Patron-in-Chief
Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia
A businesswoman and community leader, Ms Mostyn is known for her exceptional service to the Australian community. She has a long history in executive and governance roles across diverse sectors, including business, sport, climate change, the arts, policy and not-for-profit.
In 2024, Ms Mostyn was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for eminent service in the social justice, gender equity, sporting, cultural and business sectors, to reconciliation, and to environmental sustainability. She had previously been appointed an Officer of the Order in 2021.
For her continued contribution as an advocate for gender inclusion and equality, sustainability, and climate change action, Ms Mostyn was awarded the 2020 United Nations Day Honour Award and an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the Australian National University in 2018.
Most recently, Ms Mostyn chaired the boards of Aware Super, Centre for Policy Development, Beyond Blue, Australians Investing in Women, Foundation for Young Australians, Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, Australian National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) and The Climate Council.
She has also served on the boards of some of Australia’s leading companies including Mirvac, Citi Australia, Transurban and Virgin Australia.
She dedicated more than a decade to the boards of the GO Foundation and Climateworks Australia, during this time she also served on the boards of Tonic Media and Global Business & Sustainable Development Commission.
Ms Mostyn was a Commissioner with the Australian Football League for over a decade until 2017.
She has also been a strong supporter of women in sport, and was an advocate for the creation of the AFL Women’s league and co-founded the Minerva Network, Australia’s only mentorship and development program dedicated to professional female athletes.
From 2013–2017, she was President of the Australian Council for International Development.
Ms Mostyn became an inaugural commissioner with the National Mental Health Commission in 2012 and Deputy Chair of the Diversity Council of Australia in 2010. She served on the Australian faculty of the Cambridge University Business & Sustainability Leadership Program from 2010–2024.
She has contributed to independent reviews for the betterment of the community as a member of the panel of the Crawford Sports Funding Review (2009), and Review of the Treatment of Women in the Australian Defence Force (2012). She chaired the NSW Government Women’s Economic Opportunities Review (2022), and Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce report (2023).
She also held membership to the boards of Reconciliation Australia and Australia Council for the Arts.
Before taking on non-executive roles, she held senior executive roles at Insurance Australia Group, Optus, and Cable & Wireless plc.
Ms Mostyn is married to Mr Simeon Beckett SC and they have an adult daughter, Lotte Beckett. Ms Mostyn is an avid Sydney Swans fan, and served on the board from 2017–2024.
Joint Vice Regal Patrons Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC and Mr Dennis Wilson
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC is the 39th Governor of New South Wales, commencing her five year tenure on 2 May 2019.
Prior to her appointment as Governor, Her Excellency enjoyed a long and distinguished law career spanning 43 years, during which time she served as a role model for women in law at both the State and national level.
Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1989, in 1993 she was made a judge of the Federal Court of Australia, the first woman to sit exclusively in that Court. In 1996, she achieved the distinction of being the first woman appointed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal and, subsequently, as the first woman to be appointed as its President. She served, on a number of occasions, as Administrator of the Government of the State of New South Wales.
She was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List on 12 June 2006 for service to the judiciary and the law.
Her Excellency has three children - Erin, Lauren and Anthony Sullivan - and is married to Mr. Dennis Wilson, a barrister, mediator, accredited international arbitrator and Adjunct Professor of Law, at Notre Dame University, Sydney.
Her Excellency brings her deep commitment to education, youth leadership, human rights and social justice to the role in service of the people of New South Wales.
Mr Dennis Wilson is a barrister, mediator, and accredited international arbitrator, whose work generally includes difficult cases in both fact and law, dealing in matters of high value or involving significant principle.
He is a long-standing member of the legal profession in Australia and has advised on legislative review and policy development and implementation in environmental law and in the mining and resources sectors. Mr Wilson has a particular interest in the World Trade Organisation, the Energy Charter Treaty, Mining and Oil and Gas law and dispute resolution.
Mr Wilson, is an Adjunct Professor of Law, at Notre Dame University, Sydney.
Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC, Governor of Victoria
Professor Margaret Gardner was the 9th and first woman President and Vice-Chancellor of Monash University from 1 September 2014 until 4 August 2023.
Prior to joining Monash, Professor Gardner was Vice-Chancellor and President of RMIT from April 2005 until August 2014. She has extensive academic experience, having held various leadership positions in Australian universities throughout her career, including at the University of Queensland and Griffith University.
She attained a first-class honours degree in Economics and a PhD from the University of Sydney. In 1988, she was a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow, spending time at MIT, Cornell and Berkley. In 2018, she was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Professor Gardner was Chair of the Group of Eight Universities in Australia from 2020 to 2023.
She was also a Director of Infrastructure Victoria from 2015 to 2023, the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) from 2015 to 2023 and Chair of CASE Asia-Pacific Regional Council from 2019 to 2023. Professor Gardner was Chair of Universities Australia from 2017 to 2019 and Museum Victoria from 2008 to 2016 and chaired the Strategic Advisory Committee and the Expert Panel of the Office of Learning and Teaching (Federal Government Department of Education and Training). She has also been a member of various other boards and committees, including the Australian-American Fulbright Commission, the ANZAC Centenary Advisory Board and the International Education Advisory Committee, which led to the Chaney Report.
In 2007, Professor Gardner was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of service to tertiary education, particularly in the areas of university governance and gender equity, and to industrial relations in Queensland. Subsequently in January 2020, Professor Gardner was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for her eminent service to tertiary education through leadership and innovation in teaching and learning, research and financial sustainability.
Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC was inaugurated as the 30th Governor of Victoria on 9 August 2023.
Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeannette Young AC PSM, Governor of Queensland
Dr Jeannette Young and her husband, Professor Graeme Nimmo are proud to serve all Queenslanders.
The Governor was born in Sydney in 1963, eldest daughter of Dr David Young and Mrs Lilly Young. After graduating from Medicine at Sydney University in 1986, she commenced her medical career at Westmead Hospital. During that time, she married, had a daughter, Rebecca, and transitioned to Medical Management, completing a Master of Business Administration at Macquarie University.
After her marriage ended, the Governor – with Rebecca – moved to Queensland in 1994 to become Director of Medical Services at the Rockhampton Hospital. In 1999, she relocated to Brisbane to take up the role of Executive Director of Medical Services at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, and served on various workforce committees, including as Chair of AMWAC (Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee).
During this time, the Governor met her second husband, Professor Graeme Nimmo. In March 2000, they were married, and in June 2001 welcomed a daughter, Jane.
In August 2005, the Governor was appointed to the role of Chief Health Officer for Queensland, with responsibility for leading the State’s preventative health and public health agendas, including response to public health emergencies. In January 2020, when the COVID-19 virus outbreak was declared a pandemic, the Governor became the State Health Incident Controller.
During her medical career, Dr Young had specialist qualifications as a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators and as a Fellow by Distinction of the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom. She was also appointed Fellow of numerous other eminent education and research institutions, has received honorary doctorates from two Queensland Universities, and has received an Australia Day Achievement Medallion, as well as a Public Service Medal.
Her Excellency was sworn-in as the 27th Governor of Queensland on 1 November 2021.
Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia
Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC is a proud sixth-generation South Australian - her mother, the Honourable Jennifer Cashmore AM, was a South Australian parliamentarian and her late father, Ian, was a manager at Hills Industries. Her late step‑father, Stewart Cockburn AM, was a distinguished Walkley award winning journalist.
Her Excellency studied economics at the University of Adelaide, while there becoming the first female captain of the rowing club in its 103 year history, and went on to join the Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs in 1985. She worked in Hong Kong during the early years of China’s reform and opening, eventually becoming Australia’s Ambassador to China from 2011-2015.
In 2016, Her Excellency was appointed head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, pursuing Australia’s interests as world powers shifted and the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. She also led the department through a period of cultural change, encouraging more women into senior ranks.
She has also been International Adviser to the Prime Minister and Chief of Staff to the Foreign Minister and Defence Minister.
