The Hon. Julia Gillard

27th Prime Minister of Australia

Julia Gillard was sworn in as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia on 24 June 2010 and served in that office until June 2013.
As Prime Minister and in her previous role as Deputy Prime Minister, Ms Gillard was central to the successful management of Australia’s economy, the 12th biggest economy in the world, during the Global Financial Crisis and as Australia positioned to seize the benefits of Asia’s rise. Ms Gillard developed Australia’s guiding policy paper, Australia in the Asian Century. Ms Gillard delivered nation-changing policies including reforming Australia education at every level from early childhood to university education, creating an emissions trading scheme, improving the provision and sustainability of health care, aged care and dental care, commencing the nation’s first ever national scheme to care for people with disabilities and restructuring the telecommunications sector as well as building a national broadband network. In foreign policy, Ms Gillard strengthened Australia’s alliance with the United States, secured stronger architecture for the relationship with China, upgraded Australia’s ties with India, and deepened ties with Japan, Indonesia and South Korea. Ms Gillard has represented Australia at the G20, including winning Australia’s right to host the 2014 meeting, the East Asia Summit, APEC, NATO-ISAF and chaired CHOGM. Under Ms Gillard’s leadership, Australia was elected to serve on the United Nations Security Council.

Ms Gillard is the first woman to ever serve as Australia’s Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister. In October 2012, Ms Gillard received worldwide attention for her speech in Parliament on the treatment of women in professional and public life.

Ms Gillard is a Distinguished Fellow with the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution in Washington. In February 2014, Ms Gillard was appointed chair of the Global Partnership for Education, a leading organization dedicated to expanding access and quality education worldwide. Ms Gillard is a member of the board of directors of Beyond Blue, which is committed to helping Australians understand and manage anxiety and depression. Ms Gillard also serves as an Honorary Professor at the University of Adelaide.
Ms Gillard’s memoirs, My Story, were published by Random House in September 2014.

Turia Pitt

Turia Pitt was a model before landing her dream job at the Argyle Diamond Mine in Kununurra. In 2011 her life was turned upside down when she became trapped in a grassfire during an ultra-marathon. She suffered burns to 65% of her body.

With too little unburned skin left for skin grafts, Turia was put in an induced coma in the Burns Unit at Sydney’s Concord Hospital while her body fought life-threatening infections and her surgeons imported skin from California. She lost the fingers on her right hand and her fingers on her left are partially fused together. She needed a new nose. There have been numerous operation, yet there are many more to come.

Despite facing a future with multiple challenges, Turia is optimistic. She is driving again and studying for both her MBA and Masters degree. She is walking in marathons and would one day like to run again. Above all, she wants her story to make a difference: her mission is to make skin a more prominent organ in the repertoire of donated organs.

It is a miracle Turia lived when she was expected to die. But Turia was not ready to die – she had too much to live for.

This session is proudly sponsored by:

Brad Smith

Brad is twice winner of Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year and runner-up International Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Brad’s company braaap has won Australian Retail Business of the Year four times.  In 2014 he was appointed to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s advisory board.   Brad inspires audiences all around the world and many have called him “The future Richard Branson”.

Brad is the founder of braaap Motorcycles. “braaap” is the only Australian motorcycle company and one of the country’s most exciting emerging brands. braaap has been named National Retailer of the year for four years. The multi-million dollar company has grown exponentially in what others say is the world’s toughest time for the economy.

Smith was knocked back by over 50 manufacturing plants and 20 banks/financiers during the start-up of braaap. He is the son of parents who came from government housing, and had no financial help or experience. This is a story of persistence, faith and courage.

 

This session is proudly sponsored by:

 

 

 

 

Dr Stephen Weller

The Chief Operating Officer & Deputy Vice-Chancellor is a member of the Senior Executive Group at Australian Catholic University. In this role Dr Weller leads the Corporate Services Portfolio which is critical to the achievement of the strategic and operational priorities of the University. The Portfolio includes infrastructure; information technology; properties; marketing and external relations; student recruitment & client services; student administration; human resources; finance; planning & strategic management; and governance & corporate services. Dr Weller is also responsible for providing effective corporate governance through the University Senate and Company in his role as Company Secretary.
With more than 20 years’ experience in tertiary education across five universities in three states, Dr Weller brings a wealth of experience to ACU. He holds a PhD in Organisational Justice from Victoria University, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Technology, Sydney, a Master of Commerce, Employment Relations from the University of Western Sydney, and a Bachelor of Arts, Government and Public Administration from the University of Sydney.

 

 

David Bartlett

Prior to entering Parliament, David had an extensive career in the information technology and telecommunications sector including roles as Chief Information Officer and industry development specialist. As Premier, he switched on the first non-Telstra owned optic fibre backbone in Tasmania, developed the first broad scale FTTP brownfields roll out  and championed his home state as the first National Broadband Network location.

David is now a Director of Explor Consulting. He brings a unique perspective to discussions about broadband, innovation, commercialisation and the future of government service delivery and is passionate about sharing the Tasmanian experience with other regional economies. Since leaving the Parliament, David has been working with regional economies, industry sectors and communities across Australia to prepare strategies for maximising economic and social renewal underpinned by broadband and digital technologies.

David is also Chairman of Asdeq Labs, a technology startup building enterprise mobility solutions and currently expanding operations into the US.  He is a Director of PlaceSpeak international, a company delivering the world’s first geo-social online consultation platform for Government and industry.

 This session is proudly sponsored by:

Professor Ian William Chubb

Professor Ian Chubb commenced in the role of Chief Scientist for Australia in 2011.

Prior to that, Professor Chubb was Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University from January 2001 to March 2011; Vice-Chancellor of Flinders University of South Australia for six years and the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Monash University for two years.

He was Chair of the Higher Education Council (the Commonwealth Government’s peak advisory body on higher education) from September 1990 to December 1994 and was, until mid-1994, Deputy Chair of the National Board of Employment, Education and Training (the Commonwealth’s peak advisory body on all matters related to the Employment, Education and Training portfolio).

From January 1986 to September 1990, Professor Chubb was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wollongong and Honorary Professor of Biology. During the period 1978-1985 he was an academic in the School of Medicine of Flinders University. Before that he was at Oxford University where, during the period 1971-1977, he was a Wellcome Foundation Scholar, a Junior Research Fellow of St John’s College, and a Royal Society Research Fellow. He spent 1969-1971 as a JF & C Heymans Research Fellow at the University of Ghent, Belgium.

Professor Chubb was President of the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee (AVCC) for 2000 and 2001, Vice-President for 1998 and 1999 and an elected member, or member, of the Board of the AVCC between 1996 and 2006. From January 2000 to December 2001 Professor Chubb was a member of the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC). He serves, or has served, on numerous other Boards and Committees related to his university or Commonwealth responsibilities – in universities and in the public and private sectors.

In 1999 Professor Chubb was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for “service to the development of higher education policy and its implementation at state, national and international levels, as an administrator in the tertiary education sector, and to research particularly in the field of neuroscience”. In 2006 he was made a Companion (AC) in the order for “service to higher education, including research and development policy in the pursuit of advancing the national interest socially, economically, culturally and environmentally, and to the facilitation of a knowledge-based global economy”.

Professor Chubb was the ACT’s Australian of the Year in 2011. He has been awarded five honorary doctorates: a DSc by Flinders University in 2000; a D.Litt by Charles Darwin University and a D.Univ by the Australian National University, both in 2011; an LLD by Monash University in 2012 and a D.Univ by the University of the Sunshine Coast in 2014.

He was elected a Fellow of the Australian College of Education in 2008 and a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales in 2014.