Global Speakers

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Rhonda Brightin-Hall

Founder & CEO / Director

MWAH / AHRI

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Beverley Honiq BA LLB MBA

Chairman

Honeylight Enterprises Pty Ltd

She has been named as one of the top 10 entrepreneurs in Australia, one of Australia’s 100 Women of Influence, and was listed in the Businesswomen’s Hall of Fame. She is an international lawyer and global consultant, with very strong connections in Government and business. In 2017, her business was named winner of Westpac Bank’s 200 Businesses of Tomorrow, and following this she was named one of the 9 Australian businesswomen dominating 2017 (http://hermag.co/9-australian-businesswomen-dominating-2017/)

With a background as an international lawyer, she is a Senior Fellow at Monash University and an Honorary Fellow of Melbourne University, and convener at QUTs bespoke school in Canberra for the Department of Defence, where effective strategies such as PPP models were examined and shaped. Beverley is a renowned international public speaker, and has delivered over 200,000 professional training courses globally.

As a much sought after presenter and facilitator, she brings a wealth of global commercial experience in the areas of supply chain management, contracts, projects and sourcing. She has led reviews and structured management programs in the public and private sector across many industries. In particular, she is a trusted adviser on public private partnerships, as she brings both her legal and business skills together to make partnerships work. She has also had hands on experience in several government business enterprises that engaged in PPPs, and with this tacit knowledge and experience has the gravitas to help public private partnerships become successful vehicles to optimise a value for money solution and deliver world class infrastructure.

Beverley had many years of general management experience in public companies such as Coles Myer, with responsibilities for asset portfolios worth $1.5 billion. She is also the published author of several textbooks, including the authoritative bestseller business book “Making Contracts Work”, and the co-author of the textbook “Project management: A Managerial Process” (McGraw Hill).

Beverley is a Presiding Judge, Essential Services Commission Appeals, and has held many board directorships including Board Director Melbourne Markets, Centre for Adult Education, and Australia Chamber of Commerce.

Beverley was nominated International Businesswomen of the year and is the recipient of several business awards presented by the Prime Minister, in recognition of outstanding contribution to international trade links. Beverley is listed in the Who’s Who of Business

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Tracy Mellor

Executive Business Coach and People and Culture Consultant

Tracy’s passion is people – the whole person, not just the employee that delivers the numbers. She believes that we need to look after our people. Show they the matter, listen to them and show them we care and that they are important to us. Their emotional and physical well being is vital and we need to be part of the solution to the growing mental health problem.

Tracy has been EGM People and Culture for the Rebel Group, Global People Director and MD for the Employee Engagement People, Reward Gateway and Global Director, People and Culture for Unispace.

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Olly Bridge

Head of Health & Wellbeing

Medibank

Olly trained as a Sport & Exercise Scientist at the University of Bath – English Institute of Sport (EIS). Having specialized in Exercise Physiology, Olly has worked with the likes of Jenson Button and Mark Webber in Formula One and the British Olympic Gymnastics Team. However it was during his corporate career that he became increasingly concerned by the poor general health of the average corporate worker. Realizing there was a critical need for change Olly started to do all he could to empower people to regain control of their own health. Olly became a Director of the Global Corporate Challenge and helped ‘move’ 1.5 million people into better health and now, as Head of Health & Wellbeing at Medibank, he is having real health impact at scale.

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Justine Cooper

Head of HRBP, BT Platform & Investment

Westpac Group

I am a generalist by background, and have specialized in structural and cultural change across Europe and Australia. Before joining Westpac in 2014 I worked in Financial Services across Europe, including Head of HR for Barclays Corporate in UK and HR Director for Barclays Italy. In addition to leading transformational change, I am passionate about development both for myself and others – I hold an Honours degree in Business, a Masters in HR Leadership from Erasmus, and am an accredited coach. I also chair the AHRI Diversity NSW Wales group, am a Chartered Fellow of CIPD and a Certified Fellow of AHRI.

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Amy (Amy Richards) Singe

Executive Director People & Culture

Melbourne Racing Club

Amy is a legally qualified Human Resources executive with expertise setting and executing the HR strategy in large organizations in the hospitality and entertainment, sporting, transport, manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries. She is also an award winning retail entrepreneur.  Having earned a seat at the Executive table since her 20’s Amy is a result-focussed strategic decision maker with demonstrated ability to build employee engagement in fast paced environments undergoing significant change and/or growth.

