Meet the judges

Lisa Paul had a 30+ year career in the public service, both state/territory and federal levels. She is Australia’s longest-standing Secretary of the Federal Department of Education, serving five Prime Ministers and nine Cabinet Ministers between 2004-2016.

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Since leaving government, Lisa has been a director of listed and private companies, several not-for-profits and is sought after for executive education and speaking engagements. She is an Enterprise Professor at the University of Melbourne, a Councillor of Bond University and will commence as the Chancellor of the University of Canberra in 2024.

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In 2011, Lisa was made an Officer of the Order of Australia and in 2003 awarded a Public Service Medal for leading the Commonwealth’s domestic response to the Bali Bombings. In 2011 she was named federal government leader of the year by Chartered Accountants and has received various other awards.

Peter Cosgrove was born in Sydney in 1947. The son of a soldier, he attended Waverley College and graduated in 1968 from the Royal Military College, Duntroon.

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Early in his military career, he fought in Vietnam, commanding a rifle platoon. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1971 for his performance and leadership during an assault on enemy positions. Peter came to national attention in 1999 when, as Commander of the International Task Force East Timor, he was responsible for overseeing that country’s transition to independence. For his leadership in this role, he was promoted to Companion in the Military Division of the Order of Australia.

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Promoted to Lieutenant General, he was appointed Chief of Army in 2000.  After further promotion to General, he served as Chief of the Defence Force from 2002-2005. He retired from the Australian Defence Force in 2005.

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Subsequently, he accepted positions on several boards, including QANTAS, Cardno and the Australian Rugby Union. He was appointed by the Queensland Government to lead the taskforce rebuilding communities in the Innisfail region following the devastation caused by Cyclone Larry in 2006. From 2007 to 2012, he chaired the Council of the Australian War Memorial, and served as Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University from 2010 until early 2014. On 25 March 2014, Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced that General Cosgrove would become a Knight in the Order of Australia when sworn in as Governor-General. He was named Australian of the Year in 2001.

Charlene is a proud Biripi and Gadigal woman. With 20 years’ experience working in NSW Government, Charlene brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and strong leadership from her various senior management roles with the NSW Public Service Commission, Department of Industry and Department of Education. Charlene has led the implementation of sector-wide programs and strategies focused on driving cultural change and improving outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in NSW in education, training, employment, leadership, and business development.

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Charlene is passionate about culture, truth telling and education. She is a strong advocate for public education and has been committed to the Reconciliation movement at the grass-roots level for more than 17 years. Charlene has a firm belief that all Australians should be afforded the opportunity to learn, understand and respect the true and often untold shared history of our Country.

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Charlene is a graduate of the Australian and New Zealand School of Government, completing her Executive Master of Public Administration in 2019. Charlene is incredibly proud of her role, leading an organisation that has deep-seated commitment to empowering young First Nations people through education and ensuring they deliver the best possible outcomes for First Nations students in the long-term.

Michelle Gunn is the editor-in-chief of The Australian, the first woman chosen for the role since the masthead was created.

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A journalist for more than three decades, Michelle was previously editor of both The Australian and The Weekend Australian. Under her leadership, the masthead was named PANPA Weekend Newspaper of the year four times as well as 2018 overall News Brand of the Year.

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Michelle's career at The Australian has also included stints as Deputy Editor, National Chief of Staff, Sydney Bureau Chief and Social Affairs Editor.

Nicholas Moore is a former Chief Executive Officer of Macquarie Group Limited. He retired in 2018 after 32 years at Macquarie, including 10 years as CEO.‍

He is Chair of The Centre for Independent Studies, The Smith Family, Willow Technology Corporation, the National Catholic Education Commission, Aldus Group, and the Financial Regulator Assessment Authority and Markets Taskforce Expert Advisory Panel (both within the Department of the Treasury).  

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He is also a member, and former Chair, of the UNSW Business School Advisory Council.‍ In November 2022, Nicholas was appointed as Special Envoy for Southeast Asia for the Commonwealth Government.

Brian Schmidt AC FAA FTSE FRS is a Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the Australian National University.

For his work on the accelerating universe, Professor Schmidt was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics. Receiving his PhD from Harvard University in 1993, Professor Schmidt joined the staff of the Australian National University in 1995. He served as the 12th Vice Chancellor and President of the Australia National University from 2016-2023 and is currently Chair of the Australian-American Fulbright Commission, and the Singaporean Government’s Academic Research Council.

Annabelle Williams is a Paralympic Gold Medallist, international motivational speaker, business owner, TV presenter, lawyer, board director and Mum.  

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Annabelle captained the Australian Paralympic Swim Team and managed to balance her sporting career with a corporate career as a lawyer. Annabelle competed in two Paralympic Games, broke five world records and won numerous medals for Australia, including gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.  

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Annabelle was an M&A lawyer at Allens Linklaters, and in-house counsel for the Australian Olympic Committee. She is a strong advocate for the rights of athletes and, at the age of 24, was awarded with the prestigious Medal of the Order of Australia for her service to sport. Annabelle is the Founder & CEO of "Grit & Gold”, a Director of Bond University, a Member of the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal and International Cricket Council Code of Conduct Commission. She graduated from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where she delivered the Valedictory Address and is a sports broadcaster, having most recently anchored Australia’s coverage of the Tokyo Paralympics and Birmingham Commonwealth Games, both of which won Logie Awards for most outstanding sports coverage. She hosted the broadcast of the Olympics and Paralympics from Paris this year for Channel Nine.  

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Annabelle is passionate about building belonging in the worlds leading workplaces and helping people and organisations to unlock a growth mindset and unleash their full potential.

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In a fun fact, Annabelle was briefly Charlize Theron’s stunt double in Mad Max 4: Fury Road!

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Learn more at www.annabellew.com and follow along @anniejwilliams.