Speaking & moderating

A clear, credible voice on governance, audit, risk and ethics — on stage and in the chair.

In 1987 I stood up at a conference in Seattle to talk about computer security. In August this year I sat on a panel in Sydney on where director liability now sits. In between — Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Manila, Port Moresby, Auckland, and a great many rooms in Sydney — it has been the same question the whole way: how do organisations control technology they do not fully understand?

I have followed that question up the stack. First as an auditor, asking whether the controls worked. Then as an adviser, asking whether the investment was governed. Then in the boardroom, asking what a director is accountable for. The technology keeps changing. The question doesn't, and most boards are no better prepared than they were for the last one.

I take a small number of speaking and moderating engagements each year.

What I speak about

  • Governing technology you don't operate — now AI. Where most boards are weakest. Whether the board skills matrix survives AI, and who is willing to raise it.
  • Where director liability actually sits. What directors are personally on the hook for once the technology, the disclosure and the regulator all move at once.
  • Probity and procurement integrity. How probity survives contact with real commercial pressure, and what boards and evaluation panels owe the process.
  • Risk, strategy and the board's actual job. Not risk registers — appetite, escalation, and the difference between being informed and being covered.
  • The audit committee, from both sides. I have chaired them and audited into them.

Formats

  • Conference keynotes and presentations
  • Moderating panels and discussions
  • MC and event facilitation
  • Facilitating board strategy days and executive sessions
  • Webinars and online sessions

Reach

4 decades Speaking since 1987, and still on programme
12 countries Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Japan, India and the USA
35 years Speaking to ISACA and its predecessor the EDP Auditors Association, 1987 to 2022, across three countries

119 engagements are documented to November 2014 across 21 separate years, in eleven Australian cities and seven countries beyond Australia, for 49 distinct host organisations. Formats run from conference keynotes and session chairing to master classes and two-week in-country training programmes.

Selected engagements

A curated selection, not the full record.

  • 2026 Director liability in 2026: Where the lines are nowPanel
    Australian Regulatory Summit, Thomson Reuters — Four Seasons Sydney, alongside the AICD.
  • 2025 The AI Governance GapKeynote
    Australian Regulatory Summit, Thomson Reuters — Hilton Sydney.
  • 2025 Local and Global Regulatory TurmoilModerator
    Navigating ESG, climate reporting and DEI in a conflicting compliance landscape. Australian Regulatory Summit, Sydney.
  • 2022 Cyber Security and Governance
    ISACA Sydney Chapter.
  • 2015 Connection (or disconnection) between IT, IT Security and the Boardroom
    ISACA Sydney Chapter — a second outing of the talk given at Massey University, New Zealand, the previous November.
  • 2014 Should Directors be Interested in Trusting Security
    AusCERT2014, Royal Pines Resort — Gold Coast.
  • 2014 Connection (or Disconnection) between IT, IT Security and the Boardroom
    Cybercrime and Trustworthy Computing Conference, Massey University — Albany, New Zealand.
  • 2013 A Global View of the Internal Audit ProfessionKeynote
    Audit Work Conference, UNI Strategic — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • 2013 Why Your Board Should be Interested in Achieving Borderless Trust and Privacy
    The Information Security Summit — Hong Kong.
  • 2013 SOPAC13Chair
    Chaired sessions for the Institute of Internal Auditors — Brisbane. Also presented at SOPAC in 1997, 2010 and 2011.
  • 2010 The New Age Public Sector Audit Committee
    Public Sector Internal Audit Conference, IIA Australia — Canberra.
  • 2007 Taking IT Governance to the Business
    ISACA Oceania CACS — Auckland, New Zealand.
  • 1987 Analysis of Computer Security in Australia
    EDPAA Annual Conference — Seattle, USA. The same paper was given at Hong Kong Polytechnic in 1989.

Also available for education and training — courses and programmes rather than platform appearances. Enquire about an engagement.