Sam Mostyn

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Samantha Mostyn
AO
Official portrait, 2024
Governor-General Designate of Australia
Assuming office
1 July 2024
MonarchCharles III
Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese
SucceedingDavid Hurley
Personal details
Bornc. 1965
Canberra, A.C.T., Australia
SpouseSimeon Beckett
Children1
EducationAustralian National University (BA, LLB)

Samantha Joy Mostyn AO (born c. 1965) is an Australian businesswoman and climate change and gender equality advocate, and first female AFL commissioner. Mostyn was president at Chief Executive Women in 2021–22. She is a board member on numerous boards, including Mirvac, Transurban, GO Foundation, the Climate Council, Virgin Australia, and the Sydney Swans. The Mostyn Medal, for "best and fairest" women in AFL Sydney, is named after her. In April 2024, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that Mostyn will be sworn in as the 28th Governor-General of Australia on 1 July 2024.

Early life and education[edit]

Samantha Joy Mostyn[1] was born around 1965[2][3] in Canberra, ACT[4][5] the eldest of four sisters.[5] One of her sisters has an intellectual disability, so the family was involved in the disability sector.[6][7] Their father was an army colonel,[2] William "Bill" Mostyn,[8] a graduate of the Royal Military College Duntroon who served for almost 40 years.[9] He served as a major in the Royal Australian Signal Corps at ADF's Vietnam headquarters during the Vietnam War.[8]

Although most of her early years were spent in Canberra,[9] being the family of a military man meant moving around a lot, and included two years of Sam living in Adelaide with her grandmother while her father was in Vietnam.[2] She also lived in Melbourne, the United States, and Canada.[10] She played a lot of sport as a child, and loved to watch Australian rules football, although not having the opportunity to play herself.[2] She remembers attending the ANZAC Dawn Service each year with her family.[5]

Mostyn holds a BA and LLB[2] from the Australian National University (1986 and 1989 respectively).[11] She undertook research for local chief magistrate Ron Cahill, who was a "rabid" Collingwood fan, while she studied.[2]

Career[edit]

Mostyn has held many non-executive roles in business and government, and has also been involved with advocacy organisations and issues that relate to climate change, gender equality, Indigenous reconciliation, and environmental sustainability.[12] Her work has included roles in business strategy, human resources, culture change, risk management, and community engagement.[13]

Public sector[edit]

After leaving university, Mostyn trained as a solicitor while working part-time in the Magistrates Court of New South Wales and later as an associate to Michael Kirby in the New South Wales Court of Appeal.[14] She worked as a solicitor for Freehills and Gilbert + Tobin.[13]

In 1992,[14] Mostyn joined the office of transport and communications minister Bob Collins as a senior policy adviser,[13] specialising in intellectual property and also advising on the introduction of pay television to Australia. She subsequently moved to the office of communications and arts minister Michael Lee, before briefly joining the Seven Network as a broadcast policy manager. In 1995, Mostyn was recruited by prime minister Paul Keating to work in his office as a communications policy adviser. She was also appointed by Keating to the board of the organising committee for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where she served until 1996.[14]

In 2022, Mostyn was appointed by the Albanese government as chair of its Women's Economic Equality Taskforce,[15][5] a post which she still holds as of April 2024.[16] In 2023, this taskforce recommended that paid parental leave should be extended to a year.[9]

Private sector board and other roles[edit]

Mostyn joined telecommunications company Optus in 1996 after leaving Paul Keating's office.[14] As the company's director of government and corporate affairs, she was named "one of the most powerful women in the information technology industry" in 1998 by the Australian Financial Review.[14] In the same year, Mostyn was recruited to join Cable & Wireless plc in London as global head of human resources.[14]

In 2000, she returned to Optus as director of human resources and corporate development. She moved to Insurance Australia Group in 2002 as group executive of culture and reputation.[17] She left IAG in 2008.[18]

