18 Brisbane Standards, Testing, Certification Leaders

Standards, testing and certification shape much of the work that keeps Brisbane safe, reliable and ready to grow. The people in this guide work across concrete, soil, environmental samples, workplace safety, fire performance, calibration, food safety, building certification and welding training.

They are not all doing the same job. That is the point. Together, they show how a technical standard becomes useful when skilled people apply it to a real building, a laboratory result, a workplace or a training room.

In 2026, Brisbane's construction, resources, health and professional services sectors all rely on this same quiet infrastructure of accredited laboratories, registered auditors and trained practitioners.

Why standards, testing and certification matter in Brisbane.

Brisbane is a city where construction, infrastructure, resources, environmental work and professional services meet. Each field depends on people who can turn a standard into a repeatable process, a test result into a sound decision and a certification pathway into practical capability.

The leaders below offer different views of that system. Some govern national accreditation. Some lead testing laboratories. Some connect safety regulation with training and standards.

Others help practitioners build the skills needed to work within recognised certification frameworks.

The useful leadership lesson is simple: quality is rarely produced by a document alone. It depends on people who understand the rule, the purpose behind it and the conditions in which it must be applied.

1. Kerri Melkersson.

Executive Director, Simtars, Resources Safety and Health Queensland.

Kerri Melkersson is Executive Director of Simtars within Resources Safety and Health Queensland. The Queensland Government's 2024 to 2025 annual report records her appointment and places her work in Brisbane's resources safety system.

The report also records that Melkersson represents RSHQ as a nominating organisation for Standards Australia and is chief executive of its registered training organisation. That combination makes her especially relevant to certification and standards. It shows how technical expectations, regulatory leadership and workforce capability can reinforce one another.

2. Dr Sanmarié Schlebusch.

Chair, NATA Board, and Medical Director, Pathology Queensland.

Dr Sanmarié Schlebusch chairs the board of the National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia's national laboratory accreditation body, while working as Medical Director for Microbiology, Virology and Genomics at Pathology Queensland in Brisbane. NATA's own board page confirms her current chair role alongside her clinical position.

Her dual role connects the everyday practice of a Brisbane public health laboratory with the national governance that decides how every accredited Australian laboratory earns and keeps its accreditation. Few people sit as close to both the standard and its enforcement.

3. Colin Sheldon.

Board Member, Board of Professional Engineers Queensland, and Principal, WSP.

Colin Sheldon is an elected board member of the Board of Professional Engineers Queensland and works as Principal, Strategic Asset Management at WSP in Brisbane. BPEQ's own people page confirms his current board seat, and Standards Australia's own Standards Heroes profile confirms his membership of the Standards Australia Board Committee and NATA's Inspection Accreditation Advisory Committee.

That combination gives him a direct line from Queensland's engineering registration standards through to national accreditation policy, a rare vantage point for a Brisbane based engineer.

4. Brian Richardson.

Director, Equipment Safety and Licensing, Electrical Safety Office.

Brian Richardson leads Equipment Safety and Licensing at the Electrical Safety Office within WorkSafe Queensland in Brisbane. WorkSafe Queensland's own news release confirms his current title and records that Standards Australia awarded him the W.R. Hebblewhite Medal in 2023 for his contribution to DC isolator and solar photovoltaic safety standards.

That award recognises work that shaped a national safety standard from a Queensland government role, a useful example of how state regulation can influence standards used across the country.

5. Jonathon Angell.

General Manager, Queensland, Eurofins Environment Testing Australia.

Jonathon Angell is an environmental testing leader with Eurofins Environment Testing Australia. His public profile places him in Greater Brisbane, while Eurofins describes its Brisbane facilities and national environmental testing network. This connects him directly to Brisbane testing.

Eurofins works through ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratories across Australia, covering areas such as water, soil, air and contaminated land. A current Eurofins publication identifies Angell as General Manager of Environment Testing Australia Queensland. His work is a useful reminder that testing quality depends on both scientific skill and dependable systems.

6. Simon Matthews.

Environmental Laboratory Specialist, SGS Australia.

Simon Matthews is a Brisbane based environmental laboratory specialist with SGS Australia. His current public profile describes more than 30 years in the environmental laboratory industry, with recent work connected to water, environmental monitoring and laboratory testing.

Matthews has also shared a current update about expanding the testing scope for radiochemistry within a NATA scope. That detail is useful because it shows standards work as an ongoing practice rather than a one off approval. Laboratories need to validate methods, understand sample types and keep their reporting aligned with the decisions clients need to make.

7. Robert Kearney.

Managing Director, KCT Independent Concrete Testing.

Robert Kearney leads KCT Independent Concrete Testing and is based in the Greater Brisbane area. KCT describes its work as construction materials testing across South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales, giving Kearney a direct connection to the practical testing behind concrete projects.

