political, legislative, commercial or other developments that may restrict the print media's access to information, and put at risk the community's right to know about matters of importance and public interest. She will use this research to develop policy options for the Council, working closely with the Council's Chairman and the Policy Development Committee.

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Mel joined the Australian Press Council office in April 2008, six months after completion of her HSC.

She assists the Executive Secretary with his correspondence, acts as a receptionist, maintains the filing system, looks after the stationery, organises accommodation for Press Council members and arranges in-house lunches, to name just a few of the many tasks that form part of her job.

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