Governance Board

Prof. John Hall

Chair of Corporate Governance Board

Professor John Hall is a highly accomplished academic leader and Professor of Marketing with more than three decades of experience in higher education, research, and academic governance. He currently serves as Chair of the Academic Board and Director at Danford Higher Education and is a Professor of Marketing and Dean at the Melbourne Institute of Higher Education.

Professor Hall is an internationally recognised scholar with over 80 refereed journal publications, 15 books, and extensive applied research experience across marketing, consumer behaviour, tourism, and hospitality. He has supervised numerous PhD candidates to completion and has held senior leadership roles at leading Australian universities, including Deakin University and Victoria University. His work reflects a strong commitment to academic excellence, industry engagement, and student-centred learning.

Prof. Mehregan Mahdavi

Independent Member of Corporate Governance Board

Professor Mehregan Mahdavi is a senior academic leader and higher education governance specialist with over 20 years of experience in academic leadership, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance . He has served as Dean at multiple Institutes of Higher Education in Australia and has worked as a Higher Education Consultant, supporting TEQSA registration, course accreditation, and academic governance.

Professor Mahdavi holds a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of New South Wales and is a member of the TEQSA Register of External Experts. He has held senior executive and governance roles including Dean, Director of Learning and Teaching, Academic Manager, and Head of Department, and has served on Academic Boards, Audit and Risk Committees, Learning and Teaching Committees and Course Advisory Committees. His expertise spans academic governance, curriculum oversight, risk and quality assurance, and compliance with the Higher Education Standards Framework (HESF) and the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).

He has contributed extensively to institutional strategy, risk management, and governance.

Mr. Dipendra Panta

Independent member of Corporate Governance Board

Mr Dipendra Panta is an experienced accountant with comprehensive expertise in the Australian Income Taxation system, specialising in individual and company income tax matters. He is highly confident in managing a wide range of accounting and taxation requirements with accuracy and professionalism.

Mr Panta is a qualified member of CPA Australia and a Chartered Accountant (India), with strong professional experience in internal audit within the banking sector and audit management in a chartered accounting firm. He brings extensive exposure to internal audit, external audit, tax audit, process reviews, business process modelling, and enterprise risk assessments, supported by over seven years of combined advisory and professional training experience.

He has successfully serviced a diverse client portfolio across manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, FMCG, retail, banking and insurance, information technology, and the not-for-profit sector.

Dr. Safoora Pitsi

Independent member of Corporate Governance Board

Dr Safoora Pitsi is an experienced academic and governance professional with strong expertise in higher education quality assurance, research governance, and strategic leadership. She currently serves as a Lecturer, Course and Program Coordinator, and Research Administration Officer at Excelsia University College, and is an active member of the institution’s Ethics and Research Committees.

Dr Pitsi holds a PhD from the University of Wollongong and has held academic appointments at the University of Wollongong and the University of Notre Dame Australia. She brings extensive experience in academic oversight, higher degree research supervision, policy implementation, and compliance within regulated environments. In addition, she has held senior project and transformation roles across the public and private sectors, including with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and IBM, contributing strong capabilities in risk management, governance, and organisational change.

Prof. Md. Rafiqul Islam

Member of Corporate Governance Board

Dr Rafiqul Islam is a Professor in the School of Computing, Mathematics and Engineering at Charles Sturt University, Australia. He is a nationally and internationally recognised expert in cybersecurity, with research expertise spanning malware analysis and classification, authentication, cloud security, privacy in social media, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Dr Islam leads the Cybersecurity Research Team at Charles Sturt University and brings extensive experience in research leadership, collaborative partnerships, and sustainability-focused innovation. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed research papers and has been recognised with multiple national and international awards, including the Cyber Security Researcher of the Year Award (2021) from the Australian Information Security Association. He is a co-recipient of more than 18 externally funded research grants exceeding $7 million in cash funding and is a Co-Investigator on the Cybersecurity CRC, contributing to major projects in resilient networks, IoT security, cybersecurity platforms, and malware detection.