Sydney Opera House Trust
The Sydney Opera House Trust consists of 11 members appointed by the Governor on the nomination of the Minister for the Arts. A Trustee holds office for three years and is eligible for reappointment for no more than three consecutive terms. The Trustees must include at least two persons who have knowledge of, or experience in the performing arts, and at least one young person.
The Trust’s objectives are:
- To administer, care for, control, manage and maintain the Sydney Opera House building and site
- To manage and administer the site as an arts centre and meeting place
- To promote artistic taste and achievement in all branches of the performing art
- To foster scientific research into and to encourage the development of new forms of entertainment and presentation (excerpt from Sydney Opera House Trust Act, 1961)
Qualifications: BA (Western Sydney University), PhD (University of Technology Sydney), and HonDUniv (University of Technology Sydney)
Joined the Trust on 1 January 2024 as Chair. He is serving his first term to 31 December 2026.
Michael is a member of the Wiradjuri Nation of Central NSW, with a distinguished career in Indigenous higher education and a record of service to the arts, culture and cmmunity spanning more than three decades.
Michael is an Emeritus Professor and Special Advisor (Indigenous Priorities) to the Vice-Chancellor, University of Technology Sydney and is a Member of the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
He is a former Chair of Bangarra and has served on the boards of the Sydney Writers’ Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Living Museums and Australian Major Performing Arts Group. Michael has held several Federal and State Government appointments, including past Chair of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
In 2019, Michael was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales and honoured as the National NAIDOC Scholar of the Year, and in 2023, Michael was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by UTS as well as the title of Emeritus Professor.
In 2021, Michael was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his distinguished service to Indigenous tertiary education, the advancement of social cohesion through reconciliation, the performing arts, and the community.
Joined the Trust on 1 January 2022 and is serving his second term to 31 December 2027. He is a Member of the Audit & Risk and Visitor Experience Committees.
David is a highly accomplished singer, stage performer and television/radio presenter. He was a founding member of the Hayes Theatre Co and has served as Artistic Director of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. He has won four Helpmann awards, as well as ARIA and Sydney Theatre awards. David co-hosts the Nine Network’s national Today Extra show, as well as the annual Carols by Candlelight broadcast. In 2019, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of his service to entertainment and the arts.
Qualifications: BCom/BDes (University of NSW)
Joined the Trust 14 October 2025 and is serving his first term to 14 October 2028. He is a Member of the Visitor Experience Committee.
Dylan Goh (also known as ‘Arcai’) is an independent street dancer and producer with a decade of experience in the creative industries. He is passionate about grassroots community programming, building cultural literacy, and transnational artistic exchange.
Dylan co-leads Palette Session – a community of dancers in Sydney and Seoul who want to discover the unique colour of their movement. He is Co-Chair of Cypher Culture, and an Artform Board Member for Dance and Physical Theatre at Create NSW, where he has allocated $1.4 million in arts funding.
Dylan has curated festivals and taught marketing at UNSW, while also contributing to youth and multicultural initiatives through roles with the Australia Korea Young Professionals Association and City of Sydney. He is an alumnus of the New Colombo Plan, Asian-Australian Leadership Awards and Festival Commons.
As a dancer, Dylan’s artistry is rooted in the gay dance of punking, which emerged from Los Angeles underground gay clubs in the 1970s, such as Paradise Ballroom and Ginos. He currently leads community jam sessions for local punkers & whackers through Sydney City W_acking.
Qualifications: BA Economics (Hons) (Delhi University), MBA (University of Newcastle), and GAICD
Joined the Trust on 6 May 2026 and is serving his first term to 31 December 2028. He is a Member of the Building & Heritage Committee.
Tarun has more than 30 years’ experience in the property industry. He is Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Stockland, having joined the Board of Directors in 2021.
Tarun has held a range of senior leadership roles across investment, development and finance. Before joining Stockland, he spent over two decades at a leading ASX-listed property company Lendlease, where he served as Group Chief Financial Officer; Chief Executive Officer, Property Australia; Group Head of Investment Management; Chief Investment Officer, Asia Pacific; Chief Executive Officer, Investment Management Australia; and Fund Manager, Australian Prime Property Funds.
Tarun is the National Vice-President of the Property Council of Australia and a member of the Champions of Change Property Group.
Qualifications: BA (Hons) (University of Sydney), MBA (Distinction) (INSEAD France)
Joined the Trust on 1 January 2023 and is serving her second term to 31 December 2028. She is Chair of the Conservation Council and a Member of the Building & Heritage Committee.
Susan is the Chair of the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, Chair of the Australian Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusion @ Work Advisory Board, a Fellow of the University of Sydney Senate and Chair of the Senate Building and Estates Committee, a non-executive Director of Rio Tinto Limited, a non-executive Director of Macquarie Group, and a Member of the INSEAD Global Board.
Susan was Chief Executive Officer of Mirvac and a Director on the Mirvac Board from 2012 to 2023 and President of Chief Executive Women from November 2022 to June 2025. Prior to this appointment, Susan was Managing Director at LaSalle Investment Management in London. Susan has also held senior executive positions at MGPA, Macquarie Group and Lend Lease Corporation, working in Australia, the US and Europe.
