ILSC Board
Board of Directors
The Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation Board is the primary decision-making body and oversees governance, considers land acquisition and land management proposals and monitors performance. The ILSC Board consists of seven directors; five, including the Chairperson, must be Indigenous people. ILSC Board Directors are appointed by the Minister for Indigenous Australians under section 191X of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005 (Cth).
Mr Ian Hamm
Chairperson
Appointed Chair of the Board, 1 December 2021
Ian Hamm is a Yorta Yorta man and a respected advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. With a distinguished career spanning government and the community sectors, he has been instrumental in contributing to Closing the Gap and advancing Aboriginal representation in high-level decision-making.
Ian has led strategic reforms in government and numerous organisations and remains deeply committed to advocacy and mentoring. He is, amongst others, the Chair of the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation, Chair of the First Nations Foundation, a Board Director of The Healing Foundation, and former Chair of Connecting Home Ltd, a Victorian Stolen Generations service. In recognition of his work , Ian was recently awarded an Honorary Doctor of Business by Swinburne University of Technology.
Ms Claire Filson
Deputy Chairperson
Appointed Deputy Chair of the Board, 6 August 2021
Claire Filson is an experienced non-executive director with more than 25 years’ experience on State and Federal Government boards and in superannuation and infrastructure businesses.
Chairing audit, risk, finance, and remuneration committees, Claire has extensive experience in financial services, superannuation, insurance, funds management, infrastructure and property including ports, roads, rail and utilities. Her knowledge and skills include corporate legal advice, strategic risk management, compliance and governance.
Miss Filson currently sits on the boards of the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence and Greater Western Water, and is Deputy Chair of the Portable Long Service Benefits Authority.
Mr Roy Ah-See
Board Director
Roy is the proud owner of RC Associates a 100 percent Aboriginal owned operated company. Roy was elected to the NSW Aboriginal Land Council in 2007 and was Chair of the Council from 2015 until mid-2019. He is also a member of the Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council and Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council.
In 2017, Roy was selected to be a member of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council and chosen to be a member of the Advisory Committee for the Australian Law Reform Commission’s inquiry into the incarceration rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In 2024, Roy was appointed as CEO, Forster Aboriginal Land Council.
He has served on the NSW Local Government and Shires Association and previously worked at various government agencies and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations.
Roy also has qualifications in social welfare and works in a voluntary capacity to help Aboriginal men who are experiencing challenges with drugs and alcohol.
Ms Gail Reynolds-Adamson, AM
Board Director
Appointed, 4 January 2022
Gail is a descendant of the Wadjuri peoples which is on the eastern boarder of the Nyungar Nation, (Esperance ) she is also a descendant of the Mirning People (“Whale people”) her mother’s country which stretches along the southern coast of WA to the South Australian border.
Gail is the Chairperson of the Esperance Tjaltjraak Native Title Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC (ETNTAC), a position she has held since the Corporation’s establishment in 2015.
She is also the Chairperson of Southeast Aboriginal Health Service, Board member on the Kings Trust, Board member Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation and a member of First Nations Landcare Working Group. Gail was a previous board member of Indigenous Business Australia and a Chairperson of Goldfields Esperance Development Commission, board member Horizon Power.
She also operates her own specialist training and consultancy business, partnering with government agencies, corporations, and mining companies to support meaningful engagement with First Nations peoples. Her expertise has been sought by mining companies to work directly with their boards, senior leadership teams, and top 300 executives across Australia and internationally.
Ms Kristy Masella
Board Director
Appointed, 16 March 2022
Kristy is a Murri, South Sea Islander from Rockhampton, Darumbal Country in Central Queensland who has dedicated her life to the empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. She has been part of the Inner Sydney Aboriginal community for almost 30 years.
Ms Masella brings more than 30 years of experience working in Aboriginal affairs across multiple jurisdictions to assist Indigenous Australians realise the economic, social, cultural and environmental benefits of their land, sea and water Country.
Kristy is currently Managing Director of the Aboriginal Employment Strategy (AES), a national Aboriginal recruitment and group training company that drives empowerment through brokering employment opportunities for Indigenous Australians and supporting candidates to have successful careers. Prior to the AES Managing Director role, she was the head of Social Justice for Aboriginal Affairs New South Wales and led a major review of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Rights Act.
Kristy studied Journalism at the University of Queensland, holds a Masters in Human Rights Law and Policy at the University of New South Wales specialising in Indigenous Rights and is currently completing a Graduate Certificate in Human and Community Services (Interpersonal Trauma) at the University of Sydney.
Ms Masella is the Co-Chairperson of Tranby National Indigenous Adult Education and Training; Director and Treasurer of Wunanbiri Preschool Incorporated; a Member of the Redfern Aboriginal Community Alliance; Managing Director of Yaama Ganu Art Gallery; and a Member of the First Nations Council of the Paul Ramsay Foundation.
