Plenary sessions will include some of Australia's most sought after speakers.
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Q & A Session Host
Tony Jones
Host, Q & A and Lateline
A mainstay of the ABC Network and one of Australia’s most acclaimed journalists, Tony Jones joined the Four Corners program as a reporter in 1985 after working as a cadet on ABC radio. Briefly departing the ABC to work on the Dateline program on SBS in 1986, Tony returned as a reporter on Four Corners in 1987.
Beginning the 1990’s as the ABC's London current affairs correspondent, Tony was witness to the fall of communism as the Iron Curtain was drawn open by the collapse of the Berlin Wall and Soviet Bloc. Also witnessing Afghanistan’s taking by the Mujahadin and the collapse of apartheid, Jones covered a series of significant world events that saw him well placed to return home to a position as the Executive Producer of Foreign Correspondent on the ABC. Returning to international postings in front of the camera before again reporting for Foreign Correspondent and Four Corners, Jones found his niche in 1999 as host of the ABC’s long running Lateline show.
Hosting the Lateline show to this day, Jones has expanded his hosting duties to include presentation of the enormously popular current affairs show, Q&A. Never shy of introducing topics nor panellists who might engender controversy, Jones and Q&A have provided a forum for political and social discourse unrivalled in current affairs journalism in this country. It has been this willingness to tackle the tough issues that has seen Jones win four Walkley Awards and cover stories such as his exposé on dysfunction in remote Aboriginal communities, a journalism piece so influential that it prompted the establishment of the Northern Territory Intervention by the Federal Government.
A friendly and welcoming face with a fierce intellect and a coolness under fire that only a seasoned and skilled journalist could maintain, Tony Jones can today be acknowledged as one of Australia’s favourite TV hosts.
Speakers & Presenters
Ken Lay
Chief Commissioner, Victoria Police
Recently appointed Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police after a term as Acting Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, the highly experienced Ken Lay has served Victoria Police and the Victorian public for 37 years. Ken’s appointment to Head of Victorian Police recognises the competence, passion and experience of the man who has led Victoria Police’s highly successful road safety campaign for a number of years.
With a breadth of policing experience across operational, training and corporate areas as well as lengthy periods of service in both the rural and metropolitan areas, Ken was previously the Deputy Chief Commissioner (Road Policing) and before that Assistant Commissioner with responsibility for Victoria’s Traffic and Transit issues and before that Assistant Commissioner for the north-west geographical area of Victoria.
He has been awarded a Diploma in Police Studies (Monash University, 1998), a Bachelor of Arts (Monash University, 1999) and a Graduate Diploma in Public Administration (Charles Sturt University, 2000). He is an Australian and New Zealand School of Government Executive Fellow and has had bestowed upon him both the Australian National Medal (25 years) and Australian Police Medal for distinguished service to policing.
Ken has a long history of community involvement in a broad range of activities. He is currently a Board member of the Blue Ribbon Foundation, a past Board member of the Alpine Valley Community Leadership Program and is a fellow of the Gippsland Community Leadership Program, having graduated in 1999. He is the chair of the Australian and New Zealand Police Advisory Agency Road Policing Forum. He sits on numerous professional Boards and Committees including the Victorian Ministerial Advisory Council on Motor Cycles and the VicRoads Advisory Board.
Andrew MacLeod
CEO, Committee For Melbourne and Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigner
The CEO of the Committee for Melbourne, Andrew MacLeod has not only worked for the betterment of our great city, but also for the betterment of humanity. Having served in the United Nations as an international humanitarian official.
Melbourne born and bred, MacLeod gained tertiary qualifications in Tasmania before gaining a Master of International Law in the UK. Having undertaken military service for Australia whilst obtaining academic qualifications and bar qualifications, MacLeod soon served overseas in both military and professional vocational capacities.
