CA ANZ reveals council president, vice presidents for 2026

CA ANZ has named its 2026 president and vice presidents who will lead the professional body’s council.

The professional accounting body welcomed Naomi Walsh as its president, Matthew Green as its vice president for Australia and Julia Fink as its vice president for New Zealand.

At a president's dinner held last week, CA ANZ board chair John Palermo congratulated Walsh, Green and Fink on their appointments, as well as thanked the outgoing 2025 president, Grant Ellis, for his contribution.

Palermo said Ellis had led the council with “integrity and vision” as he met with members all over the world and championed the body’s new strategic direction to 2030.

“His presidency, vice presidency, and indeed his decades of service to the profession, have been defined by his fierce pride in the CA designation, our ethics and all the members we serve,” he said.

“His ability to gather input from members and ensure their voices were heard has been invaluable, fostering unity and engagement across our membership as we celebrated 10 years since the merger of the Australian and New Zealand institutes to create Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.”

“On behalf of the Board, Council, and all of our members, I thank Grant for his many years of service and wish him every success for the future.”

Walsh, the incoming president, was noted to be the academic lead employability, College of Business and Economics at the University of Tasmania and non-executive director on several Tasmanian government and other organisation boards, including chair of audit, risk and governance committees.

Before her appointment, Walsh served as 2025 CA ANZ vice president, is an ex-officio member of the Tasmanian Regional Council, as well as a previous member of the CA ANZ Corporate Sector Advisory Committee.

“Congratulations to Naomi Walsh FCA on being elected President for 2026. Naomi brings a wealth of experience in academia, governance, and business,” Ellis said.

“Naomi’s dedication to lifting up our membership and designation, particularly in the areas of career diversity, professional development, and member engagement will be invaluable as we progress our strategy to 2030.”

Australia’s newest CA ANZ vice president, Matthew Green, was noted to be a financial reporting, audit and valuations specialist with extensive experience in advising directors and executives in ASX Listing Rules, corporations legislation, Australian accounting standards, and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Currently, Green is a partner with Mazars Brisbane, covering valuation, audit, assurance, transactions, and reporting assignments across all sectors of the Queensland economy.

Ellis said Green has had the opportunity to work across various firms in the accounting industry, including big four, ASX-listed companies, small firms, and the public sector; this experience has provided him with a deep understanding of the way the industry operates.

“Congratulations also to Matthew Green FCA on being elected as the new Australian Vice-President, and to Julia Fink FCA on retaining her New Zealand Vice-Presidency. On behalf of all our members, thank you for your continued dedication to our professional body.”

Fink, now the vice president for New Zealand on the council, is a small business owner and the CFO at the Climate Change Commission and has been heavily involved in the rollout of public benefit entity financial reporting standards for registered charities in her former role at DIA Charities Services.