OUR PATRON
MARK BINSKIN AC
The Australian Aviation Hall of Fame continues to enjoy the support of our Patron, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin AC (Retd).
Air Chief Marshal Binskin is a highly decorated and respected senior leader and executive in the national security, defence and aerospace sectors, having served this nation as Chief of Air Force (2009 – 2011), Vice Chief of the Defence Force (2011 – 2014), and Chief of the Defence Force (2014 – 2018).
As Chief of the Australian Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Binskin successfully led an ADF comprising 80,000 permanent and reserve personnel, to significantly improve capability and respond as directed by the Australian Government to major global events. He championed organisational change across areas of national security, culture, diversity and leadership performance.
Air Chief Marshal Binskin was appointed as Deputy Chair of Airservices Australia in 2018, before becoming Chair of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) in 2021. In 2020, he was Chair of the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements.
Air Chief Marshal Binskin continues to provide specialist advice to the highest levels of governments, industry leaders and international stakeholders, and his aerospace knowledge and expertise is extensive.
He has over 3.500 hours in single seat fighter aircraft, including the A-4G Skyhawk, Mirage, F-16C and F/A18 Hornet, and remains active in aviation as a commercial, RA-Aus and Warbird pilot.
Air Marshal Binskin has completed the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
MEET THE BOARD MEMBERS
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Our directors
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Leanne is an experienced Economic Development Manager at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development with the NSW Government, where she plays a key role in strengthening pathways into the aviation sector. With a deep passion for aviation, she works closely with training providers, defence organisations, and aviation businesses to inspire and support students pursuing careers in the industry.
She is also committed to supporting aviation businesses with their expansion and growth across the region, helping to build a stronger, more resilient aviation ecosystem.
Her leadership experience extends beyond her current role. Leanne has served as both President and Director on a not‑for‑profit board, contributing to community-focused initiatives and organisational growth. She has also been a judge for numerous business awards, recognising excellence and innovation across a wide range of industries.
Driven, collaborative, and committed to developing the next generation of aviation professionals, Leanne brings a strong blend of industry insight, governance experience, and community engagement to every role she undertakes.
CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN
DIRECTOR
LEANNE SMITH
Samantha Freebairn
Samantha is a former Pilot and Wing Commander in the Royal Australian Air Force. She has flown both combat and humanitarian relief missions on C-130H Hercules and C-17A Globemaster aircraft, was the first woman in Australia to instruct pilots in the C-17A simulator and has a career highlight of landing on an ice runway in Antarctica. She wrote the policy that enabled her and other women to return to RAAF operational flying after having children and in 2014, won the QLD Telstra Business Women’s Award in Business Innovation for the Graduate Pilot Scheme, which incentivises military aviation to women who had never previously considered it. The initiative resulted in successfully doubling the number of women pilots in the Air Force in a two-year period, after numbers had remained stagnant for the prior 30 years. Today Samantha is the Senior Manager of Aviation Safety Training for Qantas, a keynote speaker, executive leadership coach and with an ongoing passion for aviation actively encourages everyone to fly at plane at least once in their lives.
deputy CHAIR
GREG HOOD
Greg Hood commenced his career as an Officer in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) serving throughout Australia and in the Middle East and has subsequently held the roles of Executive Manager Operations at the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and Executive General Manager – Air Traffic Control at Airservices Australia. From 2016 – 2021, Greg served as the Chief Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). Concurrently, he was also appointed Chair of the International Transportation Safety Association (ITSA). Greg was made an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) in 2023 for his service to transport and the not-for-profit sector. Greg is a glider and powered aircraft pilot.
CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN
CHAIR
BOB DE LA HUNTY OAM FAIHA
Bob has had a long involvement in Historical Aviation. He is the current President, Chief Pilot and Life Member of HARS, also the Managing Director of Historic Aircraft Projects Pty Ltd, a HARS Maintenance organisation. Bob is a Director of the Aerospace Maritime Defence and Security Foundation of Australia Limited. Director of the HARS Foundation Ltd. A former Senior Manager CML Ltd. He holds a Commercial Pilot-Command Ratings, is a Flight Instructor on the Lockheed Super Constellation and Lockheed Neptune. Order of Australia for services to Aviation. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute History and Arts. Australian Bi-Centenary Air Show 1988 official. A former Flight Commander with the Australian Airforce Cadets.