An accomplished maritime law expert, MacLeod joined the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and earned the Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal for his work negotiating in Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav wars. Further serving in Rwanda, Sri Lanka and East Timor, in 2003 MacLeod began his work for the United Nations, a pathway that would ultimately see him become the Chief of Operations in the United Nations Emergency Coordination Centre following the 2005 Kashmir earthquake.
Having entered politics both as a candidate and political advisor for the Australian Labor Party, MacLeod has continued to work on community pursuits, having been appointed the CEO of the Committee for Melbourne in 2010. While working to improve the livability and prosperity of Melbourne as a city, MacLeod has worked tirelessly with large companies to promote corporate social responsibility and responsible investment practices helping alleviate poverty.
Amanda Vanstone
Former Australian Ambassador, Italy
Former Australian Ambassador to Italy Amanda Vanstone is distinguished as one of Australia’s longest serving Senators, having held numerous ministerial positions during her 23 year term in the Senate.
Ministerial positions for which Amanda has been responsible include terms as Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs; Minister for Justice (and Customs); Minister for Family and Community Services; Minister assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women; and Minister for Immigration and Multicultural (and Indigenous) Affairs.
Forthright, strong and sometimes controversial, at 23 years of age Amanda was elected the youngest member of the Australian Senate as a representative for South Australia after obtaining Arts and Law degrees and working as a retailer, business owner and legal practitioner. Proving her mettle while in opposition, Vanstone had risen to the Opposition Shadow Ministry by 1987 and was elected into a Cabinet position as Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs following the 1996 election.
Presiding over the contentious portfolios of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, Vanstone held her ground over the abolition of ATSIC, implementation of “the Pacific Solution” and a number of high profile deportation cases. In recognition of an enduring career taking on difficult issues few would have had the constitution to attend to with such resolve, Amanda was appointed Ambassador to Italy shortly after her resignation from politics in 2007, serving in this position until 2010.
Major General Professor Jeffrey Rosenfeld AM
Pioneering Neurosurgeon
Professor Jeffrey Rosenfeld is one of Australia’s finest and most renowned neurosurgeons, having pioneered a surgical technique to remove rare hypothalamic haematomas from the brains of children, freeing them of severe seizures. While his cerebrovascular surgery techniques are recognised worldwide, Professor Rosenfeld is even more remarkable for the extent of his devotion to medicine and surgery.
Professor and Head of the Department of Surgery at Monash University and Director of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Alfred Hospital, Jeffrey trained in general surgery and neurosurgery in Melbourne, Oxford, UK and Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Also an Adjunct Professor to the Centre for Military and Veterans' Health at the University of Queensland, Professor Rosenfeld is a Major General and Surgeon General of the Defence Health Reserves in the Australian Defence Force.
Professor Rosenfeld has a keen interest in building up specialist medical services, particularly neurosurgery, for developing nations and has also been integral in the development of bionic eye technology. He has worked extensively across the globe in civil as well as military roles, having served with the ADF on many overseas operations including terms in Rwanda, East Timor, Bougainville, Solomon Islands and Iraq. He has also provided neurosurgical treatment to a vast number of children from around the world brought to Melbourne for Professor Rosenfeld’s state of the art surgical methods. With such a busy schedule, it might be hard for many to believe that Professor Rosenfeld could find the spare time to volunteer his services as a St John Ambulance volunteer, assisting those in need at sporting events. His dedication has been recognised by his appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
Jenny Horton
Front-line Polio Fighter, Nurse and Queensland Rotarian
Jenny Horton is a front-line Polio Fighter. A highly experienced nurse as well as being a Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Kenmore in Queensland, Jenny has volunteered her nursing skills throughout the developing world to put an end to Polio.
Having volunteered in Botswana, Ethiopia (twice), Nigeria, India and Pakistan (often for extended periods), Jenny has worked with teams who have immunized millions of children. Jenny's time includes supporting the activities of the governments in all matters related to polio, measles and routine immunization activities such as conducting field surveillance, training local health care providers, data analysis and vaccination campaigns. Jenny has presented to UN conferences and is highly respected for her knowledge of the front-line factors influencing the rate of immunization in the few remaining countries where Polio still has a foothold.
