Upcoming Speakers
Australia’s women have come a long way. Whether it is improvements in the services and interventions to keep women safe from violence; whether it is through women having control over their bodies and reproductive rights; whether it is the freedom that technology has brought; or the expectation that girls and boys deserve the same educational opportunities; or whether it is the increasing engagement of women in the paid workforce to name just a few – each of these important steps on the journey have come about because of an aspiration that women deserve the same opportunities as men to live their very best lives.
But despite the inroads made, and despite significant improvements, it is still a reality that women continue to trail men in three key measures: economic security, participation in the workforce and wealth.
A key priority for the Coalition Government is to create the right economic settings for women to help them participate in work, increase their economic security and give them meaningful choices about their lives.
On Tuesday 20 November, Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations and Minister for Women, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer MP, will deliver the first Women’s Economic Security Statement.
Kelly was appointed as the Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations in the Morrison Government in August 2018 in addition to her role as Minister for Women, which she was appointed to in December 2017.
She is a member of Cabinet and serves on Cabinet’s Expenditure Review Committee (ERC).
In April 2017, Kelly became the first female Cabinet Minister to give birth whilst in office. She was also the first woman to sit in Cabinet in a Treasury portfolio.
Kelly O’Dwyer was elected to represent the people in Higgins in December 2009.
Kelly has held a number of Ministerial positions including Minister for Revenue and Financial Services from July 2016 to August 2018, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service from December 2017 to August 2018, Minister for Small Business and Assistant Treasurer from September 2015 to July 2016 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer from December 2014 until being appointed to Cabinet in 2015.
Before serving in Parliament, Kelly had a career in law and banking.
Kelly serves as an Ovarian Cancer Ambassador and Patron of the Stonnington City Brass.
Kelly was educated at Presbyterian Ladies College and attended Melbourne University, graduating with Honours in Law and an Arts degree majoring in history.
She lives locally in Higgins with her husband Jon and their two children, Olivia (3) and Edward (1).
The Coalition Government has a vision for Australia to become a world leader in digital transformation and one of the top three digital governments by 2025.
To reach that goal, the Government is preparing its first ever Digital Transformation Strategy which will include a detailed roadmap outlining the key steps that must be taken on the journey forward.
Minister for Human Services and Digital Transformation Michael Keenan will unveil the Strategy on November 21, along with the roadmap and other key initiatives within his portfolio.
Michael Keenan was sworn in as Australia’s Minister for Human Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Digital Transformation on 20 December 2017. Michael is the Minister responsible for the operations of the Department of Human Services including Centrelink and Medicare.
Michael has previously held significant ministerial positions including Australia’s Minister for Justice (September 2013 – December 2017) and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Counter Terrorism (May 2015 – December 2017). His roles during this time included leading the Commonwealth’s efforts to counter violent extremism and ensuring effective and integrated implementation of Australia’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
As the Justice Minister Michael lead the Commonwealth’s work to combat serious and organised crime both domestically and abroad, securing cooperation with states and territories as well as international counterparts on criminal matters.
Michael was born and raised in Stirling and at the Federal election on 9 October 2004, Michael was elected as the Member for Stirling with the support of his wife Georgina who together have three young children.
Upon entering Parliament, Michael served on numerous committees including the Joint Select Committee on the Christmas Island Tragedy from March to June 2011 and the Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Immigration Detention Network from June 2011 to March 2012.
He also served on the Joint Statutory Committees for the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity from February 2010 to July 2010, the Australian Crime Commission Committee from February 2010 to July 2010 and the Law Enforcement Committee from November 2010.
On 6 December 2007, Michael was appointed Shadow Assistant Treasurer and proceeded to hold various Shadow positions including Shadow Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Governance, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, and Shadow Minister for Justice, Customs and Border Protection.
Michael was educated at Trinity College before completing further tertiary education, including a Bachelor of Arts (History and Politics) – Murdoch University and Charles University, Prague, Bachelor of Arts (Honours, Political Science) – Australian National University, and Master of Philosophy (International Relations) – Cambridge University.
During and after his studies, Michael held a range of employment positions from being a milk delivery person, barman and waiter, salesman, property consultant, Ministerial adviser and Deputy Director of the Liberal Party of Western Australia.
There’s a quiet revolution building across Australian towns and cities. New economic research from the nbn™ access network shows an increasing proportion of women are choosing to start their own businesses at a pace far outstripping their male counterparts. And in regional Australia, female entrepreneurship is injecting new lifeblood into rural economies.
Why is female entrepreneurship important to Australia? Why are more women choosing to become self-employed? How can we encourage today’s girls and young women to be business leaders of the future? And what are the lessons we can learn from successful businesswomen?
One of Australia’s best-known entrepreneurs Naomi Simson – founder of Red Balloon, investor on Network Ten’s popular television series Shark Tank and Australia’s most followed individual on business networking site, LinkedIn – will share her experiences in helping women succeed in becoming their own boss.
She’ll be joined by Olivia Ruello, chief executive of Business Chicks which is Australia’s largest network of business women, and Indigenous Australian tech entrepreneur Mikaela Jade, chief executive of Indigital and 2018 winner of the prestigious Veuve Clicquot New Generation award and 2018 InStyle Women of Style Creative Visionary award.
An interactive and entertaining panel discussion compered by National Press Club president and ABC broadcaster Sabra Lane will discuss how institutions and governments can support female entrepreneurs and share successful businesswomens’ advice to Australia’s next generation of enterprising women.
