Speaker biographies
Catherine Arfi,
Director – Export, Aromababy
www.aromababy.com
Catherine Arfi has been working on natural skincare development for more than 16 years, having developed product for the likes of Sportsgirl, Myer and Portmans. She is responsible for having launched the world’s first all natural babycare brand more than a dozen years ago. Catherine’s first brand Aromababy was uniquely introduced into both the retail and professional health sectors (including hospitals).
Catherine holds a Diploma in aromatherapy and has trained in infant massage instruction. Catherine’s products have been donated around the world including to several orphanages in Thailand and are supplied to both the Royal Children’s and Royal Women’s hospitals in Australia, Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute and many other institutions that care for pregnant women and newborns.
Catherine has been nominated for several awards including the Telstra Business Woman Awards and was awarded Highly Commended in the My Business Awards Export Entrepreneur of the Year 2004. Four of Catherine’s products won prestigious USA Iparenting Media Awards during 2006. She was one of 4 National finalists in the sector Most Outstanding Industry Contribution by an Individual, in the 2006 Gift Awards.
Catherine has just returned from USA where her Aromababy products were showcased at an exclusive Beverly Hills socialite event and her Pure Spa mens face cream provided for another event attended by the likes of George Clooney and Tom Cruise.
Tom Beadle
General Manager of Business Operations, Intrepid Travel
www.intrepidtravel.com
Tom Beadle is General Manager of Business Operations with Intrepid Travel, the Melbourne based tour operator taking its travellers on real life travel experiences throughout the world. Tom joined Intrepid as a group leader in 1993 and has led small group trips in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. As part of Intrepid’s management group for the past 9 years Tom’s focus has been primarily operational, ensuring that the delivery of quality travel experiences on the ground has kept pace with the company’s rapid and continuing growth. Tom has been responsible for the development and delivery of Intrepid’s revised operational strategy which has seen the company establish offices in 4 Asian centres to date. Tom is a graduate of Arts/Law (hons) at Melbourne University.
Jane Bianchini
National Manager ICT, Candle Australia Limited
www.candlerecruit.com
Jane is currently the National Manager of Candle ICT and is responsible for the strategic direction and growth of the business. Candle ICT is recognised as the largest ICT recruitment firm across Australia and New Zealand. Jane commenced her recruitment career with Diversiti (formerly Andersen Contracting) were she specialised in recruiting Professional Services consultants, for Accenture and other larger Professional Services firms. Moving to Veracity Careers & Contracting in July 2000, Jane played an integral part in seeing the business grow in size and reputation. This was achieved by designing and implementing resource solutions for large corporate multi-nationals in the Banking/Finance and Telecommunications sector, centred in Project Management and Business Analysis. Given Veracity’s notable success, the business was acquired by TMP/Hudson, where shortly after Jane moved into a National Account Development Executive’s position designing full service human capital solutions for the Legal and Professional Services sector. With a strong desire to return to her technology foundations and notable success in solutions development, Jane was appointed as Manager, Recruitment Services of the Technology practice. Coupled with Jane’s unique ability to achieve results on both the business and technical side, she holds a strong reputation as a person with sound business acumen, integrity and professionalism. Prior to recruitment, Jane worked in London for 3+ years for Prince plc a medium-sized solution provider where she was involved with the management of large technical infrastructure projects and upgrades for the Telecommunications, Government, and FMCG sectors. Jane received her Bachelors degree from Macquarie University in 2001 and her Masters of Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management.
Vishnu Bhat
Chief Operating Officer, Infosys Australia
www.infosys.com
Vishnu joined Infosys as a software engineer early in 1993 after working and teaching in the Instrumentation Technology Industry. He quickly progressed to the role of architect for various open systems projects before moving on to manage large complex projects for key Infosys clients around the world. Vishnu anchored key client relationships in California before assuming responsibility for Infosys' Canada Delivery Operations in 2002 and 2003. Vishnu moved to Australia in early 2004 to take over as the Chief Operating Officer for Infosys Australia. He is responsible for all of Infosys Australia's delivery operations including customer delivery, consulting, quality assurance, processes and technology.
Melissa Bray
Deputy Director – Victoria, Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade
www.dfat.gov.au
Melissa Bray is Deputy Director at the Victoria State Office of the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT). Melissa most recently worked in the Department's Office of Trade Negotiations in Canberra, providing legal advice on WTO issues and coordinating Australia's involvement in Doha trade and environment negotiations. Prior to this, Melissa was posted to Australia's Embassy in Egypt for several years, where she covered domestic and regional political policy issues. She speaks some Arabic and has a strong ongoing interest in Middle East affairs. Melissa has honours degrees in law and arts from the University of Melbourne, and worked briefly as a Melbourne solicitor before joining DFAT in 1998.
Karen Cariss
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, PageUp
www.pageuppeople.com
Karen Cariss is one of the founders of PageUp. Today, Karen is a key driving force behind PageUp’s success and is responsible for the strategic direction of the company as well as overseeing internal activities to ensure synergy of all divisions.
Karen’s extreme passion for the company is evident in her work and attitude, which has publicly acknowledged by being listed as 28th on BRW’s Top 50 Female Entrepreneurs in June 2006. Karen has also used her knowledge of business practices to assist the judging of the 2006 Telstra Business Awards and 2005 AIMIA iAwards.
Karen is formally qualified with a Bachelor of Applied Science and Honors in Science and is currently a member of the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI).
