INTHEBLACK September/October 2025 - Magazine - Page 35
VANESSA MATTI CPA
ACCOUNTANT, REMINGTON STEEL
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Mentorship has made a world of difference to
Vanessa Matti CPA’s career. She recently joined
CPA Australia’s mentoring program to help boost
her confidence at work. Matti has since taken on
more responsibilities and sees greater value in
her professional opinions.
“I used to be shy, and I was scared to talk in front
of people,” says Matti, who moved to Australia from
China more than a decade ago. “I was fortunate to
be mentored by Stephannie Jonovska FCPA, who
manages finance transformation at BlueScope.
She suggested I challenge myself to make a little
change every day. I’ve pushed myself to do that,
even if it’s just being the first one to say good
morning to someone in the office.
“The next thing I learned from Stephannie was
how to express my opinion in front of others,”
JOSIE COLLINS CPA
COMMERCIAL ANALYST, HELIMODS
SUNSHINE COAST, AUSTRALIA
Josie Collins CPA was completing her business
degree when she discovered that among more
than 200,000 registered accountants in Australia
at the time, only 38 of them identified as
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
“I just thought … what’s going on?” says Collins,
a proud Gomeroi woman. “At that time, I didn’t
have the capacity to contribute meaningfully
to changing that situation. As soon as I finished
the CPA Program, I reached out to ask how
I could get involved.”
Outside of her day job at Queensland aircraft special
mission system manufacturer HeliMods, Collins is a
member of the Indigenous Advancement Committee
of CPA Australia’s Queensland division. She is also
a board member of the Caloundra Chamber of
Commerce and part of the executive committee for
the Sunshine Coast Young Chamber of Commerce.
“Volunteering is a really good way to give back
to the communities you belong to,” she says.
Matti adds. “There’s no point saying, ‘Oh, I think
this is right’. You have to give a reason and back
it up with a resource. This kind of advice has really
lifted my confidence.”
Before taking up accounting, Matti studied
software engineering, but a love of numbers
convinced her to change course. She recently
took on the responsibility for payroll at
Remington Steel and was awarded CPA Australia
Mentee of the Year for 2024.
“My accounting team merged into one
department, and I took on more responsibilities,”
she says. “I think that’s one of the reasons I won
the award.”
Matti is also using her software engineering
knowledge to help Remington Steel transition
to a new software platform for stocktaking.
“I’ve done some simple things like change
the settings to make the system automatically
push through invoices to the accounting software,”
she says. “I think it’s making our job a bit easier.”
“We’re going through huge growth on the
Sunshine Coast and to have a voice in a lot of
decisions is important. Through my role on the
Indigenous Advancement Committee, I hope to
inspire future generations to see that accounting
is a valid career choice, because you can’t be
what you can’t see.”
At HeliMods, Collins helps to shape
operational decisions and strategic direction.
“I’ve also developed a keen interest in the
technology side of finance, so I now oversee
the effective integration and optimisation of
our corporate systems,” she says.
“I’ve always loved to challenge the status quo.
I like to champion what the future of accounting
looks like, but with the caveat that we’re
in the future right now, and if we’re not scared
of it and we embrace it, then the opportunities
are endless.”
GLOBAL GAME CHANGERS intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 35