Qualifications: BLaws (Western Sydney University)
Joined the Trust 1 January 2024 and is serving her first term to 31 December 2026. Sara is a member of the Visitor Experience Committee.
Sara is a practising lawyer, poet and co-founder and director of the Bankstown Poetry Slam. She is the current Executive Director of Bankstown Poetry Slam and a Non-Executive Director of the Salaam Institute. She is also the Chair of Create NSW’s Community Arts and Cultural Development Artform Board.
Under Sara’s leadership, Bankstown Poetry Slam has grown into Australia’s largest regular live poetry event, hosting crowds of up to 2000 people. Bankstown Poetry Slam won the Special Award at the 2023 Premier’s Literary Awards – the first arts organisation to receive this honour.
Sara has curated and hosted more than 200 poetry events. She has also coordinated high school programs for young people, established Australia’s first ever National Youth Poetry Slam and programmed and directed multiple festivals. In 2024, she was a 2024 Finalist for the NSW Young
Australian of the Year awards.
She has been sought out to perform her poetry at many of Sydney’s leading cultural and literary institutions, including the Powerhouse Museum, Art Gallery of NSW, Biennale of Sydney and Australian Museum. She was commissioned to write and perform a poem for the launch of Creative Australia in 2023 and has hosted workshops and performed her work at writers festivals across Australia, including the Sydney Writers’ Festival, Adelaide Festival and Queensland Poetry Festival.
Joined the Trust on 1 July 2024 and is serving his first term to 31 December 2026. He is a member of the Visitor Experience Committee.
Zareh co-founded global animation studio Animal Logic (now Netflix Animation Studios) and is the Founder and CEO of production companies Animal Logic Entertainment and Truant Pictures, with over three decades of experience in developing and producing large-scale screen projects. Through partnerships with major studios and streaming platforms in Hollywood, he has built a successful portfolio of animated, indie and hybrid family-film franchises for both theatrical and streaming releases.
Dedicated to fostering talent, Zareh supports mentorships, residencies and educational initiatives within the arts and creative industries, aiming to cultivate diverse careers. In collaboration with the University of Technology (UTS), he established the UTS Animal Logic Academy, offering a Master of Animation and Visualisation program and opportunities for post-graduate research. Recognising his contribution to the sector, UTS awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in 2018.
Zareh holds leadership roles across government and major cultural institutions, including serving as a Council member of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (ATFRS), Director of the National Film and Sound Archives (NFSA) and Chair of the NSW Government Screen and Digital Games Industry Advisory Committee and the Motion Picture Industry Benevolent Society (MPIBS). He was named the Australian National Cinema Pioneer of the Year in 2017 and previously served on the boards of Ausfilm,
Sydney Film Festival and Australians in Film.
Qualifications: BEc (Macquarie University), Diploma of Digital and Direct Marketing (Institute of Direct Marketing, United Kingdom), and GAICD
Joined the Trust on 1 July 2024 and is serving her first term to 31 December 2026. She is Chair of the Visitor Experience Committee and a Member of the Audit & Risk Committee.
Melanie has more than 25 years’ experience in digital and internet technology. She is Managing Director and Vice-President of Google Australia and New Zealand. Since joining Google in 2007, she has held senior roles in Australia and the APAC region.
Prior to Google, Melanie held a variety of roles across product, marketing and operations in the financial services sector, including with Citibank, ING Direct and AMP.
Melanie is a board member of the Business Council of Australia, Australian Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusion @ Work Advisory Board member and is a member of Chief Executive Women.
Qualifications: B Com and LLB (University of NSW)
Joined the Trust on 1 January 2023 and is serving his second term to 31 December 2028. He is Chair of the Building & Heritage Committee.
Allan is Managing Director of the TOGA Group, a property development, construction, investment and hospitality management group, as well as the Chairman of TFE Hotels. Prior to joining TOGA Group in 1989 as Group Chief Operations Officer, Allan worked in the banking and finance sector with Bankers Trust and Macquarie Bank.
Allan is a Director of the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce and the Jewish Care Foundation. Previous directorships include the Tourism and Transport Forum (2009-18) and the Australia Israel & Jewish Affairs Council.
Allan was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2019 for his service to the hospitality industry and to the Jewish community.
Qualifications: BSc (University of Sydney), and MBA (Macquarie Graduate School of Management)
Joined the Trust on 1 January 2023 and is serving her second term to 31 December 2028. She is Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee.
Sara is an experienced non-executive director and audit and risk committee chair working across a range of sectors. Sara is a Board Member of Syrah Resources, Nuix and Uniting NSW.ACT.
Sara’s previous roles include: Trustee of the Australian Museum and chair of its audit and risk committee; non-executive Director of Vision Australia and Chair of its audit and risk committee; Vice-Principal Operations at the University of Sydney; and Chief Financial Officer and Executive Sponsor Corporate Responsibility, IBM Australia and New Zealand.
Sara mentors emerging and transitioning leaders in financial and operational roles, regularly performs as a chorister with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, and is a Fellow of both the Australian Institute of Company Directors and CPA Australia.