Yun Meng Cheng
Head of HR, IAG Asia
www.iag.com.au
A senior executive with more than 20 years of HR and business experience in financial services in Asia and Australasia. Has previous multinational and regional experience in global wealth management, global investment banking, stock broking, institutional and retail banking, and now general insurance. Prior to current appointment as Head of Human Resources for Asia for the Insurance Australia Group, past experience include roles as Director of Human Resources for global, Asian and Australasian financial services companies like UBS AG, Swiss Bank Corporation, UOB Group, Potter Warburg Securities and Bell Securities.
Has lived and worked in Asia and Australia, with responsibility for countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand.
Mark Dal Pra
Group Manager of Longhaul, Jetstar
www.jetstar.com.au
Mark Dal Pra is currently the Group General Manager of Longhaul at Jetstar and has had responsibility for the operational implementation of Jetstar’s longhaul business to 6 international destinations including Bangkok, Phuket, Saigon, Denpasar, Honolulu and most recently, Osaka in Japan. His previous role at Jetstar was “General Manager for Network and Business Development” where he was responsible for selecting the route network for the aircraft, growing add-on ancillary revenues and for Commercial projects.
Dal Pra has undergraduate degrees in Engineering (Honours) and Commerce from the University or Melbourne and an MBA from Insead in France. Prior to working at Jetstar, he worked with British Airways for 4 years in their Strategy Division in London and with Deutsche BA, BA’s subsidiary in Germany. Whilst at Deutsche BA, Dal Pra spent a lot of time working with and learning from “easyJet” as they were interested in purchasing Deutsche BA at the time. He has also worked in Strategy Consulting for 4 years prior to his MBA, primarily with LEK Consulting in Australia, Asia and London.
Zayne D'Crus
Australian Volunteers International
www.australianvolunteers.com
As an immigrant from India, Zayne D'Crus has long been interested in the experiences of people who cross national and cultural boundaries. After obtaining a degree in public relations and two years experience with AXA Australia, he joined Australian Volunteers International and has spent the last five years promoting international volunteering to a wide range of Australian and international stakeholders. His experience includes media management and strategy, volunteer recruitment, market research, magazine production, website development and most recently brand strategy.
Tom's career has been divided between client and agency. His client experiences were with Qantas Airlines and Ansett (General Manager, Commercial). On the agency side he was a Founding Partner of The Campaign Palace, Managing Director of DDB Melbourne and in May 1995, Tom founded M&C Saatchi in the Asia Pacific region. Tom also spent 18 months in academia as Visiting Fellow at Monash University in Melbourne. Tom holds degrees from UNSW (B. Comm) and Stanford University (M.B.A.). He is Chairman of The Australian Cancer Research Foundation and the Sydney Dance Company and a Board Member of Sydney Aquarium and Asialink.
Christine Enker
Manager of International Careers and Employment, University of Melbourne
www.unimelb.edu.au
Christine has worked for 11 years in Careers and Employment at the University of Melbourne and over the past 7 years has been Manager of International Careers and Employment, which involves managing the international careers and employment program and recruitment of international graduates from employers across the globe. Prior to this Christine has also managed careers departments in top private schools, (including Korowa Anglican Girls’ school and Carey Grammar) working with students making the transition into tertiary education and maximising students awareness of the range of career opportunities available to them and advising them in this area. Christine also worked for four years at Deakin University in marketing and recruitment.
For the past 6 years, Christine has travelled widely in Asia managing career and employment events for graduates who have returned to their home countries and developing relationships with international employers contributing to a substantial increase in international employment opportunities for graduates. Christine has 19 years’ experience working as a Careers Professional and for most of this time has worked with international students. Christine has also worked for 4 years on the Executive Committee of the Australian Association of Career Counsellors and was President of the Careers and Counselling Association for 2 years.
Adrian FitzGerald
Director, Denton Corker Marshall
www.dentoncorkermarshall.com
Adrian FitzGerald studied environmental design and architecture at the TCAE (University of Tasmania).
He worked in Denton Corker Marshall’s Hong Kong office in 1982 to 1987 rejoining the Denton Corker Marshall London office in 1988. He was Director in Charge of the Singapore office 1992 – 1996 before relocating to Melbourne in 1996. He was appointed a Director of the Practice in 2003.
FitzGerald’s principal area of expertise is in design and planning. He has been responsible for the design of a wide range of architectural and urban design projects in Europe, Asia and Australia. These encompass all project types including shopping centres, commercial and hotel developments, large scale residential projects, educational, institutional, urban design and civic works. Many of these have been built, in locations including, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Genoa, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi and Jakarta.
He is actively involved in the design conception and preparation of submissions for the practice’s work in both competition and direct commission.
Adrian FitzGerald is involved in many areas of design activity outside the practice including lecturing and active involvement in professional institutes. This includes RAIA Architecture Award jury membership and from 2002 to 2004 he was a Chapter Councillor for the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.
Craig Fuller
Former Executive Director of Nestle, Japan
Craig has spent his career in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector – dealing with margarine, cheese, fresh pasta, pet food, yoghurt and diary products. This translates to some of the best know brand names in the world – Nestle, Yoplait, Leggo’s, Latina, Friskies, Nescafe and Milo.
After joining Nestle, Craig moved from Australia to Switzerland where he managed global and regional strategic brands before his final posting – Japan – one of the most competitive and consumer-centric markets in the world. This allowed him to turn around the pet food business as well as establish a new business unit for Nestle in terms of “ready to drink” chilled products and to also improve the fluency of his Japanese.