In 2005, Mostyn was appointed to the AFL Commission as its first female member. She served as a commissioner until 2016 and was a key figure in the development of the Australian Football League's Respect and Responsibility Policy, as well as an advocate for the creation of the AFL Women's competition.[19][5] From 2017, she directed the Sydney Swans for six seasons. She continues to support the community work done by the GO Foundation, established and run by former footballers Adam Goodes and Michael O'Loughlin.[20]

In 2010, Mostyn was appointed to the board of Transurban.[21] Also that year, she was appointed non-executive director of Citibank Australia,[18] and in 2015 she was appointed chair[22] of Citi Australia's consumer bank.[a][13]

On 20 April 2018 she was appointed as a director to the board of Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS),[24] and was appointed as chair on 3 March 2022, with her term set to end on 2 March 2026. ANROWS is an independent, not-for-profit research organisation which was established in 2013 by the Commonwealth and all state and territory governments in a bid to conduct and encourage research that would help to end domestic violence in Australia.[25]

In 2021 she was on the board of Mirvac, and was named by the Australian Financial Review as Australia's "most influential" company director, serving on boards with a combined market capitalisation of over $480 billion.[26]

She was president of Chief Executive Women in 2021–2022.[5]

Mostyn has previously served on the boards of the Global Business & Sustainable Development Commission,[13] Transurban, Virgin Australia, the Diversity Council of Australia,[9] Reconciliation Australia, the Australia Council for the Arts, and chaired Beyond Blue (where she is still on the board[9]), the Foundation of Young Australians, Ausfilm, Australians Investing in Women, Australian Volunteers International,[16][27] the Sydney Theatre Company, and Carriageworks.[13] She was also National Mental Health Commissioner, and a past president of the Australian Council for International Development.[16][27][13]

She has also served as faculty on the The Prince of Wales's Business & Sustainability Programme,[16] as a non-executive director and sustainability adviser.[28] The role involves leading residential seminars of groups of senior executives.[29]

As of April 2024 she is on the board of property company Mirvac,[1] and chairs the boards of Aware Super, the Centre for Policy Development,[9] ANROWS,[30] and Albert Music Group.[5]

Climate change work[edit]

Mostyn was one of the Australia 2020 Summit participants. She is a chair of the Climate Council and has written about bushfires and climate change for the Climate Council.[31] She is a member of the Climate Change Authority.[9]

She was an inaugural board member of ClimateWorks Australia[13][32] (now Climateworks Centre), an independent non-profit research centre focused on climate transition, co-founded in 2009 by the Myer Foundation and Monash University as part of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute.[33][34] She remained on the board until 2019.[35]

She is also a founding supporter and chair of 1 Million Women, the women's climate action group.[13]

Governor-General[edit]

On 3 April 2024, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that King Charles III had approved the appointment of Mostyn as the next Governor-General of Australia, succeeding David Hurley, and that she would be sworn in on 1 July 2024.[36][27][37]

The announcement was generally welcomed: by other politicians,[38] including by the leader of the federal Opposition, Peter Dutton;[3] Mostyn's colleagues; several women's advocacy organisations;[39][38] the AFL;[20] the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia;[8] the president of the Law Society of New South Wales;[40] the incumbent governor-general, David Hurley,[41] and others.[38] Some right-wing commentators such as Sky News Australia host Chris Kenny and former executive director of the libertarian think tank Institute of Public Affairs, John Roskam,[42] politician Pauline Hanson,[43] and conservative lobby group Advance Australia, criticised the appointment owing to her past activism,[8] which included having referred to Australia Day as "Invasion Day", support for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, which was rejected overwhelmingly in the 2023 referendum, and support for Australia becoming a republic.[44] ABC journalist Annabel Crabb observed that it was rare for such an appointment "to generate vicious denunciations on day one", arguing against News Corp journalist Janet Albrechtsen's denunciation of the appointment as being gender-based.[45]

Media[edit]