The company's public hiring information describes testing against Australian Standard AS1012 and ISO/IEC 17025. That combination matters because a useful result must be more than a number on a report. Kearney's work sits close to the point where a test result helps project teams decide whether materials, processes and timing are working as intended.

8. Jason McKenna.

Director, Australian Soil and Concrete Testing.

Jason McKenna is Director of Australian Soil and Concrete Testing's Brisbane South operation. ASCT's location page identifies him as Director and describes the local site's testing work. The company's focus on soil and concrete gives him a fit with standards and testing in the city's construction environment.

The Brisbane South site is also listed through NATA's public accreditation directory. That is useful context for readers because it shows how local testing work connects with recognised laboratory expectations. McKenna's role illustrates that technical trust is built through clear methods, repeatable results and visible accountability.

9. Jay Marks.

Laboratory Manager, Brisbane, GSG Laboratories.

Jay Marks is Laboratory Manager for GSG Laboratories in Brisbane. The company's own team page names him in that role and credits him with around 20 years of construction materials testing experience, including work connected to Brisbane Airport's runway and the Gateway Motorway.

Projects of that scale depend on consistent, defensible testing over long timeframes. Marks's background shows how a laboratory manager's judgement, not only the equipment, keeps large infrastructure projects moving on trustworthy data.

10. Craig Carlson.

Managing Director, Envirohealth Consulting.

Craig Carlson is Managing Director of Envirohealth Consulting, based in Murarrie, Brisbane. NATA's accreditation directory lists him as the contact for the firm's Brisbane laboratory, which has held accreditation since 1992, and the company's own site confirms his role and its focus on asbestos audits and air quality testing.

More than three decades of continuous accreditation is a meaningful marker in testing. It shows a business, and the person leading it, has kept pace with changing methods and expectations over a long period rather than meeting a standard once.

11. Craig Schoenmaker.

Business Manager, Resolute Testing Laboratories.

Craig Schoenmaker is a Greater Brisbane testing professional associated with Resolute Testing Laboratories. A current public profile identifies him as Business Manager, while Resolute describes its Lawnton operation and specialist testing services. The company's location places this work in Brisbane's northern testing community.

Resolute specialises in fire resistance, acoustic and smoke testing. Those areas connect technical evidence with the performance people expect from buildings and products. Schoenmaker's role is a useful example of the coordination needed around testing: clients need clear requirements, laboratories need sound methods and project teams need results they can use.

12. Joseph Turrell.

Branch Manager, Queensland, LMATS.

Joseph Turrell is Branch Manager, Queensland for LMATS, a materials and mechanical testing laboratory in Archerfield, Brisbane. NATA's accreditation directory lists him as the contact for the accredited Brisbane laboratory, which carries out non destructive and mechanical testing under ISO/IEC 17025.

Turrell brings close to two decades of non destructive testing experience to the role. That depth of practical experience matters in a field where a misread result can affect decisions about structural safety.

13. Alan Rayment.

Area Manager, Specialised Testing, Trilab.

Alan Rayment is Area Manager for Specialised Testing at Trilab, leading the company's Brisbane and Perth laboratories as well as its national calibration services. Trilab's own announcement confirms his current role and remit.

His work spans soil and rock mechanics testing and the calibration services that keep other laboratories' instruments trustworthy. That is a useful reminder that testing accuracy depends on a chain of checks, not a single measurement.

14. Greg Dempster.

Principal, Building Certifier Level 1, Devcert.

Greg Dempster is Principal and a Building Certifier Level 1 at Devcert's Brisbane office in Milton. Devcert's own team page names him in that role, and client feedback describes his work applying the National Construction Code and Australian Standards to real building approvals.

Private building certification sits at a practical intersection of standards and consequence. Dempster's work shows how a certifier turns a written code into a decision that a builder and a homeowner can rely on.

15. Janis Manship.

Principal and Food Safety Auditor, JM Management Consultancy.

Janis Manship is Principal of JM Management Consultancy, based in Greater Brisbane. Queensland Health's official register of approved food safety auditors lists her current business, and her own company site confirms her work auditing food businesses against recognised safety standards.

Food safety auditing is a certification discipline that most people never see directly, yet it shapes what happens in commercial kitchens every day. Manship's work is a clear example of certification protecting the public quietly and continuously.

16. Gavin Buckett.

Principal, Auditing Food Safety, Brisbane.

Gavin Buckett is Principal of Auditing Food Safety, based in South East Queensland. Queensland Health's official register of approved food safety auditors names his business as a current approved auditor, and his own company site confirms the practice audits hospitals, aged care facilities, hotels and universities.

His client list shows how widely food safety certification reaches, from healthcare kitchens to hospitality venues. Each audit is a practical check that a written standard is actually being followed.

17. Jason Twigg.

Instructor, Corestone Training.