Craig has recently returned to Australia and is an active member of the University of Melbourne Alumni Association.
Mr. Philip Flood AO
Philip Flood is a former secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He was also Ambassador to Indonesia, High Commissioner to Bangladesh and Director-General of AusAID. He was Chair of the Australia-Indonesia Institute between 2001 and 2004. He is a board member of Care Australia, Deputy Chairman of Asialink and a member of the Foreign Affairs Council. Mr. Flood has headed several public Inquiries, the most recent being the Inquiry into Plasma Fractionation and the Inquiry into Australia’s Intelligence Agencies.
Associate Director, Asian Law Centre, University of Melbourne
www.law.unimelb.edu.au/alc
Andrew Godwin has 15 years of experience in private practice, 10 of which were spent in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China where he was a partner at Linklaters and Chief Representative of their Shanghai office. During his time in China, Andrew was ranked by Asia Pacific Legal 500 (2003 – 2007) as one of the leading banking and finance lawyers in China. Andrew’s expertise spans both the finance and corporate practices. In the finance practice, Andrew has acted for commercial and investment banks in a wide range of transactions, including limited recourse financing, secured lending, syndicated loans, debt restructuring, derivatives and structured finance, and has also advised extensively on regulatory issues. In the corporate practice, Andrew has acted for multinational companies and financial institutions in a wide range of cross-border M&A transactions. Since his return to Melbourne in 2006, Andrew's focus has shifted to legal education and professional training and development for lawyers.
Allan Goedecke
Partnerships Manager, Asia Education Foundation
www.asiaeducation.edu.au
Allan Goedecke is the Partnerships Manager for the Asia Education Foundation (AEF). He has been an educator for 30 years. He has taught in Victorian secondary schools and managed TAFE programs for refugee youth, Adult ESL and international students. He spent many years teaching in universities in Sri Lanka, Japan and China. These experiences have confirmed his belief in the need for young Australians to engage with Asia in their schooling.
Since 1992, the Asia Education Foundation has worked in partnership with government and non-government school sectors in all states and territories, as well as universities, philanthropic organizations and the corporate sector to promote the studies of Asia across all curriculum areas in Australian schools and to develop print and electronic materials for Australian school students.
The AEF is funded by the Australian government Department of Education, Science and Training. It is a joint activity of Asialink at the University of Melbourne and Curriculum Corporation.
Amanda Gome
Founder and Publisher, SmartCompany
www.smartcompany.com.au
Amanda Gome is one of the founders and publisher of SmartCompany which provides up to date information for small and medium businesses (SMEs) and entrepreneurs over the internet since 2006. She has throughout her career championed the issues that matter to Australia’s SMEs and has been a journalist for The Herald, Sunday Herald, Herald-Sun and BRW. During which her passion for encouraging entrepreneurs led to writing the Emerging Companies, Fast 100 and Upstarts lists section at BRW magazine.
Further, based on her over twenty years experience as a business journalist, Gome held an adjunct professor of business position at RMIT. After working in print journalism for over two decades, Gome is embracing the shift to online communications with her two partners at SmartCompany and being a business owner for the first time – challenging her to put her advice to others into practice.
Peter Hannam
Deputy Business Editor, The Age
www.theage.com.au
Peter joined The Age as deputy editor of the business section after 17 years as a journalist in Australia and Asia. He began as a cadet with the ABC and ran his own weekly radio program covering business for Radio Australia. Peter headed for Asia in 1991, settling first in Mongolia where he was the sole western correspondent for much of his two years there (filing briefly for Reuters, AP and AFP newswires on the same event). Next stop was Beijing, China, where Peter opened the bureau for Bloomberg News and ran the company's China coverage for five years. Switching later to editing, Peter moved to Singapore, where he led the company's coverage of aviation and the motor industry. Later he moved to Tokyo and worked as bureau chief, and then co-managing editor of Asia for Bloomberg before deciding to return to Melbourne. Peter studied economics and politics at Harvard University and graduated with high honours in 1987.
Bill Harley
Associate Dean (International), Faculty of Economics and Commerce at the University of Melbourne
www.ecom.unimelb.edu.au
Bill Harley is Associate Dean (International) and Associate Professor of Management in the Faculty of Economics and Commerce at the University of Melbourne. His field of academic expertise is human resource management, with a particular focus on new forms of work organisation and their implications for employees and organisations.
Professor Harley has published extensively in leading international journals including the British Journal of Industrial Relations, Work Employment and Society and Industrial Relations. He has also consulted for Trade Unions, state and federal governments, and a number of national and international organisations including the OECD and the ILO.
In 2004, Professor Harley received Best Paper CMS Interest Group Award, Academy of Management, and the Dean's Certificate for Good Undergraduate Teaching in 2002.
Kym Hewett
State Manager, Victoria Austrade
www.austrade.gov.au
Kym Hewett joined Austrade when it was established in 1986. He has served as Senior Trade Commissioner in Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Beijing. Between 1999 and 2002, Kym was Austrade’s Chief Information Officer, based in Sydney. His assignment as Austrade’s State Manager, Victoria commenced in January 2007. The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) is a statutory agency within the Foreign Affairs and Trade portfolio. Austrade’s mission is to contribute to community wealth by helping more Australians succeed in export and international business by providing advice, market intelligence and support to Australian companies to reduce the time, cost and risk involved in selecting, entering and developing international markets. Austrade is represented in more than 140 overseas locations in over 60 countries and in Australia. Austrade's domestic network comprises 18 Austrade offices and 54 Tradestart offices including 8 Export Hubs.
