Melbourne Forum Autumn Newsletter 2025

As we settle into Autumn and the second quarter of the year, we've already hosted eight speaker events covering a remarkable range of topics and featuring insightful conversation leaders. Member engagement has also been strong across our member-led events, including our Non-Fiction Forum, Cultural Life Series, and Dangerous Dinners. A highlight was our signature dinner with ABC Chair, Kim Williams AM, which was both informative and thought-provoking. Kim generously shared his remarks, adding further value to an already enriching evening.


Check the Calendar for Forward Events
Now is the time to check your calendar and our website or app for upcoming events in May, June and July. These include:

May
•    Dr Stephen Duckett AM and Michael Gorton AM on Where next for Healthcare in Victoria?
•    Dr Doug Hilton, CEO of the CSIRO, on Australia’s National Science Agency
•    Ben Sorensen and Professor Adrian Neild on Australia's First Lunar Rover Space Mission to the Moon - The Roo-ver Mission
•    Lawyer David Whiting on 43 Years Answering Melburnians' Legal Questions

June
•    Dr Geoff Raby AO on Great Game On: The Contest for Central Asia & Global Supremacy
•    Professor Meng Law on AI in Medicine: Benefits and Challenges
•    Associate Professor William Partlett on What is Driving Trump's Turn to Putin? And What Does it Mean for the World?

July
•    Anthea Hancocks, CEO of the Scanlon Foundation Research Institute, on Mapping Social Cohesion in a World in Turmoil 
•    The Hon Steve Bracks AC on The Bracks Timor-Leste Governance Project
•    Danielle Wood, Australian Productivity Commission Chair, on How do we improve Australia’s productivity?


Your Input and Participation
We warmly welcome suggestions for topics, speakers, and events. While we always aim for a balanced mix of men and women conversation leaders, scheduling availability has recently led to a greater number of male speakers. However, you'll notice a growing presence of female conversation leaders as the year unfolds.

Sometimes, members may find themselves not knowing many others at our events. If that’s the case, we encourage you to connect with one of our board members — they’ll be more than happy to introduce you to others. You can identify board members via our event booklets.

We love welcoming new faces, whether you're a brand new member or returning after a break. And to our long-standing members: we encourage you to bring along colleagues and friends to experience a Melbourne Forum event. It’s a great way to share the many benefits of being informed, engaged, and inspired — not just by our conversation leaders, but also by our vibrant community of members.

And so, I am delighted to introduce our newest members who've joined us over the past four months, along with several returning members. Let’s extend a warm welcome to:

•    Andrew Saunders – Non-Executive Director
•    Christina Gillies AM – Chris Gillies Consulting
•    Christine Plumejeau – Quality Assurance Manager, Australasian Academy of Higher Education
•    Dr Allison Stewart – Division General Manager, Mott MacDonald
•    Dr Jane Homewood – Regional Director, Housing Australia
•    Dr Jennifer Reilly – Specialist anaesthetist and honorary academic at the University of Melbourne
•    Ian McKay – Papua LNG Asset Manager, Esso Australia
•    Jaime de Ano – Executive Director, Government Relations and Public Policy, Federation University Australia
•    Mike Davis – General Manager, Innovation, Good Shepherd ANZ
•    Mithran Doraisamy – Board Member and Executive Coach
•    Nicholas Wilson – Commissioner, Fair Work Commission
•    Peter Bartlett – Partner, MinterEllison
•    The Hon Jaala Pulford – Chair and Non-Executive Director 

And many of our recent conversation leaders have again joined our Forum: Lisa Watts, Patrick Elligett, Peter Harris AO, Kim Williams AM, and Emeritus Professor Paul Strangio. 

Wishing you a safe and restorative holiday season, as we acknowledge the ongoing celebration of Passover and the upcoming Easter holidays.


Marianne Broadbent
Chair, Melbourne Forum