AHIC Directors

AHIC Secretariat & Directorate

The AHIC Directors and Trustees are volunteers who are committed to serving the Australian Horse Industry.

Mark has ridden horses all his life and grew up attending Kangaroo Ground Pony Club and is now a licensed racehorse trainer and hobby breeder.

Mark been working as an Equine Dental Technician since 1985 and is one of only 35 horse dentists that hold accreditation under the Equine Dental Associations Certificate IV in Work Practices for Equine Dental Technicians.   His profession has provided him with the opportunity to travel and work in different countries and with some of the most experienced horse dentists in the world.

Mark is a past President of the Equine Dental Association of Australia and the Victorian Horse Council.  Both of these roles have given him the opportunity to keep in touch with all sectors of the horse community from racehorses, performance horses, pleasure horses and service providers, all of whose opinions are important to the future of the Horse Industry.

During EI, Mark worked as a Horse Industry Liaison Officer with DPI Victoria at their Attwood premises.   He was also instrumental in organizing a meeting that brought together all sectors of the Victorian Horse Community in an endeavour to co-ordinate the relief effort for horse owners during the Victorian Bushfires in early 2008.

Mark has represented AHIC at various Government and Industry meetings and forums and brings to the table the all important aspect of the “small business and service” part of the horse industry.

Contact: markaburnell@optusnet.com.au

Joining the Board of the Australian Horse Industry Council brings together Linda’s lifelong passion and involvement with horses and successful career as a senior executive.

Linda is regarded as one of Australia’s leading Digital and Content Strategists.

Linda has had a diverse career in media and digital ranging from working as a radio producer, reporter, presenter and Content Director to being the Manager of triple j where she created triplejunearthed.com and reinvigorated triple j to develop it into a multi-faceted digital brand.

She then went on to manage the 170 strong Radio Multiplatform and Content Development Team – a multi-disciplinary team covering design, development and digital content making in over 50 locations across Australia. This included the establishment of ABC Open, an ambitious UGC project supporting regional communities to bring their stories to life across digital platforms.

Linda’s most recent position in the ABC was as Head of Audience Strategy and Digital and Service Design. Her team led the UX and UI across a range of ABC products including iView, ABC News, triple j and ABC Listen.

Her remit also included International Strategy, the ABC’s R+D area and the Great Ideas Grant – a $20 million content development project for the ABC.

Since leaving the ABC, Linda has launched her own consultancy business - focussing on digital strategy, creative leadership and how to build great teams. She is also a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Graduate of their internationally recognised Company Directors course. 

Linda has ridden all her life - beginning as a Pony Club kid at Toronto Pony Club in Lake Macquarie NSW and was a successful show and dressage competitor. She lives on her horse property in the Macdonald Valley in the Hawkesbury area of NSW.  The area is renowned for endurance riding (being the home of the 400km Shazada competition) and Linda, although new to the sport is a keen endurance competitor. 

Contact: lindahbracken@gmail.com

Scott is a C-suite executive and Board Director with extensive experience across health, Government and the not-for-profit sector. He is a qualified accountant and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Although not a horse owner himself, he has an incredible amount of experience in the human health sector which he can leverage and apply to the work we do in equine health.

It is great to have someone with Scott’s financial and commercial acumen on the Board.

Jaime Wallace

Jaime is a Human Resources Consultant with a background in banking, tech and not-for-profits, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She competed through her childhood at pony club and later moved into breeding thoroughbreds. As a result of this, she now has 7 very lovely paddock ornaments who live a life of absolute luxury.

Jaime is looking forward to working with our members to drive better (and more practical) outcomes for the health and welfare of our equines.

Gina Lincoln

Gina is from GOBUR Victoria - Runs a Farm Management and Consulting Operation specialising in Genetics, Animal Husbandry and Nutrition. Gina has been involved in horse sports most of her life, Over the last 25 years she has been involved in Campdrafting  and administration of the Southern Campdraft Association as the President and Animal Welfare & Sponsorship Director.

Having qualifications in Feedlot Management & Nutrition and Rural Business Administration Gina brings with her to AHIC a wealth of experience.

Gina previously was awarded Australian Young Lotfeeder award, Alpine Young Agribusiness Leader Award and has had various director positions on Australian Lotfeeders Association Board and has current positions on the  Southern Campdraft Association Board and Australian Wagyu Association Board.

Kathleen Mullan

Kathleen Mullan is the Head of Equine Health, Welfare and Traceability for Harness Racing Australia, the peak governing body for Standardbreds in Australia.

With a degree in PR and Communications she joined the organisation in 2017 and since then has executed many valuable welfare initiatives including the implementation of compulsory microchipping in Standardbred foals, online retirement and deceased notifications as well as the world first Horse Status Update process that provides real time traceability for Standardbreds within the industry as well as the development and deployment of the HRA Equine Welfare Strategy.

Born into a harness racing family Kathleen has a strong affiliation with and understanding of the harness racing game however she is also a passionate and very successful equestrian, this duality lends itself perfectly to her role with AHIC.

Kathleen is fiercely passionate about equine welfare and traceability and looks forward to using her knowledge and experience to positively contribute to the important work that the AHIC is doing.

Michael Kett

Michael has always been a keen equestrian, trail riding from a young age, later moving into the competition arena (jumping, dressage, eventing), riding in his spare time and breeding performance sports horses.  He lives in the Yarra Valley with his family, four horses, three cats, chickens and any number of kelpies – he is a foster carer with Australian Working Dog Rescue Inc.

Michael is currently an Executive Committee member of HRCAV, and his commitment to animal welfare recently saw him elected as Horse Welfare Officer for the coming year.  This position complements the training he is undergoing in Large Animal Rescue with Arthur’s Creek CFA.

 He has been an Associate Member of Equestrian Victoria for the last 14 years, served as President of Maroondah Adult Riding Club (HRCAV) for three years, (competing for seven years), and has been a Senior Riding Member of The Valley Performance Riding Club (HRCAV) for 10 years, actively competing in dressage and jumping.

Sport in all its forms is Michael’s other passion, participating as well as supporting.  He has been a member of Richmond Football Club for the past 30 years, volunteering with their cheer squad for three years, supporting the Tigers through the good times and the bad.  His playing career began at North Ringwood Football Club, where he was awarded Best & Fairest, as well as Most Improved Player.  As a Senior player, he was poached to play with Mansfield Football Club, helping them win the holy grail, as part of the Grand Final winning team.

 Michael’s breadth of knowledge stems from his lifetime of involvement with the equine industry combined with his strong background in project management, scheduling, and planning.  He built his career in the Building and Construction Industry and is currently Site Manager for a Tier 3 construction company, with an extensive portfolio of successful high-end residential developments and fitouts. 

Debbie Mills

Born and bred at Hay NSW. Worked with Murray Grey cattle including judging at various Royal Shows, earning National Board Member of the Murray Grey Society between the years of 1993 and 1994.

Worked within the veterinary industry for Holbrook Veterinary Centre, then onto Holbrook Breeders Australia, including embryo transfer technician.

Current Operations Manager at Holbrook Breeders Australia.

Committee of RGTAG (Ruminant Genetics Trade Advisory Group)

Major lead in the complete rework of export protocol between Australia and New Zealand for bovine semen. Plus, numerous other trading partners – one of the current high priorities is USA.

Team member of rewrite of Austvet Plan for Enterprise Operation – Artificial Breeding Centres.

Australian Horse Industry Council

P.O. Box 283, Narre Warren North, Victoria, 3804
P: 0478 351 112
E: secretary@horsecouncil.org.au