AILA Board of Directors

AILA is governed by a representative board elected by its members. The board is supported in its functions by State and Territory Chapter Executives and Committees on topics of strategic importance.

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The role, function and activities of the board includes to;

• formulate the Company’s Strategic Direction;
• determine the Company’s governance policies (pursuant to Article 15.1(e));
• appoint and work with and through the CEO, pursuant to Article 18;
• monitor and supervise the Company’s CEO and organisational and financial performance and risk and compliance management processes.
• provide accountability to the Members in pursuit of the furtherance of the Objects of the Company.

Split term director elections are held every year and directors hold their term for two (2) years. Only Full members of AILA are eligible to vote in director elections

Daniel Bennett, AILA FRLA - President

Appointed April 2026

Daniel is a Fellow of AILA and a Registered Landscape Architect and strategic urban designer with over 25 years of experience in private and public practice across Australia, the UK and China. 

He has a strong belief in landscape architects in public and private practice shaping policy, strategy and projects across cities, infrastructure and in our regions, coupled with an intense curiosity of place and context. 

A past National President of AILA during AILA’s 50th year, he was South Australia’s State President between 2019 and 2023, appearing before State Parliament on greening cities and places. He has been Chair of the National Advocacy Committee and South Australia’s Connection to Country Committee. 

In 2025 Daniel established Sleepshill Design Office, an urban strategy, urban design and landscape architecture practice based in the Adelaide Hills, working across Australia. 

He is on the board of the South Australian Premier's Climate Change Council and Kadaltilla/Adelaide Park Lands Authority, and is Chair of WalkingSA. 

Gerard McCormack, AILA FRLA

Appointed April 2026

Gerard co-founded 8LA Landscape Architecture in 2019 following 25 years of practice in both publicly listed and eclectic private consultancies.  Gerard’s design philosophy is based around the site, its character and its context.  His particular skills are using inter-disciplinary strategies in infrastructure, urban design and environmental management, and ensuring bio-diversity through ecological restoration, and has applied these skills to key Gold Coast Projects.

He has chaired the AILA People Recognition Committee and Gold local group, sat on numerous advisory panels: Gold Coast City Councils Urban Design Advisory Board and Public Art Reference Group, Regional Arts Development Fund Committee and Brisbane City Councils Independent Design Advisory Panel.

He is passionate about public art, the community, landscape character and active transport.  Gerard established not for profit group, Village Bike Gold Coast in 2013 and enjoys the interface between the community, active transport and urban design.

Naomi Barun, AILA FRLA

Appointed October 2025

Naomi Barun is a landscape led urban designer and strategic leader whose work explores cities as collective inheritances, shared, shaped, and steward across generations. With over 25 years’ experience across government, academia, and design, she brings a systems lens to how policy, culture, and place intersect.

As Immediate Past President of AILA Victoria, Naomi has championed the profession’s role in shaping urban resilience, advocating for design-led policy and long-term investment in public and civic infrastructure. She is known for her ability to convene across disciplines, translating between community, government, and industry to align environmental, social, and economic value.

Through her practice, Studio Enki, she helps organisations navigate complexity with clarity and imagination, embedding ethics and care into strategic decision-making. Naomi also serves on the Open House Melbourne Building Council, the Living Cities Forum Advisory Group, and multiple design excellence panels where she continues to advocate for landscape-led transformation.