This month thousands of excited graduands will come together to celebrate their achievements when Western Sydney University holds its graduation ceremonies at the Parramatta South campus, from the 12-14 December.
Across four days and 12 ceremonies, approximately 2,100 graduands will receive degrees from a range of disciplines, including nursing and midwifery, business, social science, education, engineering, law, psychology, health sciences, arts and communication.
During these ceremonies 11 students will also be awarded the University Medal in recognition of their outstanding academic achievements.
Upon their graduation, they will join a vibrant network of more than 200,000 Western Sydney University alumni located throughout Australia and around the world.
As part of Graduation celebrations, students and their special guests will have the opportunity to hear from a range of inspirational occasional speakers from across industry and the community.
Western Sydney University will also honour a number of outstanding individuals for their significant contributions to the Greater Western Sydney region and Australian public life.
Among the recipients is the Hon. Justice Brian Preston FRSN SC who will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Laws in recognition for long term contribution to environmental law.
Mr Sukhdeep Singh Bhogal, also known as musician and producer L-FRESH The LION will receive a Community Fellowship for his positive influence on young people and the multicultural communities of Greater Western Sydney.
The full list of honorary awardees for the December graduation ceremonies are:
WHERE: Western Sydney University’s Parramatta South campus, corner Victoria Road and James Ruse Drive, Rydalmere.
WHEN: Monday, 12 December to Thursday, 14 December 2022.
TIME: Ceremonies begin from 9.30am each day.
FOR JOURNALISTS: Please advise the Media Team if you plan to attend, who can assist with parking, via email: media@westernsydney.edu.au.
During the December graduation ceremonies, a series of honorary awards will be presented – with the titles of Honorary Doctorate, Honorary Fellow and Community Fellow bestowed upon distinguished community leaders.
An additional highlight of each graduation ceremony is the Occasional Address. Western Sydney University graduands and their guests will have the opportunity to hear from a range of distinguished guest speakers.
Professor Jennifer Reath
Professor Reath will be accorded the title Emeritus Professor and will deliver the Occasional Address
Professor Jennifer Reath held the position of Peter Brennan Chair of General Practice at Western Sydney University for 12 years, until her retirement in July 2022. In this role she recruited and led a team that established general practice teaching across all years of the School of Medicine Programs, attracted external research funding of over $8 million for Western Sydney University, and built an international reputation for conducting clinical trials in urban Aboriginal health and for the evaluation of innovative models of health service delivery. Her areas of research, teaching interest and expertise include Aboriginal and women’s health, health service development and evaluation, educational policy, and curriculum development and implementation.
As the Peter Brennan Chair, Professor Reath recruited and supported a network of over 400 GP Supervisors to oversee medical student placements, particularly in greater Western Sydney and in rural clinical school catchments. She has also co-authored 60 peer reviewed publications, published over 14 research reports, and nine other publications, including two invited editorials for the Medical Journal of Australia, two book chapters and one clinical guideline. Professor Reath has been the recipient of two National Health and Medical Research Council grants totalling $4 million, to undertake research into and clinical trials of the best management of ear disease with urban Aboriginal communities across Australia.
Professor Reath has worked for over 30 years in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, including as a General Practitioner in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services in both urban and rural Australia. She was the Foundation Deputy Chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Faculty and Chair of their Education Committee. In recognition of her life-long work in this area, she was awarded the 2016 Associate Member of the Year by the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association.
Professor Reath is a Director of the South-Western Sydney Primary Health Network and was a founding Director of the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District Board and Chair of their Health Care Quality Committee from 2010 – 2020. From 2008 until 2017, she was a member of the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council Ethics Committee and continues to serve on their external review advisory panel today.
In 2020, Professor Reath was awarded a PhD from Western Sydney University for her dissertation which brought together a body of referenced work spanning 25 years, representing one of the most powerful and consistent pieces of work on Aboriginal health and GP training that has been undertaken in this country. Her contribution to improving Indigenous health education has led to a mandated requirement for all General Practitioners to undergo critically important Indigenous health training as part of their GP specialist training for clinical practice.
