Business Sydney
FRED HILMER AO | WHAT'S WRONG WITH BOARDS | BOOK LAUNCH & RECEPTION
With David Gonski AC & Megan Motto, CEO, Governance Institute of Australia
Monday, 22 August 2022
5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Where
MinterEllison offices
Registration
Business Sydney Members & Guests
WHAT'S WRONG WITH BOARDS is a seminal book intended to provoke a more fundamental and far-reaching conversation about governance than we have witnessed to date. The public company governed by an independent Board is under pressure. In Fred Hilmer’s view, flawed governance is the key issue. Almost all major decisions are and can only be made by the Board, including critical appointments (CEO, chair and directors) major investments and strategy. If these decisions are poorly made the buck stops with the Board. Hilmer contends all is not well with governance, not just in Australia but more widely, as failures here have parallel in most economies where public companies are significant players.
What’s Wrong With Boards is intended to aid those who sit on the Boards of Australian publicly-listed companies, the executive teams who work with them, the advisers who support them, and the regulators who oversee their activities and performance. Its objective is to help large listed companies deliver on their potential as wealth creators, on the delivery of important products and services, and as a source of meaningful satisfying employment opportunities.
David Gonski AC launched the book and Megan Motto, CEO, Governance Institute of Australia conducted an informative Q&A with Fred Hilmer & David Gonski.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: PROFESSOR FRED HILMER AO
Professor Fred Hilmer was Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of New South Wales from 2006 - 2015. Prior to taking up this position, he was Chief Executive Officer of John Fairfax Holdings Limited from 1998 – 2005. Professor Hilmer was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1998 for his service to management education, competition policy, and workplace reform.
Fred has served as Director, TNT, Coca-Cola Amatil, Macquarie Bank, Chair of Pacific Power and Deputy Chair of Fosters Brewing Group and Westfield Holdings and related companies.
Professor Hilmer has written extensively on strategy, organisation and economic reform and is the author of a number of books, including: When The Luck Runs Out, New Games/New Rules, co-authored Strictly Boardroom, Working Relations and Management Redeemed, and, most recently, The Fairfax Experience — What The Management Texts Didn’t Teach Me.
Event Partner
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
other Special Guests
DAVID GONSKI AC
Chancellor of the University of New South Wales
David is Chancellor of the University of New South Wales, President of the Art Gallery of NSW Trust, Non-Executive Chairman of Barrenjoey Capital Partners Group Holdings Pty Limited, Chairman of Sydney Airport Limited and Chairman of the UNSW Foundation Ltd. He is a member of the board of the Lowy Institute for International Policy, a non-executive Member of LeapFrog Investment’s Global Leadership Council, a Patron of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation and Raise Foundation.
He was previously Chairman of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, Chair of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools for the Commonwealth Government of Australia.
He was also a member of the Takeovers Panel, the ASIC External Advisory Panel and Director of Singapore Airlines Limited, the Westfield Group and Singapore Telecommunications Limited, Chairman of Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd, the Australian Securities Exchange Ltd, the Sydney Theatre Company, the Guardians of the Future Fund, the Australia Council for the Arts, the Board of Trustees of Sydney Grammar School and Investec Bank (Australia) Ltd.
MEGAN MOTTO
Chief Executive Officer, Governance Institute of Australia
Megan Motto is Chief Executive Officer of Governance Institute of Australia, a national membership association and leading authority on governance.
Megan drives the direction of the Institute that advocates for more than 43,000 governance and risk management professionals from the listed, unlisted and not-for profit sectors.
Prior to her Governance Institute role, Megan was CEO of Consult Australia. Megan is also currently a Director of Standards Australia and a National Director for the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA).
Megan has a BA/BEd, a MA in Communications Management and is a Fellow of both Governance Institute of Australia and Australian Institute of Company Directors.