Short Courses The Australian Directors Program

The Australian Directors Program

Equipping Non-Executive Directors to lead with confidence and impact.

schedule 6 days
attach_money 18,000
info
Fee subsidies for self-funding participants may be available

The Australian Directors Program Overview

A program for recently appointed Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) of S&P/ASX 200 companies - delivered in partnership with Melbourne Business School, the Australian Institute of Company Directors and AustralianSuper.

A program for recently appointed Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) of S&P/ASX 200 companies - delivered in partnership with Melbourne Business School, the Australian Institute of Company Directors and AustralianSuper.

Today’s directors face complex challenges, navigating economic and global uncertainties, managing technological disruptions like AI and cybersecurity, ensuring corporate governance and ethics, developing and overseeing effective strategies, and addressing climate change and sustainability pressures.

The Australian Directors Program provides direct access to leading governance experts and real Australian boardroom case studies - presented by directors who lived the decisions. In a confidential Chatham House environment, participants will be equipped with the skills, insights, and peer networks needed to lead with confidence, awareness, and impact in today’s dynamic business environment.

Who should attend The Australian Directors Program?

Non-Executive Directors
  • This is an exclusive program that offers a customised, high-impact experience for a select cohort of Non-Executive Directors from S&P/ASX 200 companies, each with fewer than three years of board experience on a listed company.

The Australian Directors Program Key Takeaways

Identifying the duties and responsibilities of a director
  • Identifying the duties and responsibilities of a director.
  • Understanding the director's role in formulating and monitoring strategy, and identifying and assessing opportunity and risk.
  • Gaining insights from leading directors on strategies for growth and value creation, the allocation of capital, and business turnarounds and transformations.
  • Appreciating the nature of some of the current material risks including climate, cyber and AI, and directors’ role in their governance.
  • Receiving practical guidance for members of audit, remuneration, risk, sustainability and nomination committees.
  • Understanding the role of directors in setting, and providing oversight of, corporate culture as well as dealing with executive performance and succession planning.
  • Gaining tips for leading during mergers and acquisitions, and crises and shareholder activism, from directors with real lived experience.

The Australian Directors Program Key Topics Covered

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Governance and Risk

The current corporate environment, director responsibilities and their effectiveness, risk management and cyber risk.
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Sustainable Value Creation

Sustainability, strategy and value creation, capital allocation and markets, managing community expectations, overseeing business transformations and expansions, dealing with regulators and government.
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Future-Focused Board

Overseeing M&A, shareholder engagement, stakeholder activism, climate reporting and strategy, succession management, crisis management and AI.

Program Director

Tim Bednall
Lead Partner for Corporate Governance, King & Wood Mallesons

Tim has over 40 years’ experience in corporate law and governance, advising many of Australia’s top corporations - including a majority in the S&P/ASX 50 - as well as the Federal and various state governments.

He served on the ASX Corporate Governance Council representing the Law Council of Australia and was an adjunct law faculty member at the University of Sydney for 18 years.

Tim is currently a non-executive director of Amplitude Energy Limited (ASX: AEL) and Perpetual Equity Investment Company Limited (ASX: PIC) and sits on the board of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia Foundation.

Tim initiated the Directors’ Colloquium, a program for senior non-executive directors, that ran from 2019-2022 at AGSM.

A Message from our Leaders

Dr Jenny George will become the next Dean of Melbourne Business School

Professor Jenny George

Dean, Melbourne Business School
"Being a director isn’t just about managing risk and complying with governance frameworks. It’s about real partnership between board members and executives in setting strategy, focusing on value creation and being courageous. This program is designed to stretch you, support you, and set you up to thrive in the boardroom."
Ken Mackenzie | Melbourne Business School
Chair, Melbourne Business School
"Boards today face a wall of complex issues, from AI to climate risk. What’s exciting about this program is how we cut through the noise, give you practical tools, and bring together peers who know exactly what you’re dealing with."