Through her representation on committees and networks such as WentWest – the Primary Health Network for Western Sydney, South-Western Sydney Primary Health Network, the South-Western Sydney Integrated Care Committee and the Wentworth Healthcare MoU Committee, Professor Reath has demonstrated a significant commitment to the training interests of Western Sydney University students.
Professor Reath has received many accolades for her work, including a Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning on behalf of the Department of General Practice in 2011. In 2020, she was awarded a Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Award from the University for her outstanding contribution to student learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Mrs Sally Ruston AM
Mrs Ruston will receive an Honorary Fellowship and will deliver the Occasional Address
Sally Ruston has been the Head of Abbotsleigh Junior School since the year 2000. With 500 students and 65 staff, Sally is responsible for the daily operations and risk management of the Junior School, including staffing, budgeting, curriculum delivery and professional learning.
A passionate advocate on the importance of education for all, Sally completed a Diploma of Teaching in 1982 before commencing her career at All Saints College in Bathurst. She went on to complete a Bachelor of Education in 1985, a Graduate Diploma in Education Studies from Western Sydney University in 1989 and a Master of Education from the University of Sydney in 1996.
Sally describes educating young minds as her ‘greatest joy’ and since beginning her teaching career she has been the Mistress in Charge of the Lower School at Tudor House, Year Coordinator at Trinity Grammar School, and Deputy to the Master at Newington College, before commencing as Head of Abbotsleigh Junior School in 2000.
Regarded by her colleagues as a visionary educator and leader, some of Sally’s remarkable contributions to Abbotsleigh Junior School include the coordination of an extensive capital works project on the Junior School site that was completed in 2010 and that delivered a new Infants and Year 3 precinct, the opening of a Transition program, and the establishment of a 70 place Early Learning Centre.
Sally’s work in founding and leading the Early Learning Centre reflects her commitment to increasing teacher retention and to providing teachers with opportunities for professional development. The Centre allows staff at Abbotsleigh to access quality, on campus childcare and learning opportunities, and has significantly improved teacher retention rates.
In addition to her work within schools, Sally has held influential board positions including, Chair of the Independent Schools Teacher Accreditation Authority from 2020-2021 and Federal President of the Independent Primary Schools Heads of Australia (IPSHA). Sally is highly regarded by her Independent Primary Schools Heads of Australia colleagues, notably for her work in fostering professional development opportunities, including organisation of local linkups and initiating new mentoring structures and opportunities for the New South Wales branch, that were subsequently modelled in other states.
Sally is currently the Deputy President of the Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA), where she has contributed significantly to the curriculum at a national level and remains dedicated to building the capacity of principals. In 2016, Sally was honoured with a lifetime membership to the Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA), in recognition of her enduring and significant contributions to the association. Sally is also a current member of the NSW Combined Independent Schools Sports Council and the Association of Independent Schools Leadership Centre Council.
Sally’s exceptional service to primary education has been formally recognised on numerous occasions. In 2015, she was honoured with the John Laing Principals Award from the Principals Australia Institute. In 2017, she was the recipient of the Australian College of Educators Excellence in Education Award, and in 2019, she was recognised as the Australian Primary Principal of the Year (non-government) in the Australian Education Awards. In 2021, Sally was awarded an Honorary Fellowship with the Teachers’ Guild of NSW and, most recently, she was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for her significant service to primary education and professional associations.
Ms Martha Jabour OAM
Ms Jabour will receive a Community Fellowship
Martha Jabour is the Executive Director of the Homicide Victims’ Support Group, a not-for-profit organisation based in Parramatta, where she coordinates support and counselling services for family and friends of victims of homicide.
Following the tragic loss of her second son, Michael, to cot death, Martha trained as a grief and trauma counsellor at the Bereavement Care Centre and the National Centre for Childhood Grief. From 1987 to 1993, Martha worked in voluntary and paid positions with the Sudden Infant Death Association of New South Wales, providing support, counselling and education to family members of babies who had died of cot death. During this time, Martha gained experience in the areas of grief and trauma counselling, policy development, strategic planning and responding to crisis management.