Would-be entrepreneurs will have the chance to ask some of Australia’s leading female entrepreneurs, either as an audience member or via social media, for advice on their business dilemmas.
Naomi Simson
As one of Australia’s most prominent entrepreneurs, Naomi Simson is the founder of online experience retailer RedBalloon and co-founder of the Big Red Group – parent company to a number of brands with a purpose to ‘shift the way people experience life’. She’s an investor on Network Ten’s popular television series Shark Tank, a business blogger, best-selling author and sought-after keynote speaker. A true business influencer and leader with more than 2.6 million LinkedIn followers, Naomi is Australia’s most followed person on the business networking platform. Before founding RedBalloon, Naomi worked for IBM, Apple, KPMG and Ansett Airlines – all of which influenced her views on workplaces. Naomi has received a number of high profile awards including the National Telstra Business Women Awards for Innovation (2008), Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Industry award (2011), and the Lifetime Achievement Silver Stevie Award (2013). In 2017 Naomi commenced her role as a member of the University of Melbourne’s Business and Economics Board and is a Governor of the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation.Olivia Ruello
Olivia Ruello is the CEO of Business Chicks, Australia’s largest community for business women.It is made up of professional women, business owners and entrepreneurs and is knows for its market-leading experiences and facilitated programs that attract high profile talent. In the past 12 years, Business Chicks has grown from a group of 250 members to a highly-engaged community that operates in two continents, 11 cities and reaches more than 400,000 through digital content, a print magazine called Latte and an offline events program that produces over 100 events every year with past speakers including Sir Richard Branson, Julia Gillard, Brené Brown, Gloria Steinem, Leigh Sales and Jamie Oliver.
In January 2016, Olivia became Business Chicks CEO and sits on the advisory board of The Hunger Project. She is passionate about helping to create more female-led business and to help women harness their strengths as females – empathy, kindness, collaboration and connection – to create a generation of leaders who care.
Mikaela Jade
Mikaela Jade, a Cabrogal woman from Sydney, is the Founder and CEO of technology company Indigital, which works to develop innovative ways to digitally translate knowledge and culture from remote and ancient communities. Mikaela’s revolutionary app, Indigital Storytelling, uses augmented and mixed reality through hololens to tell the ancient and modern stories of Indigenous people; the user points their mobile phone at symbols, objects or sacred sites and an animation opens up to magically tell its story. Mikaela plans to introduce Indigital storytelling at key tourism sites around Australia this year, and ‘in her spare time’ as she says, works with Microsoft, Questacon, the United Nations and the Tribal Link Foundation as an Indigenous representative. Mikaela is the winner of the prestigious Veuve Clicquot New Generation Award for 2018, and the 2018 InStyle Women of Style Award for Creative Visionary.Menna joined the FCO in 1989 and has served in a wide range of Diplomatic Service roles. She was mostly recently a member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Management Board as HR Director. This followed postings to Washington DC, Ghana, Israel, Kenya and Brussels. In London, she has served as Private Secretary to the Permanent Under Secretary as well as in Press Office and the Africa and EU Directorates.
A belief in education being the cornerstone of national growth and individual development underpinned by the principle of equal opportunity for all, led Mr O’Connor to commence his career in a union. He represented the interests of Victorian workers before becoming Assistant National Secretary of the Australian Services Union (ASU).
He was elected to parliament in 2001 and has since headed several portfolios.
As Minister for Employment Participation, he overhauled the employment services system, streamlining the process to provide a personalised service called Job Services Australia.
As Minister for Home Affairs, one of his many noteworthy achievements includes reforming Australia’s anti-dumping regime to encourage fairer and equitable business practices.
Mr O’Connor went on to serve as Minister for Small Business at Cabinet level, the first time in over ten years that the portfolio had been elevated to such a level. Mr O’Connor worked to cut red tape and support growth and jobs through tax reform, including the $6500 Instant Asset Write-off to assist Australia’s 2.7 million small businesses to improve their cash flows and the introduction of Australia’s first Small Business Commissioner.
In 2013, Mr O’Connor was elevated to Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and finished the term as Minister for Employment, Skills and Training.
Mr O’Connor has degrees in Arts and Law from Monash University and a Diploma in Industrial Relations from Harvard University.
He currently serves as Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations as a member of Bill Shorten’s Labor frontbench team.
Philip Lowe is Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Mr Lowe holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.Comm (Honours) in Economics/Econometrics from the University of New South Wales. He has authored numerous papers, including on the linkages between monetary policy and financial stability. He commenced as Governor on 18 September 2016.
He is Chair of the Reserve Bank Board and Payments System Board, and Chair of the Council of Financial Regulators. He is a member of the Financial Stability Board. Prior to his current role, he held the positions of Deputy Governor, Assistant Governor (Economic) and Assistant Governor (Financial System). He also spent two years at the Bank for International Settlements working on financial stability issues.
Mr Lowe is Chair of the Financial Markets Foundation for Children and a director of The Anika Foundation. He is also Chair of the Committee on the Global Financial System of the Bank for International Settlements.
Mr Lowe is a signatory to The Banking and Finance Oath.
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To propose a speaker please contact ceo@npc.org.au with a brief bio and photo of the speaker, speech title and brief outline of the speech, along with a proposed date. Your speaker proposal will be presented to the board at the next board meeting for their decision. Please allow up to 8 weeks for notification.