Jim was appointed as Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport Regional Development, Communications and the Arts in July 2022.

Jim Betts has spent over 30 years working in government agencies in the UK, Victoria and (for the last 8 years) New South Wales.

Prior to becoming Secretary, Jim was a partner at strategy consultancy EY Port Jackson Partners, having previously led the New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) as Secretary for 2.5 years. During that period, the department undertook transformational reform in areas like land use planning, water, urban design, sustainability, climate change, biodiversity conservation and energy. From 2013 to 2019, Jim was Chief Executive Officer of Infrastructure NSW where he led the development of 2 State Infrastructure Strategies, oversaw the state’s infrastructure program, delivered major state infrastructure projects and developed a state plan for the construction sector.

Before moving to New South Wales, Jim spent 5 years in Victoria as Secretary for the Victorian Transport Department and 4 years as Victoria’s Director of Public Transport. Jim strives to be a champion for inclusivity and social justice, not least for First Nations people.

He is a supporter of St Kilda football club, but privately admits they are rubbish.

John Bradley is the Secretary of the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA). DEECA’s 6500 staff work in the portfolios of Energy and Resources, Environment, Climate Action, State Electricity Commission, Water and Agriculture across 82 locations to support thriving, productive and sustainable communities, environments and industries.

John was previously CEO of Energy Networks Australia representing gas distribution and electricity transmission and distribution businesses. He also served as CEO of the Queensland Water Commission and Director General of the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management and Department of Premier and Cabinet.

John holds an MBA from QUT and BA from the University of Queensland. He is the President of IPAA Victoria and serves on the Victorian Secretaries Board. He is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has served as a Director on the Boards of the Australian Gas Industry Trust, Infrastructure Victoria, Greening Australia Ltd, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Australian and New Zealand School of Government, the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership, Families Responsibility Commission and on the University of Queensland Senate.

Rajitha (Raj) Srikhanta is a Deputy Chief Tax Counsel (DCTC) in the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).  As DCTC, Raj is responsible for leading the resolution of significant and complex tax matters with a focus on indirect taxes, and issues across remuneration, schemes, and tax administration.

Raj joined the ATO’s graduate program in 1997.  Her previous leadership roles include Deputy Commissioner for Service Delivery Strategy and Support where she was responsible for the overarching service strategy for the ATO and shaping the way the ATO and its clients interact.  Raj has a wealth of experience in the ATO’s Client Engagement Groups, leading the Domestic Risk and Top 1000 Next Actions Programs, and the Advice and Guidance branch for public and multinational businesses as Assistant Commissioner in Public Groups and International business line, and responsible for the end-to-end administration of the $30 billion Excise product as Assistant Commissioner in Private Wealth.

In addition to this, Raj is the SES sponsor of the ATO’s Women in Melbourne Network.  The Network is aligned with the ATO’s commitment to achieving gender equality at leadership levels.  Raj is also co-champion of the ATO’s Cultural and Linguistic Diversity (CALD) network, which aims to increase cultural awareness and visibility within the workplace. 

Raj is proud to work for the ATO – an organisation that embraces all the aspects of diversity and inclusion and is committed to the meaningful engagement with our culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Nu Nu is an Assistant Secretary at the Department of Treasury and a 2021 Sir Roland Wilson Scholar with a broad range of experience across tax policy, legislation, forecasting and macroeconomic modelling. Nu Nu also previously led the BHP’s macroeconomic team in Singapore and worked in the World Bank’s macroeconomic modelling team in Washington DC.  Nu Nu is passionate about diversity and inclusion and creating a public service that truly reflects the Australian community it serves. In 2014 she led the Department of Treasury’s analysis of gender bias in promotions outcomes and most recently has been involved in analysing outcomes for NESB/CALD men and women as well as staff who identify as Indigenous or as having a disability.

