With the introduction of the new global officiating recognition scheme – WARECS – the number of Athletics Australia’s International Technical Officials has swelled quickly with more to come as more opportunities open up.
The World Athletics Referees Education and Certification System has three levels – Bronze, Silver and Gold across four main officiating pillars – General Referees, Race Walking Judges, Photo Finish Judges and Starters. It is anticipated that the recognition program for Road Race Course Measurers which currently sits side by side will soon be fully integrated into WARECS.
Under the previous World Athletics scheme, Australian technical officials were already prominent and highly regarded but the system had limitations for the recognition and personal development of more talent Australian officials. As the new education and evaluation opportunities are rolled out in 2024, it is likely that Australia’s current number of 42 international officials (proudly with virtually equal numbers of women and men) will grow exponentially in a short space of time.
The group provides many of the leaders in technical officiating in Australia and are available to provide advice and support to competition and race organisers and mentoring to other officials.
Athletics Australia is proud of its growing cohort of international officials and hosts this page to provide a short snippet on the backgrounds and interests of each of them.
Les resides in Londonderry, NSW, which is located near Penrith. Now retired, he was an electrical and communications contractor and employed over 30 technicians in the construction industry.
Outside of athletics, Les enjoys competition pistol shooting and competition long range rifle shooting. He is an enthusiastic scuba diver and also an avid rugby league fan, watching and supporting his team, the Penrith Panthers.
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Fiona was originally from Western Australia (WA) and worked as a teacher in WA for 24 years across many places including Kambalda, Merredin, Pinjarra, Kununurra and Waroona. Fiona moved to Alice Springs at the start of 2022 to work as the Central Region Coordinator for School of Sport Education NT.Sport has been a big part of Fiona's life growing up, from playing tennis and basketball to indoor cricket and athletics, with many other sports along the way. Joining an athletic club in 1992/93, Fiona competed, volunteered and after a few years ventured in to some coaching. Fiona was the proud recipient of Athletics Australia's Official of the Year in 2020.
Fiona enjoys crafting, cooking and gardening. Fiona also likes to just take a step back, relax and recover from a busy work life.
Dave currently resides in Brisbane, where he works for Queensland Athletics as Operations Manager.
Dave has devoted 10 years to officiating with the involvement of his kids in the sport of athletics a big driving factor. Both he and wife Kylie are officials, with Dave officiating on the track and Kylie officiating the field events.
Dave has three degrees across both music and education. Dave's hobbies outside of athletics are cycling and cooking.
David resides in Wagga Wagga in regional NSW. He has worked as a high school teacher for over 20 years. David is quite passionate about the public education system and has taught in classrooms across Australia, Canada and USA.
David enjoys spending his time with his family, and they all love the outdoors, whether they are bike riding, water skiing or ski racing. David is an avid ski racer and has won titles across NSW and placed at the Australian Championships. Travelling globally chasing the good powder seasons, in recent times travelling to Revelstoke, Canada for heli-skiing, as well as tree runs in Niseko, Japan.
David's other hobbies include rebuilding and working on his vintage car, a 1928 Ford Model A which he says is, "A labour of love and nearly complete... so I have told the family for the last 5 years."
Marion resides in WA, after making the big move from Victoria. Marion is retired but says her life has never been busier. Previously she ran her own small business doing consultancy work in logistics for the importing and exporting industry.
Marion is still involved in officiating but in recent years has taken on many new interests since her move - getting involved in public speaking, ballroom dancing and becoming the chairperson for the Australian Red Hatting, a social organisation for women. Marion was also involved in starting up two new groups and assisted the creation of five others over the previous few years.
Marion has one daughter and four grandchildren ranging from 8 months old to 14 years. Another part of her family is her French Bulldog named Chandler who keeps Marion on her feet and feeling young.
Renee was born in Sydney but moved to her current residence in Canberra back in 2013. Renee worked in the sports industry for many years before deciding a 'mid-career' change was necessary, moving into a human resources role with the federal government.
On the weekends you can find Renee watching sport of some kind, whether it be rugby league, cricket, car racing or many more.
