2026 NSW HR Leadership Summit

20th & 21st May
Waterview in Bicentennial Park, Sydney

Forward Motion – Harnessing collective strength to shape change

As builders, partners, and change-makers, HR leaders are catalysts who guide their organisations into the next phase of growth. By harnessing collective strength, unlocking human potential, and fostering a culture of collaboration, they continue to create meaningful change for their business, people, customers, and the communities they serve. Forward Motion is amplified by HR leaders who reimagine possibilities, navigate complexity and lead with a focus on collective strength.

The 2026 NSW HR Leadership Summit will explore key areas, including developing sustainable people strategies, adopting advanced digital innovation responsibly, integrating human-centred principles to improve employee engagement, safety and wellbeing, ensuring leadership accountability and governance, designing adaptive workforce strategies, uplifting capability, building a learning culture and empowering a multigenerational workforce. These themes will shape conference discussions, helping attendees refine their strategic roadmap for 2026 and beyond.

Key topics to be explored:
  • Leveraging human potential, collaboration, knowledge, and technology – developing a future-ready organisation
  • Sustainable people strategy – prioritising employee well-being and engagement as a foundation for long-term success
  • Future-ready workforce – upskilling, reskilling, and capability uplift to meet evolving business and community needs
  • The people leader change playbook – where people strategy intersects with strength, performance and delivery
  • Retention and engagement – recognising people as a critical driver of success, and fostering a culture of continuous learning, meaningful connection, and collaborative growth
  • Responsible AI governance and adoption – empowering HR to champion ethical, secure, and people-focused digital transformation
  • Creating a safety-first environment – the interconnection of HR, safety and leadership
  • Shifts in leadership mindset and behaviour – emphasising inclusive leadership, workforce agility, leadership accountability, digital transformation, and employee safety and well-being
  • Data-driven HR – using analytics to inform workforce planning and strategic decision-making
  • Multigenerational workforce – creating inclusive strategies for collaboration across age groups
  • From risk to resilience – navigating psychosocial hazards 
  • Embedding diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging into organisational culture
  • What's next? Trends and expectations that might shape the way HR influences business outcomes, inspires future leaders and contributes to a wider ecosystem
  • + more

Featured Presenters

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Ruth Muller
Chief R&R Officer
Suntory Oceanic
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Kristen Sweeney
Group Executive People & Corporate Affairs
Sydney Airport
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Glenn Campbell
CEO
Western Sydney University
The College   
     
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Karlie Cremin
CEO
DLPA & Crescom ANZ
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Elise Ward
Chief People Officer
Prospa
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Peter Berry
Managing Director
PBC Hogan
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Ish Vyas
Head of People Operations
ForHealth    
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Sue Borhan
General Manager, People & Talent Capability
Cater Care
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Tanya McCabe
Executive Transformation & People
TelstraHealth   
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Joe Chalouhi
Vice President, Talent Management & Organisation Development, Asia Pacific
DP World  
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Dianne Daher
Chief People & Culture Officer
GenesisCare
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Colin James
Co-Founder
The Colin James Method
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Katie O'Keeffe
Co-Founder
Structured Creative
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Craig Appaneal
Founder & Principal  
Openloop Solutions  
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Charmaine Coglan
General Manager, People & Culture  
Port Authority of NSW 
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Rebecca Doyle
Executive General Manager People & Business Operations
Women's Asian Cup 2026
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Marco Salieri
Regional Director, NSW
SMC
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Sharon Zeeman
Director, People & Culture
AFTRS
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Melissa Femia
Radio Lecturer & Communication Trainer
AFTRS
Summit Chairperson    

Gold Partners

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Summit Partners

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Register Your Interest

For information about registration, partnership or speaking opportunities, please contact us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.