Jacqueline Hui Hian Mayer is the Director of Multicultural Policy at the Department of Home Affairs. A former litigation lawyer, Jacqueline is now a happily established career public servant who prefers the Cabinet to the Courtroom. Prior to joining Home Affairs, Jacqueline held various executive level roles at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department of Defence. Jacqueline is the Founder of the Asian Australian Storytime Project – an early childhood education social enterprise which shares Asian Australian histories with all Australian children through storytelling. In her spare time, Jacqueline enjoys spending time with her Chinese Australian dog – an Australian Cattle Dog x Sharpei who responds to commands in both English and Mandarin.

Professor Rory Medcalf AM FAIIA is Head of the National Security College (NSC) at the Australian National University. He has led the College’s expansion from education, training and research into policy advice, futures analysis, public outreach, parliamentary briefing and international engagement, making the institution a key platform in the Australian policy landscape.

His professional background spans diplomacy, intelligence analysis, think tanks, academia and journalism. In government, he worked as a senior strategic analyst with Canberra’s peak intelligence assessment agency. He was an Australian diplomat, with wide experience including a posting to New Delhi, a secondment to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, truce monitoring after the conflict in Bougainville and policy development on Asian security institutions. He has contributed to three landmark international reports on nuclear arms control.

Professor Medcalf is recognized as a thought leader internationally for his work on the Indo- Pacific concept, as articulated in his book “Contest for the Indo-Pacific” (released internationally as Indo-Pacific Empire and translated into Japanese and Chinese). He is a member of the Board of the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations, the ASEAN Regional Forum Register of Experts and Eminent Persons, and the Scientific Advisory Council of the Finnish Institute for International Affairs.

In 2022 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to tertiary education and international relations. He has received the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation for services to Australia-Japan relations. In 2023 he was appointed a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (FAIIA) for his contribution to the understanding of the Indo- Pacific. His earlier career in journalism won a commendation in the Walkleys, Australia’s leading media awards.

Michelle is an ambitious and inquisitive individual interested in effectively utilising behavioural psychology, behavioural economics and ethics to gain insight into what drives human behaviour and decision-making. She has an academic background in Psychology and Neuroscience and also works within the Diversity, Equality & Inclusion (DE&I) and Ethics fields.

Michelle is currently an Organisational Culture and Change Lead at the Reserve Bank Australia (RBA).  Prior to joining the RBA, Michelle worked as a consultant advising on Risk & Compliance and Risk/Organisational Culture and Change Engagements.

Michelle’s work focuses primarily on the role that individual, environmental, societal, and cultural factors have in shaping and driving organisational culture. She views organisational culture and change through a psychological and behavioural lens, and is interested in how these two lenses can be applied to develop targeted strategies to solve and anticipate complex cultural problems.

Beyond organisational culture and change, Michelle also works within the ethics space where she focuses on the role that ethics has in decision-making and governance. Michelle draws on her psychology background to bring a deep appreciation of human behaviour to her work.

Mantej Singh is Manager, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at the Department of Planning Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI). 

He has 20 years experience across community and stakeholder engagement, community and social outcomes, partnerships and strategy and has worked across and local and state government sector. He is part of DPHI Harmony Council, NSW PSC Inclusion Council and the steering committee of DPHI Multicultural Network – Culture Connect and has helped establish and been part of many community networks.   He has led the development of the CALD Senior leaders training at DPHI focussing on anti-racism and unconscious bias.  He is also chair of the NSW Cross Sector Multicultural Leads and ERG Network. Mantej is passionate about empowering employees and communities to deliver meaningful outcomes for them supported by genuine co-design and engagement.

Vanessa is a Director in the Pacific Division at the Department of Defence. She has spent a decade specialising in strategy, policy and engagement in the Indo-Pacific. She has served as a trusted advisor to a number of senior military and Defence leaders, including Chief of Army and Deputy Secretary Strategy, Policy, and Industry. Vanessa is passionate about staff development, and supporting CALD colleagues in the national security sector. Vanessa has a Master of Military and Defence Studies and is a graduate of the Australian Command and Staff College. She is a Cantonese heritage speaker.