David Hornery
Managing Director, Asia, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited
www.anz.com
David Hornery manages ANZ’s business in Asia, encompassing China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. In addition, he has responsibility for Private Banking and the local corporate and personal banking services under the ANZ brand in these countries.
Horney joined ANZ in 1996 as Head of Capital Markets Australia (ANZ Investment Bank) and was appointed Managing Director of Global Capital Markets in 1998. Prior to joining ANZ, David was the Director and Global Head of Fixed Interest at Macquarie Bank.
He is a member of ANZ’s Chief Executive Group and Business Council. He was a Board member of the Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA) from 1999-2004, Chair of the Dealer Accreditation Task Force from 2000-2002 and a Board member of Foodbank (NSW) from 2003-2004, a major charity that acts as a wholesale collector and distributor of foodstuffs to most major Australian charities. He is also a current board member of the Asian Bankers Association.
Horney holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Sydney.
Assoc. Prof. Steve Howard
Department Head, Information Systems, The University of Melbourne
www.dis.unimelb.edu.au/
Steve Howard studied Psychology (Bachelors), Ergonomics (Masters) and HCI (Doctorate), and the interaction between technology and people has remained his interest.
Steve has spent time in UK and Australian universities, the UK's National Physical Laboratory (similar to CSIRO, Australia) and the IT industry (as a user interface designer and human factors engineer).
Steve has been involved in over $4 million worth of successful funding applications (~$1 million for personally administered projects) from many sources including the Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council, the European Union, Novell, Sensis, DITARD, Telstra and VicRoads.
Steve’s research work is in HCI and use-centred design, and in the past he has concentrated on evaluation and design decision making. Hi current interests fall into understanding the user experience of interactive technology in non-organisational settings, primarily mobile (phones, PDA's etc.) and domestic (IT in the home). This work involves studying 'use in context' (using multi-method research including observation, interviews, diaries, scrapbooks etc) in order to seed scenario-based envisionment of future technologies.
Professor Graham Hutchinson
Associate Dean (International), Faculty of Engineering, The University of Melbourne
www.eng.unimelb.edu.au
Graham is the Associate Dean (International) of the Faculty of Engineering and Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Melbourne. He is also a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Australia and a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, UK. He is also a member of the University of Melbourne’s India Advisory Committee.
Graham earned his Masters of Engineering at the University of Melbourne and his PhD at Oxford.
Christopher James
Senior Vice President, General Manager, MTV Networks Asia (SEA)
www.mtvasia.com
Christopher James, popularly known as CJ is the general manager of MTV Networks (SEA). CJ focuses on leading the sales, licensees and distribution growth of the 24hr channels of MTV SEA and Nickelodeon SEA, and ensuring that MTV Asia’s brands are constantly extended to reach Asian kids, youths and young adults.
CJ’s professional portfolio hails back to days in CIGNA International, where he developed direct marketing insurance plans for international blue chip clients such as Citibank, Standard Chartered and American Express.
Prior to his appointment as GM of the SEA channel, CJ had held various high profile portfolios and was point person for several successful initiatives including MTV Ringtones, MTV credit card and MTV Code, a youth lifestyle mobile plan with StarHub. Ten years with the organization, he had led projects in extending the MTV and Nickelodeon brands beyond the cable television medium, resulting in the launch of MTV radio channels, Nickelodeon branded blocks on free-to-air station and MTV magazines in different territories in Asia.
CJ was previously Senior Vice President of Network Development and Programme Sales at MTV Networks Asia.
Larry Kamener
Head Of Public Sector Practice & Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group
www.bcg.com
Larry Kamener, is a senior partner in the Melbourne office of the Boston Consulting Group. He joined BCG in 1989 and currently heads BCG's Government practice in Australia. Prior to joining BCG Larry completed a BSc (Economics) at the London School of Economics and an MA (Economics) at the University of Melbourne and then worked for six years in the Federal and Victorian Treasury Departments.
He spent two years in BCG's Boston office in the mid-90's and was the head of the Melbourne office of BCG from 1998 to 2002. Over his consulting career he has worked in the manufacturing, mining, retailing, distribution, pharmaceutical, insurance and agriculture sectors. In 2002 he founded BCG's Government practice Larry and has led major projects relating to organisational change in the fields of welfare, health, education, police and energy for the Victorian, Queensland and Australian Governments. Larry has also played a key role in BCG’s partnerships with the Cape York Indigenous community and with Debney Park Secondary College.
Professor Tom Kvan
Dean – Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne
www.abp.unimelb.edu.au
Professor Thomas Kvan is the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne and has a background in the management of design practice and development of digital tools in design.
Formerly the Professor of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong and Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Sydney, he holds degrees from Open University (England), Cambridge and UCLA.
He is author of over 100 publications on design and design management, including the key text The art of computer graphics programming in 1987 which brought computer scientists and designers together for the first time.
He has practiced in architecture in Africa, Europe, Hong Kong and the USA in small practices to large, was director of software development in a start up in California and a management consultant to architects and engineers.
He has assisted many national and international organizations on digital and management issues in design, has been a member of the Board of Directors in digital design and facility management associations worldwide and serves on the boards of several journals and professional organizations.
He was named a CAADRIA Fellow in 2005 in recognition of his efforts in supporting CAAD research.