A Paul Harris +8 Fellow ( you can go no higher with badging), Jenny began her work eradicating Polio in India back in 2000 and has since been recognised by Rotary International for the amazing work she has done to shut the door on Polio. Jenny has been presented with the Service award for a Polio free World 2005-6, the Service Above Self award in 2006-7 and the citation for Meritorious Service in 2007-8.
Jan Owen AM
CEO, Foundation for Young Australians
Jan Owen is CEO of the Foundation for Young Australians and a pioneer of the youth sector in Australia. She is a highly regarded social entrepreneur, innovator and child and youth advocate. From 2002 – 2010, Jan was Executive Director of Social Ventures Australia, which aims to increase the impact of the Australian social sector. Prior to this Jan founded the CREATE Foundation and was its CEO for nine years. She is the only non US citizen to receive a fellowship for leadership and innovation to the Peter Drucker Foundation, USA and has been awarded membership of the Order of Australia for services to children and young people. She serves on the Boards of the School for Social Entrepreneurs; Inspire Foundation; NAB Schools First; Enterprise Melbourne; and the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA).
Rhonda Parker
CEO of the Australian Employment Covenant
Rhonda Parker is the CEO of the Australian Employment Covenant (AEC), a national industry-led initiative aimed at securing sustainable jobs for 50,000 Indigenous Australians. Respected widely for her leadership, drive and professionalism, she has been a leading contributor to community development in policy, program and practice in Australia for almost 20 years. She is a proactive, engaging and insightful contributor to any project.
Rhonda has had responsibility in the not-for-profit, commercial, government and academic environments. She is a former Minister in the Western Australian Government, where she had responsibility for community development portfolios, among others. Prior to her role at the AEC, Rhonda held the statutory appointment of federal Aged Care Commissioner.
Alison Wray
Leading Neurosurgeon
Born in Hamilton, New Zealand, Alison attended school in Hamilton and graduated Dux of Hillcrest High School in 1986. She attended Medical School at the University of Auckland graduating with MBChB in 1992. Alison was the recipient of the Child Health Research Foundation Scholarship, 1990; TR Plunkett Memorial Prize - Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 1992 and the Butland Prize - Most Clinical Ability in the TI Year, 1992. Alison's postgraduate clinical training and research was undertaken at Auckland City Hospital and the University of Auckland with Neurosurgical training completed at the Royal Melbourne and Royal Children’s Hospitals in Melbourne. In 2005 she was awarded the Stuart Morson Scholarship and became an Uncle Bobs Traveling Scholar undertaking fellowship training in Paediatric Neurosurgery at Necker – Enfants Malades in Paris. She currently works at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Alison was part of the team that successfully separated craniopagus twins Trishna and Krishna in November 2009.
Dr Heather Schnagl
Principal, Ivanhoe Girls Grammar School
Dr Heather Schnagl is the Principal of Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School, one of Melbourne’s most respected independent schools.
A former academic and research scientist at the University of Melbourne, Heather has been Principal of IGGS for over 13 years and is also a Board Member and Deputy Chair of Independent Schools Victoria and a member of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia.
With a passion for the holistic education and development of young women, Heather was formerly Treasurer of Girls Sport Victoria and has is presently a Fellow of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders and a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators. Heather has also been deeply involved in beneficent foundations as former a Board Member of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute and a Council Member of The Invergowrie Foundation, a public charitable trust promoting the advancement and education of girls and women in Victoria.
