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. One of the Consumer representatives, David Russell, has been elected as the Chair.

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, on the board of the Domain Name Commission Ltd, ambassador for Lifetime Design – an organisation promoting accessible housing for the disabled and the elderly – and chair of the Electricity Commission's retail market advisory group.

Bill Bevan (Consumer Representative)		Bill Bevan has been actively involved in developing the Scheme through his participation in the TCF’s stakeholder workshops last year. For eleven years Bill has 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 both in New Zealand and in the UK. He has a weekly spot on TV1's Good Morning show and was a contributor to National Radio's Nine to Noon show for two years. He writes a regular column called "Law Report" for local newspapers and has written a number of self-help legal resources as well as textbooks on business and consumer law. Bill will bring a range of real-life consumer experiences to his role.

Ernie Newman(Consumer Representative)		Ernie Newman has held the position of Chief Executive of TUANZ, the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand, since 1999. TUANZ is essentially an association of large business users of telecommunications, but takes a strong interest in the connectivity of the residential users who are its members' customers. It is is a passionate advocate of the importance of high quality telecommunications for New Zealand's growth and prosperity. Ernie is a past Chairman of the Netherlands-based International Telecommunications Users Group, represents TUANZ on a number of industry bodies overseas and within New Zealand including the Board of the Telecommunications Carriers Forum, and is a regular speaker at industry conferences locally and globally. His background is as a business advocate and marketer.

Shelly Dew-Hopkins (Consumer Representative)		Shelly Dew-Hopkins has a long association with issues impacting rural communities and will be a knowledgeable voice for consumers on the Council. As President of Manawatu Rangitikei Federated Farmers (Inc), Shelley has had wide-ranging experience in dealing with local and central government issues. Shelley is currently Chairperson of the Horizons Balance Farm Environmental Awards and is a project manager for the Lower North Island Sustainable Farming Fund on 2004 storm issues.

Toni Rasmussen (TelstraClear)		Toni Rasmussen currently serves as TelstraClear’s representative on the Customer Complaints Working Party and will also act as their Council representative. Toni is currently TelstraClear’s Group Manager - Customer Experience, holding responsibility for the ongoing development and assurance of the customer experience. In this role, Toni has gained a strong understanding of the issues facing customers and the ongoing changes and improvements across all areas of the telecommunications industry to meet these needs. Toni has fifteen years of experience in several roles in the telecommunication industry.

Tanja Jujnovich(Vodafone)		Tanja Jujnovich is Vodafone's representative on the Council. Since joining Vodafone ten years ago, Tanja has worked in a number of roles culminating in her current position as the Feedback and Complaints Manager. With a team of senior support personnel, Tanja works tirelessly to demonstrate Vodafone’s commitment to customer obsession. Prior to becoming a council representative, Tanja helped develop Vodafone’s model for engaging with the Telecommunications Dispute Resolution Service’s process. Tanja also set up Vodafone’s Family and Friends process which empowers every Vodafone employee to solve customer problems whenever or wherever they hear about them. Tanja and her team deal with the most difficult customer interactions on a daily basis and do so with humour, with style and with a commitment to customer service that’s second to none

Susie Stone(Kordia) for all other industry members		Susie Stone has been appointed as one of the two industry representatives for all other industry 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) for all other industry members		Tania Shackleton has been appointed as one of the two industry representatives for all other industry members.¹. 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. ¹ In year two of the TDR Scheme, Telecom do not have a Tier 1 position on the Council.