Program Presenters

Together, Tim, Jenny and Ken lead a distinguished faculty and advisory board of senior ASX Chairs to ensure academic rigour and real‑world board insight.

Christine O'Reilly Melbourne Business School

Christine O’Reilly 
Director of BHP Group Limited

Collin Carter AM Melbourne Business School

Colin Carter AM
Senior Advisor, The Boston Consulting Group
Wesley Walden | Melbourne Business School

Wesley Walden
Managing Partner, Australia and New Zealand, McKinsey
Pamela Hanrahan Melbourne Business School

Pamela Hanrahan
Consultant, Johnson Winter Slattery
Stephen Miles Melbourne Business School

Stephen Miles
Founder & CEO, TMG (Usa)

Christian Gergis Melbourne Business School

Christian Gergis
Head of Policy, AICD
Nicole Gillespie Melbourne Business School

Nicole Gillespie
Chair of Trust and Professor of Management, MBS
Geoff Martin Melbourne Business School

Geoff Martin
Professor of Strategy, MBS
Ujwal Kayande | Melbourne Business School

Ujwal Kayande
Professor of Marketing, Founding Director Centre for Business Analytics MBS
Dr Gary Veal biodiversity business

Gary Veale
Executive Director, Sustainable Value Creation Institute, MBS

Case Study Speakers

Case Studies

Michael Wilkins AO
  • Chair, QBE Insurance Group Limited.
  • Chair, Medibank Private Limited.
  • Fellow, Australian Institute of Company Directors.
  • Fellow, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

Mike is an experienced non-executive director with more than 30 years’ executive experience in financial services in Australia and Asia, including insurance and investment management.

He is the former Managing Director and CEO of Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG), former Managing Director and CEO of Promina Group and former Managing Director of Tyndall Australia Limited. Mike has also served as a director of Alinta Limited, AMP Limited, Maple-Brown Abbott Limited, The Geneva Association, and the Australian Business and Community Network.

He was a member of the Australian Government’s Financial Sector Advisory Council for five years and a member of the Business Council of Australia for eight years. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017 for distinguished service to the insurance industry, particularly to improved corporate social responsibility standards, to the building of natural disaster resilience and safer communities, and to workplace diversity.

Warwick Negus

Chair and Independent Director, Dexus Funds Management Limited.
(Director since 1 February 2021 and Chair since 27 October 2022)

Warwick is also Chair of the Board Nomination & Governance Committee, and a member of the Board Audit Committee, Board People & Remuneration Committee, Board Risk Committee and Board Sustainability Committee.

Warwick is Chair of the Bank of Queensland (ASX: BOQ) and a non-executive director of Virgin Australia Holdings Limited, Terrace Tower Group, New South Wales Rugby Union Limited and Tantallon Capital Advisors. He is also Deputy Chancellor and a member of the Council of UNSW.

Warwick has more than 30 years of funds management, finance and property industry experience in Australia, Europe and Asia. Through his experiences as an executive and a non-executive director, Warwick brings expertise in the management and governance of complex organisations particularly in the fields of fund management and finance.

Previous executive roles include Chief Executive Officer of Colonial First State Global Asset Management, Chief Executive Officer of 452 Capital, and Goldman Sachs Managing Director in Australia, London, and Singapore. Warwick was formerly Chair of UNSW Global and Pengana Capital Group, and a non-executive director of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and FINSIA.

Peter Warne

Independent Non-Executive Chairman, Virgin Australia

Peter was appointed to the Board on 12 March 2025 as an independent Non-Executive Director and became Chairman in June 2025.

Peter has over 40 years’ experience across executive and board leadership across the financial and investment banking sectors, including an executive career at Bankers Trust Australia Limited, where he headed the Global Financial Markets Group.

Peter has over 20 years’ experience as a director and currently serves on the board of ASX listed companies IPH Limited, Argo Investments Limited and Argo Global Listed Infrastructure Limited as chairman. He is a member of the UniSuper board and chair of the UniSuper investment committee. Peter also serves as Chair of St Andrews Cathedral School Foundation, and is a non-executive director of law firm Allens and Financial Markets Standards Board Limited (UK).