In 1993, Martha’s exceptional organisational and people skills were recognised by the Institute of Forensic Medicine when they approached Martha to help set up and coordinate the Homicide Victims’ Support Group. The idea for the group came about when the parents of Anita Cobby and Ebony Simpson met and, together, recognised the genuine need to set up an organisation that could offer counselling, support and information to families and friends of homicide victims throughout NSW. After this meeting, the counselling section at the Institute of Forensic Medicine began working with the families of homicide victims to establish the Homicide Victims’ Support Group.
Today, the Homicide Victims’ Support Group helps more than 4,000 family members affected by the homicide of a loved one, with services that include counselling, 24/7 telephone support, therapy weekends, support meetings and access to Ebony and Ivory House, two cottages where people affected by homicide can stay when they feel overwhelmed with everyday life.
Having been the Executive Director of the Homicide Victims’ Support Group since its inception, Martha remains dedicated to promoting victims’ rights and needs, with a special focus on crime prevention, particularly in the areas of domestic violence, mental health and juvenile justice. She has also been crucial to the building of Grace’s Place, the world’s first residential trauma recovery centre currently being built in Doonside and scheduled to open for operation in February 2023. Funded and supported by Blacktown City Council as well as the State and Commonwealth Governments, Grace’s Place is the realisation of Martha’s vision of a safe place for children to come with their family and carers after the homicide of a loved one, to access counselling, therapeutic programs, support groups, interaction with other survivors and to develop survival skills. Grace’s Place will assist children to begin their journey towards a new life and will be available for children and families from all over Australia, particularly families from rural and remote areas. The centre will also offer training to healthcare professionals, police and other professional bodies on the needs of those affected by homicide.
In 2019, Martha’s tireless hard work was recognised in the Australia Day awards, when she was awarded a medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community through support for victims of crime. In 2020, she was also elected the Honorary Secretary of the NSW Branch of The Order of Australia Association.
Maria Lingam, Acting Director, Nursing and Midwifery and Clinical Governance, Western Sydney Local Health District
Ms Lingam will deliver the Occasional Address
Maria Lingam is the Acting Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Clinical Governance for the Western Sydney Local Health District. She has been in the public health system for 26 years, specialising in Orthopaedic Trauma.
Maria has worked in various health districts, including Western Sydney, South Western Sydney and Nepean Blue Mountains, where she has held a range of senior executive leadership positions, including senior nursing and midwifery positions such as Patient Safety and Quality Manager and Divisional Manager of Women’s and Children’s Services. She has also held the positions of Director, Nursing and Midwifery at Blacktown and Mount Druitt Hospitals, and Associate Director of Clinical Practice and Performance with the Western Sydney Local Health District.
Maria has a passion for quality improvement through clinical best practice and in fostering the professional development and practice of nurses and midwives. As the Acting Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Clinical Governance, she continuously strives to maintain a positive work culture for nurses and midwives in not only Western Sydney, but throughout the health system as a whole.
Maria has a Bachelor of Nursing from this University, and a Master in Nursing and a Master in Health Service Management, both from the University of Technology Sydney.
Ms Kim Maddock, Acting Director Nursing and Midwifery, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District
Ms Maddock will deliver the Occasional Address
Kim Maddock has worked for NSW Health for 23 years. She has held various management roles at Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, including Divisional Nurse Manager, LHD Directorate Nurse Manager and Acting Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery. Graduating in 2007 with a Bachelor of Nursing degree from this University, Kim’s vast healthcare expertise spans surgical, medical, cancer, rehabilitation and aged-care nursing.
In 2017, Kim developed and led the implementation of The Patient’s Voice project, a patient-centred initiative that empowers patients to give first-hand feedback to nursing staff and conversely for nurses to help patients to better understand the important elements of their treatment. After a highly successful pilot program at Nepean Hospital, the project received a NSW Health Award in the Patients as Partners category. The program was expanded to other Australian hospitals and was adopted into the Clinical Excellence Commission’s Safety Fundamentals guidelines. In 2014, Kim and her team were also recognised for developing a best-practice dementia initiative that improved patients’ quality of care and safety and reduced the length of their hospital stays.