In June 2021 Her Excellency was made a Companion of the Order of Australia for eminent service to public administration through the advancement of Australia's diplomatic, trade and cultural interests, particularly with the People's Republic of China and the Indo-Pacific region, to innovative foreign policy development and high level program delivery, and as the 36th Governor appointed in South Australia.
Her Excellency is married to Mr Rod Bunten, a former British diplomat and high school teacher. They have four adult children and a cavoodle, Alfie.
Click here for the Governor’s official website.
His Excellency the Honourable Christopher John Dawson AC APM, Governor of Western Australia
His Excellency the Honourable Chris Dawson APM was sworn in as the 34th Governor of Western Australia on 15 July 2022.
The Dawson family have been part of the early colonial settlers over five generations of farming and law enforcement. The Governor’s great-great-grandparents arrived in the then Swan River colony in Western Australia in 1830.
Christopher John Dawson APM was educated at Perth Modern School before joining the Western Australia Police Force in 1976, going on to provide 46 years of service in Australian law enforcement.
He served in country and metropolitan positions, criminal investigation, training and senior roles. The Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2002 saw him awarded the Australian Police Medal for distinguished service.
After 10 years as Deputy Commissioner, he left WA for a national role in Canberra between 2014 to 2017 as Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Crime Commission, amalgamating several agencies into the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. He also served as Director of the Australian Institute of Criminology during this period.
He was appointed Commissioner of the Western Australia Police Force in August 2017, serving until July 2022. During the period of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Commissioner Dawson coordinated the State of Emergency and the Vaccine program.
He is married to Darrilyn Dawson, Education Consultant, with two married children and five grandchildren.
Click here for the Governor's official website.
His Honour Professor the Honourable Hugh Heggie AO PSM
Administrator of the Northern Territory
Throughout his 50-year health career, His Honour demonstrated outstanding service and excellence in clinical practice, leadership, management and administrative fields. His Honour’s compassionate and exemplary contributions to the health and wellbeing of the Northern Territory’s population, particularly the Indigenous community was recognised in January 2021 with the awarding of the Public Service Medal (PSM) for outstanding public service to community health in the Northern Territory. His Honour has participated in overseas humanitarian disaster responses through the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre and in 2021 was awarded the Australian Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal for his contributions during the 2015 Cyclone Pam disaster in Vanuatu.
His Honour was born in Melbourne, the eldest of 6 children, attending Bonbeach High School. His father was a motor mechanic and his mother did voluntary work. On completion of his first degree he relocated to Sydney where he worked as a research pharmacologist and in haematology before returning to Melbourne to complete his medical training. After 20 years as a Rural Generalist Practitioner on the Mornington Peninsula Victoria, including Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Emergency Medicine and Inpatient care, he relocated to the Northern Territory with his family in 2001. He has 6 children and 5 grandchildren.
Prior to his appointment as Administrator of the Northern Territory, His Honour was the Chief Health Officer and Executive Director of Public Health and Clinical Excellence in the Northern Territory from 2016 to 2022, and an Executive Member of the Northern Territory Health Leadership Committee. His leadership and advice played a significant role in ensuring the safety of Territorians during the COVID-19 pandemic. His Honour has served on numerous boards, committees and councils locally and nationally, including Radiation Health and Digital Health.
In 2022, His Honour was awarded Full Academic Status as a Professor (Academic Level E) in the College of Medicine and Public Health with Flinders University. The Administrator holds a Batchelor of Science (Pharmacology), a Batchelor of Medicine and Batchelor of Surgery (University of Melbourne). He also has a Graduate Diploma in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (1983) and a Graduate Certificate in Health Professional Education (2011).
His Honour has lived and worked in remote Indigenous communities and regional centres across the Northern Territory and actively promotes reconciliation with, and the progression of, Australia’s First Nations people. As Administrator of the Northern Territory, His Honour values the importance of supporting and promoting all regions of the Territory and its diverse community. He is passionate about hearing the voices and stories of all Territorians.