Sin May Leong
Manager Human Resources Planning, Jetstar
www.jetstar.com.au
Sin May Leong holds the portfolio of Manager Human Resources Planning at Jetstar with key accountabilities for performance management, talent development, and remuneration in addition to generalist people responsibilities including recruitment and employee relations. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Honours) from the National University of Singapore, Diploma In Education from the National Institute of Education Singapore and a Post-Graduate Bachelor of Educational Studies degree from the University of Melbourne.
Leong’s career in Human Capital spans three airlines, two retail companies, a bank and two public sector organisations, including the Singapore Tourism Board. Prior to returning to Melbourne to join Jetstar in late 2004, she was the Head of Group Learning and Development in OCBC Bank based in Singapore. From the Singapore hub, Leong had the benefit of working on multiple assignments across the Asian region including Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and in her birth country Malaysia.
Jason Yat-sen Li
Managing Director, Yatsen Associates
www.yatsenassociates.com
Jason Yat-sen Li leads a boutique China market entry and strategy consulting firm that assists Australian companies enter and succeed in China. He also serves as in Australia as a board member of numerous institutes and governmental groups; and in China he has recently joined the Board of Directors of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Beijing. Previously to Yatsen Associates, Li was the Head of Sustainable Development at Insurance Australia Group.
Li has campaigned for anti-racism and multiculturalism throughout his career; including at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in The Hague, and was Co-Chair of the Australian Yes Coalition for the Republic, Youth Chair of the NSW Ethnic Communities Council, Chair of the Community Aid Abroad International Youth Parliament and cultural spokesperson for NSW Tourism during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Li has an Arts/Law degree from University of Sydney and a Masters of Law from New York University Law School. He was the Australia’s Hauser Global Fellow for 2000 and the recipient of Eisenhower Fellowship in 2002.
Stephen Manallack
Chief Executive Officer, Australia India Business Council
www.aibc.org.au
Stephen Manallack is Chief Executive Officer of the Australia India Business Council.
For several years he has written on leadership and communication for India's largest business information website, www.domain-b.com, and has also been published in several Indian management and professional publications. Manallack is also a director of financial public relations consultancy firm, Manallack Pty Ltd, and began in business and communication consultancy in 1980.
He is a professional speaker and published author (You Can Communicate, Pearson, 2002). His articles on India, leadership and communication have been published here and abroad, including in The Age, the American Institute of Business Communicators magazine and the British Medical Journal. He was a guest speaker and awards presenter at the March 2007 Fund Manager Awards held in Mumbai.
With the Chairman of the AIBC, Mr Manallack recently led a record number of Australian business delegates on a Joint Business Council and Trade Mission to India.
Ron Marchant
Director Business Development Asia Pacific, Securency Pty. Ltd.
www.securency.com.au
Securency is a joint venture by the Reserve Bank of Australia and Innovia Films plc of the United Kingdom. The Company was established in 1996 to market polymer banknote technology internationally. Since that time more than 20 countries have issued polymer currency using this unique Australian technology.
Several Asian countries are issuing polymer currency among them being Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. Commencing in 2003 the conversion project in Vietnam is, to date, the largest undertaking of its kind. Ron is responsible for the management of this project.
During a career spanning more than thirty years in security printing he has worked for security printers in Australia, Canada and the United kingdom.
Jeffrey May
Tax Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
www.pwc.com.au
Jeff is a tax partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Melbourne. He has extensive experience in advising clients in the insurance, property and funds management industries on a broad range of taxation issues in on both a domestic and international level.
Jeff commenced his career with Coopers & Lybrand in 1985 and transferred to the Hong Kong firm in 1990. He was admitted to the Hong Kong partnership in 1995 as a financial services tax partner. Jeff returned to Melbourne in 2001.
While in Hong Kong, Jeff advised clients on tax issues associated with their Asian operations and provided tax support to a number of US and European real estate and private equity funds on acquisitions and disposals within Asian.
Jeff is a Chartered Accountant and member of the Taxation Institute of Australia. He is the co-author of Taxation in Hong Kong – Case Law & Commentary and a regular speaker at seminars and conferences.
Maureen McLaughlin BA/LLB (Hons)
Vietnamese Law Specialist
For the last 13 years, Maureen McLaughlin has specialised in Vietnamese foreign investment and commercial law, advising international clients across a wide range of industry sectors. Maureen was a founding member of Australian law firm Phillips Fox’s Vietnam team and established the first foreign law office licensed in Hanoi in 1993. After living in Vietnam for 3 years, Maureen returned to Australia and continued to focus on the development of the Vietnamese regulatory framework. Maureen was the editor of the highly-regarded Vietnam Legal Update, a monthly e-publication read by executives, in-house counsel and academics around the globe. Maureen was also the managing editor of the Foreign Investment Laws of Vietnam Loose-leaf Service, growing it from 1 to 18 volumes. Recent major projects include the development and operation of Vietnam Laws Online Database, an internet-based searchable database of English translations of over 3,000 Vietnamese laws, with subscribers throughout Vietnam and around the globe. Amongst recent clients, Maureen was retained by the US-Vietnam Trade Council from 2002-2006 to advise on Vietnam’s BTA and WTO-related legislative reforms. Maureen has recently commenced a 12 month sabbatical.