Kim has authored and co-authored several published works, including content focussed on enhancing the hospital care of patients with cognitive impairment. Like many health professionals around the world, Kim and her team were a vital contributor to the COVID-19 response in their local area.
Uncle Wes Marne AM
Uncle Wes will receive an Honorary Fellowship and will deliver the Occasional Address
Uncle Wes Marne is a Biduginbul elder; an educator; a purveyor and champion of Aboriginal culture; an advocate for vulnerable young people; a storyteller, a poet, and artist; and a pillar of the Greater Western Sydney community. Remarkably, he celebrated his 100th birthday earlier this year. This is an extraordinary feat, considering the great adversity he has experienced in his life, including living through the Stolen Generations and World War II, serving in the Korean War, and recently also surviving a bout of COVID-19.
Born in 1922, Uncle Wes grew up in southern Queensland. When he was nine, his family were forced to move from tribal lands and live on the Deadbird Mission on the New South Wales northern tablelands. In the early 1960s, Uncle Wes relocated to Sydney and has lived in Mt Druitt for the past 45 years where he is a well-regarded, senior leader of the local community.
He is described as having a “colourful” life that has been full of hardship. As a child living on a reserve, Uncle Wes began work carrying water, and, over the course of his life, he has pursued careers as a boxer, a tobacco picker, a drover, a fencer, a miner, as well as having worked in chicken factories and tanneries.
Uncle Wes had little formal education and has described feeling “unwelcome in the education system.” Despite this, in 2003, he began sharing Aboriginal dreamtime stories in NSW public schools and has since dedicated his life to the cultural education of young people in Greater Western Sydney. Through his work in schools, Uncle Wes has been recognised as “bringing back the dreaming” – and ensuring that Aboriginal culture and histories are shared with and understood by young people.
In an increasingly digital era, Uncle Wes has worked hard to find avenues and opportunities to increase knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal histories through the arts and digital mediums. His dreamtime stories are streamed on YouTube, and he has also established a community storytelling garden, ‘Kwinnies Garden’ in the grounds of Graceades Cottage in Bidwill, which has allowed him to tell his stories to the community in person.
Among his many accomplishments, Uncle Wes’ show, Fire Bucket, premiered to sell-out audiences at the 2016 Sydney Festival. He also shared his stories verbally as part of the Urban Theatre’s ‘Blak Box project at the Sydney Festival in 2019. Earlier this year, Uncle Wes also released a book of 50 poems, titled Through Old Eyes in celebration of his 100th birthday.
In addition to his work in education, arts and culture, Uncle Wes has served as a long-term, founding member of the Mount Druitt and Districts Reconciliation Group, which, for over 20 years, has organised an annual Reconciliation Walk and Concert in Mount Druitt. He regularly performs smoking ceremonies and Welcome to Country ceremonies. Uncle Wes actively participates in a range of community events and is an Elder on Campus at this University. He is also a mentor to young people, often taking at-risk youth under his wing and treating them as his own family, as well as regularly connecting and engaging with young Aboriginal men in prison.
To mark his 100th birthday in April this year, and in recognition of his significant contributions to the community, Blacktown City Mayor Tony Bleasdale bestowed a ‘Key to the City’ on Uncle Wes. In 2011, Uncle Wes was the proud recipient of the first NSW Department of Education ‘Nanga Mai Love of Learning award’, which celebrates and recognises innovation, excellence and achievement in Aboriginal education in NSW public schools, school communities and the Department of Education and Training offices. Uncle Wes also received a ‘UWS Community Award’ at the University’s Autumn graduation ceremonies in 2012 and this year, on 6 October, he was presented with the Australia Medal at Government House by the Governor General, Her Excellency, the Honourable Margaret Beasley.