John Germ
Rotary International President's Personal Representative, Rotary Foundation Trustee / Chair of Rotary's US$200 Million Challenge Committee
John F. Germ is the Rotary International President's Personal Representative at the 2012 Melbourne Conference. A Rotary Foundation Trustee and member of the Rotary Club of Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA, John is also the Chief Executive Officer of Campbell and Associates Inc., consulting engineers. John joined the firm as an engineer in 1965 after four years in the U.S. Air Force. John is an active member of the Chattanooga community, where he has served as president of the chamber of commerce, Junior Achievement, and Boy Scouts, and as campaign chairman of United Way. He has also served as president of the Tennessee Jaycees and is a recipient of the Boy Scouts of America Silver Beaver Award.
John is Chair of Rotary’s US$200 Million Challenge Committee and has recently overseen Rotary's extraordinary effort in surpassing the $200 Million target set by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a matching grant challenge funding polio eradication efforts. A Rotarian since 1976, he has also served Rotary International as vice president, director, committee member and chair, task force zone and area coordinator, Council on Legislation delegate and chair, International Assembly training leader and group discussion leader, and district governor . He was aide to 2007-08 RI President Wilfrid J. Wilkinson and served as 2010-11 trustee vice chair.
John is a recipient of the RI Service Above Self Award and The Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service and Distinguished Service Award.
Annette Kimmitt
Managing Partner, Ernst & Young Melbourne
Annette Kimmit is a Managing Partner of Ernst & Young’s Melbourne Office, leading a team of more than 120 Partners and 1,500 staff.
A Victorian Councilor and past Chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (Australia) as well as a Fellow and Executive in Residence of the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Accounting and Industry Partnerships, Annette is highly respected in the Chartered Accounting world. She has also a member of both the Grattan Institute’s Audit Committee and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Before coming to Ernst and Young, Annette was Senior Project Director with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), leading many of the IASB’s highest profile projects internationally. But accounting isn’t the only string to Annette’s bow.
Annette has been deeply involved in social philanthropy and is a current Board member of the Committee for Melbourne and the United Nations Principles for Social Investment, the UN secretariat working to facilitate global efforts and reporting on the impact of social investment. Annette’s 26 years of commercial and professional experience is making an invaluable contribution to this worldwide body based in the heart of Melbourne.
Patrick McGorry AO
International Mental Health Expert
Australian of the year in 2010, Patrick McGorry AO is one of the world’s pre-eminent researchers into youth mental health. As Professor of Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne and Executive Director of Orygen Youth Health (OYH), McGorry is actively involved in research, clinical practice as a psychiatrist and advocacy for mental health and has been at the forefront of treatment innovation and prevention measures.
Having gained medical qualifications both in Sydney and Melbourne, Professor McGorry holds a PhD from Monash University and has had pioneering research published in many of the world’s most prestigious medical and psychiatric journals. His philosophy of integrating research and clinical practice within Orygen’s treatment programs has seen the organisation make many pioneering advancements in mental health treatment.
Professor McGorry is particularly notable for his innovation of services providing early intervention in youth mental health issues whilst encouraging the de-stigmatisation of mental illness and an end to discrimination against those experiencing mental illness. Together with colleagues, Professor McGorry has led development of approaches for youth presenting with first-onset psychotic symptoms that have been adopted not just in Australian health systems but in the US, Europe and Asia as well.
A founding board member of Headspace, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation, Professor McGorry’s philosophy of “a stitch in time...” has offered significant improvement in the prognoses and recoveries of countless young people throughout the world.
Professor Susan McDonald
Midwifery Expert and District 9800 Vocational Training Team Member
Professor Susan McDonald is an expert on Midwifery at the Faculty of Health Sciences at La Trobe University as well as working at the Mercy Hospital for Women. Fortunately for Rotary, Susan is also a member of the Rotary Club of North Balwyn and a member of our District’s most significant international projects.
Professor McDonald is part of the Vocational Training Team upskilling the midwives and maternity service providers in the Baucau area of Timor Leste on behalf of District 9800. This project has critical importance in redressing the maternal and child mortality rate in Timor Leste, which has one of the worst rates of maternal and infant death in the world given that 1 in 35 mothers die in, or as a result of, childbirth.