Renee was an avid race walker well into her 20s but had to stop as she would have required a fourth knee operation, and if she kept going, she would likely have needed knee replacements in her 30s. Which led Renee to begin her officiating journey. Renee is a proud life member of the Asics West Athletics Club, which is an honour she shares with her father, Bob.
A fun fact about Renee is that she was a dancer for 10 years in her youth, performing styles such as jazz and tap. (Editor's note: obviously this was the cause of the knee issues, not race walking!)
Caitlin splits up her time between the big city of Melbourne and the country life of Ballarat. Caitlin works with a local council managing over 30 sports facilities and approximately 100 sporting clubs.
Outside of officiating, Caitlin is still heavily involved in athletics, from competing in the high jump to running the social media for her club.
Caitlin enjoys spending her spare time walking the dog, watching a TV show or reading a book. She loves all types of genres from crime drama to romantic comedy.
Christine resides in Ballarat which has been her home for the past 30+ years. It is also where her officiating career began when her children began Little Athletics.
Away from the track Christine loves spending her time with family, pottering in her garden and growing vegetables. She also enjoys going for a walk around Lake Wendouree and hanging out with her Valais Blacknose sheep. Traveling and eating at interesting restaurants are other things she loves spending her time doing.
Christine regularly speaks, educates and advocates for greater awareness around ovarian cancer.
Lisa was born in Perth but has lived in Canberra since 1993. She has worked as an office manager for a private physiotherapy practice since 2007.
Lisa enjoys the calm and tranquillity of being out in nature, from being in her garden to walking along the trails of Canberra, to watching the birds by the lake from her front door step.
Lisa's other interests include reading a good true crime story or a biography and following along the ultra-trail running community. She enjoys following this community to support her son's endurance endeavours.
Kirsten resides in Miranda, a suburb of the Sutherland Shire in NSW. She lives with her husband and daughter. Kirsten has worked as a primary school teacher at Trinity Grammar Preparatory School for nearly 20 years, as the Head of Computing and has taught across some public schools in NSW prior to that.
Kirsten views her mother Heather Mitchell as her life hero, who received an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 2022 for her service to athletics.
Kirsten is the oldest child of four. She was always encouraged to help out, which led her to sit her first senior race walking athletics exam in 1990.
Dave grew up in the Barossa Valley and has always been involved in sport, participating in AFL, tennis, golf and motor sports. He moved to Canberra in the 1970s and drifted into distance running. He finished his 31 marathons with a PB of 2:41:33 in the 1981 Melbourne Marathon.
Dave now lives on the NSW Central Coast. He has extensive road event experience in Australia and overseas, highlighted by his role as the Road Event Manager at the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He continues to consult to marathon events throughout Asia.
He was awarded Life Membership of Athletics Australia in 1997 and the Australian Sports Medal from the Australian Government in 2000.
Anthony was a born and bred in Auckland before permanently relocating to the Gold Coast in 2019. A highlight of his working career was his involvement with the LOC for the 2023 World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst.
Anthony has always worked in sport since University with roles in athletics, school sport and rugby union – across competitions, development and team management which also included two years as a high school boarding master.
anthony has been involved in athletics since the age of 7 and still runs the occasional cross country race in Queensland.
Anthony’s wife Lauren officiates in Technical while his dad regularly officiates in Auckland in vertical jumps. Anthony has been awarded Merit Awards by Athletics Auckland and College Sport Auckland.
Pam resides in Melbourne, Victoria. Pam is retired but worked as a teacher previously. She now spends her days joining different clubs and societies and is the secretary to the Rose Society of Victoria. Pam's hobbies include reading, gardening, knitting, traveling, a strong love of cruising, mahjong and she especially enjoys visits to the theatre for musicals and dramas.
Pam lists her true loves as spending time with her two children and 10 grandchildren, the Collingwood Football Club and greyhounds. Athletics has been a strong part of Pam's family with two of her grandchildren taking up the sport, making it four generations of the family to do so. Pam's parents met whilst competing with a club in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Zoë currently resides in Blakeview, South Australia. She works as a building administration manager for a residential builder in SA and has worked with them for 9 years.