Jason Twigg is an instructor and training leader with Corestone Training in Brisbane. Corestone describes its Brisbane head office and IICRC certification courses, while its public company profile identifies Twigg as an instructor and contact. That gives him a clear connection to the certification side of the topic.

Certification training matters because standards only improve work when practitioners can understand and apply them. Corestone's course model places learning, assessment and recognised professional pathways together. Twigg's work highlights the human side of compliance: people need practical instruction, feedback and confidence before a standard becomes part of everyday practice.

18. Ganesh Repal.

Chief Executive Officer, Kangaroo Training Institute.

Ganesh Repal is Chief Executive Officer of Kangaroo Training Institute in Coopers Plains, Brisbane. The company's own About Us page names him CEO and confirms the institute is a Welding Technology Institute of Australia approved centre and a registered Australian Welding Certification Register testing centre.

Welding certification is one of the more visible ways a technical standard becomes a personal qualification. Repal's institute connects classroom learning with the practical testing tradespeople need to prove their skill against a recognised benchmark.

What these Brisbane leaders show us about standards and testing.

The first pattern is that standards are most useful when they are connected to a real decision. A concrete test helps a project team decide what to do next. An environmental result informs a response to risk.

A calibration check keeps every later measurement honest. Training and certification help people apply requirements consistently.

The second pattern is that trust is built through systems as well as expertise. Accredited laboratories, recognised methods, clear reporting, national governance and competent practitioners all matter together. A strong technical leader does not treat process as paperwork added after the real work. The process is part of the real work because it makes a result easier to understand and repeat.

The third pattern is the connection between present work and future capability. Brisbane needs people who can test what is being built today, govern the standards that guide tomorrow's work and teach others how to build, inspect and certify well. That means technical organisations need to develop people, document learning and stay close to the purpose behind the rule.

How to use this list as a leader.

Start with the standard or test that matters most to your current project. Ask what decision it is meant to support, what evidence would be strong enough and who needs to understand the result. This keeps the conversation practical.

Then look at the hand offs. Where does a sample, report, inspection or training outcome move from one person to another? Many quality problems appear in those gaps rather than inside the technical task itself. Make ownership clear and write down what a good hand-off looks like.

Finally, treat capability as part of the system. Give people time to learn the method, ask questions and practise the judgement the work requires. A standard becomes more reliable when the people using it know both the rule and the reason behind it.

Frequently asked questions.

Who are the standards and testing leaders in Brisbane covered here?

This guide covers 18 people working across environmental testing, concrete and soil testing, resources safety, national laboratory accreditation, engineering standards, electrical safety, calibration, building certification, food safety auditing and certification training.

What types of testing and certification are represented?

The list includes construction materials testing, soil and concrete testing, environmental laboratory work, radiochemistry, fire resistance, acoustic and smoke testing, non destructive testing, calibration, building certification, food safety auditing and welding certification training.

Why include standards governance alongside testing companies?

A test result only matters if the standard behind it is trustworthy. Including people who govern national accreditation and standards committees, alongside people who run laboratories and training, shows the whole system that keeps technical work reliable.

How can a business learn from these leaders?

Choose one technical issue that affects your work and follow the relevant organisation or professional profile. Ask your team what decision the test supports, where hand offs could fail and what capability would make the process more dependable.

What is the main leadership lesson?

Standards work best when people understand their purpose. Strong leaders connect the rule with the decision, the evidence with the action and the training with the capability the organisation needs next.

Conclusion.

Brisbane's standards, testing and certification community shows how technical work supports everyday confidence. Concrete needs to perform, environmental results need to be useful, buildings need to meet expectations and practitioners need the skills to apply recognised methods.

The people in this guide offer different ways into that system. Some govern national accreditation or sit on standards committees. Some lead laboratories or testing businesses. Others connect safety, certification and training, or work close to the technical detail where a careful result can change a project decision.

If this topic matters to your organisation, choose one process to examine this week. Write down the standard behind it, the evidence you rely on and the person who owns the next decision. That small exercise can make quality easier to see and easier to improve.

Related reading.

For a practical look at building a stronger leadership group, read How to develop a leadership team. If your team needs clearer alignment, How to get your leadership team aligned is a useful next read. You can also explore strategy leadership consulting for a broader view of turning strategy into action.

If your leaders need a practical way to work through a complex technical or compliance challenge, Consult Clarity can help you build a shared view of the challenge and decide what to do next. Learn more about leadership alignment consulting, or email jonno@consultclarity.org to enquire about a keynote, workshop or facilitated leadership session.

About the author.

Jonno White is a Brisbane based leadership consultant, keynote speaker and Certified Working Genius Facilitator, and the author of Step Up or Step Out. He works with schools, organisations and leadership teams around the world. To enquire about a keynote, workshop or facilitated leadership session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.