Peter previous experience includes chair roles at Macquarie Group, ALE Property Group, OFX and T Corp as well as director roles at ASX Limited and the Securities Exchange Guarantee Corporation. Peter was also a board member of NSW Net Zero Emissions and Clean Economy Board from its inception in 2022 until its disbandment in 2024.

Peter has a Bachelor of Arts (Actuarial Studies) from Macquarie University.

Meredith Hellicar

Mentor at CMi Merryck

Meredith’s senior executive career has included several Managing Director and CEO roles, including TNT Logistics Asia, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, and InTech Financial Services as well as line, strategic and functional roles. Her non-executive career has included the Chairmanship of Australian public and private companies, international boards and government entities. She has worked in the telecommunications, energy, resources, logistics, leisure, environment, airport, professional services and financial services sectors and with companies based in Australia, Asia, USA and Europe.

As an executive, Meredith has successfully led several significant business start-ups and transformations (strategic, cultural and operational). She has had extensive executive experience in major listed, multinational and privately owned companies and most enjoyed releasing the full potential of those with whom she has worked. Meredith led TNT Logistics’ Asia start-up and expansion, building businesses in China, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, and she successfully merged Corrs’ five businesses into one national top tier law firm.

She assumed the Chairmanship of James Hardie Limited NV in 2004, when the company was in a deep and very public crisis, and ensured ongoing shareholder and stakeholder support for the company, a change in executive leadership and Board composition, and the delivery of a sustainable and ground-breaking asbestos compensation settlement. Meredith was a member of the Australian Delegation that negotiated the UN Convention on Climate Change and was awarded a Centenary Medal for her contribution to Australian Society in Business Leadership.

As a mentor, she has undertaken a broad range of individual and team mentoring engagements which draw on the breadth and depth of her own leadership and business experience in order to help improve the impact of her clients on the performance of their businesses and the experiences of their own clients, customers and staff.

The Australian Directors Program is built upon the critical principle that the best way to prepare for the boardroom is to learn from the decisions of those who have already sat there. This is why we place real Australian boardroom case studies at the core of our curriculum.

Dinner Speakers

Catherine Livingstone AC

Independent Chair, Pacific National

In addition to being Chancellor of UTS, Ms Livingstone is currently:

  • Independent Chair, Pacific National
  • Director, Saluda Medical, Inc.
  • Director, Quasar Satellite Technologies
  • Director, The Australian Ballet
  • Director Australian Design Council Limited

Catherine’s executive career spanned more than 22 years, where she held general management and finance leadership roles in the field of implantable medical devices. She was CEO of Cochlear Limited from 1994 – 2000, taking it through IPO in 1995.

In her subsequent non-executive career, Ms. Livingstone has served as the Chairman of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Telstra Corporation Limited and CSIRO. She is a former President of the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Museum and Chief Executive Women. She has served on the Boards of Macquarie Group, Goodman Fielder, Rural Press, The George Institute for Global Health, Worley Ltd, and was a member of the NSW Innovation and Productivity Council, the Commonwealth Science Council and the Industry Growth Centres Advisory Committee.

Will Harvey

Professor of Leadership, MBS

Will Harvey is Professor of Leadership and the inaugural Director of the Social Purpose Centre at Melbourne Business School. He is an International Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Corporate Reputation. Will has 15 years’ experience in leadership, research, teaching, consulting, and board roles. He has held academic positions in Australia, Canada, China, France, India, Mexico the UK, and the US.

Will has worked with a wide range of leaders across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, including JP Morgan, Lloyds Banking Group, Rio Tinto, the Bank of England, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Defence, the United Nations, Libraries Unlimited, and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. His experience includes leadership development programs, masterclasses, senior leadership and board workshops, and chief executive coaching events. Will has been an external examiner for executive education programmes at Henley Business School and Warwick Business School.

