President/Board Chair: Damien Ellwood

Damien has been an active member of his three children’s school Parents & Citizen's Associations for 12 years, serving as an ordinary member and president. He also served on the ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations’ committees and working groups. The Council subsequently nominated Damien for the Board of ACSSO.

Damien wants all children in Australia to have access to quality education. His interest in promoting and advocating for public education comes from career experience in public policy and a belief that public education supports diversity and upward mobility. Damien’s contribution is informed by a Master's of Public Policy and training from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Chief Executive Officer: Dianne Giblin AM,
B.Ed (Adult) Dip Mgmt, Family Engagement Consultant

Di has worked in education in both paid and unpaid capacity for the past 32 years
Di has a passion for education, in particular public education, and the opportunities it affords young people. She has led the ACSSO secretariat since 2011 but has been a significant player in parent activism since 1984 when her eldest child commenced school. She is proud of her four children’s achievements – all successes of public education.
She has held various volunteer roles in the parent movement finishing her P&C career as President of the Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations of NSW.
Di was a founding Director of Public Education Foundation whose board position she held for six years; a founding Director of Primary Ethics Board and also a founding Director of The Parenthood board.
She worked in a paid capacity for the NSW education department in a number of roles across a large area of Sydney. Her roles were all in the area of parent engagement and home-school partnerships including school based community officer, across district Community Development Officer and regional Partnership Officer – all through the Priority Schools Program.
Recognition of her work saw her commended for Meritorious Service to Public Education and Training in 2010. In 2012 Dianne was admitted as a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia for her service to public education and the community.
Di’s greatest love is her family but coming a close second is her love of music. Whilst an amateur guitar player she likes to spend downtime with it, her grandchildren and her playing her vinyl albums on the new turntable.

Di can be contacted on: 0418 470 604 Email: ceo@acsso.org.au

Director: Tooba Awais (Vic)

Tooba is a parent, an experienced and high-achieving teacher, and a Director of ACSSO, representing Victoria. In her teaching career, Tooba has always worked to involve the wider community in education to provide students with the most rewarding experiences. She has extensive experience working with students from different cultural backgrounds.

Tooba is a firm believer that effective education involves not only school and students but also effective parent engagement in their children’s education.

In joining the ACSSO Board, Tooba brings a strong motivation to inform parents about how important and vital family engagement is to their child’s success.

Director: Melanie DeBeer

Melanie has a proven track record in governance, risk, assurance, and compliance. As a Volunteer Board Member, Melanie is committed to promoting transparency, accountability, and ethical decision-making. With over 20 years’ experience across multiple roles and industries in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and South Africa, Melanie has successfully contributed to the effective governance of many organisations. These experiences have equipped her with a deep understanding of organisations' challenges and opportunities, whether for profit or not. Melanie will use this experience in supporting ACSSO's commitment to stand as the unified voice for public education, advocating for an inclusive, high-standard public school system that champions family and community engagement. Through personal experiences with her own two children, both with ADHD and learning disabilities, Melanie appreciates the importance of fostering an inclusive educational environment. Melanie recognises the significance of developing an atmosphere that accommodates diverse learning styles, embraces personalised teaching strategies, early intervention, and collaborative partnerships between educators, parents, and support services.

Director: Tim Wall

Tim has dedicated his career to public education in Victoria. He started as a technical schoolteacher in rural and urban settings before transitioning to a secondary college in Albert Park. His role evolved as he joined the Australian Education Union (Victoria Branch), where he focused on teacher safety and well-being. Collaborating with WorkSafe and school communities, he tackled issues such as asbestos management, workplace bullying, worker stress, and challenging student behaviours.

Subsequently, he served in the Victoria Department of Education's Employee Wellbeing Division. He was instrumental in enhancing health and wellbeing support systems and policies for our public school staff and principals. His efforts included convening committees and working with the Victorian Council of State School Organisation representatives to develop vital resources like the Conflict Resolution Support Service and the Employee Assistance Program.

With extensive experience in education and a deep understanding of the challenges teachers and principals face, he recognised the critical importance of parent and community involvement in schools. Tim is committed to fostering effective school operations and enhancing the quality of educational programs.

As a new board member of ACSSO, he is eager to contribute to our mission of advocating for a better deal for public schools and looks forward to meeting many of you and working together to achieve our goals.

Company Secretary: John O’Shannassy
M. Laws , M. Ed (Adult Ed), B Business, B Science (Elect Eng),Practitioner’s Certificate in Mediation, Graduate Diploma of Company Secretarial Practice CSA, Advanced Certificate in Arbitration

John is a Principal Lawyer at Australian Corporate Lawyers & Advisors and is directly related to corporate governance where he ensures corporations have corporate governance policy and procedures in place. He has 16 years experience in company secretarial services and designed governance and compliance for organisations and managed the ASIC, Austrac and NSW government compliance issues. John has led small and large teams and departments at various times, including roles as: General Counsel/Company Secretary at the University of Technology Sydney; Company Secretary/General Counsel at Apex; and governance and commercial advisory with Australian Corporate Lawyers & Advisers. In his spare time John enjoys participating in Surf Lifesaving, refereeing Rugby Union and Computer Programming.

Administration Officer: Donna Learson

Donna works in our office 15 hours per week and assists with the day to day operations of ACSSO Ltd. Donna joins the team with a wealth of experience in a number of different roles. She is an experienced administration officer, skilled in all areas of office management and customer service.

She has a history of working within family and commercial business and now able to bring her skills to serve the broader community through enhancing public education.