Name: HR Summit Melbourne
Start: 2023-07-26T09:00+10:00
End: 2023-07-27T17:00+10:00
Location: Crowne Melbourne

8:15 AM

Registration opens 
9:00 AM

Opening remarks from the chairperson

Kylie Speer

Host & Journalist
Key Media

Kylie Speer

Host & Journalist
Key Media

Kylie Speer is a television host, media professional and author with international experience spanning more than 15 years. Since graduating from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kylie’s career has seen her assume posts in Sydney, Melbourne, London, Dubai, Los Angeles and New York across numerous print, online and broadcast television media outlets including The Sunday Telegraph, nineMSN, the Nine Network Australia and Sky TV in the UK.
9:10 AM

Welcome remarks from the event partner, Australian Retirement Trust

Nerique Paterson

Head of Employer Growth
Australian Retirement Trust

Nerique Paterson

Head of Employer Growth
Australian Retirement Trust

Nerique joined ART in 2018 and is responsible for the sustainable growth of new members, penetration and net FUM flow nationally across our employer segments. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia with 15 years’ financial services experience. Prior to joining ART, Nerique was a Senior Consultant at Rice Warner where she provided strategic advice and market insight to superannuation funds, fund managers and employers. Before moving to Australia in 2016, Nerique held senior roles in asset consulting and product development in South Africa.
9:15 AM

OPENING KEYNOTE: Unbreakable – finding courage in the face of adversity

In this captivating keynote, Jelena Dokic will share her journey as a professional tennis player and the challenges she faced as a refugee, growing up in poverty as well as dealing with domestic violence, and how these impacted her life and mental health.

Jelena will talk about the resilience, lessons, perseverance and courage she needed to overcome adversity, giving insights into her life after tennis. She will explain why advocacy for mental health and victims of child abuse and family violence, and speaking up and sharing our stories, are important to normalise the conversation around these issues and help save lives. Hear Jelena’s life lessons on overcoming challenges to flourish and thrive in the most difficult times.

Jelena Dokic

Former world no. 4 tennis player, Channel Nine commentator, speaker, best-selling author

Jelena Dokic

Former world no. 4 tennis player, Channel Nine commentator, speaker, best-selling author

A former world number 4, popular tennis commentator and best-selling author of her autobiography ‘Unbreakable’, Jelena Dokic’s story of survival is nothing short of remarkable, both on and off the court.

Her rise in the ranks of tennis was meteoric, reaching the quarter finals at Wimbledon at the age of just 16. With a steely nerve, she fought off opponents with the same gutsy zeal Jelena Dokic used to fight off poverty and racism, bullying, discrimination, injury, depression – and the greatest fight of her life – the physical and emotional abuse she suffered for over 20 years at the hands of her tyrannical father and coach.

Jelena has penned the best-selling autobiography Unbreakable, a book which details her career and her life. In the book, she details the struggles of being a refugee, dealing with poverty, racism, bullying, and discrimination. She also talks about the physical and emotional abuse she suffered for over 20 years at the hands of her father which started when she was just six years old. She also talks about dealing with heavy depression and almost committing suicide.

Jelena courageous story has captured a massive worldwide following. Her raw honesty will leave you in awe. Her ability to free herself from the grips of darkness will astonish you. Most of all, Jelena Dokic’s will to survive will inspire you. She embodies hope and strength and perseverance and will leave any audience mesmerised.

Jelena now pours her efforts into commentary as one of the key voices for Nine.
10:00 AM
PANEL: Strategies for retaining employees in a competitive market

The fight for talent continues to be a challenge for many organisations as they look to develop innovative strategies for retaining their employees. How can organisations navigate the delicate balance between managing employee expectations and achieving the business objectives of an organisation to retain high performers? At this panel session, hear how companies are engaging and motivating their employees as a retention strategy. 
- Improving the communication and leadership strategies of middle management to address disengagement  
- Examples of performance management and reward and recognition strategies that help retain employees
- Overcoming challenges in onboarding and engaging a diverse workforce in a hybrid setting
- How to align the company’s larger purpose with employee contributions and efforts 
Moderator

Kylie Terrell

Director of Consultancy
Reward Gateway

Kylie Terrell

Director of Consultancy
Reward Gateway

Kylie Terrell has partnered with HR leaders across Australia & New Zealand for over 10 years to design and deliver strategic employee engagement programs that have employees at the heart. Responsible for helping organisations bring their purpose, mission and values to life across numerous best in class engagement programs, Kylie is driven to help businesses use Engagement as a core lever for success.

Passionate about leveraging technology to build better connections, she is an advocate for peer led recognition as an engagement driver having seen the positive effects it can have on culture and engagement first hand. Her area of expertise lies in the delivery and analysis of surveys, facilitating focus groups and strategic program design, supporting leadership education and change and of course thoughtful, engaging marketing/communications strategy.

