50 Influential Leaders in Canberra and the ACT (2026)

Last updated: June 2026

Canberra is unlike any other city in Australia. As of June 2026, it is the seat of federal government, home to a dense cluster of national cultural and research institutions, and one of the most educated workforces in the country, with influence on Australian life that is wildly disproportionate to its population of around 470,000. The leaders shaping Canberra right now are running national policy, building world-class research institutions, leading cultural organisations that define how Australia tells its story, and building the businesses, nonprofits, and community organisations that make the ACT one of the country's most liveable places. This directory puts together 50 people whose contributions to Canberra and the ACT are genuinely consequential in 2026, and whose work deserves to be far better known outside the city and more widely recognised within it.

Each leader on this list was selected on the basis of a documented, fact-checked contribution to Canberra and the ACT, from senior roles in significant organisations to recognised bodies of work, sustained community leadership, and independent recognition in their fields. As of June 2026, every person on this list is active and relevant in the field. The list spans eight categories covering civic governance, higher education, national cultural institutions, health, business, social change, technology, and community advocacy.

Why Canberra's Leadership Landscape Matters

Canberra produces decisions that shape the rest of the country. Every dollar of federal spending, every piece of national legislation, every treaty obligation, every research framework, and every cultural policy that affects Australian life passes through or originates here. The ACT has consistently ranked among Australia's highest for tertiary education participation and household income. A 2024 National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling report found the ACT had the highest average household income of any Australian state or territory. Canberra also consistently records Australia's highest rates of arts and cultural participation, ahead of every other capital city.

The leaders on this list are not famous because they appear on national television or run globally recognised brands. Many of them are doing work that is profoundly consequential but largely invisible to audiences outside the ACT. A university research leader whose environmental work shapes climate policy for the next decade. A community entrepreneur who built the world's first tool to reconnect sick children with their classrooms. A First Nations magistrate who broke a significant ceiling in Australian legal history. A football administrator who made sport financially accessible to thousands of women. These are the people who belong on any serious account of Canberra's leadership in 2026.

How This List Was Compiled

Each leader on this list was selected for a documented, fact-checked contribution to Canberra and the ACT, from published work and recognised credentials to senior roles, sustained recognition in the field, and verified current incumbency as of June 2026. The list spans eight categories and prioritises leaders whose work is centred in the ACT rather than those who are simply nationally prominent and happen to be based here. Every role, organisation, and claimed contribution was verified against a current primary source dated within the last 12 months.

Civic and Government Leadership in Canberra and the ACT

Canberra is the seat of government twice over. The federal parliament governs the nation from here, and the ACT Legislative Assembly governs the territory itself, alongside elected senators who represent the ACT in the national parliament. The eight leaders in this category hold positions that shape policy outcomes for all Australians and for the 470,000 residents of the ACT directly.

1. Andrew Barr

Andrew Barr has served as Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory since December 2014, making him the longest-serving Chief Minister in ACT history and the longest-serving current Premier or Chief Minister anywhere in Australia. A Labor MLA for the Kurrajong electorate since 2006, Barr has led the territory government through more than a decade of sustained investment in housing, renewable energy, light rail, and health infrastructure. He holds the additional portfolios of Minister for Economic Development and Minister for Tourism and Trade.

In June 2026, Barr publicly responded to the federal budget, advocating for fair treatment of public sector wage growth and cost-of-living relief for ACT households, reflecting a consistent pattern of territory-first advocacy in national economic policy debates. His tenure represents the most sustained period of single-leader governance the ACT has seen since self-government in 1989, with the Fourth Barr Ministry sworn in following the October 2024 election.

2. Yvette Berry

Yvette Berry is Deputy Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory and holds the portfolios of Minister for Homes and New Suburbs, Minister for Sport and Recreation, and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence. She has represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assembly since 2012. Her portfolio scope spans two of the most politically urgent areas of ACT policy in 2026: the housing shortage and community safety.

In April 2026, Berry announced a round of sports infrastructure grants worth over one million dollars to 44 ACT organisations, reflecting a consistent commitment to community sport and recreation as both public health infrastructure and social investment. Her housing policy centres on a government commitment to deliver 30,000 new homes by 2030, a programme she oversees as the minister responsible for homes and new suburbs. The breadth and political weight of her combined portfolio makes Berry one of the two or three most consequential ministers in the current ACT government.

3. Tara Cheyne

Tara Cheyne is the ACT's Attorney-General, the first woman to hold that role since Rosemary Follett in 1989, as well as Minister for Human Rights, Minister for City and Government Services, and Minister for the Night-Time Economy. She has represented the Ginninderra electorate since 2016 and has been a member of every Labor-led cabinet since 2021. Her arts policy work over several terms secured over 28 million dollars to progress the Canberra Theatre Redevelopment and an additional ten per cent funding increase for ACT arts organisations.

Her public commitment to positioning Canberra as Australia's arts capital and the territory's bid for UNESCO Creative Cities Network designation as a City of Design reflect a distinctive contribution to Canberra's cultural identity that runs alongside her justice reform and human rights portfolio. As the first female ACT Attorney-General in 35 years, she has also expanded the scope of restorative justice in the territory and led significant human rights policy work, including oversight of the ACT Human Rights Act.