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Leith Wiblen

General Manager People & Culture

Queensland Airports Limited

A results oriented leader whose Human Resources career spans more than 20 years successfully leading the strategic people responsibility of companies with up to 9000 employees.

With Executive Human Resources roles held within Australia and throughout the Asia Pacific, Leith contributes a combination of real world business and specialist expertise towards organizational dynamics, strategy, operational execution and human capital development to enhance a company’s capacity to develop and perform in ever-changing environments.

Leith has successfully held Executive Human Resources positions within Starwood Hotels & Resorts (now Marriott International) Pacific Region and Asia Pacific Division as well as The Star Entertainment Group.

Leith is currently delighted to have joined Queensland Airports Ltd as their General Manager of People and Culture.

Leith’s vocation is to assist leaders to achieve their strategy.

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Robert Brierly

Head of Human Resources

PACCAR Australia

Robert Brierley is the Head of Human Resources at PACCAR Australia an Australian subsidiary of PACCAR Inc. based in Seattle. With a workforce of over 1000 in Australia across 6 divisions, PACCAR has been successfully designing and manufacturing Kenworth Trucks since 1971 and is the market leader in heavy duty trucks. In 2012 it was inducted into the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame. In 2014 PACCAR won the AHRI Rob Goffee Award for Talent Management. Robert was successful in winning Victorian and National Training Awards for both his current and previous employer.

Robert’s responsibilities cover the full scope of HR including Remuneration & Benefits, Recruitment, Industrial Relations, Health Safety & Security as well as Learning & Development for Australia. As a Six Sigma Green Belt Robert has a particular interest in its application to HR, remuneration, analytics and metrics.

He has worked in both manufacturing and service industries.   Robert has also been a sessional Lecturer in HRM at Swinburne University in the Masters of Business.

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Jamie Getgood

HR Director

GM Holden

Jamie is a HR Director with a proven track record of achievement within a number of multinational organizations.

Jamie’s passion for people, his focus on employee engagement and the success of the business is evident in his achievements.

Before completing his HR Degree, Jamie started his career as a mechanical tradesman, which built a great foundation to his HR profession.

With GM Holden closing its manufacturing operations in Australia, he has taken leadership in the development of a best practice Transition Centre to support all employees in receiving the support, advice and training to help them transition into new work. As a result of the work in this area, Jamie was named as the Australian Leader/Manager of the year at the Australian Excellence Awards in 2017 and has recently commenced his own business called Getgood Consulting.

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Martin Cowie

People & Development Director

OMD Australia

As People & Development Director for OMD, Martin drives the positive employer brand that distinguishes OMD from its competition and has contributed to OMD being the biggest media agency in Australia.

Martin is in his second spell at OMD having previously spent 4.5 years as Commercial Director.
OMD presently hold most media industry employer/culture awards and have been in the Great Places to Work top 50 for 9 successive years.

Martin brings 30 years of experience in media sales, TV buying and media planning.
Arriving in Australia 13 years ago, Martin previously ran his own executive recruitment and training consultancy.
Prior to that he was Managing Director of Carat’s Sydney office, leading a team of 75.

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Michael Whitbread

Associate Labour & Employment

Jones Day

Michael Whitbread advises employers on all aspects of Australian employment, industrial and health and safety laws.

He represents employers in the resolution of disputes involving the termination of employment, discrimination and sexual harassment claims, industrial disputes, the enforcement of post-employment restraints, and confidentiality obligations.  He also assists clients in responding to work health and safety (WH&S) incidents and audits / investigations instigated by WH&S and environmental regulators.

Michael is an experienced advocate and has appeared on behalf of employers in the Fair Work Commission, Australian Federal Courts, and Supreme Court of New South Wales.

Michael has conducted confidential investigations into allegations of employee and executive misconduct, fraud, bribery, corruption, sexual harassment, discrimination, WH&S and environmental issues. He regularly advises Australian and multinational employers in employee entitlements (including modern awards and collective bargaining agreements), industrial negotiations, executive employment issues, redundancy and restructures, and WH&S issues.

In 2016 and 2017 Michael acted as Country Counsel for Boeing in Australia.  In this role, Michael was responsible for managing employment, labour, environmental and WH&S matters for all Australian Boeing subsidiaries.

Michael is a Professional Fellow at the Law School of the University of Technology Sydney where he co-ordinates and lectures an industrial and labour law course.