Mostyn has regularly written for, and been quoted in, the media.[46][47] She has advocated for prevention of domestic violence and for support of Indigenous Australian women.[48] She was a panellist on the Q+A TV show in March 2021,[49] when audience members asked whether prime minister Scott Morrison's support for women "was genuine", following marches in early 2021. Mostyn commented that recommendations by Kate Jenkins, Sex Discrimination Commissioner, following the national inquiry into workplace sexual harassment, could be implemented and accepted.[50]

Mostyn delivered a speech at the National Press Club, in November 2021,[51] as president of Chief Executive Women, on economic recovery and post-pandemic recovery, describing how Australia can make "the most of its available resources and talent" by investing in care, for paid parental leave, childhood education and superannuation reform, as well as ensuring employees in the care industry, such as teachers, childcare workers and nurses, are receiving well-paid salaries, and respect within the workplace. She described how the pandemic had "left women exhausted and deepened their inequality, particularly in the workplace" and that much of Australia's "luck" had been due to the undervalued work of women.[48][52]

She has reported on corporate Australia and the gender diversity within the top 300 companies, with 5% of women CEOs in the S&P ASX200 companies.[53] She has also commented on how quotas for gender equity in the workplace work, and how quotas within the AFL have led to improvements in the AFL and the AFLW.[54] She has commented that a large number of woman leaders "sends a message to everybody that women are equal and improves overall culture". She has stated that, when a significant proportion of women are on boards, issues such as domestic violence policy and sexual harassment complaints are brought to attention.[55] She has also written in the Sydney Morning Herald about women and the economy.[56]

She commented that the election in 2022 would be a gendered issue, signing an open letter saying that widespread reform is needed to assist the return to the workplace for Australian women.[50]

Recognition and awards[edit]

Personal life[edit]

Mostyn is married to barrister Simeon Beckett of Maurice Byers Chambers in Sydney, and has one daughter.[9]

