Our Patrons

Jennifer Westacott

Jennifer Westacott is currently the Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia and has been a Non-Executive Director of Wesfarmers Limited since 2013. Previously she was a Director and National Lead Partner at KPMG, heading up the firm’s Sustainability, Climate Change and Water practice and its NSW State Government practice.

Ms Westacott has extensive policy experience in both the public and private sectors. For over 20 years she held critical leadership positions in the NSW and Victorian Governments including the Director of Housing and the Secretary of Education in Victoria, and the Director-General of the NSW Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources.

In 2018, Ms Westacott was made an officer of the Order of Australia for her service to policy development and reform, cross sector collaboration, equity and business. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of New South Wales where she is an Adjunct Professor at the City Research Futures Centre. She was a Chevening Scholar at the London School of Economics.

In October 2012 Jennifer was appointed as a National Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia and in 2017 was Honorary Degree recipient 2017 (Doctor of Letters) from UNSW Sydney. Ms Westacott took up the role of Chair of Mental Health Australia from March 2013 - July 2019.

 

Jessica Rowe

Jessica Rowe is one of Australia’s best known television presenters. She began her career almost 20 years ago and has held various positions including a decade as co-anchor of Network Ten’s First at Five News. She has also co-hosted the Today Show, worked as part of the Seven Network’s news reading team and is a regular contributor to the Sydney Daily Telegraph’s opinion page. She had even swapped her news presenting role for dancing shoes, appearing on Seven’s Dancing with the Stars.

Jessica is passionate about news and current affairs as well as her advocacy work for mental health organisations. She is an ambassador for beyondblue and patron of its work on postnatal depression. Jessica is on the board of the George Gregan Foundation and is a member of the IVF Australia Ethics Committee.

Jessica had co-authored a book with her mother, Penelope Rowe, called The Best of Times, The Worst of Times, an account of their family’s experience of living with Penelope’s bi-polar disorder. She is married to 60 minutes reporter Peter Overton and they have two daughters, Allegra and Giselle.

 

 
 

Peter Overton

Peter Overton became the chief newsreader for Sydney’s 6pm edition of Nine News in January 2009.

Overton returned to the Nine newsroom after spending eight years as a reporter for 60 Minutes. Prior to joining 60 Minutes, Overton spent 10 years with Nine News as a reporter and regular presenter.

In 1991, Overton joined Channel Nine in Sydney as a sports reporter for National Nine News. He co-anchored Channel Nine’s coverage of the Thredbo disaster from the Sydney studios with Tracy Grimshaw. He also anchored the major super league ARL court decisions.

He received a TV Week Logie Award in 2012 for Most Outstanding news coverage for the Queensland floods – an award shared across TODAY, ACA and News. Peter accepted another Logie Award for the Nine News team in 2014 for Most Outstanding news coverage of the Blue Mountains bushfires.

Peter continues to contribute special reports for 60 Minutes and hosts the weekly feedback section of the program..

Peter has a strong sense of community. He serves on the Defence Reserves Support National Council, is a Patron of Mental Health Australia, Patron of the Monstar Foundation (Motor Neurone Disease), Patron of the Olivia Lambert Foundation (neuroblastoma), Co-Patron of the Peter Hughes Burn Foundation, Ambassador for the George Gregan Foundation, Ambassador for the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation, Ambassador for the Sony Foundation (Teenage Cancer), National Ambassador for Special Olympics Australia and Ambassador for the Australian National Literacy Foundation.

Peter Overton is married to Jessica and they are parents to young daughters Allegra and Giselle.

 

 


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