Our GameChangers
The Global Australian Award finalists and winners are global Australians and alumni of Australian universities who exhibit remarkable talent, exceptional vision and ambition.

Dr Abigail Allwood
Dr Abigail Allwood is at the cutting-edge of space exploration. She is one of only seven principal investigators developing innovative instruments to accompany the Mars 2020 Rover expedition. Not only is she the first Australian, but also the first woman scientific lead on a Mars mission.

Dr Abu Bakar Suleiman

Adam Garone

Adam Gilmour

Dr Aida Brankovic

Dr Aihua Wang
Dr Jianhua Zhao and Dr Aihua Wang have dedicated their remarkable careers to the advancement of solar cell technologies.

Aisha Jalil

Alexandra Readhead

Alexie Seller

Alison Thompson OAM

Andrea Boyd

Andrew Harper
Andrew Harper has been working with refugees since the 1990s when he worked in Turkey during the first gulf war for UNHCR.

Andrew Hudson
To meet crisis day in and day out, Executive Director and CEO of Crisis Action, Andrew Hudson, says honesty, trust and personal communication are constant allies.

Andrew Tanner

Angelica Cheung

Angelica Mesiti

PROFESSOR Anne Bamford

Dr Antoni Tsaputra

Anuradha Gupta

Dr Arjun Goyal

Barry Bourne
Global exploration experience ranging from greenfields exploration to advanced project execution in mining and exploration.

Dr Barry Kirby AO

Professor Barry Marshall
In 2005 Barry J. Marshall and J. Robin Warren were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in recognition of their 1982 discovery that a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, causes one of the most common and important diseases of mankind: peptic ulcer disease.

Dr Bart Kolodziejczyk OAM
Dr Bart Kolodziejczykis a nanoscientist and inventor intent on busting his brilliance out of the lab and into the world of commercialisation. Bart is addressing health, energy and climate change issues by innovating new technologies.

Baz Luhrmann

Dr Ben Hindson

Betty Who

Brett Solomon
Brett Solomon is co-founder and Executive Director of Access, a new global movement for digital freedom with offices in New York, Brussels, Santiago and Tunis.

Brook Andrew

Dr Bruce Stillman AO

Professor Bryan Gaensler
Professor Bryan Gaensler is an award-winning astronomer and author who is internationally recognised for his groundbreaking work on dying stars, interstellar magnets and cosmic explosions.

DR CHEONG KOON HEAN

Cameron Hepburn

Cameron McLean

Caroline Angoorly
A suit-wearing eco-warrior armed with a strategic mind and commercial rigour, Caroline Angoorly has earned her stripes operating, developing and financing large energy infrastructure projects.

Caroline Malcolm

Professor Carolyn McGregor AM

Dr Carolyn Watson

Cat Thao Nguyen
Cat Thao Nguyen is a trailblazer. Cat Thao (Nguyễn Cát Thảo) is the Managing Director of Global Ready LLC, a consultancy that assists organisations and individuals to lead inclusively in a globalised world.

Charles Caldas
A paradigm shifter in the global independent music industry, Charles Caldas has earned his reputation fighting to ensure artists share in the profits from the digital music revolution.

Chris Behrenbruch
A healthcare entrepreneur and innovator leading an ASX-listed pharmaceutical company focused on delivering disruptive precision oncology products.

Christel Cornilsen

Dr Christian Thompson AO
Dr Christian Thompson AO is a contemporary artist whose work explores identity, cultural hybridity, gender & history. Christian himself made history when he became the first Aboriginal Australian to be admitted into the University of Oxford in its 900-year legacy.

Dr Christopher Boshuizen

Christopher Doyle
Christopher Doyle is an award-winning cinematographer. Works like Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love have been met with international critical acclaim, and have found a firm footing in Chinese cinema and international cinema in the West.

Craig Barratt
A global industry leader in wireless technology and communications, and Senior Vice President and GM at Intel, and Chair of NASDAQ-listed Intuitive Surgical.