Professor McDonald has significant vocational training and teaching experience, working with Clinical Schools at the Mercy Hospital for Women, Heidelberg, to lead innovation in education, training, research and development. Susan is maintains strong links with other teaching hospitals and maternity services locally, nationally and internationally and is a Member of the Board of the Tweddle and Family Health Service, Victoria.
Professor Tony Jorm
Public Mental Health Expert & Research Chair of Australian Rotary Health
An expert in public mental health, Prof Tony Jorm is a Professorial Fellow at Orygen Youth Health Research Centre at the University of Melbourne and an NHMRC Australia Fellow. Tony is also the Research Chair of Australian Rotary Health and an active member of the Rotary Club of Carlton.
Tony’s research focuses on public knowledge and beliefs about mental illnesses, and particularly on interventions to improve the public’s helpfulness towards people developing mental illnesses. Prof Jorm is the author of 20 books or monographs, over 400 journal articles and over 30 chapters in edited volumes.
He has been awarded a Doctor of Science for his research and elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. He is the chair of the Research Committee of Australian Rotary Health. He is a past President of the Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research. He has been listed in ISI HighlyCited.com as one of the most cited researchers in Psychology/Psychiatry of the past 20 years.
Professor Marcia Langton AM
Leading Aboriginal Spokesperson
One of Australia's leading authorities on contemporary social issues in Aboriginal affairs, Marcia Langton was appointed Inaugural Professor of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne in 2000. Trained as an anthropologist at the Australian National University, and later as a human geographer at Macquarie University, she has worked extensively in Aboriginal studies in Northern Territory and Cape York, contributing especially to land and native title claims.
She has also researched and published on associated cultural and social issues, in particular on religion and the sacred, art and film. Marcia is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia and a member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. She is Chair of the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership.
In 1993 Professor Langton was awarded an AM (General Member of the Order of Australia) for her services to anthropology and the advocacy of Aboriginal rights over two decades.
Moira Kelly
Humanitarian and Executive Director, Children First Foundation
Moira Kelly AO is one of Australia's most dedicated humanitarian workers and is well known for having brought conjoined twins Krishna and Trishna to Australia from Bangladesh for groundbreaking surgery to separate the two. Today, Moira combines her humanitarian work running the Children First Foundation with her legal guardianship of the twins.
Moira has carried out large-scale humanitarian projects and has been there to assist desperate and sick individuals in Johannesburg, the Bronx (USA), Romania, Bosnia and Albania. She has set up soup kitchens, refugee camps, dental clinics, schools, managed an AIDS hospital and adult education programs.
In 2001 Moira was awarded the Order of Australia in recognition of her humanitarian service to both the Australian and international communities while in 2003 she received the Victorian of the Year award. She has twice been nominated for the Australian of the Year award and has the distinction of having worked alongside her longtime humanitarian idol, Mother Theresa in Calcutta. An honorary Rotarian, Moira is a recipient of the Paul Harris Award for her exceptional humanitarian contributions alongside Rotarians.
Professor Tony Costello
Prostate Specialist Surgeon
Professor Tony Costello is one of the leading prostate specialists in Australia. A Professorial Fellow & Head of the Department of Urology at The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Tony pioneered robotic surgery in Australia. He has been responsible for leading the way in life saving prostate surgery techniques, having performed over 1,000 robotic radical prostatectomy surgeries.
Professor Costello is an invited faculty member of the American Urological Association where annually he teaches aspects of robotic surgery to an international audience. He is also on the Editorial Board of the US publication Journal of Robotic Surgery, the British Journal of Urology and the Journal of Endourology.
Tony is the only Australian member of the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons. The AAGUS is an Association of leading academic urologists from the United States, Canada and around the world dedicated to the study of diseases of the genitourinary system. Active membership is limited to 75 of the world’s most distinguished academic urological specialists.
