Wendy McCarthy

Wendy McCarthy began her career as a secondary school teacher and remains passionate about the power of education. For 40 years she has been a teacher, educator and change agent in Australian public life. In 2005 she was nominated by the Sydney Morning Herald as one of Australia's Top 100 Public Intellectuals.
She has held executive and non-executive director roles in many private and public institutions including the Australian Federation of Family Planning Associations; the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC); the Australian Bicentennial Authority; the National Better Health Program; the National Trust; Star City; the Australian Heritage Commission; and Symphony Australia.
Currently she is Vice-Chair of Plan International; Director and Immediate Past Chair of Plan Australia; Chair of the Accreditation Advisory Board of the Advertising Federation of Australia; Chair of McGrath Estate Agents; Chair of NSW Sustainable Access Priority Taskforce; Chair of Sydney Community Foundation, Member of the NSW Health Care Advisory Council and Patron of the Australian Reproductive Health Alliance.
Her corporate advisory practice McCarthy Management specialises in providing mentors to major corporations and the public sector and assisting these organisations with issues around diversity, leadership and work life balance.
Wendy McCarthy has published many articles and is the author of five books including her autobiography, Don't Fence Me In published by Random House in 2000. She enjoys public speaking and is an experienced speaker and facilitator.
In 2005 she completed a decade as Chancellor of the University of Canberra and she was a founding member of the Australian Chancellors' Conference.
Her advocacy and leadership have been recognised nationally and in 1989 she was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia for outstanding contributions to community affairs, women's affairs and the Bicentennial celebrations. In 1996 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of South Australia and in 2003 she was awarded a Centenary of Federation medal for business leadership.
She has been married to Gordon for 43 years and they have three adult children and three grandchildren.