Zoë says she enjoys seeing the excitement on the client's face and that helping them achieve their new dream homes, she finds very rewarding. Zoë loves getting outside to work in her small garden, finding it satisfying to look back and see the journey and the results of that. She also loves spending time with her family (father and sister) who live in the Riverland. Zoë relishes the opportunity to get out on the Murray River too, but not in a jet ski or boat; instead in a canoe as she loves exploring the backwaters and seeing the amazing wildlife that comes along with it.
Zoë was awarded the Athletics Australia 2019 Official of the Year. She has been involved in athletics since 1975, starting out as a competitor in the javelin and discus then she first began officiating in 1980.
Kirsteen grew up in Ringwood East, then moved to her current residence in Richmond. She works as the operations manager at School Sport Victoria, which is part of the Victorian Department of Education. Kirsteen has been working in school sport for over 30 years and prior to that was a secondary maths and science teacher.
Kirsteen has a long list of qualifications and awards beginning with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, Diploma of Education, Bachelor of Education, Graduate Diploma in Education, Masters of Sports Management; Department of Education Julia Flynn scholar, Life Member of Athletics Australia, Life Member of School Sport Australia and she is a Life Member of Ringwood Athletics Club.
Kirsteen says her claims to fame are, being one of the first women to compete in pro-running, competing in the Stawell Athletics Carnival (Stawell Gift), beginning her athletic career/involvement in 1968 at Ringwood Athletics Club. Her other claims to fame include the development of the 10/11/12 years National Schools Track and Field, including opportunities for students with disabilities.
Jarrod is based in his childhood town of Hobart. He is a retired police officer who now spends his time travelling to fulfil dreams, being just the second Tasmanian to complete the World Marathon Majors. Jarrod takes all opportunities thrown his way to fulfil his goals, having just run his 30th marathon.
Jarrod is also a passionate blood donor, having donated over 320 times, as well as being involved in numerous other volunteer roles outside athletics, including with Camp Quality and Lifeline. Through Jarrod's career choices it has allowed for his involvement and roles to vary over his 30 years of athletics officiating.
Peter grew up in Adelaide and trained as a teacher before moving to Canberra to teach. He later took on a role at the Australian Sports Commission.
Since 1997 Peter has been working on the Olympic Games with his first games being the Sydney Olympics in 2000. He then moved to working with the Games technology supplier around the world, having lived in numerous countries such as Spain, Greece, UK and Canada.
Peter has since moved back to Australia and now calls the Gold Coast home. He is passionate about sports, including sports history and sports politics. He has also previously worked with a team in basketball (NBL).
Mike resides in Perth, WA. Mike runs his own business as a financial planner and finance broker. Mike's hobbies include getting out to ride his motorbike, travel, the outdoors and heading down to the beach.
Mike says he was fortunate enough to be selected to complete the pilot course for World Athletics International Starter and achieved bronze level accreditation after undertaking the written and practical assessments.
Caroline resides in Hope Valley, an eastern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. Caroline works as a GIS specialist, which is Geographical Information Systems, working for State Government under the Surveyor-General of South Australia.
Outside of work and athletics, Caroline says she does not have much spare time with an 8-year-old too, but she still enjoys playing indoor cricket, her winter sport of choice. Any spare time she has is spent watching her son Tyler playing and training for basketball and going to Cub Scouts.
Stephen resided in Bathurst, NSW until his untimely passing in February 2024 in a road accident when returning home from Canberra from an event for which he had measured the course. Until his retirement in mid-2023, the previous decade Steohen had worked as a CEO in healthcare and IT space.
Stephen continued studying, organising events and travelling extensively. Stephen's work had taken him all over the world - having lived in places such as Asia, Europe and North America. Stephen reflected upon his journey often, and his work in Timor-Leste for which he was rewarded with the Medalha Solidariedade which was presented by the President at the time, José Ramos-Horta.
Stephen leaves behind a family consisting of a lovely partner (Jenn), four children, four grandchildren and his dog. Stephen said he, "Has been involved in athletics - the non track variety, ever since he ran with Deek in Canberra a long time ago."
