Wayne Bowen CPA
Chair
Wayne has been involved in both private and public companies for over 40 years in hospitality, media, manufacturing and retail industries.
He is currently a director of private family companies and owner of family retail operations in the surf industry. He has been Chairman of The Scarborough Beach Association since 2015.
Wayne was a Fishability Board Member from 2014 – 2019 and re-joined the Board in 2022.
Alison Fleming
Alison is currently senior legal counsel strata reform at Landgate. She has been at Landgate since 2005 and before joining the strata reform project team as its lead lawyer in 2014, Alison was the Manager of Legal Services at Landgate. Previously Alison was employed as a lawyer in the Department of Fisheries for 5 years and at Bankwest for 10 years in a variety of legal and legal management roles. While at Fisheries Alison learnt quite a lot about sustainable fishing practices, the aquaculture industry and licensing and objections processes, especially the introduction of licenses for charterboats. During that time Alison was invited to join the Board of the newly formed Fishers with Disabilities Association Inc, now Fishability. Alison has served on the Board since 2004, including as chairperson prior to Fishability’s current chairman.
Alison is married with 2 adult children, both of whom enjoy fishing, and 1 grandchild. She is a keen sportsperson playing hockey at State veterans level and tennis, running and recently taking up Crossfit as a way to exercise after injury. Alison served as secretary for her previous hockey club for a number of years, coached at Minkey level and her son’s school hockey team and spent many Saturdays and Sundays scoring at cricket matches.
Alison is sensitive to the needs of people with disabilities in the community and giving community service, starting at school visiting an elderly blind lady as part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program.
Michael Donnelly
Mike operates his own Management Consulting Business specialising in strategy and governance in the Community service Sector and is principal consultant for OBH Consulting. He is a graduate of the Australian Company Directors advanced governance program. Mike has been a Non-Executive Director of Disability Service Provider Intework Inc since 2006. He was diagnosed with MS in 2012. Mike is an active Recreational fisherman and holds an open waters divers certificate and recreational skippers ticket. He has been a member of Fishability Board since June 2013 and was Chair from 2020 to 2023.
Murray Cribb
Murray has spent 25 years in senior executive roles in small to mid-sized entities, including as a General Manager Legal Aid Commission and as a Director of the Independent Market Operator (taken over by the Australian Energy Market Operator).
He is CPA qualified and undertaken the role of Chief Financial Officer for four organisations.
Murray has extensive experience in socially focused organisations resulting in a strong understanding of issues facing the disadvantaged in society.
Murray is married with three adult children and the proud grandfather of two granddaughters.
He is a keen recreational fisher who regularly participates in fishing competitions with the Marmion Angling and Aquatic Club.
Murray joined the Fishability Board in November 2025.
Michael Concannon
Mike spent over 35 years in the oil and gas industry ending up as General Manager, Engineering. This resulted in a strong knowledge of both safety and process risk management as well as the understanding of how good governance underpins processes and procedures.
Upon leaving the workforce Mike has been heavily involved as a Fishability volunteer of Perth jetties and the Perth Boat (Nev Thomas). The last three years of Mikes volunteering he has been the Perth Boat Coordinator. Mike joined the Fishability board at the end of 2021 and fills the role of Board’s Volunteer Representative. Mike has recently completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors –Governance Foundations for NFP Directors Course.
Joachim Azzopardi
Vice-Chair
Joachim Azzopardi is a personal injury lawyer specialising in workers’ compensation law. Joachim is a passionate recreational fisher and, for the past decade, has written fishing columns and reports that have featured in various Western Australian newspapers and Recfishwest’s online publications. Through his own experience of having an elder brother who lived with muscular dystrophy, Joachim understands firsthand the challengers people living with disabilities have in engaging in enjoyable pastimes such as recreational fishing.
Sarah de Rozario
Sarah loves the numbers. She is a CPA and a member of Women on Boards. She has worked and lived not only in Australia, but held Senior Finance Roles in the UK, Scandinavia & the Middle East over a period of a decade. Industry sectors include - Construction, Oil & Gas, Technology, and Sports Administration ( International Cricket Council, Hockey Australia & WA, Special Olympics). Her skillset is cross functional and she specialises in corporate governance – strategy, risk, & policy compliance; financial management; process review, redesign and implementation. She has an excellent understanding and experience of the Not-For-Profit sector, and enjoys being able to put something back into the local community. Sarah’s interest and motivation for being involved with Fishability is borne from family experience, as her youngest brother has an intellectual disability. Sarah also loves to run - having completed a Marathon and a few Half Marathons, she is a regular swimmer and enjoys working with excel spreadsheets!
Matt Gillett
Having grown up in a small South West community, Matt had a strong community spirit instilled in him from a young age.
His love of fishing was borne out of family trips to Denmark on the south coast, and later with time spent on Christmas Island in the late 90s. Matt has fished in almost every corner of WA and believes that the fishing opportunities on offer here are world-class.
Matt attended the Recfishwest Future Leader program in 2008 and has been involved with Recfishwest in some capacity ever since. On completion of a one-year term on the Board in 2009, Matt joined the Recfishwest team as a staff member in October 2010.
He took on the Regional Policy Officer position in 2013 before becoming Recfishwest's Fishing Development Officer. In July 2019, Matt became Recfishwest's Operations Lead and he enjoys his work visiting regional communities, providing solutions and promoting increased fishing opportunities across the State.
Matt joined the Board of Fishability in November 2024.
Louise Johnstone
Louise has been an occupational therapist for 16 years. She has worked across a range of settings in Australia and the United Kingdom, including community mental health, neurorehabilitation, and disability. She has loved each of the different roles and the varied experiences they provided.
Louise enjoys building relationships with individuals and their families. She believes the best therapy is the result of a collaborative approach involving shared decision-making, coordination, and cooperation.
She has strong interest in social justice, access, and inclusion and always endeavours to promote fairness for individuals and the wider community. She is currently a member of the Access and Inclusion Advisory Group (AIAG) for the City of Belmon