Wendy McCarthy AO Travels from Sydney, NSW

Wendy McCarthy is a teacher, author, entrepreneur, mentor, change agent, consultant, company director and campaigner for the rights of women and children.

She began her career as a secondary school teacher and remains passionate about the power of education. For 40 years she has been a teacher, educator and change agent in Australian public life. In 2005 she was nominated by the Sydney Morning Herald as one of Australia’s Top 100 Public Intellectuals.

She has held executive and non-executive director roles in many private and public institutions including the Australian Federation of Family Planning Associations; the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC); the Australian Bicentennial Authority; the National Better Health Program; the National Trust; Star City; the Australian Heritage Commission; and Symphony Australia.

Her corporate advisory practice specialises in providing mentors to major corporations and the public sector and assisting these organisations with issues around diversity, leadership and work life balance.

Wendy has published many articles and is the author of five books including her autobiography, Don't Fence Me In published by Random House in 2000. Her most recent book One 2 One, is Wendy’s quintessential Australian guide to mentoring.

She also enjoys public speaking and is an experienced speaker and facilitator.

In 2005 she completed a decade as Chancellor of the University of Canberra and she was a founding member of the Australian Chancellors’ Conference. Her advocacy and leadership have been recognised nationally and in 1989 she was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia for outstanding contributions to community affairs, women's affairs and the Bicentennial celebrations. In 1996 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of South Australia and in 2003 she was awarded a Centenary of Federation medal for business leadership.