I am very pleased to announce that the National Retail Association has appointed Ms Dominique Lamb as our new Chief Executive Officer. Many of you will already be familiar with Dominique, given her previous role as Principal of the Association’s law firm, NRA Legal. In this position she has worked closely with many members and businesses across the retail sector on their employment or enterprise bargaining issues. Dominique has also steered the NRA’s leading contribution to the industry-wide review of the retail modern award.
Prior to joining the NRA, Dominique had carved out a distinguished career as an industrial relations law specialist, and these skills have proven invaluable to the Association and its members. For many years Dominique has also used her legal training in a voluntary capacity to assist women confronting domestic violence. Since coming to the NRA, she has spearheaded efforts to raise awareness of the impact on businesses of employees dealing with domestic violence. This is clearly an important issue for an industry such as retail, with its high proportion of female staff, and it is a pursuit the Board will encourage her to continue in her new position.
I am very confident that Dominique will be a strong advocate for the Association, and for the retail sector more broadly. She brings an outstanding mix of experience and enthusiasm to the role, and the Board is delighted that she has accepted the invitation to lead the NRA.
Dominique’s appointment follows the recent election of our former CEO Trevor Evans to the Federal Parliament as the Member for Brisbane. The NRA congratulates Trevor, and we are certain he will also continue to be a fierce advocate for retail businesses in his new role.
In the meantime, the NRA is already well advanced in the search for Dominique’s replacement as the Principal of NRA Legal. We believe that having Dominique as the CEO with a new head of NRA Legal will further strengthen the organisation’s credentials as the nation’s leading retail legal specialist, particularly in relation to employment law.
Finally, I’d like to place on the record my thanks to Deputy Chair Ian Winterburn who has stood in as Interim CEO and steered the organisation through this transition period, and to NRA members for your patience and understanding while we completed the appointment process.
From next week, this column will again be written by the organisation’s CEO.
Best wishes,
Mark Brodie