Anyone agitating for change – especially D&I professionals in the workplace – would be no stranger to backlash. But is a strong negative reaction such a bad thing? Could it mean people are listening and might change their minds? And is it inevitable if you want to challenge the status quo?
On the flip side, does backlash mean people don’t agree and will never get on board? Does it mean that you’re going about it the wrong way? And can it come with too much personal cost for those trying to achieve it?
So is backlash a force for good or evil? A forerunner for change or a sign of defeat? That is the question we tackle at this year’s Debate.
Our panellists include:
FOR THE AFFIRMATIVE -
Magda Szubanski AO
Actor, writer and advocate
Magda has become one of Australia's most courageous and effective advocates for LGBTQI rights, diversity and inclusion. Her efforts to advocate for gay marriage in Australia were critical to the Yes vote's win. Magda is also a multi-award-winning comedian, actor, producer, and author.
David Hackett
Chief Executive Officer, MLC Life Insurance
David’s career spans 30 years in the finance industry including a number of major global and investment banks. He became CEO and Executive Director of MLC Limited in 2016, and before that was Executive General Manager Insurance for NAB’s wealth management business.
Lucy Zelić
SBS Football Presenter
A passionate football journalist and lifelong sports fan, Lucy hosts SBS’s flagship football news program The World Game, appears as a sports presenter on SBS World News and writes for The World Game online. She also presents SBS’s coverage of local and international football.
FOR THE NEGATIVE -
Chas Licciardello
Comedian, The Chaser
Chas has produced, written and appeared in such TV shows as The Chaser's War on Everything, The Checkout, The Hamster Wheel, and a series of election specials. He has also sold mobile phones and edited a local newspaper - occupations that we note to prove that he did actually once hold a real job.
Jackie Huggins AM
Historian and Author
Jackie is a Bidjara (central Queensland) and Birri-Gubba Juru (North Queensland) woman who has worked in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs for over thirty years. She is a celebrated historian and author who has documented the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people throughout the decades.
Chris Varney
MD and Chief Enabling Officer, I CAN Network
Growing up with Asperger’s, Chris was inspired to start I CAN from the support his family, schools and mentors gave him. Since it’s inception, the I CAN Network has mentored 1,052 Autistic kids, teenagers and adults nationwide through schools, TAFEs, workplaces, camps and online programs.
© 2019 Diversity Council Australia