Craig Leeson

Dalene Wray

Damien Mahoney

Dana Cordell

Dr Daniel Timms

Daria Rippingale

Dr Darian McBain

Darren McIntyre

Professor Daryl Williams
Professor Daryl Williams is the inventor and scientific pioneer of a new family of scientific methods for powder characterisation. Every solid drug substance developed globally in the past 15 years will have been tested for stability and moisture uptake using the instruments he has developed.

David Droga
Australian advertising executive and the founder and chairman of Droga5, an advertising agency headquartered in New York City with an office in London.

David Fidock

Professor David Hunter AC
Professor David Hunter is undoubtedly the leading epidemiologist on cancer globally. His work at Harvard University uncovered genetic associations and gene-environment associations for breast and prostate cancers, and he has initiated and been a lead investigator in a series of large scale research studies to determine the links between genetics and cancers, in the USA, in Africa, and now the UK.

Dr David Pender
A manufacturing revolutionary, Dr David Pender has designed and run some of the most advanced manufacturing facilities in the world. He has started them up, debugged them and brought them to full capacity.

David Putrino
David is the Director Of Rehabilitation Innovation at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, a Coach at the Entrepreneurship Lab (ELabNYC) Bio & Health Techand the “Chief Mad Scientist” at Not Impossible Labs. He is a physical therapist with a PhD in Neuroscience and worked as a clinician in Australia, before moving to the United States to study computational neuroscience at Harvard Medical School, MIT and NYU.

David Sinclair
David Sinclair, Ph.D. is a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Founding Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging at Harvard. He is also a Conjoint Professor at the University of New South Wales, Honorary Professor, University of Sydney, and Co-Chief Editor of the journal Aging.

David Thompson

Debra Walton

Derek Buckmaster

Derek Muller

Ed Robinson

Dr Elizabeth Jens

Professor Fiona Wood AM

Frances Voon

Garry McQuinn
As a maverick of global stage productions, Garry McQuinn operates at the heart of untold stories and new audiences. Adept at strumming the tension between the creative and commercial worlds, Garry has been instrumental in opening the world of commercial theatre to Australian talent.

Professor Gaye Sculthorpe

Geoffrey Garrett

Geraldine Buckingham

Greg Norman

Hugh Evans

Hugh Whalan

Dr Hum Gurung

Jackie Yun

James Gorman

Jane Sloane
Jane has long been committed to making a difference in the social sector, holding executive positions in organisations such as World Vision, Marie Stopes International, International Women’s Development Agency, and the Social Entrepreneurs Network, where she was the founding CEO.

Jason Day

Jeni Klugman
Dr Jeni Klugman is the Director of Gender and Development at the World Bank Group.

Professor Jenni Evans
Showing that science is an innately creative endeavour, Professor Jenni Evans has forged a brilliant career merging research fields and forging interdisciplinary partnerships to tackle complex hypotheses and society’s biggest challenges.

Jennifer Nason
Jennifer Nason is considered one of Australia’s most successful global business leaders and one of the most senior and influential women on Wall Street. She attributes her career trajectory to a willingness to live outside her comfort zone, a love of constant learning and calculated risk.

Jennifer Robinson

Jeremy Balkin

Jeremy Heimans
As co-founder and CEO of Purpose.com, Jeremy’s work has literally mobilised millions of citizens and consumers to help solve major global problems.

Jess Conoplia
A global leader shaping film and television industry policy, Jess Conoplia has actively lead on-screen sector development, diversity and advocacy for members world-wide.

Jianhua Zhao
Working with his wife he made remarkable advances in solar cell technologies, and prices continue to drop.

Professor Jill Banfield
A mineralogist-turned-microbiologist, Jillian Banfield has made outstanding contributions to our understanding of the structure, function and diversity of microbial communities in natural environments and the human body.

