The structure of the Brewers Association of Australia includes two key Committees – the Regulatory Committee and the Technical Committee, which provide analysis and advice on a wide-range of policies and issues important to beer producers and their consumers.
Advice from these Committees informs the careful consideration of the Board in formulating Brewers Association of Australia policy positions, issues responses and strategic priorities.
Each member of the Association is represented by expertise on the Committees, and is responsible for providing input to developing and refining policy options in relation to prevailing and emerging issues…
Regulatory Committee
This Committee deals with the regulatory, legislative and issues-rich reputational environment in which the Australian beer sector operates.
The Committee meets monthly. It’s key areas of interest are in taxation, advertising and sponsorship, labelling and the reputation and position of beer in Australia.
Committee Members
Julian Sheezel
Julian is Carlton & United Brewers’ (CUB’s) Vice-President of Corporate Affairs, Australia and New Zealand.
He joined CUB as Corporate Affairs Director in 2017, having previously been Chief-of-Staff to the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services in the Australian Government.
With a background in taxation, Julian was a Senior Tax Manager with KPMG, working in their Melbourne and Hong Kong offices as an international corporate tax specialist. Julian also worked as Deputy Federal Director of the Liberal Party.
Julian has a Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Taxation degrees.
Louise cooper
Louise Cooper is the Manager of Strategic Development at Coopers Brewery in Adelaide – a role that sees her manage strategic capital projects and business opportunities.
She joined Coopers in 2019 as Legal Affairs and Risk Manager. She was the third member of the sixth generation of Coopers to take up a full-time role at the family brewery.
Louise has degrees in law and health sciences and worked as a lawyer for more than seven years before joining the brewery.
kathryn conroy
Kathryn was appointed External Relations Manager in March 2022 at Lion Beer Australia, which operates iconic breweries in six states.
Technical Committee
The Committee is a trans-Tasman partnership of professional expertise between the Brewers Association of Australia and the Brewers Association of New Zealand, combining insights and experience to monitor and report on domestic and global developments in beer and alcohol production and marketing. It makes these assessments on a quarterly basis.
The Committee meets once a year (or more often, if needed) to assess trends that may require Brewers Association attention and action in each country.
Committee Members
Nick Sterenberg
Nick Sterenberg is Operations Manager of Coopers Brewery in Adelaide.
Nick has been part of the Coopers team for over 28 years and during this time has worked in most areas of operations. Before coming to Coopers, Nick completed the MSc in Malting and Brewing Science at Birmingham University and worked in the UK malting and brewing industry before moving to Australia to work for CUB.
Nick also has an MBA from the Adelaide University and has a passion for continuous improvement in brewing as well for beer itself.
Jaideep chandrasekharan
Jaideep has 32 years experience across the Brewing, Beverage and Spirits industries and has worked in multiple geographies (India, UK, Jordan, Australia/New Zealand, China, S Korea and Vietnam).
Jaideep has worked across production management, quality management and Innovation.
He holds both the Master Brewer qualification of the Institute of Brewing & Distilling, UK and a Masters in Brewing Science from the University of Nottingham and was elected a Fellow of the IBD in 2020.
Sarah Laing
Sarah is the Associate Director Brewing and Quality for Carlton & United Breweries, overseeing quality, brewing process, licensed brands production and raw materials for CUB’s breweries.
Over 10 years Sarah has held various brewing, packaging and engineering roles within CUB’s Australian breweries.
Prior to joining the brewing industry Sarah worked in Senior Process Engineering roles in advanced waste water treatment and petrochemical manufacturing operations. She is a member of the Monash University School of Chemical Engineering Industry Advisory Board.
Sarah holds a Diploma of Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling, is a Chartered member of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and a Registered Professional Engineer Queensland. She holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering with First Class Honours from the University of New South Wales and a Graduate Diploma in Integrated Water Management from The University of Queensland.
David Meads
David is Technical Regulatory Leader with Lion New Zealand. He joined Lion in 1974 and has held various brewing and quality roles across Lion’s NZ brewing sites including four years managing Speight’s Brewery in Dunedin.
He is a qualified Master Brewer and a Fellow of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (UK).
David represents Lion NZ on several industry associations, including the Glass Packaging Forum, NZ Food and Grocery Council’s Health and Regulatory committee, and the NZ Fruit Wine and Cider Makers Association.
Janie zimmerman
Janie Zimmerman is the Quality Manager of Coopers Brewery in Adelaide. Janie has worked at Coopers brewery for 15 years, starting out as the Laboratory Manager and Senior Microbiologist before moving inti her current role.
Janie has a Bachelor of Science, majoring in chemistry and microbiology, a diploma of brewing and also has a MBA from the Adelaide University.
Janie enjoys the diverse and dynamic role that she is involved in and is passionate about new innovations that make the brewery a world class manufacturing organisation.
Trevor ward
Trevor currently works as the Supply Chain Technologist for DB Breweries in New Zealand
External Bodies
In addition to its own Committees, the Brewers Association is represented through membership and/or affiliation with external groups. These include: