Directors and Staff

Steve Joske, Executive Director, Red Cross

Steve Joske has been a board member of Leadership WA since January 2008.

Steve joined the Australian Red Cross (WA Division) as Executive Director in March 2003 after a long and successful career in the Australian Army.

Steve graduated from the Royal Military College Duntroon in 1977 and did regimental service in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. This service included a tour of duty in Rhodesia with the Commonwealth Monitoring Force, instructing at Duntroon, command of an Artillery Regiment, and in July 1997 was promoted to the rank of full Colonel and appointed Commander of Australia’s Artillery forces.

In November 1997 he was appointed as the first Commander of the Australian Contingent to the Truce Monitoring Group (TMG) in Bougainville. In the three months of the mission Steve was the Australian Contingent Commander as well as being the Chief of Staff for the TMG. Steve was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross in the 1998 Queen’s Birthday Honours for his service in Bougainville.

In August 1998 Steve was reassigned as the Colonel, Olympic Games, responsible for the planning of the Australian Defence Force’s security commitments to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. As the Games approached, he was appointed as Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff for Operation Gold, the name of the operation to provide security and support operations for the Games.

At the conclusion of the Games in October 2000, Steve resigned from the Australian Defence Force and joined WMC as the Human Resources Manager at Leinster Nickel Operation in Western Australia.

In March 2003, Steve was appointed to his current appointment as the Executive Director of the Australian Red Cross (Western Australian Division).

Steve sat on the National Steering Committee overseeing Australian Red Cross’ international and tsunami operations. Due to this involvement, and cognizant of his international experience in strategic leadership, in March 2006 Steve was tasked by the CEO of Australian Red Cross to take control of ARC’s tsunami operations in Indonesia. This task was primarily to lead and manage the transformation of the operation from the emergency phase to the reconstruction and rehabilitation phase.

Steve has a Masters Degree in Defence Studies from Deakin University and his interests include all sports, but in particular Australian Rules and golf. He is an active surf life-saver. Steve is married and has two daughters.

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