She has been a friend of ABC journalist Virginia Trioli since her student days.[64]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ Citibank Australia was acquired by NAB in 2022.[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Mirvac Limited". Dun & Bradstreet. Retrieved 4 April 2024. Key Principal: Samantha Joy Mostyn
  2. ^ a b c d e f Flanagan, Martin (10 February 2017). "Her mountain climbed, Sam Mostyn moved on from the AFL". The Age. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2021. She was only 50 but she'd had 10 years on the AFL Commission... She's on the board of the Swans... She's also part of the GO foundation set up by Adam Goodes and Michael O'Loughlin to help Indigenous youth. She does a host of other things while also being married to Simeon and having a 17-year-old daughter.
  3. ^ a b Hyland, Paul; Sakkal, Anne (3 April 2024). "Sam Mostyn to be Australia's new governor-general". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024. Mostyn, 58, was floated as a Labor candidate at the last election and was previously appointed by the Albanese government to the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce and the Climate Change Authority.
  4. ^ "Canberra-born Samantha Mostyn AO the new governor-general". AAP. 3 April 2024. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024 – via Canberra Daily.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Grattan, Michelle (3 April 2024). "Businesswoman and women's advocate Samantha Mostyn to be Australia's next governor-general". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  6. ^ Priestley, Angela (3 April 2024). "Humility, grace, intellect: Sam Mostyn is an inspired choice for governor-general". Women's Agenda. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  7. ^ Our next Governor General Sam Mostyn on becoming the first female AFL Commissioner on YouTube Kurt Fearnley interviews Mostyn for One Plus One on ABC Television, 29 August 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d Dougherty, Robert (4 April 2024). "Impartiality expected: Governor-General appointee facing early scrutiny". defenceconnect.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lowe, Adrian (3 April 2024). "Who is Sam Mostyn, Australia's next Governor-General?". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  10. ^ Mostyn, Sam (24 November 2021). "Sam Mostyn: "We have been wasting the resources of women"". Gourmet Traveller (Interview). Interviewed by Kwong, Kylie. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  11. ^ a b c "2021 Australia Day Honours recipients". Australian National University. 29 January 2021. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024. Sam Mostyn AO BA '86, LLB '89, HonLLD '18 For distinguished service to business and sustainability, and to the community, through seminal contributions to a range of organisations, and to women.
  12. ^ "Distinguished CASS alumni recognised in Australia Day Honours". ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences. 4 February 2021. CASS Alumni Australia Day 2021 Honours. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024. Dr Sam Mostyn AO BA '86, LLB '89, HonLLD '18 For distinguished service to business and sustainability, and to the community, through seminal contributions to a range of organisations, and to women.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Sam Mostyn AO". Australians Investing in Women (AIIW). 20 September 2022. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Kirby, James (21 May 1999). "Bound for glory". Australian Financial Review. Sam Mostyn, 32, Optus. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  15. ^ Wootton, Hannah (31 August 2022). "Sam Mostyn to chair government Women's Economic Equality Taskforce". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  16. ^ a b c d Campbell, Eleanor (3 April 2024). "Samantha Mostyn to become Australia's next Governor-General, Albanese announces". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  17. ^ Mostyn, Samantha (7 June 2007). "A purpose-driven business". Australian Financial Review (Newspaper). Interviewed by Tandukar, Amita. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024. Samantha Mostyn... now group executive of culture and reputation at Insurance Australia Group...
  18. ^ a b Kehoe, John (20 July 2011). "Citi gains and loses key people". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024. Citibank has recruited high-profile businesswoman Samantha Mostyn.
  19. ^ "Sam Mostyn honoured". sydneyswans.com.au. 25 January 2021. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  20. ^ a b "AFL congratulates Sam Mostyn on her appointment as Governor-General". AFL. 3 April 2024. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  21. ^ Aston, Joe (7 April 2020). "Sam Mostyn says one thing, Transurban does another". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024. But two days later, Transurban – on whose board Mostyn has been perched since 2010...
  22. ^ Shapiro, Jonathan (10 November 2015). "Sam Mostyn appointed chairman of Citi's retail bank". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  23. ^ "NAB completes acquisition of Citigroup's Australian consumer business" (Press release). National Australia Bank. 1 June 2022.
  24. ^ "Sam Mostyn AO". ANROWS. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  25. ^ "Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety". Directory. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  26. ^ Durkin, Patrick (31 January 2021). "High-profile exits bring new breed of directors to fore". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  27. ^ a b c Fleming, Tessa (3 April 2024). "Anthony Albanese announces Samantha Mostyn as Australia's next governor-general". ABC News. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  28. ^ "Sam Mostyn". Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). 20 November 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  29. ^ "Melbourne seminar". Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). 21 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  30. ^ "ANROWS Board". ANROWS. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  31. ^ Mostyn, Sam (20 February 2020). "Australian CEOs must rupture the political stagnation to lead the charge on climate action". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  32. ^ "Climateworks board members honoured". ClimateWorks (Press release). 27 January 2021. Sam Mostyn AO. Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  33. ^ Climateworks (24 February 2023). "Climateworks Centre submission on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure" (PDF).