Panellists

Dr. Marnie Gibson

Global Director People
T2 Tea

Dr. Marnie Gibson

Global Director People
T2 Tea

Marnie is the Global People Director at T2 Tea, an omnichannel operation across Singapore and ANZ. She has worked in generalist HR in industries such as professional services, FMCG, mining, financial services, retail and local government in APAC and MNC’s. She has also led OD in global organisations and in 2018 completed a doctorate researching leading and engaging remote employees, a relevant focus post Covid. She also lectures in HR and has written HR programs to drive more practical experience for the HR professionals of the future. Whilst Marnie takes her work very seriously, she seriously values FUN and is a passionate, curious practitioner driving best practice and research in HR.

Ilka Hoffmeister

Head Of Workforce Strategy & Transformation, Network Operations, ANZ
Ericsson

Ilka Hoffmeister

Head Of Workforce Strategy & Transformation, Network Operations, ANZ
Ericsson

Ilka Hoffmeister is currently the Head of Workforce Strategy and Transformation, Network Operations at Ericsson, Australia & New Zealand. Ilka has over 25 years’ P&C experience gained across a variety of sectors, including IT&T, finance and insurance, not for profit, government, airline contact centre and FMCG. With qualifications in Arts (politics/philosophy) and Law, Ilka has a unique combination of skills and experience across both employee relations and organisational development, including P&C strategy, organisational change, talent and leadership, culture, engagement and DE&I. Prior to joining Ericsson, Ilka was the Executive Head of P&C at the Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre. Ilka has led business partnering teams as a Head of People Technology for large ICT divisions in finance and government organisations and enjoyed a long career with Telstra, in a variety of senior P&C leadership roles. As a trusted Head of People, Ilka is passionate about leading data informed P&C strategy that drives business outcomes and delivers a great employee experience.

Kelly Knowles

General Manager Human Resources
Boeing

Kelly Knowles

General Manager Human Resources
Boeing

Kelly is currently the HR Leader for Boeing’s Commercial Airplanes Division in Australia. With a background in workplace relations consulting, Kelly has previously worked in and around general aviation, manufacturing and printing and packaging sectors. Kelly has been with Boeing for 15 years, utilizing her skills in industrial and employee relations, change management and leadership capability to shape the business’s culture for productivity and growth. Kelly is a wife and mother of two young girls who she is bringing up to be ‘brave, smart and kind’.

Adam Oosterhoff

Chief People Officer, Enabling Units
NAB

Adam Oosterhoff

Chief People Officer, Enabling Units
NAB

Adam is an experienced HR professional with over 20 years in generalist, learning & development, and project roles, primarily in the Finance and Professional Services industries. He currently serves as the Chief People Officer for Enabling Units at NAB, where he has worked for the past 9 years. Adam holds an MBA and a Master of Management in Human Resource Management from Macquarie Graduate School of Management. He is passionate about driving business performance, customer value, and creating great workplaces.
10:50 AM

Morning tea and refreshment break
11:20 AM
Data-driven storytelling in workforce analytics 

Storytelling can be a powerful tool to show the connection between the workforce team and business performance. A key element of workforce strategy is using data to support business priorities and its impact. This session will provide practical tips on how HR leaders can use storytelling tools to demonstrate real business value through HR data. 
- Tips to determine what information is considered personal or relevant to the stakeholders
- Examples of using visual illustrations to support your findings
- Identifying and explaining the meaning and motivation behind the data for greater impact
Jennifer Dobell

Executive Director Workforce Strategy and Wellbeing
Victorian Department of Health

Jennifer Dobell

Executive Director Workforce Strategy and Wellbeing
Victorian Department of Health

Jennifer is a leader in future workforce and strategy. She has delivered workforce strategies in health, digital, data and customer service segments. Her ability to tackle such a complex challenge is the culmination of years of executive HR experience across the federal and state government leading a wide range of portfolios including workforce strategy, recruitment, business partnering and operations.

Jennifer has worked across public and private sector including: ATO, Premier and Cabinet, ANZ Bank and CCH. As she is an employee not a consultant, Jennifer has led the implementation and governance of all of these strategies
12:00 PM
Culture by design – the journey of one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds

How did Australian Retirement Trust, one of Australia’s largest super funds—formed through the industry’s biggest and most complex merger ever—design a thriving and dynamic company culture from the ground up? In this session, find out:
- The path they took to building a new culture
- The opportunities this presented for their people, their members and employer partners
- The challenges and successes encountered along the way
- Insights and learnings that any organisation can apply
Helen Jackson

Chief People Officer
Australian Retirement Trust

Helen Jackson

Chief People Officer
Australian Retirement Trust

Helen joined the Australian Retirement Trust in February 2022. Helen is a highly skilled senior executive with a strong commercial perspective and extensive experience in transformational culture change, organisational development and People/HR management. She has 35 years’ experience in both mature and start-up environments across diverse industry sectors and organisational cultures in Australia and globally. With much of her early career in industrial relations, Helen has held a range of senior consulting and permanent roles at organisations including Queensland Rail, Westpac, Ernst & Young and the NSW Government. Most recently, Helen worked with the engineering consulting business Advisian, a business line of Worley Group. In her four-year tenure, she developed and executed the People & Culture strategy for APAC and globally, including creating a comprehensive culture program, and supporting the integration of the Advisian business as part of the WorleyParsons and Jacobs ECR merger in 2019.

