Our Board

The LifeFlight Board brings together respected leaders with a diverse range of medical, aviation, business, financial and philanthropic experience. The LifeFlight Board reflects LifeFlight’s values and works to ensure integrity, transparency and accountability at all times while shaping the direction and future sustainability of LifeFlight’s cause.

Hon. Rob Borbidge AO
Chair (Non-Executive)

The Honourable Robert Borbidge AO became Chair of the LifeFlight Board in July 2013 after the company merged with the Sunshine Coast helicopter Rescue Service.

The 35th Premier of Queensland, Rob Borbidge led a minority National Liberal Coalition Government from 1996 to 1998. He served in senior Cabinet posts, was Deputy Leader and Leader of the Opposition before retiring in 2001 after serving more than 20 years as the Member for Surfers Paradise.

Rob is Chairman of a number of business boards and was appointed to Chair the Legacy Committee for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He is a Trustee of the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital.

His passion for education sees him as a member of the Council of Griffith University, Chair of the Board of Advice for the Institute for Glycomics, a Board member of the Griffith Foundation and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Friends of Griffith (incorporated in the United States).

In 2001 he was awarded a Centenary Medal. In 2004 he was made an Honorary Doctor of Griffith University and in 2006 appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). Rob is married to Jennifer and they have two children, James and Megan.

Hon. Jim Elder
Deputy Chair (Non-Executive)

Current LifeFlight Australia Deputy Chairman, the former Deputy Premier of Queensland, Hon. James (Jim) Elder has a long history of serving Queensland communities.

Jan Taylor
Director (Non-Executive)

Jan established JTA Australia following a successful public sector career as Queensland’s Director of Fair Trading and Commissioner for Consumer Affairs.

Since leaving the public sector she has been appointed to the boards of statutory authorities by both Coalition and ALP governments and has chaired inquiries for Queensland and Federal Government Ministers.

Jan has been an interviewer and presenter in mainstream media, a newspaper columnist, a published author, and has worked with United Nations agencies (e.g. the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Health Organisation). She has also been an independent non-executive director on a number of commercial and not-for-profit boards in the private sector.

Jan has worked on extraordinarily complex projects spanning a wide range of sectors but particularly in water, oil and gas, energy, utilities, infrastructure and coal seam gas and coal. Many of the projects her company undertakes are in regional and rural Australia.

Her particular expertise lies in strategic communication, stakeholder engagement, community consultation and education and awareness. She understands the information needs of key stakeholders, the broader community and the media. She has worked on brand development, marketing and public acceptance across many industry sectors and brings to each task both empathy and emotional intelligence.

Jan has also facilitated complex workshops and chaired public meetings with thousands of attendees and managed stakeholder forums with diverse views to achieve informed consensus about proposed projects. She has been a successful non-executive director (and chair) for organisations such as the RACQ, Ports Corporation Queensland, Wyatt Gallagher (Boston-based), Queensland Dairy Authority, Queensland Competition Authority, RSPCA, Community Housing Grants Board etc.

Recently she was recruited by a global training company to present masterclasses in stakeholder engagement in South East Asia.

Jan has wide experience across numerous industry sectors in Queensland, and has worked for government agencies in this state as well as in Western Australia and South Australia. She has extensive networks, is an excellent negotiator and mediator, and works well as part of group dynamics.

David Carter
Director (Non-Executive)

David commenced as Group Chief Executive of RACQ in March 2020, following a long career in financial services with Suncorp and ANZ.

Ashley van de Velde OAM
Director (Executive) and Chief Executive Officer

Driven to provide rapid aeromedical retrieval services to as many people as possible, Ashley has devoted his life to LifeFlight’s mission and vision and has been CEO of the organisation for more than two decades.

Stewart Morland
Director (Non-Executive)

Stewart Morland has been involved in the Australian Energy sector for more than 25 years. Since his first venture in the Eromanga Basin in the 1990s Stewart has been at the forefront of the upstream development in Australia’s oil and gas sectors.

Rebecca Frizelle OAM
Director (Non-Executive)

Rebecca Frizelle is Chief Operating Officer of Frizelle Prestige and a key shareholder at Frizelle Sunshine Automotive and PWA. In 2014, she was appointed to the Board of the Titans and became the first female Chair in the NRL code.

Allan Godbee

Director (Non-Executive)

Allan has a passion in helping small to medium size business owners and professionals in the strategic development of their business and personal affairs. With a career spanning 30 years in the professional services industry, Allan is able to assist his clients in business growth planning, risk targeting and management, benchmarking, strategic advice, succession and estate planning, capital investment and funding.

Learn about the LifeFlight Foundation Board →

Hon. Rob Borbidge AO Chair (Non-Executive)

Hon. Jim Elder Deputy Chair (Non-Executive)

Jan Taylor Director (Non-Executive)

David Carter Director (Non-Executive)

Ashley van de Velde OAM Director (Executive) and Chief Executive Officer

Stewart Morland Director (Non-Executive)

Rebecca Frizelle OAM Director (Non-Executive)