Michael also has experience in sports law issues having served as a clerk at the Oceania Registry of the Court of Arbitration for Sport for three years where he worked on anti-doping prosecutions, selection disputes, and contractual disputes.

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Peter McMahon

Head of Culture & Capability

Bank of Queensland

Peter has been working in the people and culture industry for over 25 years working in senior and global roles nationally and internationally. He has worked in wide variety of industries from education, health, hospitality, oil and gas, NFP’s and most recently in the finance and banking industry where he joined BOQ in 2106.

As head of People and Culture at BOQ, Peter is responsible for L&D, Leadership, D&I, Recruitment, Engagement and Culture. Peter has a focus on developing the leaders at BOQ, building the inclusiveness of their culture and preparing them for the workforce of the future.

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Sean Hall

Former GM, Employee Experience / Founder

Telstra / Energx

Sean Hall is an awarded marketer, innovator and strategist with twenty years of diverse leadership experience ranging from Global Marketing Manager for Les Mills International, the creator of the world’s most popular workouts, through to leading brand strategy, marketing and employee experience at $12b Top 20 Global Telco brand Telstra.

He has built his career reputation on driving complex transformation from a very personal level through to strategic change initiatives across brand, culture and business.

Sean is adept at working at scale both internally and externally whether that is designing culture and employee experience strategy impacting 40,000+ employees or brand strategy impacting 16 million+ customers.

This experience combined with a new life as a social entrepreneur and design thinker, has given Sean a unique perspective on how purpose and human-centered design can be successfully and authentically used to drive social change, whether this is within a community or an organization.

As Founder and Chief Energizer of Energx, Sean is on a mission to help Australian’s build the skill of ‘energy intelligence’ or ExIQTM, to have more energy for what matters.

Employed at an organizational level, ExIQTM enables people and organizations to discover and unleash their energy potential to excel in times of disruption and change.

Sean is passionate about inclusion and addressing matters of social equity, a mentor to TEDx UNSW, Project ROCKIT and Youth Off The Streets and an alumni scholar of The Marketing Academy. He has appeared on four workout DVDs with ‘The Biggest Loser’ celebrity trainer Michelle Bridges and is a known shimmy enthusiast.

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Melissa Williams

General Manager People & Culture

Powerlink Queensland

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Susan Jennings

Human Resources Director ANZ

AbbVie

Susan (Sue) Jennings is the Human Resources Director, Australia and New Zealand, for biopharmaceutical company AbbVie. AbbVie is a global biopharmaceutical company, headquartered in Chicago and listed on the NYSE.
Susan has over 20 years’ experience in Senior HR and Organizational Development roles.

Susan joined AbbVie in February 2016 as Head of Development and was promoted to the HR Director role in January 2017.

Prior to Abbvie, Susan was the HR Director ANZ for Henry Schein, a US multinational Healthcare company. She has experience in all aspects of HR and Organizational Development including executive business partnering and coaching, leadership and management development, succession planning, talent management & development, Generalist HR, employee relations, remuneration and benefits, organizational and cultural change, talent acquisition and learning and development.

Susan has also held senior HR and organizational development roles at Qantas and was sales and marketing excellence manager at Sanofi-Aventis.

She has a passion for driving performance by aligning people development to business strategy and a special interest in Leadership and Management Development.

Susan holds a Masters of Management from the University of Western Sydney, a Masters in Adult Education from Macquarie University, a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration (executive) from Mount Eliza Business School/University of Queensland and a Bachelor of Science and Diploma of Education from Macquarie University.
She also has experience in lecturing in Human Capital Management at Western Sydney University

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Raechel Gavin

Group Executive, People & Culture

Quantium

As Group Executive People, Culture and India, Raechel is responsible for the vision and execution of the People & Culture function, as well as the strategy and operations of the Quantium India business.

Quantium is a fast growing business that combines a diverse, master team that spans data scientists, actuaries, statisticians, business analysts, strategy consultants, engineers, technologists, programmers, product developers and futurists – all dedicated to harnessing the power of data to drive transformational outcomes for our clients.

Raechel has a proven track record of working with diverse organizations to build best practice workplaces. Quantium has recently been awarded in the top 5 for Graduate Connect Best Employer program and as a finalist for the HR awards Best Graduate program.  Raechel has worked in Ninemsn, Nova Entertainment, Bain and Company, Herbert Smith Freehills, Qantas, and Clayton Utz.