Helen holds an Executive MBA, Graduate Diploma Industrial Relations, Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Economics. She is also a Graduate of the AICD as a Board Director. She is also a Graduate of the AICD as a Board Director.

Joshua van Gestel

Senior Manager, Strategic Education
Australian Retirement Trust

Joshua van Gestel

Senior Manager, Strategic Education
Australian Retirement Trust

Joshua is responsible for developing and delivering ART’s education strategy to members, employers, advisers and representative bodies. In his role he oversees the development of bespoke multi-channel communication strategies for key clients and partners. Joshua is passionate about empowering individuals to achieve their retirement dreams through effective, tangible, and engaging experiences, while also bringing a desire to create stronger advocacy to improve the financial wellbeing of all Australians. Joshua has over 25 years’ extensive experience within Financial Services, Education and Media organisations, holding roles in management, content development and education delivery.
12:30 PM

Networking lunch
1:40 PM

INTERVIEW: Finding resilience in times of uncertainty

Organisations are well on the road to recovery after a challenging several years. What lessons have HR leaders learned about remaining resilient to support their businesses? This interview will discuss the evolution of the HR leader, and key leadership lessons learned during challenging times.

Meredith Rowan

Vice President Applications ANZ
Oracle

Meredith Rowan

Vice President Applications ANZ
Oracle

Meredith Rowan is Oracle’s Vice President of Applications for ANZ. Meredith is an accomplished leader, with over 20 years’ experience in delivering technology solutions and supporting business transformation through the various enterprise roles she has held. Meredith is passionate about sharing best practices and frequently speaks with customers and partners about Oracle HR’s journey and the power of SaaS technology and its use to propel the growth of their own organizations. In addition, Meredith seeks to help women of all ages in business, technology, and innovation to become more successful and to be recognized for their contributions, bringing opportunities to showcase their accomplishments within the technology industry.

Julie Watkins

Chief People Officer
UniSuper

Julie Watkins

Chief People Officer
UniSuper

Julie joined UniSuper in 2018 with over 20 years’ experience in the HR field. This experience was gained in the financial services, healthcare, consumer goods and professional services sectors across Multinational, Asia Pacific and Australian roles.
2:10 PM
LEGAL UPDATE: Workplace sexual harassment and the new ‘positive duty’

As part of the ongoing response to the Sex Discrimination Commissioner’s Respect@Work report, the introduction of a new ‘positive duty’ on all employers has made it abundantly clear that the onus is now squarely on employers to take action to prevent sexual harassment, sex-based harassment and conduct that contributes to a hostile workplace environment. Responding to complaints when they arise is no longer enough. In this essential update for all employers, industry expert Tamsin Lawrence will:
- Unpack the recent changes
- Guide you through what the changes mean for your business
- Provide clarity on how to get compliant and the risks of non-compliance
Tamsin Lawrence

Senior Associate
ABLA

Tamsin Lawrence

Senior Associate
ABLA

Tamsin is a highly credentialled employment lawyer with Australian Business Lawyers and Advisors (ABLA) in Melbourne, acting for a broad range of employers across both the public and private sector. She performs a mix of litigious and advisory work in workplace relations and is a regular author and presenter on a range of bargaining, employment, discrimination and work health and safety related topics. Tamsin was very closely involved in responding on behalf of employers to the National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australia Workplaces and lead the Chambers’ response to the introduction of the Respect at Work Act including the new prohibition on sex-based harassment in the workplace and role as an associate employer representative member on the newly formed Federal Government Respect@Work Council. Tamsin takes a keen interest in and is often at the forefront of IR Changes, including providing feedback and advice to Government and employer groups on the implications of reforms.
3:05 PM

Afternoon tea and refreshment break
3:35 PM
FIRESIDE CHAT: How to identify and deal with burnout 

It’s important for managers to identify and address burnout in their teams before it leads to anxiety, stress and fatigue – and this means taking a preventative rather than reactive approach to workplace wellbeing. What does burnout look like in a hybrid work model, and how can managers lead with a culture of care? This workshop will discuss how to identify and mitigate burnout at work. 
- What are the key stages of burnout? 
- How can you gauge the level of burnout within your team? 
- Strategies to avoid burnout at an individual and organisational level before it reaches high-risk proportions 
- How to instil a culture of self-care in a hybrid workforce 
 

Mike Hagan

Workplace Mental Health Advocate and Founder
Mike Hagan Consulting

Mike Hagan

Workplace Mental Health Advocate and Founder
Mike Hagan Consulting

Mike Hagan is a HR and Health, Safety & Wellbeing consultant with over twenty years’ experience in both public and private sectors, overseas and here in Australia.