Dr Simon Longstaff
Applied Ethicist & Philosopher
Dr Simon Longstaff is an ethicist and philosopher whose focus is in the field of applied ethics. He has been Executive Director of St James Ethics Centre since 1991 and serves on advisory boards, panels and committees of some of Australia’s largest companies as well as serving on the Board of the UN Global Compact’s Principles in Social Investment.
With a PhD in Philosophy from Cambridge, prior to becoming the inaugural Executive Director of St James Ethics Centre in 1991, he worked in the Northern Territory in the Safety Department of BHP subsidiary, GEMCO, lectured at Cambridge University and consulted to the Cambridge Commonwealth and Overseas Trusts.
The inaugural President of The Australian Association for Professional & Applied Ethics Dr Longstaff’s distinguished career includes being named as one of AFR Boss True Leaders for the 21st century.
Wirginia Maixner
Leading Neurosurgeon
Wirginia Maixner is one of Australia's leading neurosurgeons and Director of neurosurgery at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne. She is known for having performed the first auditory brainstem implant on a child in Australasia in 2007, and later having separated the conjoined twins, Trishna and Krishna in 2009. This radical surgery captured the public's hearts and admiration, Wirginia chosen to conduct the surgery given her noted reputation for having previously conducted ground-breaking surgery operating on a three-year-old girl to successfully stop seizures caused by a rare genetic condition.
In 2009, Maixner led a team of 16 neurosurgeons, plastic surgeons, and other specialist medical staff at the Royal Children's Hospital in the 32-hour "groundbreaking surgery" to successfully separate three-year-old Bangladeshi conjoined twins, Trishna and Krishna. The twins were found in 2007 by two Australian Aid volunteers in Mother Teresa's orphanage in Dhaka and brought to Australia by Moira Kelly and the Children First Foundation for life saving medical treatment, which involved a series of operations. Maixner had performed four major operations on the twins to separate and close shared blood vessels and insert tissue expanders and prior to the final surgery, she gave the twins a 25 percent chance of surviving the operation, a 25 percent chance of dying and a 50 percent chance of suffering "catastrophic" brain damage, but without surgical intervention, both children would die. On 19 November 2009, Maixner told the press that Trishna had woken from the medically induced coma. Krishna began to wake up on 20 November 2009. On 21 December 2009, five weeks after the surgery to separate the twins, they were released from the hospital.
Wirginia graduated from the University of Sydney's School of Medicine with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery. Appointed to the position of Director of the Royal Children's Hospital Neurosurgery Department in 2001, Wirginia became one of the youngest neurosurgery department heads in Australia and the first female head of neurosurgery at the Children's Hospital.
Betty Kitchener OAM
Mental Health First Aid Pioneer
Betty Kitchener is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne. She is the Program Director and co-developer of the Mental Health First Aid Training and Research Program, which she began in 2001 with Professor Tony Jorm in Canberra, Australia.
Betty has facilitated the spread of the Mental Health First Aid Program across Australia and to 16 other countries. Over 1% of the Australian adult population have now attended a MHFA course.
Having experienced recurrent major depression herself, she brings an important consumer perspective to her work. Betty has received numerous awards for her Mental Health First Aid work, including an Exceptional Contribution to Mental Health Services Award and an Order of Australia Medal.
Peter Fox, AM
Chairman Fox Group Holdings
Peter Fox is the Executive Chairman of Fox Group Holdings. His ambitions are to ensure Linfox’s success as Australia’s and the Asia Pacific region’s leading provider of highly valued logistics solutions.
The second of six children to Linfox founder Lindsay Fox and his wife Paula, Peter worked at Mayne Nickless before joining Linfox in Brisbane as a Trainee Supervisor. He held a wide range of roles across the Linfox business in operational, customer facing and management positions before his appointment as Executive Chairman in 1994.
