The Cairns and Far North Environment Centre (CAFNEC) is a not-for-profit incorporated association under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Queensland) operating in Queensland, Australia. The principal activities of CAFNEC are to safeguard Far North Queensland’s environment through advocacy and education.
The organisation is governed by a Management Committee in line with the requirements of CAFNEC’s Rules of Incorporated Association. The Management Committee is appointed by CAFNEC members at the Annual General Meeting, and are members themselves. Management Committee Members serve for a minimum one-year term and do not receive remuneration for their role, but may receive out-of-pocket expenses.
The Management Committee govern the organisation and retain ultimate authority over its management, delegating the day-to-day management to the Director. The Director’s responsibilities are guided by an annual plan, performance criteria and monitoring adopted by the Management Committee. The Management Committee conducts an annual performance review of the Director.
CAFNEC maintains a public gift fund, the CAFNEC Gift Fund, which is a tax-deductible gift recipient registered by the Australian Taxation Office and subject to the regulatory oversight of the Commonwealth Register of Environmental Organisations and the Australian National Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. All donations received are used to support CAFNEC’s charitable objectives.
Role of the Management Committee
The Management Committee’s primary role is the good governance of CAFNEC, including the development and monitoring of long-term directions and goals and the strategies and policies needed to achieve these goals.
The Management Committee also appoints and manages the Director and ensures that the organisation complies with its contractual, statutory and legal obligations; remains financially viable and proactively manages risks. The Management Committee regularly engages with employees via strategy planning sessions, sub-committees, events and meetings. The Management Committee also invites staff to regularly present key information to the Management Committee, and the Committee Members are always available to provide support and advice or receive feedback.
To meet our governance requirements, Management Committee membership is diverse and includes key competencies such as environmental policy and strategy, finance, legal, fundraising, strategy, audit, risk, communications and engagement. The Management Committee regularly reviews the skills necessary to undertake its activities and undertakes a formal appraisal of its performance annually.
The Management Committee operates sub-committees to investigate various issues and make recommendations to the Management Committee. The Management Committee currently operates four sub-committees, with membership consisting primarily of Management Committee members with support from co-opted experts. The Management Committee does not abrogate its responsibilities to sub-committee members. Sub-committees currently in operation are HR, Campaigns and Finance.
2020 – 2025 Strategic Plan
Our Management Committee
Charlotte Cox | President | She/Her
Charlotte grew up in a quiet and leafy part of the NSW Central Coast, just a stones throw from the beach. Her love for the land and sea led her to Djabugay Country (Kuranda) where she lives with her partner, young daughter, and two kelpies.
She holds a Bachelor of Commerce Accounting and a Master of Environment from Macquarie University. Charlotte has dedicated her career to environmental and climate advocacy, playing key roles in campaigns such as Fight for the Bight at Greenpeace, working closely with Traditional Owners on the Don’t Frack the NT campaign at GetUp, and now working on Queensland's transition as Queensland Conservation Council's Coal and Gas Campaigner.
When not fighting for climate justice or spending time with her young family, you’ll find her in the garden, by the sea, or dominating a board game with friends.
Liam Roberts | Vice President |
Liam is a Jirrbal man from the Atherton Tablelands.
He has 10 years experience working for Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service much of it as a project officer and has served as a director of Wabubadda Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC for 9 years.
As well as being a current director of Wabubadda Liam works in the Cape York Tenure Resolution Program providing governance support to Aboriginal Corporations across Cape York. He is keenly interested in protecting the environment and brings a wealth of governance knowledge and would love to use his experience to support CAFNEC and their projects.
Pia Harkness | Secretary | She/Her
Pia was born and raised in Townsville and was fortunate to spend much of her childhood on Magnetic Island where her love for the environment and the seeds of her interest in tropical marine ecosystems were sown. Professionally, Pia is a community engagement expert, working to support Traditional Owner-led land and sea management in the Great Barrier Reef and its catchments, with a focus on water quality. This work builds on her scientific background with research focused on bringing western science and traditional ecological knowledge based understandings together to support Indigenous land and sea management. Pia holds a Bachelor of Environmental Management, a Master of Tropical Environmental Management and a PhD which focused on marine conservation and community engagement practices and their implications for coastal ecosystems and communities in remote eastern Indonesia.