Mike Moignard
Senior Trade Commissioner and Minister Commercial, South Asia, Austrade
Mike is a graduate from Melbourne University and the Australian National University, with an M. Sc (Chemistry) and B.A. (Hons) in History/Economics. Mike has 22 years of trade and resources experience, having commenced work in 1978 with the Department of Trade & Resources (including Trade Commissioner/Washington DC), followed in 1985 as Secretary, Gold Tax Enquiry and then in 1986 as Senior Research Economist at the Bureau of Resource Economics. Mike joined Austrade in 1987 and has since held a number of positions with the organisation including Board Secretary (1988-90); Trade Commissioner/New York in 1991; Senior Trade Commissioner/South America based in Chile from 1992 to 1994; Senior Trade Commissioner/Manila from 1995 to 1998; Senior Trade Commissioner / New Delhi; and most recently as Executive General Manager, South East Asia, from 2000 to 2004. Mr Moignard took up his current position in February 2004.
Rob Martin Murphy
National Creative Director, The Furnace
www.thefurnace.com.au
Rob Martin Murphy is National Creative Director at The Furnace, one of the country’s top creative agencies, working on brands such as Peugeot, Levi’s, Cadbury-Schweppes, HP, GSK, Carlton United Breweries and Skins.
Rob started his advertising career as a copywriter in 1990 at the age of 18. After successful stints at Leo Burnett, JWT, Ball Partnership and BAM SSB in Sydney, he took up the post of Executive Creative Director of Euro RSCG Singapore/Malaysia in February 2000.
Rob has a wealth of experience across many brands including Asia Pacific Breweries, Yahoo!, Volvo, Peugeot, Reckitt Benckiser, Dell, Nestle, Danone, Unilever, Red Bull, Sega Dreamcast, Roche, Kellogg’s, Philips, Maxis, Maybank and Tiger Balm.
Rob’s work has consistently gained recognition at major award shows including Cannes, Clio, One Show, London International, Communication Arts, Asian Advertising Awards and AWARD.
After leaving Euro RSCG in 2005, Rob became a freelance consultant. In that time he led several successful pitches including a global experiential marketing project for Tiger Beer on behalf of The Works (an agency with offices in London, New York and Sydney). Upon winning the Tiger account he helped set up The Works Asia in Singapore and consulted to them until January 2006.
Besides advertising, his other passions include guitar, travel and rugby. In fact, he played for both the national Singapore 15s and 7s rugby teams for four years before he returned to Australia.
Zarmina Nasir
Manager – Quality Programming & Emergency Response, CARE Australia
www.careaustralia.org.au
Zarmina Nasir is Manager - Quality Programming and Emergency Response for CARE Australia , with over 15 years experience in international development and humanitarian work across Asia and the Middle East, and in a range of sectors. Zarmina is responsible for implementing the framework for enhancing program quality across CARE Australia and their Country Offices. She manages CARE Australia's humanitarian assistance program including emergency response to the tsunami and being part of the CARE International assessment team providing on site strategy following the Pakistan Earthquake. Zarmina is qualified in an range of program frameworks and tools and has expensive experience training local government and local NGO staff , as well as CARE Australia staff in these approaches. She has developed several program policies for CARE and is CARE Australia’s gender focal point.
Her qualifications include Masters in Public Policy and Development Administration. (ANU).
Kenneth Nguyen
The Age
www.theage.com.au
Kenneth Nguyen is an award-winning journalist for The Age. A graduate in Arts/Law (First Class Honours) from the University of Melbourne, and a former banking lawyer with Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Ken writes primarily on legal issues for The Age, but has also written extensively on politics (including the 2006 US congressional elections), popular culture and restaurants. In 2007, he was recognised at the NSW Bar Association Media Awards, winning an honourable mention for a feature on terrorism suspect Jack Thomas and anti-terrorism laws in post-September 11 Australia.
Tony Norrish
Operations Manager (Victoria), GHD
www.ghd.com.au
Tony Norrish is GHD's Operations Manager for the Victorian practice which includes responsibility for the International Development Team based in Melbourne. Tony has 25 years experience with GHD in consulting services and his responsibilities include business and risk management. The International Development Team has been responsible for the a range of projects in the Asia-Pacific region delivering positive outcomes for developing communities over the last 15 years. These projects have included the Three Delta towns water supply and sanitation project, Pacific Islands hazardous chemical cleanup, Emergency relief for Aceh, Tsunami Reconstruction Sri Lanka, International safe water guide, Datong cleaner environment project and Mizoram State road upgrades.
Tony is a fellow of Engineers Australia and the Institution of Civil Engineers. His experience with GHD is predominantly in the water industry spanning feasibility studies, design of infrastructure, and construction supervision and operations overview. Tony's senior roles have also included responsibility for delivery of wastewater services within Western Australia and leadership of GHD's New Zealand business which was acquired in January 2000. The latter role focusing on business development and business integration.
Steve Odgers
Head of Asia Strategy, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited
www.anz.com
Steve Odgers has worked with ANZ for 18 years and currently has primary responsibility for strategy and merger and acquisition projects across its two businesses in Asia – the Asia Network and International Partnerships.
Odgers has worked in several different businesses within ANZ, including customer-facing and operational roles. His front-line roles have included customer relationship management in corporate banking, Institutional and trade finance. His operations roles have included Chief Operating Officer in China from 1994-1997, Internal Audit and various strategy roles.
His most recent work has involved the acquisition of 19.9% of Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank in mainland China for A$335m.
Odgers has lived and worked in Melbourne, Sydney, mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore. He has a Master of Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management, a Graduate Diploma in Finance from RMIT and a Science Degree, majoring in Mathematics from Monash University.
