Gillian Sparkes is the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability in Victoria, Australia’s fastest-growing state. Her non-executive roles include Chair of FrontierSI (formerly the CRC for Spatial Information) and Directorships with the Country Fire Authority, Industry Capability Network Vic and the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation.
As Commissioner, Gillian reports and advises government on the environment. She is pioneering the implementation of the UN SDGs into environmental reporting for Victoria and is leading reforms in environmental monitoring, evaluation, assessment and reporting, in particular working to maximise the value and potential of spatial data and applying a System of Environmental-Economic Accounts to review and report on the condition of Victoria’s environment. She was a key presenter at the 2018 International Conference on Sustainable Development (IC-SD) at Columbia University, New York, discussing her Office’s work implementing the SDGs in State of the Environment reporting. In July 2019, she was reappointed for five years in her role as Commissioner.
Gillian has delivered transformation and policy reform in complex stakeholder environments including frameworks for urban water management for the Western Port Integrated Water Management Forum; clean energy policy for the Clean Energy Innovation Centre; investment strategy as a member of the Victorian Investment Committee; and sustainability blueprints as Chair of Sustainability Victoria. Initially an industrial chemist, Gillian has extensive hands-on operational and commercial experience in the private, public (State & Federal) and tertiary sectors, dealing with environmental, industrial, waste management and community issues.
Gillian completed the Cranlana Programme Colloquium in ethical leadership in 2015 and the 2017 AICD ASX Chair’s mentoring program. She has a PhD (Chem), an MBA, is a Fellow AICD, Fellow IPAA (Vic), MEIANZ and MRACI.