Jimmy Pham AM

John Mattick AO

Dr John McHutchison AO
Professor Dr McHutchison AO has played a central and critical role in developing the curative treatments for Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). To develop this treatment is a remarkable accomplishment destined to improve the health of many millions of people.

John Polson
An award-winning actor, director and producer who has garnered worldwide attention directing feature films such as Siam Sunset.

Jonathan Mills AO

Jose Pacamalan

Justin O'Shea

Professor Justin Wolfers
Described as one of Australia’s most unorthodox and influential academic exports, Professor Justin Wolfers shifts the lens on economic discourse and the stereotype of economics in equal measure.

Professor Karen Day AM

Professor Karen Thorpe
In her formative years as a young teacher, Karen Thorpe was struck by the stark inequities in children’s early learning opportunities.

Karyl Nairn

Professor Kate Crawford

Kate Glazebrook

Professor Kate Manne

Khunapong Khunaraksa

Dr Kira Mileham

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
A pioneer of the biotechnology industry in India and the head of the country’s leading biotechnology enterprise, Biocon, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is a highly respected businesswoman.

Dr Laode M Syarif

Lauren Jackson

Leanne Kemp

Dr Lee Rong

Leith Greenslade

Lihua Tong

PROFESSOR Lyndon Da Cruz

Lynette Wallworth

Madhavi Shankar

Dr Martin Seneviratne

Michelle Garnaut AO
Founder & CEO of the M Restaurant Group

Michelle Grant
Faculty and Education Director at World Food System Center, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich)

Mike Cannon-Brookes

Milton Catelin

Nasima Rahmani

Natalie Jeremijenko AO

Neima Candy

Nicholas Wyman
For the past 25 years, Nicholas Wyman has sought novel ways to connect youth with the jobs of the future. Nicholas believes the ‘learn by doing’ approach has much to offer in a new world order straddling the faultlines of a ‘skills mismatch’.

Nicole Iseppi

Nicole Rycroft

Noni Purnomo

Nukila Evanty
With a background in international law and a heart in the marginalised communities of Indonesia, Nukila Evanty works to place people at the centre of development and communities at the core of the decision-making process.

Olivia Humphrey
A visionary who democratised access to educational content, Olivia Humphrey founded a new channel for streaming films to members of academic and public libraries, in turn forging a new model to monetise and distribute independent films.

Pallavi Sharda

PROFESSOR Patricia M. Davidson

Patrick Grove

Paul Chapman
Originally from Melbourne, Paul Chapman co-founded the game-changing ‘Moneytree’ platform, giving people greater control over their finances and disrupting Japan’s digital banking environment in the same beat.

Paul Siu Fai Yip

Pete Ceglinski

Dr Peter Carberry
Dr Peter Carberry is a distinguished graduate of the Faculty of Agriculture and Environment awarded with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with first-class honours in 1982 and later with PhD in Agriculture in 1987 from the University of Sydney.

Peter Hall
Peter Hall is Executive Director and Executive Chairman of Hunter Hall, the largest, and second oldest, dedicated ethical investment company in Australia.

Peter Le Lievre
Peter Le Lievre is a global leader in high technology commercialisation, with over 10 years of experience in the development of innovative clean technology products.

Peter Liddicoat

Peter Rothschild

Professor Phiala Shanahan

Dr Pichamon Yeophantong
Dr Pichamon Yeophantong is Senior Lecturer in International Relations and Development and the Director of the Responsible Business Lab at the University of New South Wales (Canberra)—Australian Defence Force Academy.

Premesh Chandran
As an important proponent of free speech in Malaysia and a disruptor of the media landscape, Premesh Chandran creates space for voices against corruption and government abuses.

Prof Adeeba Kamarulzaman
Adeeba Kamarulzaman graduated in Medicine from Monash University and received her training in Infectious Diseases at the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital, Victoria, Australia.

Prof Genevieve Bell AO
Genevieve is the Director of the 3A Institute (3Ai), Florence Violet McKenzie Chair, and a Distinguished Professor at the Australian National University (ANU) as well as a Vice President and Senior Fellow at Intel Corporation.