Steve was also ANZ’s Williamson Fellow in 2004 and works with their Skills Bank, advising not-for-profit organisations on a pro-bono basis in the areas of strategy and governance.
Brad Paatsch
Business Development Director, Melbourne Football Club
www.melbournefc.com.au
Brad Paatsch is the Business Development Director of the Melbourne Football Club and is responsible for the Melbourne Demons Strategy to develop AFL in China.
The possiblity of promoting Australia's football in China was first raised by Lord Mayor Cr John So, following a meeting with Tianjin Major Dai Xianglong who was impressed with the physicality of the game
Brad has just completed a field trip to China visiting Beijing and Tianjin.
Projects Coordinator, School of Education, RMIT University
www.rmit.edu.au
Jane Perry has worked at RMIT University’s School of Education in a variety of roles since 1998. She leads preservice and inservice teacher traning in Australia with a specialty in Teaching of English as a Second or Other Language and adult and vocational education and training.
Between 2002 and 2005 she was the Teacher Development Adviser to the Australia China (Chongqing) Vocational Education and Training Project and in 2004 and 2005 was Program Coordinator for the Jiangsu Vocational Teachers Training Program for the Jiangsu Provincial Education Department.
Perry has also designed and delivered a range of training and teacher development programs across the region – including Japan, Bangladesh, The Philippines, Malaysia and Kazakhstan.
Perry holds a Master of Education from La Trobe University and is a member of the Australian Vocational Education Research Association and the Australian Institute of Training and Development.
Principal, Pacific Strategies - Australia
pacstrat.com.au/index.html
Michael Potter is a Melbourne based communications consultant and heads Pacific Strategies in Australia with networking partners in Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Bangkok. He established the consultancy in 1990 with the aim to deliver solutions for companies facing cultural and business difficulties when engaging with Asia.
He has 30 years’ experience in media, strategic communication and management having held senior corporate affairs positions with the West Gate Bridge Authority and Ansett Airlines. Also, he was CEO of Cato Design Inc, and Vice President of Corporate Services for Burson – Marsteller. Prior to entering public relations he trained as a journalist subsequently working with the NZBC, ABC and Macquarie networks.
Potter is a past president of the Public Relations Institute of Australia and currently chairs the Faculty Advisory Committee for Professional Communication at the RMIT. He is an active member of Asialink.
Dr Mark Ritson,
MarketingRitson and Melbourne Business School
www.marketingritson.com & www.mbs.edu
Mark Ritson is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Melbourne Business School and a highly regarded international marketing consultant. After completing his Ph.D. in Marketing at Lancaster University and post-doctoral study at Wharton he joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota as an Assistant Professor of Marketing in 1996. From 1999 until 2004 he was a faculty member at the London Business School where he taught the core MBA in Marketing, an elective in Brand Management and contributed to many of the key executive education programs. Mark also works extensively as a consultant and executive educator for some of the world’s leading companies. Principal clients have included Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, McKinsey, Bausch & Lomb, adidas, Marks and Spencer, Pepsico, Glaxo Smithkline, Eli Lilly, Zenith Optimedia, Johnson & Johnson, Ericsson and HSBC.
Bronwyn Robbins
Director, Learning & Development, AusAID
www.ausaid.gov.au
Bronwyn is currently Director, Learning and Development in AusAID. Prior to this position Bronwyn was First Secretary, Development Cooperation in Bangkok managing AusAID’s Asia Regional Program. Bronwyn has held positions for AusAID in Pretoria and for and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) in Jakarta. During her career in AusAID, she has also led a number of review and evaluation missions in the Asia- Pacific region including Indonesia, China, Cambodia, Laos and Fiji. Before joining AusAID, Bronwyn was a secondary school Indonesian teacher.
Daniella Rowles
Associate, Hassell
www.hassell.com.au
Daniella draws her experience from a broad range of projects, which she has designed and delivered both in Australia and overseas. She is a multi-award winning designer with extensive experience in the hospitality, retail, corporate and multi-residential sectors. Daniella is one of HASSELL’s elite talent pod and is a multi-skilled and highly original thinker. Her skills have been applied to large scale hotel developments in Asia through to small boutique projects in Australia and everything in between. Daniella is part of the 2006 HKIDA Asia Pacific Design Award Silver team for the Radisson Pudong Shanghai and her Asia work includes the design of hospitality projects in Dhaka, Suzhou, Phuket as well as a wellness centre in Koh Samui. Daniella qualified from Queensland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Built Environment (Interior Design). She is committed to a holistic design process, combined with dedicated attention to detail to deliver successful projects.
Scott Stacey
General Manager, Hudson Victoria
www.hudson.com
Scott joined Hudson in 1998 and has seven years of recruitment experience. Scott manages the Accounting & Finance and Legal recruitment teams in Victoria and has extensive experience in executive recruitment, having worked with Public and Private sector organisations in Western Australia and Victoria.
Scott graduated from University in Western Australia with a Bachelor of Business degree. He joined a leading Western Australian Chartered Accounting firm and obtained postgraduate qualifications as a Chartered Accountant. Scott gained senior commercial experience in Perth and London before joining Hudson as a recruitment specialist in 1998. Initially focussing on accounting recruitment, Scott has managed Hudson’s Accounting and Legal practices for the last 4 years.
Barbara Smith
Coordinator Offshore International English Programs, Northern Metropolitan Institute of TAFE
www.nmit.vic.edu.au
Barbara Smith is the Coordinator of NMIT’s Offshore International English Programs. She has responsibility for coordinating over thirty teachers per semester and liaising with 17 partner universities, covering approximately 3000 students.