4. Jo Clay

Jo Clay became Leader of the ACT Greens in May 2026, following Shane Rattenbury's retirement after 13 years as leader, making her the first new Greens leader in the ACT in over a decade and the party's first new leader since 2012. A Canberra-born MLA for the Ginninderra electorate since 2020, Clay chairs the Fiscal Sustainability and Environment and Planning committees in the ACT Legislative Assembly. Her portfolios cover finance, environment, arts and the night-time economy, planning and urban renewal, circular economy and waste, animal welfare, and heritage.

Her portfolio breadth reflects the Greens' role as a crossbench partner to ACT Labor, giving Clay legislative influence across multiple policy areas well beyond her party's three assembly seats. She holds a law degree from the University of Wollongong, grew up in Canberra attending Weetangera Primary and Radford College, and brings both legal training and deep local roots to the Greens' leadership at a moment when the party is navigating its first major leadership transition in the ACT in over a decade.

5. David Pocock

David Pocock is the independent Senator for the Australian Capital Territory, first elected in 2022 in one of the most significant upsets in ACT electoral history, when he defeated Liberal incumbent Zed Seselja to become the first independent ever to represent the ACT in the Senate. A former Wallabies captain who played international rugby for Australia from 2008 to 2019, Pocock entered politics with a platform focused on climate action, housing affordability, health and aged care, and political integrity reform.

His 2022 election created a template for independent community-based political engagement that influenced the national conversation about representation and accountability in Australian federal politics. In the 2025 federal election campaign, Pocock recontest his Senate seat with strong community support, running on a record of cross-bench negotiation and local constituent engagement across the ACT. He holds a degree from Charles Sturt University and maintains an unusually high level of direct community contact for a federal senator.

6. Katy Gallagher

Katy Gallagher is the Senator for the Australian Capital Territory and holds the combined portfolios of Minister for Finance, Minister for the Public Service, and Minister for Women in the Albanese federal government. A former ACT Chief Minister from 2011 to 2014 and Deputy Chief Minister before that, Gallagher brings exceptional institutional depth to her federal portfolio, having governed the territory before moving to the Senate in 2015. Her Finance and Public Service portfolios are among the most consequential held by an ACT representative in the federal parliament.

As Minister for the Public Service, Gallagher oversees the Australian Public Service Commission and the largest single employer in the ACT. Her combination of territory governance experience and federal ministry responsibility makes her one of the most institutionally experienced politicians representing the ACT in 2026, and her ability to navigate both levels of government has made her a central figure in the working relationship between the ACT Government and the Commonwealth.

7. Chris Steel

Chris Steel is the Treasurer of the Australian Capital Territory, Minister for Planning and Sustainable Development, and Minister for Heritage, serving in the ACT Cabinet since 2016 and representing the Murrumbidgee electorate. He assumed the Treasury portfolio in November 2024, taking over the role from Andrew Barr. A graduate of the Australian National University, Steel is among the younger serving Treasurers in Australian territory or state government.

His planning portfolio is among the most consequential for Canberra's long-term physical development. The missing middle housing reforms approved in 2026, which allow duplexes, townhouses, and low-rise apartments on residential blocks previously restricted to single dwellings, are a direct product of his planning policy work and will reshape the density and affordability profile of the ACT's residential areas through the remainder of the decade. His combined Treasury and planning portfolio gives him unusual reach across the economic and spatial future of the territory.

8. Mark Parton

Mark Parton has served as Leader of the Canberra Liberals and Leader of the Opposition in the ACT Legislative Assembly since November 2025, when he was elected unanimously following Leanne Castley's resignation from the leadership. A Liberal MLA for the Brindabella electorate since 2016, Parton served as Speaker of the ACT Legislative Assembly from November 2024 until his elevation to the opposition leadership one year later. His shadow ministry was formed in December 2025.

Before entering politics, Parton worked as a local radio broadcaster on 2CC in Canberra for many years, giving him a public profile and community connection that is unusual among opposition leaders at the territory level. He represents the primary accountability voice in the ACT Legislative Assembly, leading an eight-person shadow cabinet in opposition to the Labor-led government. His background in media and community broadcasting shapes a communication style that is unusually direct and accessible for the political context.

Higher Education and Research Leaders in Canberra

Canberra is home to the Australian National University and the University of Canberra, as well as significant research institutions including UNSW Canberra at ADFA and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The leaders in this category shape how knowledge is produced, transferred, and applied in Australia and globally.

9. Bill Shorten

Bill Shorten became Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Canberra in January 2025, having resigned from federal parliament and his role as Minister for the NDIS and Government Services. A former Leader of the Australian Labor Party from 2013 to 2019 and a former national secretary of the Australian Workers Union, Shorten brings unusually broad institutional experience to a university leadership role, arriving at a time of significant change for UC and the broader higher education sector.

