John Steel - President

John holds an Associate Diploma in Securities Management from the University of Technology, Sydney and is an associate fellow of the Australian Institute of Management. He is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a fellow of the Corporate Directors' Association of Australia and a Justice of the Peace in New South Wales.

John has been a Director of the Securities Registrars Association of Australia Inc. since 1984, Vice President from 1999 to 2003 and Secretary since 2003.

He has been a Director of the National Club since 1995 and a Director of the Australasian Pioneers' Club since 2001 and was appointed Secretary in June 2004 and Vice President in May 2005. Mr Steel is also the Treasurer of Better Hearing Australia (Sydney) Inc., having served as a volunteer for some time.

Prior to his retirement in September 2002, Mr Steel spent 11 years with State Street Australia Limited as Senior Manager of the organisation's Corporate Trustee and Registry Services division. He was a member representative Trustee of the State Street Superannuation Fund from 1992 to 2002 and Chairman from 1997 to 2001.

Before joining State Street Australia Limited in 1991, Mr Steel worked for more than 25 years in a number of Senior Management roles covering all facets of the Stockbroking/Securities industry.

Haydn Daw - Vice-President

Haydn is best known for being the husband of Sue Daw who has been a tireless worker for the hearing impaired in Canberra for many years. He has assisted her with various activities and thought the time had come to be a bit more active by accepting a role on the Management Committee of BHA Sydney, particularly to try and look after the interests of isolated BHA Groups.

Haydn started his working life as a teacher in WA before joining the RAN. He spent just over 22 years in the Navy and retired in 1986. He then worked as an adviser with the Stockbroking Firm J B Were and Son for 12 years, retiring in 1999. He is interested in travel, wine, investment and enjoys the company of family and friends.

Being married to a hearing impaired person has given Haydn a good understanding of the needs of the hearing impaired who need support with their invisible handicap.  Haydn loves travelling in the outback and appreciates red wine and aboriginal art.

Marion Malins - Hon Secretary

Marion joined BHA in 2008 following her retirement from the workforce where she worked as a bookkeeper/office manager for a Diesel engineering firm for 25 years and then with a company involved in the production of colour film separations for the printing industry.  Marion volunteers another day each week at Vision Australia in the audio division where she proof reads books which have been produced as audio.

She is the treasurer of her school's ex-students' association and is on the garden committee at her strata units.  Her hobbies are travelling, reading, philately, cooking and Tai Chi.

Carmen Malins - Hon Treasurer

Carmen, who is Marion's younger sister, joined BHA in 2009 when she retired from her position as Loans Manager of Comtax Credit Union Ltd, a position she held for 31 years.  Carmen is enjoying her retirement with gardening, philately, philumeny (match box collecting), travelling and Tai Chi.

Carmen is the Treasurer for the Strathfield-Burwood Philatelist Society and is on the garden committee at her strata units.

Warwick Smith - Committee Member, Office Manager

Leone became associated with Better Hearing when she joined the Chatswood Hearing Loss Management class in 1999. She benefited so much from attending classes that she decided to train as a teacher. She thought that her career as an English teacher with TAFE had given her teaching skills that could readily be adapted to teaching for Better Hearing. She completed her training and started teaching in 2004 but her studies have interrupted that.

Leone has been a delegate at the annual conference in Perth in September 2003 and in Hobart in August 2004. She currently produces our monthly email newsletter WOJJSAY.

Her hobbies are reading, studying Latin, walking, gymnasium and looking after grandchildren.

Roma Wood, OAM, Ass Dip Ed, BA Ed - Committee Member, Co-ordinator of Teachers

Roma Wood is currently Co-ordinator of Teachers which includes the responsibility for all aspects of teacher training for the Branch. Roma brings a wealth of knowledge and experience gained as a person with hearing loss, and as a cochlear implantee. Even a decade later, Roma still finds that there is a whole new world out there.

During her National Presidency in 1982, Roma was awarded a Churchill Fellowship which allowed her the opportunity to study rehabilitation services in Europe and the U.S. The knowledge gained, together with her personal experience has resulted in the production of specialised resource material for hearing impaired clients, including a lip reading handbook widely used by isolated people, in country or rural areas.

Roma was honoured for her work when in 1991 she was awarded the Order of Australia and in 1990 named Quota International’s Woman of the Year in the South Pacific Area. Roma was elected an Honorary Life Member at the 2006 National Annual General Meeting.

Roma continues to heighten community awareness to the issues of hearing loss by her involvement in many speaking engagements, media presentations, seminars and workshops.