Few leaders in our sector have been such influential mentors, so admired in the community or left such deep legacies of service and city-shaping as Jim Service AO.

As National President of BOMA, Jim led the national modernisation of our industry and our organisation by creating the broad and ambitious Property Council of Australia we recognise today.

Jim reshaped the Nation’s capital in a lasting physical sense and laid the groundwork for a growing private sector to flourish through five decades of exemplary industry leadership.

With Len Goodwin and Arthur Kenyon, Jim formed GKS Constructions. One of their first projects was the Jamison Centre in Belconnen.

By 1981, Jim had established his own national property business – JG Service Pty Ltd.  It was to become a success story far beyond Canberra and responsible for billions of dollars in property development and investment. A chair of banks, national institutions and utilities, Jim was also nationally recognised as a role model for business leaders in the community at local, Australian and international levels.

He achieved all this while running his own successful private property company. In the words of former Prime Minister John Howard AC, 30 September 2021, “Jim Service gave remarkable commitment to the life of Canberra. It is hard to think of any aspect of the life of our national capital which did not benefit from his energy.”

In 2001 Jim was named Canberran of the Year. That year he also received the Centenary Medal for service to Australia’s construction industry.

In 2004 he was elevated from Member of the Order of Australia to Officer of the Order of Australia for service to business and to the community.

Jim passed away in 2021 and is survived by his wife Dorothy and his loving family who have continued to build on their father’s legacy.