Mr Sukhdeep Singh Bhogal – L-FRESH The LION
Mr Singh Bhogal will receive a Community Fellowship and will deliver the Occaisional Address
Sukhdeep Singh Bhogal, better known as L-FRESH The LION, is an influential musician and producer from Western Sydney who uses his artistic platform to highlight issues relating to cultural diversity, decolonisation and racism, and to advocate for broader representation and inclusion in the Australian music industry.
Born in Liverpool, Sukhdeep is of Sikh and Punjabi cultural background. His music includes references to the Western Sydney region, as well as his Punjabi language and cultural heritage. The acronym F.R.E.S.H. stands for ‘Forever Rising Exceeding Sudden Hardships’, while the L and LION refer to his middle name, Singh, which is given to Sikh men.
Sukhdeep came to prominence in the music industry when he supported American rapper Nas during the hip hop icon’s first headline tour of Australia in 2009. He then released his debut album, One, in 2014, before signing a record deal with independent record label, Elefant Traks, in early 2015. His second album, Become, was released in 2016 and earned industry-wide accolades, including an Aria nomination for Best Urban album. Named in reference to the Liverpool and Campbelltown regions, his acclaimed third album, SOUTH WEST, was ranked #13 in Double J’s 50 best albums of 2020 and saw Sukhdeep nominated as Double J’s 2020 Australian Artist of the Year.
Sukhdeep has commented publicly on his experience of growing up in Western Sydney, as well as his “tokenised and stereotypical” treatment in the music industry. He now uses his platform to support other musicians of diverse backgrounds from Western Sydney and beyond, highlighting the importance of inclusion and being proud of your heritage.
Between 2018 and 2019, Sukhdeep was an Australian representative on the YouTube global Creators for Change initiative. His 2018 Creators for Change project, a short documentary called Culture Strong, won Best Editor and was Runner-up in the Best in the West category at the Made in the West Film Festival. The documentary was also nominated for Best Director, Best Cinematographer and Best Sound Design.
As a representative of the Creators for Change initiative, he was invited to the United Nations Headquarters in New York to perform his song Our World, which is a celebration of his family’s migration story and the positive values he inherited from them while affectionately grounding these stories in his home of Western Sydney.
Sukhdeep is also the founder and Artistic Director of ‘Conscious’, an annual year-long hip-hop artist development program run by Campbelltown Arts Centre. ‘Conscious’ supports the development and career pathways of socially minded hip-hop artists with connections to Western Sydney.
Mr Joseph Rizk AM
Mr Rizk will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Letters and will deliver the Occasional Address
Joseph Toufic Rizk is the CEO and Managing Director of Arab Bank Australia, a position he has held since 2010. Prior to his appointment as Managing Director, Joseph was the Chief Banking Officer at Arab Bank for over five years, where he was responsible for overseeing the company’s retail, commercial and trade banking operations, its branch network, and all revenue generating arms of the Bank.
Joseph immigrated to Australia from Lebanon alongside his parents in 1958 and attended school in Bankstown. Although initially his plan was to pursue a career in industrial chemistry, he developed an interest in the banking sector where he has remained and continues to thrive. In 1974, Joseph joined the National Bank of Australia and in the thirty years thereafter, he went on to hold senior executive positions, leading a series of large business units in Sydney and NSW and heading up the NAB’s NSW and ACT Property Finance Groups, before leaving to join Arab Bank in 2005.
Over his forty-eight-year career, Joseph has made many valuable and extraordinary contributions to the banking sector in Australia. He is known for his ability to generate positive results in the face of tough market conditions and in an increasingly competitive business environment. He played a major role in the significant growth of Arab Bank and was the driving force that helped to maintain the Bank’s strong performance during the global financial crisis and beyond. Under Joseph’s leadership and management, Arab Bank has been the recipient of numerous awards as well as having received three consecutive years of recognition from Canstar, Mozzo and Rate City for its Term Deposits and its Business Online Savings Products.
