Online Webinar
Summary:In this forum, the panel will explore the socioeconomic challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to our island, and the possible initiatives and strategies to ensure a safe social and economically stable future.
Presenter(s):
- Professor Rufus Black, Vice-Chancellor, University of Tasmania
- Daryl Connelly, Chief Executive Officer, Cradle Coast Authority
- Kym Goodes, Principal, 3P Advisory
- Professor Libby Lester, Director of the Institute for Social Change
The University of Tasmania has established The Tasmania Project to give a voice to, and to gather information from, the community during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. As the Tasmanian community moves to adapt to and recover from the pandemic, the research and modelling developed through The Tasmania Project will underlie the strategies and initiatives to support the State’s response.
In response to the pandemic, the Tasmania Government launched a Economic and Social Recovery Council to assist in rebuilding a stronger Tasmania. The Council is tasked with developing a roadmap to determine how best to mitigate the economic and social impacts of the pandemic, and to identify opportunities for economic and social renewal.
In this forum, the panel will explore the socioeconomic challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has bought to our island. They will identify and discuss these challenges, inquiring into possible initiatives and strategies to ensure a safe, social and economically stable environment for the future of our island.
Meet the Panel
Professor Rufus Black is the Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Tasmania. Previously, he was Master of Melbourne University’s Ormond College and an Enterprise Professor in the Department of Management and Marketing and a Principal Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne.
Rufus’ private sector experience includes nine years as a partner at McKinsey and Company, serving clients in Australia and Asia, and as a Director for national law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth. His educational and social sector experience includes being the President of Museums Victoria, the Deputy Chancellor of Victoria University, the founding Chair of the Board of Teach for Australia, a Director of the New York based Teach for All and a Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.
He has worked extensively for government at Federal and State levels.
He conducted the Black Review into the Department of Defence and the Prime Minister’s Independent Review of the Australian Intelligence Community and was the Strategic Advisor to the Secretary of Education in Victoria. He was a Board Member of Innovation Science Australia and was recently appointed to the Tasmanian Premier's Economic and Social Recovery Council. Rufus holds degrees in law, politics, economics, ethics and theology from the University of Melbourne and Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.
Kym Goodes, the principal of 3P Advisory, is recognised as one of the foremost public voices in Tasmania. She has two decades of experience working in government and the not for profit sector in social and economic public policy fields as diverse as education, employment, transport, energy, digital inclusion, health, housing and human services.
She has worked across both the public and private sectors as a sought-after adviser specialising in public engagement, corporate social responsibility, social licence to operate and evidence informed economic and social policy and program responses.
While CEO of TasCOSS, Kym was recognised for her work to challenge and change the systems, behaviours and attitudes that lead to inequality and disadvantage. A recognised leader and change maker, Kym has worked as an advocate and lobbyist on a range of policy, projects and legislative changes that contribute to ensuring everyone has the opportunity to live a good life in this beautiful island state.
In addition to her work in her advisory business, Kym is a Director on the Brand Tasmania Board, is the Chair of the East Coast Tasmania Tourism Board, a state council member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Director on the Board of Wintringham, a unique national aged care provider supporting older Australians who have spent many years homeless and living in poverty. Kym was recently appointed to the Premier's Economic and Social Recovery Council.
Daryl Connelly was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Cradle Coast Authority in December 2019, to oversee a period of organisational reform, including a renewed focus on economic development and Council collaboration. Prior to that, he was Co-founder and Executive Officer at Switch Tasmania, a not for profit established in 2011 to support people with a business or business idea, where he remains on the board.
Other committee roles include the Tasmanian Libraries Advisory Board, the RDA Tasmania Committee, the Institute of Public Administration Australia (Tasmania) and the Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, where he is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer, supporting a number of PhD and Honours students.
Daryl holds a Master of Business from the University of Tasmania and is a graduate of the Tasmanian Leaders Program.
Moderated by Professor Libby Lester, Director of the Institute for Social Change, University of Tasmania
Libby Lester is Director of the Institute for Social Change and Professor of Media at the University of Tasmania. Her research focuses on how issues are raised, understood and responded to in public debate, and she is recognised internationally for her work on environmental communications. Before joining the University, Professor Lester worked as a journalist, reporting on social, political and environmental issues for major Australian newspapers and magazines, including The Age, Good Weekend and the Melbourne Herald.
