Kevin Taylor
Kevin is a senior executive and board level leader with more than 50 years of experience across Defence, the Maritime sector, the Rail Industry, and private enterprise. His career includes service as a Naval Officer, CEO of a national rail organisation, and Managing Director of two companies.
Professional Experience
Kevin served 35 years in the Royal Australian Navy, undertaking numerous sea and shore postings, including command of a major surface ship. His senior appointments included Advisor to the Chief of the Defence Force, Director of Sailors Career Management, and Defence Attaché (overseas posting) During the final six years of his Navy career, Kevin held several General Manager–level leadership roles within the Australian Defence Force, with responsibility for program and project management, Defence industry reform and engagement and international policy and defence cooperation Following his Defence career, Kevin was appointed by the Australasian Railway Association to lead the newly established Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board (RISSB). In this role, he shaped RISSB into a national harmonisation body for rail safety practices. His achievements included developing and managing a unified suite of industry standards, codes, rules, and guidelines, leading the creation of a national “rule of the rail” for train drivers and building strong, collaborative relationships across industry, government, and unions. His leadership ensured RISSB’s credibility, strengthened governance, and delivered improved safety and operational consistency across the Australasian rail sector. Since leaving RISSB, Kevin has provided consultancy services to public and private organisations in management and governance, strategy and concept development, safety and risk management and program and project management
Other Experience
Following his departure from the Australian Defence Force Kevin continued serving the country as a Navy Reserve Officer until Apr 2026 as a member of the Independent Seaworthiness Management review Team reporting directly to the Chief of Navy as the Defence SeaworthinessAuthority. This job entailed auditing Defence Maritime capabilities to ensure that they are safe to operate by ensuring the risks to their people, the public and environment are minimised so far as reasonably practicable. Kevin is also an experienced Board member having served on Boards in Australia and overseas. His most notable Board appointment was as a member of the International High-Speed Rail Association (IHRA); a Japanese Railways hosted entity. He served on the IHRA Board from 2014 until 2021 and advised on strategy, safety and risk matters. Kevin is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Managers and Leaders (FAIML).