As well as sitting on the Board of Linfox, one of Australia's greatest small business to big business success stories, Peter also sits on the Boards of the Alfred Foundation, the Bank of Queensland and is Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Olympic Dinner. Peter is also a Member of the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) Advisory Council at the University of NSW, the Australian Logistics Council and the Victorian Freight & Logistics Council while he is additionally a Patron for the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Peter was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in June 2011 and is married to Lisa with a son James and two daughters, Hannah and Coco.
Greg Ross
Past District Governor, Actor, Celebrant & MC
There’s few people who can claim to have played three different characters in the long running Australian Soap Neighbours, however the show is just one of many in Greg’s extensive CV. Well known for his work in iconic shows like Cop Shop, Skippy, Blue Heelers, The Secret Life of Us and Prisoner, Greg studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (University of New South Wales) before pursuing an acting career that continues to this day.
Greg also combines the skills learned during his theatrical career with his work today officiating special occasions as a master of ceremonies and a civil celebrant. A Rotarian for three decades, including serving as District Governor of District 9800, Greg has a passion for the community which he combines with a natural talent for performing and giving of himself.
Greg is a regular volunteer presenter on Vision Australia Radio and has a love of sports, having been a director at the Melbourne Football Club and president of the Berwick Cricket Club.
Roland Dillon
2010 Ambassadorial Scholar
Roland was the 2010 Ambassadorial Scholar for District 9800, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Southbank.
With Rotary’s support, Roland’s studied at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He completed a Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy.
A former lawyer and policy maker, Roland is passionate about communication and sustainability. His work in Government and in the community has focused on climate change policy and social justice. Upon returning to Australia, Roland joined McKinsey & Company as an associate.
Master of Ceremonies
Diane James AM
2012 Rotary District Conference Master of Ceremonies
Diane James AM is an experienced Master of Ceremonies, chairman and presenter with over 20 years’ experience in hosting State and National events. Diane is an engaging MC, with a natural ability to professionally steer events from beginning to end. She has a strong business background, establishing two highly successful start-up companies, and has extensive experience in government policy and strategy setting. Diane is able to skillfully moderate and independently chair diverse groups to a satisfactory result.
Diane has travelled widely and is an accomplished keynote speaker in both national and international arenas. A highly respected chairman with significant experience leading the Victorian Coastal Council, Diane’s leadership skills were recognized with a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) Honour in 2011. A Finalist in the 2008 Telstra Business Awards, Diane went on to win the Origin Energy/3AW Small Business Awards in the same year.
Entertainment
The Choir of Hope and Inspiration
2012 Rotary District Conference Musical Entertainment
The ARIA, Logie and Helpmann Award winning Choir of Hard Knocks, now known as the Choir of Hope and Inspiration, is one of the most unique performing groups in Australian music history! The Choir of around 30 singing members representing the homeless and disadvantaged community, has a vast repertoire of songs and stories for every occassion - pop, rock classical, jazz, gospel and original material. From the Sydney Opera House to Carols by Candlelight and the town halls of Regional Victoria, the Choir of Hope and Inspiration brings joy through musical and astounds audiences with their dynamic musical presentations winning the hearts of everyone that experiences them.
Dr Jonathon Welch AM
Conductor of The Choir of Hope & Inspiration, Social Inclusion Advocate and Rotarian
Dr Jonathon Welch is one of Australia’s most noted choral conductors and singers and is perhaps best known to many as the conductor and founder of The Choir of Hard Knocks (now known as the Choir of Hope and Inspiration). Jonathon is also an active member of the Rotary Club of Southbank.
Earning an ARIA Platinum Sales Award along the way, Jonathon has worked with some of the world’s biggest names in the music industry and has combined a successful recording, performing and conducting career with a passion for social justice and community inclusion.
The founder of Social Inclusion Week, Jonathon has been extensively commended for his work in the community, being the recipient of both the Australian of the Year Local Hero award and the RMIT Communicator of the Year in 2008 as well as receiving an Honorary Doctor of Griffith University in Queensland and being appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2009.
