Phylloxera and Grape Industry Board of South Australia

Staff Members

Peter Hackworth - Chief Executive

Peter Hackworth commenced as Executive Officer (now Chief Executive) with the Phylloxera and Grape Industry Board of South Australia in December 1999. He is responsible for the implementation of the Board's five year plan, the management of the office and supervision of staff. He works with regional committees in the Riverland, Central and Limestone Coast regions to develop and implement strategies to protect the wine and grape industries from phylloxera and other threats.

Rachel Inness - Office Manager

Rachel Inness was appointed to the position of Office Manager in August 2007. She comes to the Board with an impressive record in senior administration, prior to which she was an enrolled nurse for 11 years. The Office Manager's main role is to maintain the vineyard register, which keeps a record of all grapevine plantings in the state, and to manage the paperwork for the importation of grapevine cuttings and rootlings into South Australia. She also provides administrative support to the Chief Executive and other staff and Board members.

The Office Manager is usually the first point of contact with the Board for grapegrowers, and can help out with a wide range of queries.

Martin Nolan - GIS and Remote Sensing Technical Officer

Martin currently holds the position of GIS and Remote Sensing Technical Officer, while Karen Hansen is on maternity leave. His role is to manage the Board's phylloxera surveillance program which utilises aerial imagery and image processing techniques to target its annual vineyard ground surveys. He also maintains GIS datasets of the states vineyards as part of the vineyard register plus provides mapping services to the Board and growers.
Martin has been working part-time for the Board since 2005, and has a Bachelor of Geographical Information Systems from the University of South Australia.

Catherine Cox - Rootstock Project Manager

Catherine was appointed to the Rootstock Project Manager position in August 2007. She has extensive experience in research and extension in viticulture. The Rootstock Project Manager's role is to gather and analyse information about rootstock performance, provide information to growers on rootstock choice and management and promote the use of rootstocks to improve production and vineyard sustainability as well as to provide insurance against phylloxera.

Sandy Hathaway - Manager: Information and Education Services (part-time)

Sandy is the Manager, Information and Education Services for the Board. She has been with the Board since 1996. She is responsible for producing the annual Winegrape Utilisation and Pricing Survey, the Board's twice-yearly newsletter, the annual grower feedback survey, various publications, brochures etc and other projects. She also maintains the website.

Bess Cabrera - Finance Officer

Bess is the Board's finance officer, responsible for the finances, annual budget, mandatory statutory reporting requirements and the overall general accounting functions of the Board. She has been with the Board since 1999 on a part-time basis.