Drawing upon his diverse career journey as a Fitter & Turner, Union Rep, HSR, Plant Manager, Nuclear Safety Manager and a Senior Health and Safety and HR Executive, Mike is a personable, engaging and entertaining public speaker, and a natural storyteller with an ability to make lasting connections at all levels of an organisation.

Mike’s personal and professional purpose is the removal of the stigma associated with mental illness in the workplace and broader society, one conversation at a time.

When Mike is not striving to help every Australian workplace become the best version of itself, he enjoys reading, writing, sound engineering and making music with his band ‘Mike Hagan & the Distant Conspirators’.

Kylie Speer

Host & Journalist
Key Media

Kylie Speer

Host & Journalist
Key Media

Kylie Speer is a television host, media professional and author with international experience spanning more than 15 years. Since graduating from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kylie’s career has seen her assume posts in Sydney, Melbourne, London, Dubai, Los Angeles and New York across numerous print, online and broadcast television media outlets including The Sunday Telegraph, nineMSN, the Nine Network Australia and Sky TV in the UK.
4:05 PM
PANEL: Accelerating leadership development to build capability

Now more than ever before, developing leaders is crucial to combating the talent gap and retaining employees. How are organisations deploying strategies to shift managers to a leadership mindset and away from task-oriented roles? This session will discuss how organisations are equipping their future leaders to overcome talent challenges.
- Refining leadership capabilities with a purpose-led approach 
- Examples of redesigned leadership development programs 
- Building leadership capability soft skills, such as communication strategies, empathy and mental health understanding 
Moderator

Matt Collier

Senior Industry Fellow
RMIT University, FORWARD

Matt Collier

Senior Industry Fellow
RMIT University, FORWARD

Matt Collier is a cross-sector leader with 15+ years of experience spanning financial services in APAC, innovation/strategy consulting globally, and the U.S. government. Throughout his career, Matt has been drawn to strategic initiatives and transformation mandates, building a depth and breadth of experience that inspires how he frames strategies, builds teams, and seeds systemic change.

Over nearly 5 years at Prudential plc, Matt initially joined the Singapore business unit and later took on a global remit to develop HR/people strategy and support the Group HR Director and the Board in establishing a customer-centric culture, leading the launch of a refreshed purpose and common values at the 170-year-old insurer. More recently, he served as Chief of Staff to the Asia CEO.

In the spirit of cross-sector leadership, Matt took a partial leave of absence to serve on the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition, where he led the review of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s IT portfolio, authored papers on the future of the federal workforce and surge hiring for the national Covid-19 response, and advised the government-wide Technology Strategy & Delivery team.

Previously, Matt served in the Obama Administration as an aide to the head of the civil service in the first term and later at the White House. Notably, he co-founded the award-winning Lab at OPM, spearheaded the President’s reforms to college recruiting and hiring, and contributed to the founding of tech initiatives such as the Presidential Innovation Fellows and the U.S. Digital Service.

After leaving the White House in 2015, Matt led the expansion into APAC and the Middle East for LUMA Institute, a design thinking education company.

Panellists

Danielle Jacobson

Organisational Development Manager
99designs by Vista

Danielle Jacobson

Organisational Development Manager
99designs by Vista

Danielle has 20 years’ experience in leadership development and is passionate about supporting leaders to enable workplace cultures where people can bring their genuine selves and do their best work. She is an organisational development practitioner and uses a humanistic approach in her work.

Danielle holds a Master of Management and a Graduate Diploma in Psychology. She is fascinated in role of the leader in ways of working, and recently completed a research thesis on how mandated work from home during the pandemic impacted leader’s attitudes to workplace flexibility.

She is the President of Organisation Development (OD) Australia, a membership based not for profit that provides professional development opportunities for OD practitioners.

Amber Kristof

Chief People Officer
Vocus Group

Amber Kristof

Chief People Officer
Vocus Group

Amber Kristof is a human resources executive who holds 20+ years of experience with market-leading organisations in telecommunications, automotive, consumer products, and entertainment.

Amber’s visionary approach to strategy and her ability to lead expert teams enable her to improve operational performance and business culture, and develop innovative and cost-effective solutions for enhancing competitiveness and customer satisfaction.

