Quest Events would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the official event advisory panel who contributed their valuable time and expertise to ensure the agenda for this event is timely and relevant for all stakeholders involved in developing purpose-built student accommodation.
Vincent Wilson
Chief Executive Officer, Deakin Residential Services
Deakin University
Vincent Wilson is a CEO, Director, and Industry Leader. As the Chief Executive Officer of Deakin Residential Services he is responsible for the overall operational and strategic leadership of Deakin Residential Services, a subsidiary of Deakin University, with the primary purpose of sustainably developing and managing outstanding and market leading student accommodation premises, services, and support for Deakin students. Vincent is also the current President of AACUHO, the Australasian association for student housing, which advocates for excellence in the industry and boasts a broad membership including traditional colleges, Universities, and the private sector.
Martin Belci
Senior Business Development Manager, Corporate Banking NSW
Bank of Queensland
Martin Belci has more than 40 years’ experience in the Australian Banking and Finance sector. In that time he has worked in a variety of client relationship management, advisory and acquisition roles across Merchant, Institutional, Corporate and Business Banking.
Martin’s first involvement with the PBSA sector arose in 2010 and since that time he has been involved in numerous lending transactions requiring construction or post construction funding for student accommodation. His relationships with various industry players and involvement in this growing and specialised sector for more than 5 years, has provided Martin with a strong understanding of the dynamics, success factors, issues and trends that are influencing the sector.
Having gained extensive knowledge across varied industries through his experience in senior leadership positions with the Australian European Finance Corporation and Commonwealth Bank’s Institutional and Corporate Banking divisions, Martin continues to use these insights to benefit his clients’ individual needs.
In 2012, Martin joined Bank of Queensland where he is currently focused on growing the bank’s presence in Corporate and Business Banking, across multiple sectors.
Conal Newland
Director of Student Accommodation
Savills
Jon Whittle
Head of Real Estate
GSA Australia
Peta Harwood
Infrastructure and Operations Manager
Brisbane City Council
Peta Harwood is the Infrastructure and Operations Manager, City Planning and Economic Development at Brisbane City Council. Brisbane City Council is the largest local government in Australia in both population and budget. Brisbane attracts people from all over the world to study, invest, work, live, visit and play. It is a friendly, inclusive and multicultural city, with almost 30% of residents in the
Brisbane local government area born overseas and 18.5%3 speaking a language other than English at home. Peta has over 20 years’ experience in local government, State government and private practice roles as a town planner and project manager. She is a member of the Planning Institute of Australia and a Certified Practising Planner and a member of Property Council of Australia (Queensland) Infrastructure Committee.