Life Members

AusTriathlon Life Membership is an honour bestowed upon individuals who have rendered distinguished or special service to Triathlon at the national level.   Each year, the AusTriathlon Board calls for nominations from State and Territory Triathlon Associations (STTAs) for individuals to be considered for life membership.

Bill Walker

In 1992 Bill was elected to the Board of Triathlon NSW and the Board of Triathlon Australia. He was President of Triathlon Australia from 1994 to 2000.
In 1995 Bill was appointed Chairman of the LOC of the ITU World Cup Sydney and conducted 6 ITU World Cups including the Sydney Test event for the Sydney Olympic Games. He was also a member of the LOC for the 1994 ITU Duathlon World Championships.

In 1994 Bill was elected as the Oceania ITU Representative on the Executive Board of ITU and in 1999 was elevated to the position as Treasurer, a position held until 1994. He was Secretary General of ITU from 2004 to 2008, First Vice President from 2008 to 2012 and was re-elected as Vice President in 2012. His role on the ITU Board has largely been one of financial management working with the CEO and Finance Director to maintain financial stability of ITU.

Ken Bonham

Ken Bonham has been a significant contributor to the sport of triathlon in many different areas – as an athlete, a coach, a technical official and a long standing contributor to the administration of Triathlon NSW and Triathlon Australia.

As a competitive athlete from the beginning of the sport in Australia in 1984 he competed at all distances, becoming NSW State Champion in Olympic Distance and Long Distance. He achieved a podium finish at the Forster Ironman on three occasions and was a three times finisher of the Hawaii Ironman.

Ken was one of the earliest accredited officials in Australia, rising to the level of National Technical Official, and was a leading member of the technical team at many of the significant national and international races in Australia. Ken’s most significant contribution to the sport of Triathlon was as a dedicated member of the Boards of both Triathlon NSW and Triathlon Australia.

Brian Hinton

Brian first experienced the sport in 1985 and has since been passionately involved in many ways. He is an institution of the Melbourne Tri Club and Triathlon Victoria, having served as President and gained Life Membership to both organizations. At national level, over the last 17 years Brian has, at various times been a Board Member, Vice President and acting CEO of Triathlon Australia.

At international level, he was an ITU Board member from 1992 to 2004. His selfless and efficient efforts on various local organizing committees and congresses within the ITU are highlighted by his work as a Team Leader at thirteen Duathlon and Long Distance World Championships, and three World Cups, and Chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the Long Distance World Championships in Perth. Brian is now a member of the AusTriathlon Awards Committee, served on the Triathlon Australia Elite Selection Committee, and the ITU Multisport Committee.

Dr Jim Hazel

Dr Jim Hazel was born in Brisbane, QLD in 1936.
After graduating from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland he went on to join the Australian Regular Army, Medical Corps in 1965.

In 1973 he joined the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and went in to become founder and Director of the Diabetes Education Centre, Parramatta Hospital.

He became involved in triathlon in 1984 as part of the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii. Jim was instrumental in working to form the triathlon association in Australia, and in May 1986 at Broadbeach, Queensland, the Triathlon Federation of Australia was formed of which he became the inaugural President with Geoff Frost from Melbourne as the Vice President. In 1991 the name of the national Governing Body was changed to Triathlon Australia.

In 1998 Jim was recognised as an honorary member if ITU, and is one of just nine individuals to be awarded with this high accolade.

He has since gone onto achieve a Masters of Literature from the University of New England and in 2006 retired from clinical practice due to health reasons.

Jim remains the permanent Secretary for the Human Research Ethics Committee at Westmead Hospital.

Peter Hedge

Peter Hedge is a passionate age group triathlete. He was introduced to triathlon in the mid 1980’s by the BRW Series in Narrabeen competing in a team for Coopers and Lybrand. He is a former partner at Price Waterhouse Coopers and was a senior business recovery and corporate finance partner for 16 years. His field of expertise is risk management, corporate governance and business reconstruction.

In 2004 Peter was contacted by the President of Tri NSW who was unaware that Triathlon was Peter’s sport. Subsequently Peter ran a strategic planning session with TA stakeholders whilst fellow Life Member Brian Hinton was CEO. He also worked on a committee involving the ASC. Peter then received another call a few weeks before the AGM in November 2009. That call was the catalyst for Hedge to offer his expertise and support to improve the sport he loved.

Peter has worked with many not-for-profit organisations. A member at the time of Balmoral Tri Club. Peter made accountability, cohesion and a shared purpose the key to improving the governance of Triathlon Australia.

Working with the then newly appointed CEO, Anne Gripper together they made many changes that have benefited the governance and financial stability of the organisation essential to its long term strength. Another of Peter’s visions was to work collaboratively with the eight state and territory triathlon Associations to lead towards establishing a unified model for the sport.