In addition to his work in banking and finance, Joseph is also a renowned philanthropist, providing support to a variety of causes. He played an important role in creating the Quiet Room in the palliative care unit of Westmead Hospital and provided wheelchairs and a buggy for the comfortable transportation of patients within the hospital. Joseph also supports the Breast Cancer Institute, the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation, the Westmead Institute for Medical Research, and the Charlie Teo Foundation for Brain Cancer. Through years of sponsorship and Joseph’s guidance, Arab Bank has cultivated the learning experiences of young people in the arts, music, sports and education through initiatives such as the Young Professionals Program at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and support for the Youth Academy at the Australian World Orchestra and the Schools Cup initiative with the Wanderers. Joseph is also a member of the Powerhouse Fundraising Campaign Committee, Chairperson of the Italian Opera Foundation Australia Ltd and Director of the James Martin Institute of Public Policy. He was previously a Director of the Australian Lebanese Chamber of Commerce, the Westmead Millennium Institute and the Westmead Medical Research Foundation.
Joseph is a staunch supporter of Western Sydney University, often giving his time and energy to champion the University’s many endeavors, including as a guest speaker at the School of Business’s recent CEO and Leadership Seminars.
In the 2022 Australia Day Honours, Joseph was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in the General Division for significant service to the not-for-profit sector, and to banking and commerce. The Award was given to Joseph in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to the banking sector, community and to charitable works, especially in the Arabic community as well as the general community.
The Hon. Justice Brian Preston FRSN SC
Justice Preston will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Letters and will deliver the Occasional Address
The Honourable Justice Brian John Preston is the Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court in New South Wales. Prior to this appointment in November 2005, he was a senior counsel practising primarily in environmental, planning, administrative and property law in New South Wales.
His Honour graduated from Macquarie University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1979 and a Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours in 1981, before commencing his legal career as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 1982. In 1985, Justice Preston co-founded the Environmental Defenders Office of New South Wales and was its first principal solicitor. He was called to the bar in 1987, where he practiced in environmental and planning law, among other areas, and was appointed Senior Counsel in October 1999. On 14 November 2005, His Honour was appointed Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales.
From propagating tropical plants to sell in his youth, to scaling the pinnacle of the highest Mayan pyramid at Tikal, and later hiking the Kokoda Trail, Justice Preston has always had a keen interest in nature and the environment. In 1989, His Honour published Australia’s first book on environmental litigation and has since authored over 140 articles, book chapters and reviews on environmental, administrative and criminal law. The subjects of his writings include: the law and the environment; sustainable development; biodiversity; climate change; heritage; environmental impact assessment; environmental crime; the courts and the environment; public interest litigation; and administrative law and environmental law.
Justice Preston has contributed substantially to the School of Law at Western Sydney University and has collaborated with them to create the new Master of Construction Law. He was also involved in establishing the Bangladesh Judicial Training Program at Western Sydney University, a world class program bringing capacity-building training and skills development to 500 judicial officials from Bangladesh. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at this University, the University of Sydney and Southern Cross University, a Visiting Professor at Durham University, England, and has been an international guest lecturer on environmental dispute resolution in Argentina, and environmental law and policy in India.
Justice Preston holds editorial positions on environmental law publications, including General Editor of the Local Government Planning and Environment NSW and Title Editor for The Laws of Australia, Title 14 – Environment and Natural Resources. He is also a member of the editorial advisory board for the Asia Pacific Journal of Environmental Law and a member of the editorial board for Legal Perspectives on Global Challenges, the Chinese Journal of Environmental Law and the Journal of Environmental Law by Oxford University Press.
Justice Preston is also a member of numerous legal professional committees, including an Official Member of the Judicial Commission of NSW, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, Chair of the Environmental Law Committee for the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific, and Vice-President for Oceania for the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment.
In acknowledgment of his significant contribution to environmental law, Justice Preston has received many awards. In 2010, he was the recipient of a Commendation in the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration’s, Award for Excellence in Court Administration, for his work in implementing the International Framework for Court Excellence in the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales. That same year, His Honour was awarded a plaque of appreciation by the Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network, in recognition of his outstanding leadership and commitment to promoting effective environmental adjudication in Asia. More recently in 2021, he received an Award for Excellence from the Law Council of Australia for his outstanding contribution to Environmental Law.
