College Council
Mr Tony McDonald (ON 1976), Chairman of Council
Appointed to Council in November 2007, Tony McDonald attended Newington College from 1970–1976. His four sons have all graduated from Newington – Fergus (ON 2006), Barnaby (ON 2008), Finlay (ON 2011) and Darcy (ON 2018). He is a professional non-executive company director and previously a lawyer and founder/Managing Director of a listed financial services company.
Mr Chris Collings (ON 1984), Deputy Chairman
An ONU nominated member of the Council since 2014, Chris brings to Newington extensive experience in finance and risk management. He was a Managing Director of Deutsche Bank from 2007-2012 and is an advisor to a number of charities as well as private and public companies. Chris attended Newington from 1980-1984.
Mr Andrew Walsh, Honorary Treasurer
Appointed to Council in 2020, Andrew Walsh’s two sons graduated from the College in 2021 and 2023. Andrew is an adviser and board member for several private and not-for-profit companies, most recently as Chair of Mason Stevens. Andrew served as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Iress Limited between 2009 and 2022 having joined Iress in 2001. Prior to Iress, Andrew worked in the areas of actuarial consulting and software.
Mr Tony Bosman (ON 1972), Honorary Secretary
Appointed to Council in October 2015 as an ONU nominated representative, Tony attended Newington from 1963 to 1972 and was Senior Prefect in his final year. Tony operated his own commercial consultancy services company for some 30 years, having previously practised as a solicitor, which included a period in the major projects group of Freehill Hollingdale and Page (now Herbert Smith Freehills).
Rev. Punam Bent
Appointed to Council in 2014, Rev. Punam Bent has been a Minister in the Uniting Church of Australia since 1996. She was the Parish Minister of St Clair, St Mary’s and Rooty Hill Uniting Churches and has been the School Chaplain at MLC School and Pymble Ladies College. She is currently Presbytery Minister – Wellbeing for Sydney Central Coast Presbytery. Punam is married to Andrew and has two children, Neal (ON 2010) and Andrea.
Rev. Ian Diamond (ON 1961)
Ian Diamond has returned to Newington as a Council member, having attended the College from 1956-1961 when he was Senior Prefect in his final year. Ian has had extensive experience as a Uniting Church Minister in urban and rural Australia, including serving as Chaplain for 5 years at Wolaroi College, Orange (now Kinross Wolaroi School) where he also served on Council for 3 years, as an honorary Police Chaplain for 27 years and an honorary Prison Chaplain at Berrima Correctional Centre for 7 years. He brings a wealth of unique experiences from his varied work to his position on the Council.
Mr Tony King (ON 1982)
Appointed to Council in 2015, Tony King (ON 1982) is the Vice President of Apple Australia and is responsible for Apple’s business in South Asia and Australia and New Zealand. he joined Apple in 2003. Prior to Apple, Tony has held executive positions at IBM, DELL, Ricoh and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Ms Rhys Kelly
Appointed to Council in March 2016, Rhys is currently the Head of Communications at The Smith Family. She is a Newington mother and previously was a member of the Communications sub-committee of the Newington P&F and former Vice President and member of the P&F sub-group, New Women. Rhys’ skills encompass communications, marketing, leadership, fundraising and business strategy.
Mr David Torrible
Appointed to Council in 2018, David Torrible has had three sons graduate from the senior school and one in his final year. David is a retired partner of Goldman Sachs after spending 19 years in finance in Hong Kong, Indonesia and New York. David is currently an advisor and board member for a number of hedge funds, charities and private companies.
Mr Nicholas Heaton (ON 2002)
Appointed to Council in September 2021, Nicholas attended Newington College from 1991-2002. His brother Tom Heaton (ON 1994) and brother-in-law Jonathan Hudson (ON 1995) also graduated from Newington. Nicholas is a Senior Director and Head of Private Clients at CBRE. He brings an extensive knowledge of the NSW property market and strong relationships with key stakeholders in the industry.
Ms Justine Richardson
Justine was appointed to Council in November 2021 and currently has a son attending the College. Justine is a partner in a professional services firm, where she leads the CFO Advisory practice. Justine brings risk management and finance experience to the College. Prior to joining Newington Council, Justine chaired the Audit, Risk and Governance Committee at Childfund Australia, a not for profit organisation.
Rev. Radhika Sukumar-White
Appointed to the Council in 2022, Rev. Radhika Sukumar-White has been a Minister in the Uniting Church of Australia since 2016. She was formely a Minister at West Epping Uniting Church and is currently a Minister at Leichhardt Uniting Church. Radhika is a 2nd generation Sri Lankan Tamil Australian and is married to Rev. Adrian Sukumar-White with one daughter, Anna.
Melissa Abu-Gazaleh
Appointed to the College Council in 2022, Melissa is the Founder and Managing Director of the Top Blokes Foundation – a social education organisation that helps young males lead healthy and safe lives. Melissa was awarded NSW Young Australian of the Year (2016) and holds board roles on The Funding Network and NSW Australia Day Council.
Tina Morrell
Tina Morrell is a senior executive and experienced Board Member who has held key leadership roles at NRMA, CBA, QANTAS, nbn and Optus, where she was accountable for strategy, product development, customer and digital transformation. Tina leverages design thinking to elevate customer experiences with strong governance and risk management expertise to drive business outcomes. A former Newington parent, Tina is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University.
Peter Crawley (ON 1971)
Appointed in 2023, Peter has extensive experience in the education sector having been Principal at St Hilda’s School (QLD), Headmaster at Knox Grammar School and Headmaster at Trinity Grammar School (Kew). He’s also been the District Chair of the National Youth Science Forum and the Managing Director of educational consultancy Creative School Management. Prior to his appointment to College Council, he served as Chairman of the Hills Grammar School and Interim Principal of The Glennie School (QLD) and Arden Anglican School.
Rev. ‘Oto Faiva
Rev. ‘Oto Faiva was appointed to Council in 2023. Born in Tonga and schooled at Newington’s brother school Tupou College, Rev. Faiva holds a Bachelor of Science and worked as a Chemist/Laboratory Analyst before being ordained as a Uniting Church Minister in 2003. He served in country congregations in Moree, Bathurst and Oberon before returning to Sydney in 2018, where he was based in Sutherland with his wife and four children. He started work as the Ministry team leader at West Epping and Carlingford Uniting Church in September 2023.
Professor Andrew T. Harris
Andrew was appointed to Council in February 2024 and currently has one son attending the senior school and another joining the prep schools in 2025. He currently holds a tenured professorship in engineering at the University of Sydney and brings extensive experience in strategy, people management, risk, innovation and IP management. Andrew previously held senior executive and governance roles at large multinationals, early-stage technology companies, not-for-profits, higher education and ASX listed companies.
Rachel Stock
Appointed to Council in February 2024, Rachel has one son who recently graduated (ON 2021) and another attending the senior school. Rachel is Chief Risk Officer at Bank of Queensland, and previously spent more than 25 years at Macquarie Group. She is a Chartered Accountant and Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Rachel has extensive expertise in risk governance, risk management, financial management and operations and is an experienced non-executive director.
Rev. Simon Hansford (ON 1980)
Rev. Simon Hansford was appointed to Council in September 2024. He is the ex-Moderator of the Uniting Church Synod of New South Wales and ACT. Ordained in 1990, Simon completed a Bachelor of Theology at United Theological College, North Parramatta while working part-time in a youth ministry in Sydney. Currently Minister at Armidale Uniting Church in NSW’s Northern Tablelands, Simon has spent much of his life working with regional, rural and remote communities. His deep affinity for and love of the rural church informs much of his understanding of service, theology and community.