Amber’s most recent roles include Human Resources Director, L’Oréal; Executive General Manager Human Resources, Melbourne IT; Human Resources Manager / Leadership Development Manager, Ford Motor Company; and Human Resources Manager, The Walt Disney Company.

Amber has been Chief People Officer at Vocus since September 2018, where she successfully led the people strategy that supported the company’s three-year turnaround strategy. She continues to drive innovative strategies that support recruitment, engagement and business growth.

Amber holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours), a Graduate Diploma, Industrial Relations & Human Resource Management, from the University of Melbourne.

Michelle Maugueret

Former Chief People Officer, Bank First and current Director & Co-Founder
The Growth Collective

Michelle Maugueret

Former Chief People Officer, Bank First and current Director & Co-Founder
The Growth Collective

Michelle is the Director & Co-founder of the Growth Collective and former Chief People Officer at Bank First. She is an experienced Executive with a background spanning 25 years in both HR and Change Management disciplines across Australia and Asia.

Michelle has worked across multiple industries primarily in Financial Services and Education implementing strategic and operational programs to support organisational effectiveness, develop high-performing teams and engaged workplace cultures. She believes in partnering with businesses and individuals to understand where they are today to help them get to where they want to be tomorrow through connecting people to purpose, so they can deliver meaningful work.

Louise Meadows

Chief People Officer
Great Western Water

Louise Meadows

Chief People Officer
Great Western Water

Louise Meadows is an experienced executive who has been working with CEOs, Executive teams and Boards for over 25 years to deliver people strategies to support organisational goals. Louise joined the water industry in 2013 after 15 years in the banking sector. The water sector appealed to her immediately – the strong sense of care and purpose resonated with her personal values. Under her leadership, Greater Western Water is undertaking a significant organisational and cultural transformation with an orientation for high performance. In her role as Chief People Officer, Louise leads all aspects of human resources, organisational development, health safety & wellbeing, change, employee experience and communications. Her role involves developing and implementing strategy and initiatives that align our employees with broader business objectives and focuses on enduring cultural change. As a recognised and respected leader within the industry, Louise’s achievements were acknowledged when she became one of the inaugural winners of Top 50 Women in the Victorian Public Sector in 2017.
4:55 PM

Networking drinks

Sponsored by
6:00 PM

End of day one

9:00 AM

Opening remarks from the chairperson

Kylie Speer

Host & Journalist
Key Media

Kylie Speer

Host & Journalist
Key Media

Kylie Speer is a television host, media professional and author with international experience spanning more than 15 years. Since graduating from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kylie’s career has seen her assume posts in Sydney, Melbourne, London, Dubai, Los Angeles and New York across numerous print, online and broadcast television media outlets including The Sunday Telegraph, nineMSN, the Nine Network Australia and Sky TV in the UK.
9:10 AM
PANEL: Sustaining culture and wellbeing in a hybrid workplace  

A positive work culture is essential for a successful hybrid work model and has come to mean much more than just office perks and social events. How are companies ensuring the productivity of their employees, while supporting their needs?
- Creating strong team relationships through management   
- How are companies prioritising a culture of inclusion and wellbeing?   
- Engaging a younger workforce and creating a purposeful onboarding experience   
- Providing health, safety and wellbeing support in the new world of work  
Moderator

Kylie Speer

Host & Journalist
Key Media

Kylie Speer

Host & Journalist
Key Media

Kylie Speer is a television host, media professional and author with international experience spanning more than 15 years. Since graduating from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kylie’s career has seen her assume posts in Sydney, Melbourne, London, Dubai, Los Angeles and New York across numerous print, online and broadcast television media outlets including The Sunday Telegraph, nineMSN, the Nine Network Australia and Sky TV in the UK.

Panellists

Damien Andreasen

Vice President, APJ
Hibob

Damien Andreasen

Vice President, APJ
Hibob

For over a decade, Damien has founded and held C-level positions for several Australian tech companies in the B2B and HR space including LawPath, Spreets and Ento. Damien joined Hibob in 2021 to lead its growth and expansion in the APJ region. Hibob is one of the world’s fastest growing HR tech companies that was built for the way people work today: globally, remotely and collaboratively.

Caroline Henshaw

Head of People and Culture
Mantel Group

Caroline Henshaw

Head of People and Culture
Mantel Group

Caroline Henshaw is the Head of People and Culture with Mantel Group, an Australian-owned, technology-led consulting business founded in Melbourne in 2017.

Caroline was charged with building the strongest culture and employee experience in Australia and New Zealand, to grow a highly engaged business of 1000 people in just over five years.

Her innovative approach to individual employee experiences and creating a values based culture resulted in Mantel Group being recognised by Great Place to Work© as Best Place to Work in Australia in both 2021 and 2022.

Caroline is an experienced People and Culture executive, having previously led people strategies and teams across consulting and public institutions. Her experience includes large scale culture transformation, driving sustainable change across businesses, engaging and building on employee potential. She is passionate about creating great workplaces where people genuinely want to work.