Ms Cathy McGowan AO
Ms McGowan will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Letters and will deliver the Occasional Address
Catherine McGowan is a former Australian politician who was the independent Member of Parliament for the rural Victorian seat of Indi between 2013 and 2019.
When she won the election in 2013, Cathy broke the Liberal/National Coalition’s hold on the seat of Indi, becoming the first independent member for the north-east Victorian electorate and the first female independent to sit on the parliamentary crossbench. Her successful grassroots campaigns sparked nationwide interest in the potential of community-based, independent politicians.
In 2019, Cathy was a part of Australian political history, supporting the winning campaign of – and handing the political baton on to – Indi’s second female independent member, Dr Helen Haines.
In her two terms as a politician, Cathy was instrumental in helping to develop policies on drought and regional development, a national integrity commission, and a code of conduct for politicians. Cathy’s presidency of Australian Women in Agriculture and her establishment of the Women and Dairy discussion groups across the country are two of the many highlights of her leadership and involvement with rural and regional organisations.
In 2001, Cathy was a recipient of the Centenary Medal, and in June 2004, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for her service to the community in raising awareness of and stimulating debate about issues affecting women in regional, rural and remote areas. Then, in 2019, Cathy was awarded The Accountability Round Table award for political integrity. She is also a Churchill Fellow.
Cathy is a graduate and former staff member of this University. She graduated with a Master of Applied Science in May 1996 and worked as a member of the faculty of Agriculture and Rural Development from 1995 to 2003. Today, Cathy lives on her hilltop farm in the Indigo Valley in north-eastern Victoria and is on a different campaign trail, encouraging others to turn up, speak up and step up to leadership.
Dr Marlene Kanga AO, Past President, World Federation of Engineering Organisations
Dr Kanga will deliver the Occasional Address
Dr Marlene Kanga AO is an outstanding leader and engineer, both nationally and internationally. From 2017 to 2019, Dr Kanga was President of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO), which has over 100 national/continental members and represents over 30 million engineers. Prior to this, in 2013, she was National President, Engineers Australia. She is a non-executive director of large organisations in Australia in transport, utilities and innovation, including Sydney Water Corporation, Air Services Australia, Standards Australia, BESydney and formerly Innovation Australia.
As President of the WFEO, Dr Kanga led the proposal for the UNESCO member states to declare 4th March, the founding Day of WFEO, as World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development. Approved unanimously in November 2019, this provides an annual global opportunity to promote engineering and engineers to the wider community.
She also initiated and led the WFEO in a collaborative review of the international benchmark for engineering education and professional competencies with the International Engineering Alliance. The reviewed benchmark ensures engineering education meets contemporary requirements and values including the advancement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, Dr Kanga leads capacity building projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America to ensure developing nations have more engineers with the right skills for sustainable development, for mutual recognition of engineering qualifications, as well as improved mobility for individual engineers.
Dr Kanga is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology Science and Engineering, an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia and the Institution of Chemical Engineers (UK), a foundation Fellow of the International Science Council, a Foreign Fellow of the ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology and a fellow (honorary) of the engineering institutions of New Zealand and India.
In 2018, Dr Kanga was named the Engineers Australia National Professional Engineer of the Year, and in the following year, received the CHEMECA Medal for contribution to chemical engineering in Australia and New Zealand. Dr Kanga’s significant achievements have also been recognised by Engineers Australia, the peak body for the engineering profession in Australia. In 2019, she was named among the Top 100 engineers making a contribution to Australia in the last 100 years as part of the organisations centenary celebrations, as well as among the Top 10 women engineers in Australia. Prior to this, in 2013, 2014, and 2015, she was included in the association’s listing of the Top 100 Engineers. In 2013, she was listed among the Westpac Australian Financial Review Top 100 Women of Influence.
In 2022, Dr Kanga was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia, in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, for her distinguished service to engineering and her role as a global leader and as role model to women.
