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Dr. Diane Smith-Gander AO
Chancellor
University of Western Australia
Diane Smith-Gander AO is a professional company director with an accomplished business career 40 years in the making. She is Chair of Zip Co, Perenti Limited and private health insurer HBF. On 1st January 2025 Diane became the 16th & first female, Chancellor of the University of Western Australia.
Diane enjoyed a successful executive career ending in the C-Suite at Westpac Banking Corporation and with a period as a partner of McKinsey & Company in the United States serving global clients in diverse industries.
A keen advocate for gender equity Diane is past President of Chief Executive Women, Australia’s pre-eminent women’s advocacy group. In 2019 Diane was made an officer in the Order of Australia for services to business, women’s engagement in executive roles, gender equality and the community.
A former representative basketball player, Diane is a past chair of Basketball Australia and Australia's national anti-doping organisation. She now chairs the independent Nominations Committee of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA). Diane has completed independent reviews of high performance management and governance in sports.
Diane is a regular speaker on business topics including leadership, strategy and gender equity. For a period she hosted a panel show on Sky Business. She also lectures in the MBA program at UWA.
Diane holds an MBA from the University of Sydney and a BEc and Honorary Doctorate of Economics from UWA. A Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Governance Institute of Australia, in 2019 Diane was made an officer in the Order of Australia for services to business, women’s engagement in executive roles, gender equality and the community.
Speaking at
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11:55am–12:35pmWed 25 MarSummit StageWinthrop HallOpen
Talent of Tomorrow
Talent as Critical Infrastructure - Rebuilding Work, Skills & Opportunity in the Age of AI
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Amy StanleyChief People OfficerHBF Health Limited
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Prof. David Lee Kuo ChuenChairmanGlobal Fintech Institute
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Dr. Diane Smith-Gander AOChancellorUniversity of Western Australia
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Prof. Lam Khin YongVice President (Industry)Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
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Paula RogersPrincipal Program Adviser, International Partnerships and EngagementPerth USAsia CentreModerator
About this session
Talent and research are crucial engines of digital economies. This session tackles the systemic challenge of tech-driven disruption, examining how to build robust talent pipelines and bridge the gap between lab and market. Experts will discuss how academic research translates into deployable innovations, how industry-university partnerships can be fostered to deliver real-world applications, and how reskilling can be scaled to meet market demand. Attendees will gain outcome-driven insights with illustrative examples from Western Australia's experience as a live testbed for scalable models of collaboration.
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