Stephen was also pivotal in his role as the LOC Regional Manager for the World Athletics Cross Country Championships - Bathurst 2023. His contacts, knowledge and skills were crucial in the delivery of the event.
Tracey resides in the town of Newcastle, NSW. Tracey works as a radiographer specialising in MRI imaging, and she says she absolutely loves it. Outside of work you can find Tracey supporting her boys in their busy lives, however her favourite thing to do is run.
Tracey has been running for over 40 years, competing in events from the 100m to 50km Ultras. On the weekends you are likely to find Tracey amongst the trails.
Tracey lists her two life heroes as her father Max and her coach Max, who have both gifted and inspired Tracey to become the person she is today.
Grant currently resides in Perth and says he has been, "Involved in running for what feels like forever." He has been involved in many different aspects of running from West Australian Marathon Club to parkrun and now Little Athletics.
Grant's father won a few Australian championships back in the '70s, across the steeplechase and cross country events. Grant said, "I’m unfortunately the slowest in the family and getting slower." Grant's day job lies within IT and the rest of his life involves his family and managing 3 kids across a wide array of different activities.
Grant is also a pretty keen skier and snowboarder, and when he gets the opportunity to escape the WA heat he takes his chance to travel. Grant loves to visit NZ as it is his favourite place.
Rachel was born and bred in Adelaide, South Australia. She is a primary school teacher and she loves to help the students reach their full potential.
Outside of athletics Rachel loves being active and has been a hockey player since she was 6 years old. Her other hobbies include walking her dogs, heading down to the beach and hanging out with her friends. One of Rachel's idols is Cathy Freeman, not only for her great athletic achievements but also as an inspirational woman and leader.
Athletics is a family affair for Rachel with her parents also officials and her brother an athlete. Rachel was accepted as one of the inaugural participants in the Marjorie Jackson-Nelson Centre for Women’s Sport Program.
Richard is a lifelong resident of Geelong, Victoria. Richard is now retired, but has previously worked as a civil engineer, with a professional career in the rail industry managing infrastructure. Richard's interests include gardening 'not very well' he stresses, and supporting his local AFL club the Geelong Cats.
A handful of Richard's athletic achievements include being appointed the president of Geelong Athletics from 1998-2017 and then again from 2018-2021; he was a Commonwealth Games baton bearer in Geelong in 2018; and was appointed a World Athletics International Silver Referee in June of 2023. Richard's long list of awards begin with; Inaugural Victorian Olympic Council Julius Patching Sports Official of the Year (April, 2008), Awarded Life Membership of Athletics Victoria (July, 2008), 'Official of the Year' 2010 Victorian Sport Awards (November, 2010), 2013 and 2015 Athletics Australia 'Volunteer of the Year', Athletics Australia Life Membership (October, 2016), Athletics Australia Platinum/Athletics Victoria 40 year Service Award (September, 2020), Athletics Victoria 50 year Service Award (July 2021), Vicsport 'Love the Game Volunteer of the Year 2020' (October 2021).
Tim resides in the Whitsundays in North Queensland, which is home to 74 islands and fringing reefs and with easy access to the Great Barrier Reef. Now retired, Tim was a Cadastral Surveyor/town planner and had an involvement in the development of Airlie Beach and the surrounding region.
Tim is married with three daughters and two grandchildren and is very fortunate that they all live within a four kilometre radius. Tim likes to spend his time as the President of the Whitsunday Running Club, being the event manager for the Airlie Beach Marathon Festival and for the North Queensland Cross Country Championships.
Outside of running and athletics, Tim enjoys time with family, cruising through the islands, fishing and travelling overseas.
Janet's life outside of athletics is spent as a software development manager, bringing technically minded people together and providing a product/service to benefit the community. Janet highly values family, and this is evident through her grandfather, father and Janet all being Life Members of Athletics Australia.
Janet enjoys early morning walks at 6am - a perfect time to have a phone call with her sister.