Will’s style of engagement is highly collaborative and inclusive, emphasising interaction, diagnostic testing, simulation, and group problem-solving. Will’s work draws on his extensive research on reputation, leadership, talent management, strategy, and communications, which focuses on solving complex client problems. His research has been published with major publishers like Cambridge University Press and in Financial Times Top 50 journals, which underpins his content and facilitation approach with senior leaders. His work has featured in media such as the BBC, Bloomberg, the Financial Times, Fortune, the Australian and Harvard Business Review. Will recently published his book, Reputations at Stake, with Oxford University Press.

Shaun Manuell

Head of Australian Equities, AustralianSuper

Mr Manuell is responsible for managing the Australian equity team at AustralianSuper, a role he has held since 2013. AustralianSuper is Australia’s largest superannuation (pension) fund, managing over A$150b on behalf of its 2.1 million members.

In his previous role, Mr Manuell worked at Equity Trustees for ten years as the Head of Asset Management and Private Clients. Prior to this he worked in finance in the UK for 6 years, having commenced his career as a lawyer in Melbourne. Mr Manuell holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Law from Monash University. He also holds a Master of Business Administration (Dean’s Honour List) from Melbourne Business School.

The inclusion of distinguished dinner speakers provides a unique opportunity for participants to gain invaluable insights and expanded perspectives on current governance challenges and leadership from a high-profile figure in a relaxed, informal setting.

Partners

True impact comes through collaboration. Partnering with the Australian Institute of Company Directors and AustralianSuper ensures the program addresses the most relevant issues facing modern ASX boards and supports us in reaching the directors who can make the greatest difference.

The program has been developed in partnership with:

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Mark Rigotti - Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, AICD

The AICD is excited to partner on this unique program for new ASX 200 directors. It combines real-world experiences from directors, underpinned by contemporary corporate governance practices. It will help newer directors navigate the complexity of the modern business environment.

MARK RIGOTTI
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, AICD

Sean Manuell - Head of Equities, AustralianSuper

On behalf of its 3.7m members, AustralianSuper is proud to support MBS’s Non-Executive Director program. As Australia’s largest active investor, we appreciate the important role governance plays in ensuring our members maximise their retirement savings. All Australian’s benefit if governance across corporate Australia matches global best practice. We anticipate this program will contribute to Australia achieving and maintaining this goal.

SEAN MANUELL
Head of Equities, AustralianSuper

Upcoming Sessions

In this residential program, participants stay in Carlton and engage in program activities after hours.

The program fee covers tuition, all meals including breakfast, lunch and dinner and accommodation for the duration of the program.

Read our full terms and conditions and other frequently asked questions for more information.

2026 Dates
Module 1: 16 - 17 November
Module 2: 23 - 24 November
Module 3: 30 November - 01 December

2027 Dates
July

Module 1: 12 - 13 July
Module 2: 19 - 20 July
Module 3: 26 - 27 July

November
Module 1: 15 - 16 November
Module 2: 22 - 23 November
Module 3: 29 - 30 November

Fee subsidies for self-funding participants may be available.

We encourage you to get in touch with us to explore your eligibility and discuss your options.

 

2026 Session

16 Nov - 1 Dec Carlton (Residential)
6 days
$18,000 AUD
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2027 Sessions

12 - 27 Jul Carlton (Residential)
6 days
$18,000 AUD
APPLY
15 - 30 Nov Carlton (Residential)
6 days
$18,000 AUD
APPLY

Enquire Now

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about The Australian Directors Program please contact:

Kavita Adhikari, Short Courses, Executive Education
[email protected]
+61 434 711 414

Program Enquiry

Melbourne Business School’s short courses cater to:

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Independent leaders who wish to upskill and grow their network.
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Organisations looking to expand or deepen the capabilities of their team.
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Organisations who would like to co-design custom learning experiences.

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