The QUT Business Leaders’ Forum is recognised as the pre-eminent business leadership event in Brisbane. For over a decade it has developed an international reputation for attracting dynamic world-class leaders in a dialogue on today’s leadership challenges. The Forum informs, challenges and inspires audiences on leadership, business excellence, corporate social responsibility, sustainability and related public policy.
Queensland’s business and political community hear prominent speakers explore trends, issues and ideas shaping the economy and politics of the nation. The Forum is also the city’s premier event for high–level networking.
Each forum features a speaker’s presentation, followed by an informal interview and questions from the audience. Each event is moderated by one of Australia’s most respected journalists, Kerry O'Brien.
About the moderator
Distinguished Australian journalist Kerry O’Brien, of ABC Television, exclusively acts as MC
and Moderator for the QUT Business Leaders' Forum series.
Kerry O'Brien is one of the most prominent and respected names in Australian journalism. He
has interviewed many world leaders including Mandela, Thatcher and Gorbachev, and a
diverse range of other top international figures. Kerry has won many accolades, including the
top award in journalism, the Gold Walkley. Since 1995 Kerry has been editor and
compere of the national 7.30 Report.
Ray Weekes - QUT
We started these events about 10 years ago. And we’ve developed them into what I think is one of the leading business luncheon forum of its kind in Queensland definitely if not in Australia. We only attract national and international figures and they can come out of business, politics, economics, social field whatever. And we’ve had over the years the most remarkable success. It’s about emphasising the position that QUT has for being a university for the real world and so we’re attracting the best individuals in their fields, that are the leading edge of issues that they’re dealing with. The way it’s set up is that there’s a speech given by a key note speaker and then Kerry O’Brien sits on stage and opens up with a number of questions. He never gets into the Spanish Inquisition approach it’s always a right level of questioning and then he opens up to the audience. So the audience always get a good chance to ask their own questions nothing planned and sometimes the questions, you may have, you could have avoided, but it’s important that the audience gets involved. So that’s what we say to them, watch out for this audience because they expect you to be personal.
I find the event to be very stimulating. I find them to be incredibly informative. QUT does an excellent job of finding very high profile speakers, something we don’t get a lot of in Brisbane. So there’s a real advantage in coming.
It’s a wonderful chance for people within the QUT academic roles to be able to meet with people to be able to have that real world contact and to be able to listen to visages that impact on all of us.
That recognises the QUT status in being able to obtain such high level speakers at the luncheon. I think it one of the business events on anybody’s calendar to go to. I think as you can see the number of people that are hear at the moment. It’s just the place to be.
Kerry O’Brien pulls out the nitty gritty and this particular lunch is going to prove very very interesting. Because every student, they have to have access to practical experiences. The theory’s no good unless you have the practical, understanding and that’s why they come to these events they get the best understanding of what does actually work. So the theory is supported by the learnings they get here.
