Lauretta Stace took the helm at Remembrance Parks Central Victoria on Wednesday, August 9.
Her appointment comes after the last permanent chief executive left the trust after public furore over the removal of flowers, mementos and memorials from graves at cemeteries including Pine Lodge around January 20 or 21.
The RPCV board has denied knowledge of the removal of items from graves and placed the blame on the then chief executive, Emma Flukes.
On January 31, board chairperson Marg Lewis confirmed Ms Flukes was “no longer at work, at the request of the board”.
Ms Stace joins RPCV with decades of senior executive experience in the health, aged care and community sectors, including a 10-year stint as chief executive of a national peak body and being a general manager in the aged care sector.
She describes her style as open and focused on actively listening to people who have a constructive contribution to make.
Ms Stace has a Bachelor of Science (Hons), an Accounting Conversion Degree, a Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Commenting on the appointment, Mrs Lewis said the trust selection panel had received more than 35 applications for the role and the decision to appoint Ms Stace was unanimous.
“In setting Lauretta’s priorities for the next three months, I have asked that she spend the next few weeks familiarising herself with how RPCV operates from the inside,” Mrs Lewis said.
“That means visiting each of our cemeteries, meeting with every staff member, understanding their roles and how they work, and developing insight into the challenges faced by the cemetery sector.”
Mrs Lewis said Ms Stace also needed to plan the projects that would deliver the trust’s strategic plan before starting to meet with stakeholders, including funeral directors, those in the cemeteries sector, community members and local government.
Ms Lewis said the trust had set a number of short- to medium-term priorities for Ms Stace, including finalising the 2022-23 annual reporting processes and planning the detail of its 2023-24 annual plan, and delivering the 2023 enterprise bargaining agreement.
She said Ms Stace would also be developing and delivering a stakeholder and community consultation project around plans for the cemeteries, which would include a review of the adornment policy.
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