I was appointed as an Officer in the Royal Australian Air Force while studying Law at the University of Western Australia. After graduating I completed a year of Articles in a Perth law firm and was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of WA thus qualifying as a RAAF Legal Officer.

I graduated from Officer Training School at RAAF Base Point Cook in Victoria and over the following nine years had postings to Headquarters Training Command, RAAF Base Pearce, the Australian Defence Force Academy and Air Force Headquarters in Canberra. I studied full time for a Masters of Defence Studies at the University of NSW for a year.

My final appointment in the Permanent Air Force was as the Director of the Military Law Centre where I was responsible for the legal training of the Australian Defence Force.

I retired from the Permanent Air Force with the rank of Squadron Leader and transferred to the Specialist Reserve where I continue to serve.

My first civilian job was as Senior Manager and eighth employee of an information technology start up company that won major government contracts and had grown to 160 employees when I left three years later.

After a year of consulting I was invited by the Abbot of the Benedictine Monastery at New Norcia to be the first lay Manager of Australia's only monastic town for four years. I was responsible for the management of the 70 staff and their operations of the Hotel, Museum, Art Gallery, Guesthouse, Education Centre, Group Accommodation, Roadhouse and administrative support services.

I returned to Perth and was appointed by the Anglican Archbishop of Perth as the Director of Professional Standards for the Province of Western Australia and managed allegations of child sex abuse by church workers.

I subsequently worked for the Vice Chancellor of Curtin University as her Director of the Professional Standards and Conduct Unit.

I left Curtin to work as part time Legal Counsel for the Catholic Education WA. In my more than 11 years of advising 163 Principals and their leadership teams, I responded to over 12,000 email and phone call requests for advice. I also created and curated The Law Channel online legal resource. Over 1500 school staff asked to join, visiting the site more than 47,000 times seeking information supporting their decision making in schools.

I am now the Principal of Bernard Hill Consulting Pty Ltd, using my experience to support decision makers and their advisers.

Email: bernard@benardhill.com