DVA LogoAnnual Report 2005-2006

Commission membership

Photo of Mark Sullivan Mark Sullivan

President of the Repatriation Commission
Chair of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission
Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs

Mr Sullivan was appointed President of the Repatriation Commission, Chair of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission and Secretary of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in October 2004. Mr Sullivan previously held the positions of Secretary of the Department of Family and Community Services and Chief Executive Officer of the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Commission. He also was Deputy Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. He has extensive senior managerial experience in the private and public sectors including with WANG Australia, SBS, the Department of Social Security and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Mr Sullivan is a Fellow of the Society of Certified Practicing Accountants, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and has a Bachelor of Economics from Sydney University.
Photo of Ed Killesteyn PSM Ed Killesteyn PSM

 Deputy President of the Repatriation Commission
Member of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission

Mr Killesteyn was appointed Deputy President of the Repatriation Commission and member of the MRCC in August 2005. Mr Killesteyn joined the Australian Taxation Office in 1972, having graduated from Macquarie University with 1st Class Honours in Accounting.  While working for the ATO, he also lectured and tutored in Accounting at Macquarie University and the Australian National University.

Mr Killesteyn served as Deputy Commissioner of Taxation in charge of the Sydney South Taxation Office from 1989-91 and in 1993 was appointed the ATO’s inaugural Chief Finance Officer. In 1994, he transferred to the then Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) as First Assistant Secretary and was responsible for implementation of the highly successful Electronic Travel Authority. Mr Killesteyn was appointed the inaugural Chief Information Officer in DIMIA as part of the Department’s strategic response to managing issues arising from Y2K and DIMIA’s significant investment in information technology to support its business. 

Mr Killesteyn was appointed to the position of DIMIA Deputy Secretary in 2002. He was awarded a Public Service Medal (PSM) in the June 2004 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for his work in establishing the world’s first global electronic visa processing system and his work in APEC. Mr Killesteyn is a Fellow of the Society of Certified Practicing Accountants.
Photo of Rear Admiral Simon Harrington AM RAN (Retd) Rear Admiral Simon Harrington AM RAN (Retd

Member of the Repatriation Commission
Member of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission

Rear Admiral Harrington was appointed as the Services member of the Repatriation Commission in August 2003 for three years and is a founding member of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission.

RADM Harrington previously served in the Royal Australian Navy for 39 years. He represented Australia as the Head of Australian Defence Staff Washington and Defence Attaché and served three years as Support Commander – Navy. His service included the command of two war ships, HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide, as well as the Royal Australian Naval College at Jervis Bay, HMAS Creswell. RADM Harrington served in Vietnam, the Far East Strategic Reserve, Papua New Guinea and Support Command – Navy.

RADM Harrington has a Masters in Business Administration from Deakin University.


Photo of Barbara Benett Barbara Bennett

Member of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission

Ms Bennett is a founding member of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission. She is the Chief Executive Officer of Comcare and was previously Group Manager, Workplace Relations Implementation, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. Ms Bennett also has worked in the Departments of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Education, Training and Youth Affairs (now Employment and Workplace Relations) as a senior adviser and Assistant Secretary respectively.

Ms Bennett has a Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University.
Photo of Major General Mark Evans DSC AM* Major General Mark Evans DSC AM*

Member of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission

Major General Evans was appointed as a member of the MRCC on 15 September 2005.  MAJGEN Evans has served in the Australian Army since 1976, serving in a variety of postings, including command of the 6th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, for which he was made a Member of the Order of Australia.

MAJGEN Evans commanded 3rd Brigade on operations in East Timor, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. He was posted to Canberra in January 2001 and served as the Director General Personnel – Army. In 2004, he assumed the new position of Deputy Chief of Joint Operations at Headquarters Joint Operations Command in Sydney. In this role he was responsible to the Chief of Defence Force for the conduct of ADF operations in the Middle East, East Timor, the Solomon Islands and in Sumatra during the Tsunami disaster. MAJGEN Evans was posted to Head Defence Personnel Executive in July 2005.MAJGEN Evans has a Master of Arts in Strategic Studies from La Trobe University.


*Following the resignation of Rear Admiral Brian Adams AO RAN on 14 June 2005, Mr Steven Grzeskowiak served as an acting member of the MRCC until MAJGEN Evans’ appointment.