She also enjoys playing with her children and grandchildren. Field hockey was a passion of Janet's until her move to Scotland when she decided it was too cold to go outside and hit a ball around a field.
Kim currently resides in Sydney where she works as a school inspector. Kim's job has allowed her to combine her work and passions. She loves travel, using her investigative skills, meeting and talking to new people. She has previously worked as a history teacher, but says she, "Can't see myself ever going back."
Kim is also an avid reader and often finds herself reading either a crime thriller or a historical drama. She loves to test out her skills and uncover the mystery before the detectives. Kim also loves game shows and has had success in the past in this arena.
Kim says that her mother is her hero, and says she would be proud to be spoken of as highly as people do of her. (Editor's note: Rosemary Owens, a brilliant woman and significant contributor to our sport over many years.)
Greg resides in Hallett Cove, SA, which is just south of Adelaide. Greg works as a software architect within financial services, he enjoys being able to apply his working skills to his athletic life too.
Greg has been involved in athletics for over 30 years, across all aspects, including as an athlete, official and administrator.
Outside of athletics his hobbies include reading, listening to music and catching up on his favourite TV series.
Toni was born in Cyprus and grew up in England. After leaving school she trained to become a chef, which took Toni across the world to five different countries, eventually reaching Australia.
In 1988, Toni took an around-the-world trip and this is when she met her partner on the way home whilst backpacking up the east coast. Together they worked in Sydney and Broome and finally settled in Perth. After having 2 children, Toni operated a family day care service for 14 years.
She now works as a special needs education assistant in a primary school, where she has been for 15 years. Toni's hobbies include travelling and athletics, and once she retires, she plans to do a lot more of both. In the meanwhile, she has spent her spare time fostering rescue dogs (since 2015) having adopted a sixth one.
Helen was born and raised in Brisbane, and worked as a primary school teacher but has dialled it back to be a relief teacher now, as athletics was starting to impact upon her time in the classroom. Outside of athletics Helen loves to travel.
She has been all over the world visiting all seven continents. During covid she rediscovered her love for sewing and quilting, and this has kept her busy ever since. Helen began her time in athletics as an athlete back in 1974 and started officiating in 1997.
Helen is a part of the same athletics club that her great-grandfather created back in 1904. Helen often reflects upon and gives thanks her mentor Reg Brandis, as he is the one who put her on this path that she still continues along to this day.
Peter was born in Benalla, Victoria but moved to Queensland when he was 13 years old. He worked as the head of science at a high school. He is now retired, but often finds himself still helping out from supply work to a few contracts as he still enjoys it.
Peter has a wide range of hobbies from playing golf, woodworking, musical theatre, and watching AFL and cricket games at the Gabba, as well as travelling to as many places as possible.
Peter has been officiating since 1998. When looking to his heroes he lists his childhood ones of Keith Stackpole and Des Tuddenham (the Essendon version only).
Brian Roe is a lawyer by profession but has worked mostly in sports administration since 1983 across road running, track and field, rowing and major Games including as Competition Director for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He has been a major contributor within athletics in both voluntary and professional capacities for more than four decades at local, national, area and international levels, and is one of the most highly regarded technical experts in the world.
In 2021, Brian was recognised by World Athletics when awarded the Plaque of Merit for his service within the Oceania region, and he regularly consults to World Athletics Competitions and Member Services Departments. He has taken some time outs to work as a political staffer and has unsuccessfully sought public office on four occasions leading to the realisation that sport is probably a better fit.
Sport has taken Brian all over the globe but he is a proud Tasmanian, now based mostly at home in Launceston, and is more than happy growing fruit, flowers and vegetables. He has become very comfortable then cooking what’s available from his garden that day.
Josh resides in Bendigo in regional Victoria, where he has lived for most of his life, aside from when he was studying at Monash University. Josh now works as a teacher at a small school about 20km outside of Bendigo.
When not involved with athletics, Josh enjoys spending time with his family, many of whom do not live in Bendigo. Josh also spends his time caring for his beautiful and anxious dog Charlie, and tries to improve upon what he says is "allegedly a garden" at his home.