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Patrick Hornby
Patrick is General Counsel at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). He often appears in coronial inquests on behalf of the ATSB. In 2022, he was Australian Capital Territory’s Government Lawyer of the year. Patrick is on the national council for the Aviation Law Association of Australia and New Zealand, a Director of a company that produces major events and a lecturer at RMIT university.
Jenny Houghton
Aviation is not just a passion for Jenny, it’s a large part of her life and her story. She has had a lifelong immersion in aviation, in particular education and history.
Jenny undertook her first flight at 17 years of age and has since held Private and Commercial Pilots Licences with Command Instrument and Instructor ratings. She also holds a Balloon Commercial Pilot Licence and an Examiner rating and has accumulated several thousands of hours in fixed wing aircraft and in Balloons.
Jenny holds a Bachelors degree in Education from Curtin University and is a Fellow of the Australian
Institute of Company Directors (AICD). Many decades after she started flying, she found herself flying from the airstrip owned by she and her husband on their property, Maygars Hill Vineyard, in Central Victoria.
During her illustrious career as a vintner, she has also found time to be elected State and National President of the Australian Women Pilots’ Association (AWPA Nat Pres 1981 – 1983 and 1987-89) and in 1986 was awarded the Nancy Bird Trophy for Outstanding Contribution to Aviation by a woman of Australasia. From 1983 – 1989, Jenny was a Board Member and Vice President of the World Aerospace Aviation Education Organisation and in 1988, was recognised through the awarding of an Order of Merit by that organisation. She was a Board member and Vice President of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) from 1986 - 1996, and in 1985, she was made a Life Member and an inductee of the Australian Ballooning Federation Hall of Fame. From 1997 – 2012, Jenny was a Board member, the Patron and is now a Life Member of the Aerospace Maritime Defence and Security Foundation of Australia Limited (AMDA).
In 2002, Jenny was inducted into the Pioneer Women Hall of Fame in Alice Springs, from 2013 has been a member of the Melbourne Health Ethics Research Committee, and in 2021 was awarded the Lorrey Bonny Award for conducting a record-breaking flight of international significance. Jenny believes that “It’s so much about the people in aviation that are making this journey so enjoyable and worthwhile - long may we continue.”
Captain Deborah Lawrie AM
In 1979 Deborah was the subject of the first contested equal opportunity anti-discrimination case in Australia. After more than a year she won the battle against Sir Reginald Ansett in the High Court joining Ansett Airlines to become the first female airline pilot for a major airline in Australia.
After the 1989 Pilot’s Dispute, Deborah relocated to The Netherlands with KLM Cityhopper. She was Flight Safety Manager and Safety Investigator for 8 years. During this time Deborah was chairman of the European Air Safety Working Group and a member of the IATA Aircraft Accident Classification Working Group. In 2004 Deborah was part of a team commissioned by The Netherlands, to align the Latvian aviation standards with those of the European Union.
In 2008 Deborah returned to Australia as a Captain on the Airbus A320 with Jetstar in Christchurch and in 2012 joined Tigerair in Sydney as an A320 Check and Training Captain until the airline was shut down in 2020. Deborah currently flies the B737 with Virgin Australia and with over 21,000 flying hours is the longest flying female airline pilot in the world.
Deborah was inducted into the Victorian Honor Roll of Women in 2001. She received a Master Air Pilot award in 2017 and was appointed an AM in the General Division of The Order of Australia in 2019 for significant service to aviation as a commercial pilot, and to women in the profession.
She was inducted into the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame in 2022 and in November 2023 Sydney Airport named a flyover that connects the International and Domestic terminals in her honor. Deborah has recently published her memoir ‘Touching The Sky’.
IAN BADHAM OAM
As Rev John Flynn is heralded as the father of the Royal Flying Doctor Services and national (fixed wing) air ambulance services, so Ian Badham is cited as the pioneer of Australian rescue helicopter and critical care aeromedical services. With experience as a journalist, he convinced the now Westpac Bank to become a 50-year sponsor of an initial SLSA rescue helicopter service in Sydney in 1973 and as a volunteer subsequently expanded the operation to Newcastle, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. Serving initially also a rescue crewman he undertook significant missions including, in a two-person operation with pilot Dan Tyler, saving the lives of four teenagers swept out in cyclone seas off the NSW Central Coast in January 1980.
Using his media, marketing and fundraising skill, after co-founding CareFlight in 1986 he spent 30 years developing it to a now national rescue helicopter, aeromedical and trauma training service.
Ian served multi-terms representing Asia-Pacific on the US-based (international) Association of Air Medical Services and in 1999 was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for services to CareFlight in Sydney.
