The CUFA Board

John Baistow
BA, Dip Bus Stud, Dip CD, FAICD, MBA (Tech Mgt)

John Baistow was appointed to the Board of Cuscal in November 2002 and has been Chairman of CUFA since December 2006. John is a strong advocate for the work of CUFA both domestically and internationally. He has been especially active in the areas of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility. He is also a Director of mecu Limited and a Senior Executive with CSIRO. John has spent 6 years as a credit union chairman and has served a total of 17 years as a credit union Director.

John Paine
Dip. Fin. Services AMI, MAIM, JP
General Manager
Family First Credit Union

John has 35 years experience working in the Finance industry and 22 years with his current Credit Union. He completed the CUFA DE course in July 1993 and returned as a mentor the following year. John has also performed field work for CUFA in Fiji and Tuvalu. He actively encourages his staff to experience the DE program for themselves as a means to self development and to gain an understanding of the important role Credit Union’s play both locally and abroad. By serving on the CUFA Board, John hopes to encourage wider understanding and participation amongst credit unions into the work being performed by the CUFA staff and Directors.

Elizabeth Foster
B. Bus (Accounting), FCPA, MAID, AICUD
Director Credit Union Australia

Elizabeth has 30 years in finance and accounting in Telstra; 2 years as CEO of RACV Credit Union; 2 years as Director of Finance for CPA Australia; 5 years as Finance Consultant for Catholic Education Office in Melbourne. Elizabeth is a Director and Chair of Board Audit and Risk Committee at Australian National Credit Union. Elizabeth's interest in CUFA stems from her background in credit unions both as a Director and a CEO. Having travelled through developing countries and witnessing the disparity in living standards felt that she could contribute to CUFA by using her financial background and corporate experience.

Louise Petschler
CEO Abacus - Australian Mutuals

Tony Innes
Deputy CEO
Savings & Loans Credit Union

Tony has a passion for honesty and strongly believes in doing the right thing for the right reasons. He also believes that it is important to challenge assumptions and processes in order to provide rigour to decisions. Tony has a track record of introducing new and innovative ideas to the workplace and strongly believes in fostering an innovation culture. He believe that it is important to be flexible and to take all views into account in order to formulate a balanced view. Tony strongly believes in social justice to ensure that everyone has a "fair go".

Ken Mutton
CEO St Mary's Swan Hill Credit Union

Ken has over 30 years of experience within the finance industry, working for Credit Unions both big and small. He is an active contributor to his local community and believes strongly in Credit Unions being leaders in Corporate Social Responsibility. He has been involved with the CUFA DE course for several years and has returned regularly to DE as a mentor. Ken is Chairman of the Victorian Insight Committee. Insight is an annual seminar giving staff and directors who are new to the Credit Union industry an introduction to our unique industry including details on CUSCAL, ABACUS, WOCCU & CUFA.