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ATSA Team

Board Members

Chair

Nikolas Witcombe

Nik started work in the AT industry with Blue Badge Insurance in 2013 overseeing the launch of both it’s mobility equipment and car insurance products. The car insurance product won the 2017 ATSA Independent Living Expo Best New Product Award  and is specifically designed for disability converted vehicles and vehicle that regularly uses a disability parking permit.

Nik left Blue Badge in 2022 to “semi-retire” and now does part time strategic consultancy across a number of industries. He is currently working with Total Ability, the exclusive distributor of Fadiel driving aids in Australia and New Zealand.

Previously Nik worked in a general management, sales and marketing roles in Australia with Virgin Money, Pepsico, Mars and Unilever. Nik also spent 10 years working the global drinks business, Diageo in Australia, the UK and the Philippines.

Nik has been on the ATSA Board since 2018 and became Chair in 2021. He is committed to raising ATSA’s profile and impact on and for the industry.

Pip Bell
Vice Chair

Philippa Bell

Pip joined the ATSA board in 2021 as an appointed director.

She is a lawyer by professional background and has worked with large Australian and international law firms, a regulator and a major retail bank.

She likes to give back to the community by contributing her legal knowledge and her governance and risk management skills to non-profit organisations.

Financial Director

Andrew Webster

Andrew is the CFO for Country Care Group.  Andrew has over 30 years of experience in accounting and commercial finance across manufacturing, distribution and retail businesses. Andrew has a strong background in finance and senior leadership, most notably with his career at Laminex Australia.

His vision for ATSA is for it to continue to be a key voice within the industry, supporting and growing its members through current the expos and activities, but also advising and leading the industry through linking and supporting all stakeholders such as clients and end users, health professionals, government and other industry organisations.

Elected Director

Matthew Butterworth

Matthew is the Business Development Manager Asia Pacific for Sunrise Medical. He has  spent 5 years as Representative for ATSA on ME067 Standards Australia committee and 2 years as Expert member on ISO comittee. Matthew has17 years industry management experice in UK and Australia.

Matthew aspires for ATSA to continue to grow as a representative body for Assistive Technology (AT) in Australia, to represent not only its members but the Disabled community to ensure access to AT products remain safe and accessible for all. To uphold a high level of conduct to ensure the safe prescription and sale of AT to members of the community that may be more vulnerable.He would also like ATSA to be more prominent in the wider community with marketing, allowing consumers to know that they have a choice of AT products and services.

Jeff Watters
Elected Director

Jeff Watters

Jeff formed Automobility in 2001 allowing him to apply his engineering expertise to the mobility vehicle industry after some initial exposure to the mobility industry and wheelchair users whilst working as an Automotive Engineering consultant.

His aspiration is that ATSA is respected as our industry body and is seen as credible in its activities and member interactions including being the “go to” organisation in relation to provider conduct and conformance to the required Codes of Practice and Conduct and compliance of products.

Stewart McDonagh
Elected Director

Stewart McDonagh

Stewart has more than 20 years’ experience working in the disability, health, and AT sectors. He started as an Occupational Therapist with The Northcott Society and is currently Head of Clinical Services with Independent Living Specialists.

His aspiration is for ATSA to be the continued voice and advocate of our industry; delivering a robust and commercially viable marketplace that breeds innovation and delivers world leading AT solutions, expertise, and service levels to individuals living with disability and/or medical condition, and their carers/families.

Elected Director

Amin Akbarian

Amin is Director and CFO of Mobility Engineering and has 17 years’ experience in the vehicle disability solutions, working across all areas of the business.

He has a strong background in Automotive Manufacturing and finance and is an Independent member on Standards Australia ME-067 and is involved with Transport NSW focus group for vehicles modified for people with disability.

One of his visions for ATSA is for it to continue to grow as a collaboration and sharing platform of information within the disability industry, helping the industry come together and innovate ways to help remove inefficiencies within the process of assessing and delivering Assistive Technology for the users in the community.

Elected Director

Jacinta Maurin

Jacinta is a Physiotherapist with over 20 years’ experience in disability and heath care services, with a special interest in education and mentoring, postural assessment, and complex seating. After many years in the clinical arena Jacinta joined Ottobock as a Business Manager and the leadership team in 2014. She aspires for ATSA to continue to be a progressive, robust association that supports innovative ways to provide Assistive Technology to the Australian market while retaining a strong customer focus.

Appointed Director

Michael Linke

Michael is currently the Commercial General Manager at Vision Australia. He started his career studying accountancy and spent 15 years with the Australian Taxation Office before moving into the for-purpose sector, spending time at Royal Blind Society as an area manager and then RSPCA ACT as CEO, and most recently at Recreational Aviation Australia as CEO.

Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in taxation law, a master’s degree in business administration, majoring in marketing and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. In 2019, Michael was accepted into Harvard Business School where he completed an executive education program specialising in authentic leadership.

Born and raised in the inner Sydney suburb of Alexandria, Michael was diagnosed very early in life with high myopia with vision limited by atrophic myopic maculopathy. In 2013, he suffered a major retinal detachment requiring extensive surgery and rehabilitation.

Michael loves to travel independently, however his extreme short sightedness means he cannot see details more than a metre away.

Michael has enjoyed success in the sporting arena playing blind cricket, representing NSW, SA, the ACT and Australia at a variety of national and international events over a 20-year period. He’s also played ten pin bowling, representing the ACT and Australia numerous times.

Michael lives in Canberra with his wife, Mardi, sharing their home with six cats, a dog (who thinks she’s a cat!) and a school of goldfish. He enjoys listening to music (from Pirates of Penzance to Powderfinger and Pink Floyd) and photography.

Staff Members

Executive Officer

David Sinclair

David has held several management roles with Unilever, Canon Australia and ParaQuad NSW/BrightSky Australia, with over 30-years of experience in business process design, change management and business development.

He has worked in a varity of business sectors including construction, manufacturing, consumer electronics, IT, medical consumables, Assistive Technology and the NFP sector. Joined ATSA in November 2016 as Executive Officer.

Event and Marketing Manager

Melanie Robertson

Melanie joined ATSA in 2021 as Event and Marketing Manager. Melanie has a strong background in operations and marketing roles. She has worked alongside ATSA assisting with organising ATSA Independent Living Expo or as an exhibitor since 2006.

Photo of Allison Miller
Sales Manager

Allison Miller

Allison joined ATSA in September 2021 as Sales Manager. Allison has more than 20 years sales experience in the health, supply chain and FMCG industries but has found her passion working with AT Suppliers and has been working in the sales role for the ATSA Independent Living Expos for more than 12 years.

Senior Policy Officer

Margaret Noonan

Margaret joined ATSA in early 2021 as Senior Policy Officer and works directly with David Sinclair.

Margaret’s experience in policy development has been developed through her work in the not for profit sector including Odyssey House, Ronald McDonald House Randwick, Vision Australia and Spinal Cord Injuries.  She also has experience in the commercial sector.  Margaret will help ATSA generate submissions and enact change for the assistive technology industry.

ATSA Objectives