  34. ^ "Home". Climateworks Centre. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  35. ^ "Climateworks board members honoured". Climateworks Centre. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  36. ^ Albanese, Anthony (3 April 2024). "Australia's new Governor-General" (Press release). Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  37. ^ "Sam Mostyn announced as next governor general of Australia". Australian Associated Press. 3 April 2024. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024 – via The Guardian.
  38. ^ a b c "Who is Samantha Mostyn and what will Australia's new governor-general do?". SBS News. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  39. ^ Patten, Sally; Wooton, Hannah; Hutchinson, Samantha (3 April 2024). "What to expect from the new governor-general, from those who know her". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  40. ^ Silva, Francisco (3 April 2024). "Samantha Mostyn appointed Governor-General". Law Society Journal. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  41. ^ "The appointment of Sam Mostyn AO as the 28th Governor-General of Australia". Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia (Press release). 3 April 2024. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  42. ^ Roskam, John (4 April 2024). "A governor-general from the Chairman's Lounge". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  43. ^ Staveley, Patrick (3 April 2024). "'Not in Australia's best interest': Pauline Hanson takes aim at appointment of Samantha Mostyn as Governor-General". Sky News. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  44. ^ Remeikis, Amy (3 April 2024). "How will Sam Mostyn's career-long advocacy shape her role as governor general?". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  45. ^ Crabb, Annabel (10 April 2024). "Viceregal controversies aren't new but Sam Mostyn's appointment took the outrage to new levels". ABC News. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  46. ^ Grieve, Charlotte (18 October 2021). "'We've not progressed': Male CEOs in more than 96% of ASX-listed finance firms". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  47. ^ Mostyn, Sam (13 May 2021). "An encouraging step in a long journey for women". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  48. ^ a b Priestly, Angela (24 November 2021). "The 'luck' Australia's had from uncelebrated and underpaid women is running out: Sam Mostyn's plea for change". Women's Agenda. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  49. ^ Johnson, Paul (25 March 2021). "Stan Grant puts Australia's 'shame' regarding sexual assaults front and centre on Q+A". ABC News. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  50. ^ a b McLaughlin, Chelsea (26 March 2021). "Last night, we watched a woman speak about Australia's reckoning. A man immediately interrupted her". Mamamia. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  51. ^ "Sam Mostyn AO of Chief Executive Women, on creating a vibrant post-pandemic Australia". National Press Club of Australia. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  52. ^ Karvelas, Patricia (presenter); Mostyn, Sam (guest), Penglilley, Victoria (producer) (25 November 2021). Women suffering from 'the Great Exhaustion' (Radio interview). ABC Radio National Breakfast. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  53. ^ "Corporate Australia needs to get serious about diversity". Australian Financial Review. 7 September 2021. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  54. ^ "Sam Mostyn on becoming the first female AFL commissioner, receiving hate mail and why quotas work". ABC News. 27 August 2020. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  55. ^ Khadem, Massim (8 September 2021). "Having more female CEOs and stronger laws could help stamp out workplace sexual harassment". ABC News. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  56. ^ Mostyn, Sam (30 April 2021). "Investing in women will pay dividends for the whole economy". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  57. ^ 2015 Annual Report. AFL Sydney (Report). p. 6. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. The Women's Division One medal was named for the first time in 2015 in honour of the first women's AFL Commissioner Sam Mostyn...
  58. ^ "Mostyn Medal". AFL Sydney. 22 September 2023. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  59. ^ "Honorary Doctor of Laws recipients". ANU College of Law. Retrieved 3 April 2024. 2018 Sam Mostyn HonLLD
  60. ^ "Net zero emissions, science-based targets and world first sovereign green bond part of winning initiatives in IGCC 2019 Climate Awards". Investor Group on Climate Change (Press release). 14 October 2019. Outstanding Individual. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024. Sam Mostyn: For her long-term contribution to driving climate change and sustainable finance across the investment industry and corporate sector more broadly, especially through her advocacy in incorporating climate change as a core part of Director and Trustee responsibilities.
  61. ^ "Landcare Australia receives 2021 United Nations Day Honour" (Press release). Landcare Australia. 22 October 2021. UN Day Honour. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024. Previous recipients include Ms Sam Mostyn AO (2020), Reconciliation Australia (2019), the Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG (2018) and the Australian Red Cross (2017).
  62. ^ "Ms Samantha Joy Mostyn". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021 – via Australian Honours Search Facility. Announcement Event Australia Day 2021 Honours List
  63. ^ "Sam Mostyn | 2023 Grand Stirrer". ednaryan.net.au (Press release). Archived from the original on 3 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  64. ^ Trioli, Virginia (5 April 2024). "This week I watched my old friend Sam Mostyn named governor-general and her success felt sweet". ABC News. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.

External links[edit]


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