Prue Clarke

Rachel Barnard

Rachel Davis

Rebecca Mann

Renae Beaumont

Richard Fuller

Richard Pestell

Rodney Brooks

Dr Rosemary Morrow

Rosemary Morrow

Dr Rossa Chiu
Dr Rossa Chiu is a professor in the department of chemical pathology and Associate Dean for Development at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Determined to tackle the cancer epidemic, she and her colleagues have been developing blood tests with the goal to identify cancers early, thereby reducing cancer-related deaths.

Russell Howard
Dedicated his career to life sciences and biotechnology to generate valuable products in medicine, diagnostics, agriculture and chemicals manufacture locally to feed a virtuous cycle of expanded Life Sciences innovation and commercialisation.

Sam Levy

Samah Hadid
A fearless campaigner, advocate and writer, Samah Hadid connects her own proud Arab and Muslim heritage to the global fight for greater equality. Samah is as articulate as she is outspoken.

Dr Sameer Dixit

Dr Samuel Wills
Sam’s research has led to significant real-world impact. One example is the $1 trillion Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund increasing their equity mix, lowering their spending rule, and divesting stocks most exposed to the oil price, following recommendations from his work with Ton van den Bremer and Rick van der Ploeg.

Dr Sandro Demaio
A public health advocate and sustainable food architect, Dr Alessandro (Sandro) Demaio founded his career using nutrition as a platform for social change.

Sarah Grunstein

Sarah Lux-Lee

Saul Griffith
Founder and Principal Scientist at Other Lab, where he focuses his work on engineering solutions for energy production and efficiency.

Scott Farquhar

Dr Seiji Armstrong

Sekai Holland

Dr Shafali Gupta

Shuyin Tang
An impact investment warrior, Shuyin Tang is a pioneer bringing fit-for-purpose financing to impactful businesses in Southeast Asia.

Si Chen

Simon Loong

Simone Young AM

Dr Siobhan Martin

Siobhan Reddy

Dr Sonu Bhaskar

Sophie Blackall
An Australian icon in the world of Children’s Books, Sophie Blackall creates places to escape to during stormy times, and return from wiser, calmer and changed. Needless to say, her work is relevant to children and adults alike in modern times.

Sotheary Ly
Sotheary Ly is the Executive Director of Healthcare Center for Children, an organisation dedicated to woman’s and child’s rights, through prevention and protection.

Dr Stephen Hicks

Suhanya Raffel

Dr Susan David

Dr Susan Graham
Dr Susan Graham leads a team of passionate engineers, plant scientists and drone operators to tackle global scale deforestation. As the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Dendra Systems, Susan uses a combination of data analytics, AI and drones to restore natural ecosystems, enabling large scale management and restoration.

Tan Le
Tan Le Co-founded Emotiv, in 2003 and serves as its President. Ms. Le is a technology entrepreneur.

Tanya De Hoog

Tara June Winch

Professor Terence Tao

Thanh Van Dang

Thomas Ko
Thomas Ko is an internationally recognised expert in oral biological drug delivery and sports medicine. During his 45-year pharmaceutical career, he has embraced the attitude he says was instilled in him while studying in Australia: to be inventive and believe nothing is impossible.

Thomas Oxley

Tim Kentley Klay
Tim Kentley Klay is a creative and technical entrepreneur. He describes himself as a painter, designer, animator, film-maker, trouble-maker and thinker.

Dr Tristan Clemons

Dr Vandana Joshi
Working to shift the health paradigm in war-torn countries and disaster response situations, Dr Vandana Joshi is showing the world that good governance and community engagement are by far the most effective strategies to promote health.

Dr Victor Squires AM

Vikram Mehta

Yijia Li

Yong In Cho
Yong In Cho is a fintech expert, specialising in the payments industry, with deep knowledge of the financial technology market across Asia.