Aaron Rau

Head of HR
Liven

Aaron Rau

Head of HR
Liven

As Head of People & Culture at Liven, he drives high-performance, alignment and inclusivity, overseeing the growth of the hospitality tech platform from 25 to 200+ employees across Australia, US, Singapore, India, UK and Indonesia.

Shontel Turner

Human Resources Director
General Mills

Shontel Turner

Human Resources Director
General Mills

Shontel Turner is the Human Resources Director at leading global food manufacturer, General Mills. She has worked at General Mills for the past 11 years in a range of roles in including HR Manager for Manufacturing and Senior HR Business Partner for the ANZ Corporate business. She is passionate about people and fascinated by long-term strategies which increase productivity through improving workplace culture. Shontel was instrumental in developing General Mills’ global flexible work policy, Work with Heart, which is now being practiced by 35,000 employees worldwide.
10:00 AM
Harnessing emerging technologies in HR to drive growth

Technology is evolving at a rapid rate and offers immense potential to accelerate business growth today. From automation to artificial intelligence, tech enables HR to focus on strategic initiatives through improved efficiency. This session will look at HR technology that is transforming the world of work.
- How can HR teams effectively utilise artificial intelligence and machine learning?
- Things to watch out for in the application of AI in a HR function
- What’s next – Web3, ChatGPT in HR and beyond
- How can HR professionals future-proof their roles?
Bianca Di Tullio

Talent and Culture Director, APAC
AKQA

Bianca Di Tullio

Talent and Culture Director, APAC
AKQA

Bianca is passionate about fostering a framework to attract, engage and grow world-class creative talent. Working across AKQA’s APAC studios including Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan and India, Bianca aims to create a seamless employee experience across the region, supporting an innovative, creative and inclusive environment where people can thrive and do the best work of their careers.
10:30 AM

Morning tea and refreshment break
11:00 AM
PANEL: How to foster inclusive leadership within an organisation 

Inclusive leadership is emerging as a critical capability for adapting to changing markets, ideas and workforces. How can organisations go beyond the checklists and policies to encourage inclusive leadership and ensure each employee is recognised and supported at work? This session will discuss how to encourage the application of inclusive leadership in daily practices. 
- Identifying the key capabilities of an inclusive leader in the new world of work 
- Examples of developing coaching skill sets to drive inclusive leadership capability 
- Strategies to engage majority groups in encouraging allyship and creating greater advocates for inclusivity 
Moderator

David Bellas

Director, LinkedIn Talent Solutions
LinkedIn

David Bellas

Director, LinkedIn Talent Solutions
LinkedIn

David Bellas is a Director for LinkedIn’s Talent Solutions business for Australia and New Zealand. David and his team are responsible for helping organisation the way they plan, hire, and develop talent. This is possible through the disruptive technology and unique data and insights from LinkedIn’s 875+ million members and 57 million companies.

He is passionate about investing in people, everything sales, turning business visions into reality and working with customers to meet their business objectives.

Over the past 10 years at LinkedIn, David has had the opportunity to lead the growth and distribution efforts across all sectors at LinkedIn. When LinkedIn acquired Lynda.com in 2015, an online learning company, David was appointed as Head of Learning for Australia and New Zealand and helped oversee the successful transition to LinkedIn Learning.

Over the past several years David has been recognised with awards such as Diversity and Inclusion Manager of the Year and LinkedIn Manager of the Year and has a reputation for inspiring, coaching and developing talent.

Panellists

Simone Carroll

Executive Director, People & Culture
Alinta Energy

Simone Carroll

Executive Director, People & Culture
Alinta Energy

Simone joined the Alinta Energy executive team in 2023. A strategic executive general manager and advisor with a track record for building and leading high-performance teams towards market leadership and sustainable growth. With a career spanning more than 25 years in HR, she’s worked for companies such as Vicinity Centres, Wesfarmers, REA Group and Medibank and has successfully led major company change and multiple disciplines through critical stages of investment.

Simone’s ‘human-centric’ approach to business transformation puts customer success and Return on Capital at the centre of organisational design and delivery systems.

She holds a Bachelor of Business, Labor & Industrial Relations and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advance Management Program and a former HR Director of the year (HRD Australia). She is also a member of Chief Executive Women.

Alice Hanna

Head of People & Culture
Kapitol Group

Alice Hanna

Head of People & Culture
Kapitol Group

Alice Hanna is the Head of People and Culture at construction company, Kapitol Group, who were named the Wrk+ #1 Best Place to Work in Australia in 2022. Alice has 20 years’ experience in Human Resources across mining, engineering, software development and construction. Alice is passionate about mental health, diversity and inclusion, leadership development and creating inspiring places to work. Alice works hard to make the construction industry and more safe and welcoming industry for all. Alice’s work in the industry was recognised by being awarded the HRD Australian HR Manager of the Year in 2022.

