From the President

The platform we now have at Consult Australia is one we can be proud of and one where we can focus on growth.

As the newly elected President of Consult Australia, this is my first time writing a “From the President” piece for Consulting Matters. It is an absolute pleasure and honour to be taking on this role for the next two years. I have been on the Board since 2017 and in that time, there has been tremendous change at a global, national, industry and Consult Australia level. Living in a VUCA world we know, as Heraclitus said, “change is the only constant in life”, I suppose what we didn’t expect is how fast it would happen. I would like to welcome our two new Board members Kerry Van Donderen and Arthur Psaltis who were voted onto the Board at the recent AGM.

It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge Gerry Doyle as the outgoing President. Gerry had been an exceptional leader of the Board through tremendous change, his passion and authenticity around Mental Health has been inspiring. The legacy that is left after Gerry’s tenure at Consult Australia is one where Nicola Grayson and her team have gone from operating from a deficit position to returning a surplus in FY21 supported by significant restructuring of the Consult Australia team in line with strategy delivering on our focus areas for our members through largely a Covid 19 pandemic! I would also like to acknowledge the contribution from our two other outgoing Board members, Brett Davis and Holly Carson. The platform we now have at Consult Australia is one we can be proud of and one where we can focus on growth. I am looking forward to working with Nicola, her team, the Board, and our members to bring that to reality so that we can continue to strive for our vision as a vibrant and prosperous industry, growing our profile, engagement, and revenue. There are some challenges we must address such as how our industry can address climate change, balancing risk appropriately through the industry ecosystem and helping our industry be attractive to future generations. I am passionate about our industry and I was delighted to see the recent approval of our refreshed code of ethics, a key foundation to building the culture we want to work in, with our partners, our community and our clients.

The theme for this edition of Consulting Matters is celebration, the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word celebration is the song from ‘Kool & the Gang’ which brings a smile to my face, celebrations are happy events, often with decorations, music accompanied by special drink and food. Celebrations normally involve a social gathering of some sort, whether it’s a birthday or other event.

Covid-19 has limited the ability to have the social gatherings in person, so celebrations during that time have been a lot different to what we had previously been used to, but we have continued to have birthdays, religious and other life defining moments to celebrate. We have become more innovative in the ways we have celebrated during the pandemic. I recall my birthday in 2020, restaurants were not open and we were unable to gather with others inside or outside the home.

My family had decided to surprise me with an innovative birthday celebration, I was asked to dress up, my husband and I went to the local pizza restaurant and picked up a take away pizza. When we came home my sons had set up a table with tablecloth, candles, lit a firepit and even designed a playlist they played whilst they ‘waited’ on our table.

Consult Australia has adapted too with last years award celebrations being online but very much making the opportunity recognise those tremendous projects, people and organisations.

In 2022 Consult Australia will be 70 years old, we will be celebrating in style, in person with a fantastic conference and awards night in March. It will be a wonderful way to gather together as an industry, celebrating our achievements, Consult Australia’s birthday and the strength of our vibrant industry. I love a good party and have missed the opportunity to do that in the last 18 months, I very much look forward to seeing you all there next year! n

Rowenna Walker

President