Fran resides on the Central Coast of NSW, but grew up in country NSW. Fran works in her dream job, running her specialist travel business, taking marathon runners to different marathons across the world. Sport has been a huge part of Fran's life, from her 25 year netball career to her involvement in athletics from the age of 13.
Fran's dad is her sporting hero - he was not only a great runner himself who won numerous state and national titles across hurdle events in his younger days before moving to 1500 and then to marathons as a veteran runner, but he also coached the first Australian to run a sub 2:20 marathon. He was also Fran's coach which led her to become a successful 400m runner.
Khan has spent over 30 years solving technical defence problems working as a defence scientist. During this time Khan has worked all domains - space, air, land and maritime (both surface and undersea), but most of his time has been spent on air and space. Tasks have included developing and manufacturing materials for many cutting-edge defence programs, to developing new materials for hypersonics (greater than 5 times the speed of sound).
Through work and athletics, Khan has been able to travel Australia and the world quite extensively, but is yet to journey into South America or Africa, which Khan says are on the bucket list for retirement. Until then, he enjoys spending time with his friends and family.
Michael has lived in Adelaide all his life. His father was one of a group of three who had run the first 28 Adelaide Marathons, so running is embedded within the family DNA. Michael ran his first marathon back in 1986 and has not stopped since.
Michael's proudest moment comes from a recent time when he was inducted into the Pichi Richi Marathon Hall of Fame for services to the event as well as being the only person to complete 25 Pichi Richi Marathons. He has also won the event, five times back in the 1990s. Michael and wife Elizabeth met through running and share a passion for travel when they are not tied down by working. Michael has worked in manufacturing all his life and Elizabeth in teaching.
Sandra currently resides in Summerhill, Tasmania. She works as an accounts and administration clerk for Tasmanian Independent Retailers.
Sandra's hobbies span from reading and knitting through to watching the netball and supporting her AFL team, Collingwood. She also loves going out to dinner with her friends.
Sandra is the middle child with an older sister and younger brother. Like her brother, Sandra was a state representative in athletics - winning the bronze medal in the 400m at the 1985 Nationals. She has a PB for 800m of 2.03.59.
Sandra has a long list of achievements and recognitions spanning from 1989 until now, from local to national recognitions. Starting with Life Memberships across a mass of athletics organisations, Australian Sports Medal, Hall of Fame Inductions, Honour Rolls and a Platinum Service pin.
Blake is the current Executive Officer of Athletics Tasmania, and has worked in sport across various event management and sport development roles since 2013.
As a junior athlete, he represented Australia on multiple occasions as a racewalker before turning to other events in athletics. Blake has a keen interest in keeping fit and active, and loves the outdoors. In his spare time, he enjoys camping, surfing, fishing and golfing.
Kim was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia. Kim has worked as an oil and gas engineer, designing and installing offshore oil platforms. Through his work Kim has been given the opportunity to work and live in some amazing places.
Kim has always had a passion for sports and grew up playing tennis and AFL just to name a few. Nowadays Kim loves to travel and cycle, with Europe being the number one destination... cycling up and down the mountains in France, Spain and Italy.
Don resides in Preachester, Queensland, which is a rural town located near the Sunshine Coast. Don works as a software engineer and his most current project is building mine ventilation simulation software.
Outside of work, Don enjoys living the quiet life in the countryside, spending a nice day gardening or taking his dogs for a walk.
One of Don's best running performances comes from his marathon PB of 2:20:59 which he set at the Gold Coast Marathon in 1990.
Matthew resides in Drysdale, Victoria, which is on the Bellarine Peninsular out past Geelong. He and wife Diane moved there in 2020 to escape the frantic metro Melbourne life. Now retired, Matthew worked at Tradelink Plumbing.
Matthew has many hobbies and enjoys travelling, riding his motorcycle, having a nice red wine, cooking and spending time with family.
Matthew's athletic career began when he was 6 years old. Since then he has competed both Professionally and in the Amateur codes. Back in the early 1980's Matthew was the first Professional athlete to legally compete alongside the Amateur's when Open Athletics became a reality. Matthew has also been officiating since 2002.