Kiria McNamara

Director, People and Culture
Swisse Wellness

Kiria McNamara

Director, People and Culture
Swisse Wellness

Kiria is a passionate P&C leader with experience living and working for global organisations in the UK, Hong Kong, China and Australia. She is a firm believer that ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’ and how you treat your people during the tough times says more about your culture than anything else. She is a true generalist at heart but has a particular interest in DE&I and Leadership and Talent Development.

Robert Tanti

Chief People Officer
Opal

Robert Tanti

Chief People Officer
Opal

Robert is currently the Chief People Officer of Opal. Opal are leaders in sustainable packaging in Australia and New Zealand. Opal turns over $2b per annum in revenue and employs more than 4000 people across its 60 sites. Previously he was the CPO of SPC in December 2020, where he led the mandatory vaccination program for SPC. This was an industry leadership position and collateral developed for SPC’s employees was white labeled, made available to the HR community and downloaded more than 24,000 times. He has lead HR functions and transformation programs across a diverse array of geographies and industries, including FMCG, Agribusiness, Energy, Professional Services and Transport. Working with some of Australia best known brands including Australia Post, StarTrack, Simplot, Masterfoods and Elders.

Robert is driven by the discovery, development, and delivery of pragmatic people, safety, and culture solutions, configured to help organisations and its people succeed. He is passionate about fostering an inclusive organisation that provides more diverse opportunities for its people and authentically embraces individual agency.

When he is not working, he prefers to spend his time with his family, cooking, eating, and exercising.
11:50 AM
CASE STUDY: Fostering psychological safety in the workplace to support teams

Nurturing a healthy work environment goes beyond the physical aspect and ensuring psychological safety among teams can support employee engagement, motivation and productivity. Hear how Kapitol Group enhanced the psychological safety in their workplace through normalising mistakes and lessons learned to truly create a culture of support.
- Developing and implementing a psychological safety program
- Increasing psychological safety in a high-performance work culture
- What are the outcomes of a successful psychological safety program?
Alice Hanna

Head of People & Culture
Kapitol Group

Alice Hanna

Head of People & Culture
Kapitol Group

Alice Hanna is the Head of People and Culture at construction company, Kapitol Group, who were named the Wrk+ #1 Best Place to Work in Australia in 2022. Alice has 20 years’ experience in Human Resources across mining, engineering, software development and construction. Alice is passionate about mental health, diversity and inclusion, leadership development and creating inspiring places to work. Alice works hard to make the construction industry and more safe and welcoming industry for all. Alice’s work in the industry was recognised by being awarded the HRD Australian HR Manager of the Year in 2022.
12:30 PM

Networking lunch
1:40 PM

Expo Passport Grand Prize Draw

Collect all exhibitors’ stamps on the Expo Passport for the chance to win a $1,000 cash prize!

Workshops All Star Grand Prize

Attend all workshops for the chance to win a $1,000 cash prize!

Sponsor Prize Draws

Plus, don’t miss several exciting prize giveaways from our exhibitors! Visit their stand to discover how to enter the draws!
1:50 PM
CASE STUDY: Future-proofing teams with critical skill development

To overcome the increasingly challenging talent shortage, organisations are looking to develop the capability of their employees. In this session, Genaea will discuss Amazon’s learning and development strategies to equip individuals with critical skills for a future-ready organisation. 
- Redesigning career pathways to accelerate skill development 
- Encouraging middle managers to plan development paths for their teams 
- Finding the balance between self-directed and company-driven learning and development initiatives  
Genaea O’Bryne

Senior Learning Business Partner APAC
Amazon

Genaea O’Bryne

Senior Learning Business Partner APAC
Amazon

Genaea has strong experience within a diverse range of roles across manufacturing, mining, energy automotive and technology throughout Asia Pacific.

Her background includes strategic and operational HR, business transformation, talent and capability, organisational effectiveness, learning and development, workforce design, project management and leadership.

Currently she is focused on supporting operations by building leadership capability within Amazon leading delivery across APAC. Genaea is incredibly passionate about building the skills of the future and is excited to be speaking at the HR Summit Melbourne.
2:30 PM
PANEL: Developing and sustaining high-performing HR teams 

The workplace continues to face unprecedented challenges, and a high-performing HR team is crucial to keeping an organisation agile and resilient during times of uncertainty. Hear how Australia’s top companies are building high-performing teams to deliver their people-driven strategies in this dynamic environment.  
- How to create a culture of trust, inclusion and accountability to support collaboration and innovation 
- Leveraging HR technologies to improve workflows and drive efficiency 
- Redesigning personal and leadership development frameworks to effectively manage and support teams 
Moderator

Kylie Speer

Host & Journalist
Key Media

Kylie Speer

Host & Journalist
Key Media

Kylie Speer is a television host, media professional and author with international experience spanning more than 15 years. Since graduating from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kylie’s career has seen her assume posts in Sydney, Melbourne, London, Dubai, Los Angeles and New York across numerous print, online and broadcast television media outlets including The Sunday Telegraph, nineMSN, the Nine Network Australia and Sky TV in the UK.

