Society Staff

Board of Directors

The RNCAS Office is located at Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC) at Mitchell, ACT. It is staffed by 10 personnel who bring a wealth of administrative, agricultural and corporate experience to their roles.

Ben Copeman
Chief Executive Officer
Raised on his family’s Collarenebri (NSW) property, ‘Mogil Mogil’ and later at ‘Abedoar’ at Mungindi, Ben Copeman has spent more than 30 years experiencing the extremes of rural life, breeding stud and commercial beef cattle, sheep, wool and growing cereal and forage crops across north western NSW and central and southern QLD. During this time, Ben showed Poll Hereford cattle at many Northern shows and has competed at varying levels in show jumping and horse events.
Leaving the land in the mid-1990s, Ben pursued further education in order to transition into life post ‘hands on’ farming. This lead to a career in rural business consulting, followed by senior management positions in small scale investment banking, risk management, environmental conservation and sustainable agriculture.
His work with the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Australia saw Ben return to his sustainable agricultural roots. He joined NASAA in 2013 with the task of positioning the organisation as Australia’s and the Asia-Pacific’s pre-eminent organic certifier. In August 2015, Ben was awarded the Australia China Business Council’s Industry Leader of the Year Award for creative, innovative and outstanding leadership in developing trade (in this case, of organic products) between Australia and China.
Today, largely due to Ben’s efforts, NASAA, with in excess of 12m ha of land certified, is the largest certifier of agricultural land in the world. This represents more than 28% of the global total.
Ben sees his role with the Royal National Capital Agricultural Society is to position the organization as one of the preeminent show societies in the country; to improve the business management, corporate governance and community appeal to make it a ‘must attend’ show for the Canberra community, competitors and exhibitors.
Academically, Ben is an Integrated Management Systems Auditor; has a Graduate Certificate in Management; a Diploma of Animal Husbandry; a Certificate in Enterprise Development and is currently studying for a Bachelor of Sustainability.

Derek Hughes
Sales Executive
Derek has been with RNCAS since March 2007. He manages all aspects of the commercial sites at the ActewAGL Royal Canberra Show and the Canberra Home Building Tourism Caravan 4WD and Camping Show. Derek has been in sales for many years, with qualifications and experience in real estate and meat technology. Derek has strong links to agriculture, growing up in Dorset in England, which is one of England’s premier farming counties, and then working for many years in the meat trade.

Robert Mutton
Maintenance Supervisor & Stores Manager
Robert commenced at RNCAS in August 2008 and is responsible for the set up and take down for all RNCAS events, and the maintenance of show stock, supplies and equipment. He also supervises the work force at shows. Rob has strong agricultural roots, born into a farming family who raised cattle, sheep and pigs. He also worked in the family owned businesses including a chaff mill, stock & station agent and grain merchant.

Lisa Telling
Senior Administrator
Lisa has been with the RNCAS since July 2014. Lisa’s duties include processing memberships and competition entries and addressing general enquiries from the public. She liaises daily with RNCAS stakeholders and shareholders, prepares agendas and correspondence for meetings and organises catering, office resources and supplies. Lisa has an Advanced Diploma of Events and a Diploma of Management and has recently completed database training. Her previous roles involve customer service, reception and administration duties. 

Natalie Budd
Executive Assistant
Natalie has been with RNCAS since May 2015. As Executive Assistant she is responsible for assisting with the sales and administration duties relating to the Royal Canberra Show and the Canberra Home Show. Natalie comes from Perth, WA and has previously been employed in retail, pharmacy, sales and customer service roles, including managerial positions. She has experience leading large teams, managing sales targets and in Event Management. Natalie holds a Certificate IV Fitness qualification and a Certificate III in Pharmacy.

Kimberley Brady
Marketing & Communications Officer
Kimberley joined the RNCAS in September 2015. She holds a degree in Politics and has extensive experience working in the tertiary education sector. Kimberley is from the New South Wales wheat belt and holds fond memories of cooking, crafting and decorating for her local Show as a school student.

Mr Michael Kennedy
President

Mr Bruce Patterson
Vice President

Board members:
Ms Kathleen Harvey
Mr Ben Litchfield
Ms Su McCluskey
Mr James Allan