Raechel has also spent time working abroad in Abu Dhabi and has consulted into both government and private sector organizations.

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Frank Appleby

People & Performance Director

Adshel Australia and New Zealand

Franck Appleby is the People and Performance Director for Adshel which is a leading out-of-home media company that enables advertisers across Australia and New Zealand to connect, engage and influence commuters where they work, live, shop and play.

Franck is responsible for spearheading Adshel’s investment in people and culture in Australia and New Zealand. For the last 2 years, he has steered Adshel’s transformation into a vibrant, purpose-led company underpinned by a strong people ethos and focus on performance.

Joining Adshel from Vodafone Australia, Franck spent six years as the General Manager, HR & OD, responsible for leadership and culture development.  Franck has over 20 years of international HR experience, acquired across a number of industries including Media, Telco, Insurance, Financial Services, Research and the Public Sector. Franck holds a Master of Social Science from the University of Roskilde, Denmark.

Franck was shortlisted as the 2017 HR Executive of the Year in “The CEO Magazine”.

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Jamie Finnegan

Head of Talent

finder

Jamie is the Head of Talent at finder.com.au, hiring across the spectrum of talent as the comparison website has begun expanding across the globe, including the United States, United Kingdom and launching in several other countries in the next year. Jamie has more than 5 years of experience working with top Australian startups to help hire talent, consult on growth strategy, and advise on company values and culture. He is passionate about creating a work environment in which everyone feels comfortable, valued and empowered. In his role, Jamie is responsible for the growth of Finder’s team whilst also designing and driving business initiatives to further enhance Finder’s unique culture.

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Daniel Murray

Sought-After Speaker, Master Storyteller

Emphathic Consulting

Daniel Murray is an unusual mix in a speaker. With a long career solving some of the most complex and sensitive strategic challenges for Australia’s biggest companies, Daniel is able to bring clear business acumen to areas that are usually considered the ‘soft skills’.

If you are looking for someone who can speak to your ‘hardened leaders’ in a way that helps them see the full potential of their people, this is the speaker for you.

His passions are leadership, empathy and employee engagement. Daniel believes that every business has a huge untapped potential of disengaged humans just waiting for leaders to step up and bring them to life. Blending his background in mathematics and strategy, with a deep understanding of emotions, neuroscience and behavioral economics, Daniel has become an expert in building the capabilities tools to embed empathy, engagement and performance in business. Like few others, Daniel blends diverse concepts through simple yet engaging stories to share groundbreaking ideas and tangible frameworks.

Daniel has delivered keynote presentations to some of the top organizations and conferences in Australia, such as: CBA, Westpac, AGSM, IAG, Centre for Volunteering, Community Engagement Consulting Australia, 1Scope, Serenity Collective and Humanity in Business.

As a prolific writer, Daniel draws on cultural stories, metaphors and personal experience to deliver powerful content to the Australian media. His work has been featured on businesses.com.au, Oh Magazine, Kochie’s Business Builders and Now to Love. He is a regular contributor to Inside Small Business and My Entrepreneur magazine.

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Rachel Hill

Managing Director

Hill Consulting HRS

Rachel’s journey in HR and as an “employee experience” pioneer began over two and a half decades ago. After working in corporate UK, Australia and NZ, running large in-house HR and recruitment functions. She has held senior roles within HR teams and has worked across the globe and across many different industries giving her extensive knowledge of HR, recruitment best practice and the human condition.

She is now a recruitment solutions expert, media commentator and popular keynote speaker and Managing Director and the driving force behind Hill Consulting HRS. She is also the author of numerous blogs and articles on candidate care, HR best practice and recruitment improvements coupled with the use of new technology in HR.

She advises corporate Australia on how to best attract and recruit for key skill shortages in the 21st century by reviewing their processes, their people, and use of technology. Allowing HR departments to “shine” by obtaining better business outcomes and improved return on investment for every HR dollar spent. Ultimately by thinking differently.

With a keen interest in Human Centred Design in HR she is “passionate about people” and improving the Employee and Candidate experience. An evangelist for HR technology and improving the candidate experience via better hiring practices (she coined the phrase “Recruitment UX”). Her mottos are “Treat your candidates as your customers – because they are!” and “Automate the mundane – but add value on the human touch of your processes.”

We are delighted to have Rachel chair our conference in Sydney this year.