Panellists

Garth Byrne

Head of Learning and Development
Employment Hero

Garth Byrne

Head of Learning and Development
Employment Hero

Garth holds over 20 years experience in Learning & Development, Talent Management, and Organisational Development with large multi-national organisations, responsible for learning strategy, stakeholder management, executive coaching, mentoring, performance management and cultural change initiatives. He is a strong team player with experience in people management and a solid understanding of emotional intelligence and human behaviour.

Natasha Cuthbert

Chief People Officer
Viva Energy

Natasha Cuthbert

Chief People Officer
Viva Energy

Natasha is a seasoned HR Executive who has led various People and Culture functions focusing on key disciplines including business transformation and change, workforce planning, organisational development, talent management, and industrial relations.

As Chief People and Culture Officer, her focus is to create an environment conducive to delivering Viva Energy’s transformation agenda while sustaining high performance in core operations through highly engaged and capable people. Natasha is responsible for people strategy, operations and execution, as well as fostering the Viva Energy culture.

A HR career was not necessary the plan when Natasha completed her Science degree specialising in Zoology – however after building over 20 years of HR experience, Natasha’s true passion is delivering business results through great people.

Siobhan McCray

Regional VP Human Resources, APACSA
McCain Foods

Siobhan McCray

Regional VP Human Resources, APACSA
McCain Foods

Siobhan McCray is the Regional VP Human Resources, APACSA at McCain Foods. She is impactful, energetic and inspiring leader with over 15 years experience leading People and Operations teams within iconic food retail brands such as Nando’s, Yum (KFC & Pizza Hut) and McDonalds.

Siobhan is passionate about leading and developing teams to deliver outstanding results with the objective of optimising the customer experiences. She has experience in turnaround and realignment situations; global, national and regional markets; and franchise and company-owned operations.

She is a values-driven, purposeful, and strategic leader, with a strong executional focus.
3:20 PM

Event concludes

Agenda

Day 1

Day 2

8:15 AM

Registration opens

9:00 AM

Opening remarks from the chairperson

Kylie Speer

9:10 AM

Welcome remarks from the event partner, Australian Retirement Trust

Nerique Paterson

9:15 AM

OPENING KEYNOTE: Unbreakable – finding courage in the face of adversity

Jelena Dokic

10:00 AM

PANEL: Strategies for retaining employees in a competitive market

Moderator

Kylie Terrell

Panellists

Dr. Marnie Gibson

Ilka Hoffmeister

Kelly Knowles

Adam Oosterhoff

10:50 AM

Morning tea and refreshment break

11:20 AM

Data-driven storytelling in workforce analytics

Jennifer Dobell

12:00 PM

Culture by design – the journey of one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds

Helen Jackson

Joshua van Gestel

12:30 PM

Networking lunch

1:40 PM

INTERVIEW: Finding resilience in times of uncertainty

Meredith Rowan

Julie Watkins

2:10 PM

LEGAL UPDATE: Workplace sexual harassment and the new ‘positive duty’

Tamsin Lawrence

3:05 PM

Afternoon tea and refreshment break

3:35 PM

FIRESIDE CHAT: How to identify and deal with burnout

Mike Hagan

Kylie Speer

4:05 PM

PANEL: Accelerating leadership development to build capability

Moderator

Matt Collier

Panellists

Danielle Jacobson

Amber Kristof

Michelle Maugueret

Louise Meadows

4:55 PM

Networking drinks

6:00 PM

End of day one

9:00 AM

Opening remarks from the chairperson

Kylie Speer

9:10 AM

PANEL: Sustaining culture and wellbeing in a hybrid workplace

Moderator

Kylie Speer

Panellists

Damien Andreasen

Caroline Henshaw

Aaron Rau

Shontel Turner

10:00 AM

Harnessing emerging technologies in HR to drive growth

Bianca Di Tullio

10:30 AM

Morning tea and refreshment break

11:00 AM

PANEL: How to foster inclusive leadership within an organisation

Moderator

Registration opens 

Morning tea and refreshment break

Data-driven storytelling in workforce analytics 

FIRESIDE CHAT: How to identify and deal with burnout 

PANEL: Sustaining culture and wellbeing in a hybrid workplace  

Morning tea and refreshment break

PANEL: How to foster inclusive leadership within an organisation 

PANEL: Developing and sustaining high-performing HR teams 