Mr Richard Fox, Former Olympian and World-Champion
Mr Fox will deliver the Occasional Address
Richard Fox is a five time world-champion sportsman who represented Great Britain in slalom canoeing from the 1970s to the 1990s, receiving an MBE from the Queen in 1986 for services to sport. He successfully advocated for his sport to remain part of the line-up for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games – a campaign that resulted in the Penrith Whitewater Stadium being built in Western Sydney.
In 1998, Richard and his family moved to Australia to coach the Australian canoeing team. From 2005 to 2016, he worked with Australian Canoeing and the Australian Institute of Sport to lead their high-performance program across canoe sprint, canoe slalom and para-canoe disciplines. This work spanned three Olympic cycles and one Paralympic cycle.
Today, Richard is invested in the local business community as President of the Penrith Valley Chamber of Commerce, with a keen focus on growing tourism in Western Sydney. He works as a consultant for Paddle Australia on legacy projects including the revitalisation of the Sydney 2000 Penrith whitewater facility and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic venue development. Richard is also the proud father of Jess Fox, four-time slalom canoe Olympic medallist and Olympic champion in Tokyo 2020, and Noémie Fox a team world champion and world finalist.
Mr David Borger
Mr Borger will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Letters and will deliver the Occaisional Address
David Borger is the Executive Director of Business Western Sydney, a role he has held since 2012. A not-for-profit organisation, Business Western Sydney represents 130 of the region’s largest business, industry, government, and community organisations, advocating for greater public and private investment in Western Sydney. As Executive Director, David helps to inform the policy agenda by promoting discussion on issues that contribute to economic activity and growth in Western Sydney. He has been a significant advocate for the Western Sydney International Airport, Powerhouse Parramatta, Westmead and Liverpool Innovation Districts, the rejuvenation of Sydney Olympic Park, Parramatta Light Rail and Sydney Metro West, projects that are all critical to the continued success and growth of Western Sydney University and the region more broadly.
Prior to entering public life, David worked as an urban planner and adviser to the Minister for Planning. At the age of 30, he became the youngest person to hold office as Lord Mayor of Parramatta, serving three terms from 1999 – 2007. As Lord Mayor, he was a strong advocate for the urban renewal of the Parramatta City Centre. Under his leadership, a number of new civic projects aimed at increasing investment and employment, while at the same time transforming parks, public spaces and walkways were embarked on across the Parramatta CBD.
In 2007, David was elected to represent the Granville electorate in the NSW Parliament and subsequently served as Minister for Western Sydney and Minister for Roads, as well as Assistant Minister for Transport, and Minister for Housing. In this last portfolio, he oversaw the construction of approximately 9,000 new social housing dwellings, of which, 6,300 were through the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan. He also championed major reforms to expand the State’s community housing sector, transferring the title of $2 billion dollars’ worth of public housing to high-performing community housing associations, which allowed community housing to develop a balance sheet and to trade and develop existing housing assets.
Following the 2011 election, David along with his business partner Adam Byrnes, established Think Planners, a planning firm with a focus on Western Sydney. He is currently a non-executive director on the boards of the NRMA and Evolve Housing, a Trustee of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, and on the Board of the Sydney Olympic Park Authority.
In 2001, David’s contribution to the people of the Western Sydney region was recognised with a Centenary Medal “for service to the community through local government”. In the 2019 Queens’ Birthday Honours, David was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for his services to local government and the NSW parliament.
David is a significant champion of the University. Through Business Western Sydney, he has significantly heightened awareness of the University’s contribution to the region amongst government and the business community. His support for increased business-research collaboration and evidenced-based policy development has considerably furthered the University’s service and engagement with the region.
ENDS
13 December 2022
Media Unit
As HSC results are released and prospective students get set to make those final decisions about further study and their future careers, Western Sydney University has been extending an extra helping hand with opportunities to give students a taste of uni life.
A new study led by Western Sydney University has shed new light on the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, after researchers identified proteins causing neuronal allergy in neurons treated with Alzheimer therapeutic antibodies.
When Shirley Hazzard received the National Book Award in 2003 for The Great Fire in the Marriot Ballroom in Times Square, the other guest of honour was Stephen King.
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