2025 Anna McPhee Memorial Oration

On Friday 22nd August, DCA members came together for the sixth Anna McPhee Memorial Oration in Melbourne.

It was wonderful to see nearly 350 DCA members and guests at the event where Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia delivered an incredibly moving Oration.

Oration highlights video - coming soon

The event commenced with a special Yidaki performance by Kiernan Ironfield and a warm Welcome to Country by Stacie Piper.

As Patron of Diversity Council Australia, the Governor-General underscored the importance of working toward an Australia where everyone can feel respected, seen, and heard. She reflected on her first year in office, meeting, listening to, and learning from communities across the country and spoke of the optimism she feels about Australia’s future, grounded in its diversity and united by shared values.

After the Oration, a panel of leading experts set the scene for DCA’s upcoming Class Inclusion at Work report, to be released in October. Moderated by DCA CEO Catherine Hunter, the panel explored why social class matters at work and how employers can stop the “class ceiling” from holding people back.

Speakers included:

Farhana Laffernis (she/her), Research Manager, Diversity Council Australia
Gwladys Ngo Tedga (she/her), Partner, Ashurst Risk Advisory
Doug Taylor (he/him), CEO, The Smith Family
Travis Lovett (he/him), Former Deputy Chairperson and Commissioner, Yoorrook Justice Commission.

We sincerely thank Ashurst, our Oration Sponsor, for their support of this event. We are also grateful to our table sponsors Accenture, APRA, CISCO, Schneider Electric and Telstra for their support.