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Nurturing democracy through ethical leadership
Sir Vincent and Lady Nancy Fairfax’s four children, along with a number of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, were delighted to attend the 2024 Sir Vincent Fairfax Oration in Sydney last month.
The Sir Vincent Fairfax Oration honours the legacy of Sir Vincent via a public celebration of ethical leadership. Each year the Oration is delivered by a prominent Australian leader offering a personal reflection on the role and meaning of ethical leadership in their own experience and in contemporary Australian society. This year’s Oration was delivered by Kim Williams AM – a business, media and arts sector leader and Chair of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Kim’s speech saluted the critical role of ethical leadership in nurturing Australian democracy and its institutions. In Kim’s own words at the event:
“Outstanding leadership will be needed to build and maintain the strong, capable institutions that will protect and nurture Australian culture and Australian democracy.”
A transcript of the Oration is available here.
On the night, Sir Vincent’s grandson, Angus White, had the opportunity to welcome attendees on behalf of the Fairfax family. In his remarks, Angus highlighted how Sir Vincent was always keen to empower good and principled leadership in Australia and drew a comparison between Sir Vincent’s and Kim’s approach to leadership:
“Kim is very much a doer as much as being a thinker in ethical leadership. Kim Williams is a big picture leader who is prepared to make tough and often very public decisions with broader and longer-term positive outcomes in mind,” said Angus.
The occasion also marked the graduation of the 28th Cohort of the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship, a year-long program designed to evolve participants’ leadership within an ethical framework. The program is delivered by Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership (CCEL) in partnership with Monash University.
Professor Tanya Monro AC, Australia's Chief Defence Scientist, one of the cohort of 2024 Vincent Fairfax Fellows, concluded the evening with a heartfelt Vote of Thanks to Kim. Tanya and her peers join a 400 plus strong alumni of the program, all whom have taken the time to invest in their ethical leadership practice.
Congratulations to the 2024 Vincent Fairfax Fellows. In 2025 the Fairfax family looks forward to welcoming the next cohort of Vincent Fairfax Fellows, as well as celebrating the 30th anniversary of the program’s establishment.
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