She has taught English as a Second Language at NMIT since 1990 and has delivered a broad range of English programs in China at partner universities including Zhejiang University of Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology and the Tongji University, Shanghai.
Smith graduated with an Arts degree from the University of Melbourne, before completing her Bachelor of Education at La Trobe University.
Paul Suett
Principal, ARUP
www.arup.com
Paul Suett has 30 years experience in construction consulting, 22 years of which was spent in Hong Kong with Arup, where he started and ran its project management business. If you are in Kai Tak International Airport in Cathay Pacific’s first class lounges or if you are enjoying a day with the Royal Hong Kong Club Racing Laboratory or driving through the Western Harbour Tunnel Crossing, you are experiencing some of Paul and Arup’s work in Hong Kong.
He has particular experience in all aspects of quantity surveying, cost control and in the contract administration of projects. His experience centres around advising clients on how to best deliver their projects, considering strategy, contracts and procurement / delivery options. He has been a project and design manager for large retail, infrastructure, commercial and industrial projects up to A$1bn in value.
On transferring to Arup Melbourne in 2000, Paul established a new project management group and now helps the building, consulting and infrastructure groups with business development.
Dr Dahle Suggett
Deputy Secretary, Office of Learning & Teaching, Department of Education and Training, Victoria
www.education.vic.gov.au
Dr Dahle Suggett is the Deputy Secretary of the Office of Learning & Teaching, Department of Education and Training, Victoria. Dahle was previously a partner in the Allen Consulting Group from 1998 to 2004. She specialised in assisting business in the management of their external socio-political environment and internal culture.
Dahle was a general manager with Exxon Chemical in Australia and in the United States and has been Assistant Commissioner of the Commonwealth Schools Commission and Executive Director of the Commonwealth Youth Bureau.
She commenced her working life as a teacher in Victorian government secondary schools.
David Tan
David Tan holds a Master of Laws from Harvard, and graduated with first class honours in law from the University of Melbourne. In addition, he is an accomplished fine art fashion photographer with seven solo exhibitions under his belt, and had published three coffeetable books. David was named Singapore’s Outstanding Young Person of the Year in 1999.
David was the Director of Sports with the Singapore Government, from 2004-2005, responsible for developing policies to facilitate the sustainable development of competitive and recreational sports in Singapore. From 2002-2004, he was the Director of Contact Singapore, overseeing an international network of offices in North America, Europe, China, India, Southeast Asia and Australia. The mission of Contact Singapore is to support the transformation of Singapore into a talent capital by facilitating the mobility of global professionals to Singapore and to maintain a vibrant international diaspora community.
In the area of law, David has been on the editorial boards of the Harvard International Law Journal, Harvard Human Rights Journal and Melbourne University Law Review. Some of his more notable publications are in the areas of outer space environmental law, moral rights in musical compositions, fiduciary duties governing the doctor-patient relationship, and the impact of statutory business judgment rule on company directors.
David is currently enrolled in the PhD program at Melbourne Law School, and is a resident law tutor at Trinity College.
Robert Tanti
Global Head of Human Resources, United Group Limited – Services
www.unitedgroupltd.com
Robert Tanti is Global Head of Human Resources at United Group Limited (UGL), in their Services division.
UGL is a rapidly growing Australian firm whose Services division provides a business processes outsourcing service in Commercial Real Estate and Facilities Management in Australia, Asia, Europe and USA. UGL has increased its staffing to 4500 staff in recent years with further acquisition planned over the next three years.
Tanti is a senior human resources manager with extensive experience locally and in the region. Prior to joining UGL, Tanti was Director of Personnel & ORganisation at Masterfoods ANZ – Petcare between 2004 and 2005. He was previously Corporate Human Resources Manager at Simplot from 1997 – 2004.
Tanti is a Chartered Member of the Australia Human Resources Institute and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Eleanor Thomas
Australian Volunteers International
www.australianvolunteers.com
Eleanor Thomas kick-started her career with a stint as an AVI volunteer in Cambodia, where she put her journalism qualifications to work at a journalist training institute. Training working journalists in Phnom Penh and assisting with communications and media and coping with daily challenges allowed her to develop the broad skill set required for a varied career.
Eleanor returned to Australia to take up a project management role with the Cambodian Association of Victoria. She then spent two years working in a communications role in the UK before returning to Australia and consolidating her online experience at Tourism Victoria, Deakin University and now at Australian Volunteers International with its new website.
Adrienna Zsakay
Asia Connect – Food
Adrienna Zsakay founded Asia Connect – Food in 2000 after the Korean government began easing regulations on imported food.
Zsakay was already heavily interested in opportunities with Korea, having arrived in 1999 looking for opportunities in the region post-Asian crisis. Her educational background in Asian Studies / Politics and previous years of living and working in Asia provided Ms Zsakay with enough experience to undertake the challenge of setting up her own company.
Asia Connect – Food has assisted a large range of food producers to penetrate the difficult Korean market, including producers of Australian seafood, New Zealand butter and Greek Kalamata olives.
Asia Connect – Food has strong relationships with major Korean retailers including Carrefour (27 stores), Costco (5 stores), Shinsegae Department store, Hyundai Department store, most of the major 5-star hotels and some small supermarkets and retail stores.
Zsakay was also a Director of the Australian New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Korea in 2006 and Co-Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce Agriculture and Food Committee between 2004 and 2006.