Pia moved to Cairns in mid 2019 and joined the CAFNEC management committee soon after in an effort to connect with the FNQ environmental community. She has served as President since 2021, where she has led important work to build cultural competency among staff and management committee for stronger partnerships with Traditional Owners. Pia now lives on Eastern Kuku Yalanji Country the Mossman region and has a deep understanding of the environmental and cultural heritage values CAFNEC works tirelessly to protect.
Bess Murphy | Treasurer | She/Her
Hailing from country NSW and trained as an Environmental Scientist/Biologist Bess is passionate about environmental advocacy, science, social change & sustainability.
She has over half a decade of environmental campaigning and outreach experience spanning Bathurst, Wollongong and Cairns, including most recently working at CAFNEC from 2015-2020.
When not at CAFNEC you can find Bess crafting sustainable timber jewelery in an off grid shed on the Tablelands, under the sea, or hiking in the rainforest nerding-out on botany. She now runs two eco-conscious businesses with her partner and teams.
Will Higham | General Member |
Will is a Land Resource Scientist who specialises in crafting natural resource management plans and implementation strategies at regional and multi-regional scales. He has been designing and implementing successful community based natural resource management solutions in for over 25 years.
Dr. Angie Reid | General Member |
Angie has been researching and working alongside Traditional Owners in remote northern Australia for the past 9 years. Originally from the USA where she worked as a fire ecologist, Angie came to Australia in 2015 to do a PhD studying the connection between large feral and native herbivores and Indigenous fire management in the North Kimberley and Arnhem Land. Following her studies, she worked in the Great Sandy Desert as the Ngururrpa Indigenous Protected Area Coordinator for 3.5 years - helping to establish a new land management program and ranger team, whilst also carrying out work to mitigate impacts of feral cats and camels on threatened species and important cultural areas. Angie currently works as the Senior Project Coordinator for the Protecting Country Against Invasive Species Program at the North Australia Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA) supporting Indigenous Ranger Groups across northern Australia to do invasive species work and capacity building.
Jesse Rheinlander | General Member |
Jesse’s primary relationship to the world began with isolated ecosystems, protected wilderness, human development and often-irrational management regimes. The sprawling human geography of WA’s urban centres provoked some of the seminal questions of Jesse’s trajectory, specifically regarding the relationship between socio-political environments, the built form and environmental footprints.
Jesse was involved in direct action movements as a young adult, but it was ultimately a burning desire to witness the majesty of climaxed rainforest, and a pressing need to consolidate untamed passions that put him in pursuit of a qualification from James Cook University, emerging some six years later with a degree in both Land and Water Management and Urban Design.
After some time spent developing his networks in the region, Jesse’s professional profile now incorporates administrative, operational and management roles, and he has been responsible for net-positive environmental decision-making, strategy and cultural change at all levels.
Jesse brings a background in evidence-based governance, strategy and ethical decision making to the CAFNEC management committee, and remains fundamentally impassioned by the public-facing campaign issues which they navigate.
Lucan Sinclair | General Member | He/Him
Lucan sailed to Far North Queensland three years ago, settling on Djabugay Country (Kuranda), and has since become deeply involved in protecting the region’s unique marine and coastal environments. He works as a Data and Communications Officer with Earthwatch, analysing coastal wetland projects in Far North Queensland, and is currently undertaking an Honours project investigating the effects of climate change on sharks in New South Wales waters.
As a diver and member of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Local Marine Advisory Committee, Lucan combines hands-on experience with strong advocacy for healthy reefs and oceans. His diverse background in applied technologies and marine science enables him to translate complex technical data into clear, engaging communication, helping to build community understanding and support for environmental protection.