In May 2026, he joined ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr on an India trade and education delegation, representing UC's international ambitions and signalling a proactive approach to global partnership. His publicly stated belief that universities must anticipate rather than simply react to societal demands has framed an early tenure focused on student employability, civic purpose, and the university's role in addressing inequality. The University of Canberra's ranking in the top seven universities globally for reducing inequalities in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2024 provides an institutional foundation he has publicly embraced.

10. Rebekah Brown

Rebekah Brown became Interim Vice-Chancellor and President of the Australian National University in September 2025, following the resignation of Genevieve Bell amid a financial crisis that required significant institutional restructuring. A multi-award-winning researcher in environmental studies specialising in urban water and sustainable development, Brown is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and a civil engineer who has worked on major infrastructure projects across the UK, Europe, South East Asia, and Africa.

As chief investigator she has attracted 123 million dollars in external competitive research funding and published 220 peer-reviewed papers, including in Nature and Science. She arrived at ANU with a clear stabilisation mandate, committed to completing the Renew ANU restructuring without further forced redundancies, restoring the university's academic reputation, and rebuilding confidence with international students and partner institutions. Her capacity to combine research credibility with strategic institutional leadership makes her appointment a stabilising force for one of Australia's most important universities.

11. Kim Rubenstein

Kim Rubenstein is a Professor of Law in the Faculty of Business, Government and Law at the University of Canberra and Co-Director of the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation, Australia's leading gender equality research centre working toward equal representation of women and men in leadership. A graduate of the University of Melbourne and Harvard University, Rubenstein is Australia's leading expert on citizenship law and its intersection with gender, public law, and civic participation.

She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and the Australian Academy of Social Sciences, reflecting peer recognition at the highest level of Australian legal scholarship. Her recent contributions to public discourse include analysis published in The Canberra Times in 2025 on citizenship and public law, continuing a career that combines world-class academic research with sustained public intellectual engagement. Her work on women in public leadership, through the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation, directly addresses one of the most persistent structural challenges in Australian civic life.

12. Chris Wallace

Chris Wallace is a Professor in the Canberra School of Government at the University of Canberra, where she teaches public policy, leadership, governance, risk, and change management. A political historian and former political journalist, she was appointed Director of the Pathways to Politics for Women program in the Vice-Chancellor's Centre of Public Ideas in 2026, in addition to her Canberra School of Government position, signalling UC's investment in building the pipeline of women into political leadership.

Her research focuses on power, effective politics, and policy with a particular emphasis on equity and the environment. She published peer-reviewed research in the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society in April 2026 and was the Official Historian for the National Archives of Australia 2000 and 2001 Cabinet Papers release in 2021 and 2022. Her combination of historical scholarship, applied policy expertise, and institutional leadership in the Pathways to Politics program makes her one of the most practically consequential researchers in the ACT's university sector.

13. Lisa Paul AO

Lisa Paul AO became Chancellor of the University of Canberra on 1 January 2024, bringing to the role one of the most distinguished public service careers in Australian education history. As Secretary of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations from 2007 to 2013 and Secretary of the Department of Education from 2013 to 2016, she was the most senior public servant responsible for Australian education policy for nearly a decade.

She was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2011 for distinguished service to public administration and education policy. As Chancellor, she provides strategic governance leadership to the University of Canberra alongside Vice-Chancellor Bill Shorten at a time when the institution is pursuing significant renewal and growth. She also chairs Co-operative Research Australia and serves on the Australian Square Kilometre Array Regional Centre Board, maintaining active engagement across the research and governance landscape.

14. Lachlan Blackhall

Lachlan Blackhall was appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) at the Australian National University in February 2024. An Entrepreneurial Fellow and founding head of the ANU Battery Storage and Grid Integration Program, his research focuses on supporting and accelerating the global energy transition through battery storage, grid integration, and clean energy systems. His work sits at the intersection of applied research and practical deployment, and as a postgraduate student at ANU he co-founded an entrepreneurship education program that engaged thousands of university staff and students.

His appointment to the DVC Research role came at a critical moment for ANU, tasked with rebuilding the university's research commercialisation and innovation pipeline following institutional restructuring. His background as a researcher who has founded and co-founded successful startups gives him unusual practical credibility for an academic leadership role focused on the commercialisation of university research and the innovation ecosystem of the national capital.

15. Andrew Metcalfe AO

Andrew Metcalfe AO has been the ACT Public Sector Standards Commissioner since October 2025, appointed for a five-year term to independently oversee the territory's public service code of conduct, managing complaints and misconduct processes. He is also the national president of the Institute of Public Administration Australia, re-elected to that role in October 2025. A former Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Department of Immigration across multiple ministerial regimes, he was recognised as Federal Government Leader of the Year by the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia in 2010.

He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2012 and became a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia in the same year. ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr welcomed his appointment to the Standards Commissioner role, describing him as having extensive experience as a senior leader in the Australian public sector and internationally, with significant experience dealing with complex, high-profile matters where integrity was paramount. His return to public sector oversight in Canberra brings rare integrity and governance depth to the ACT.

National Institutions Leaders in Canberra

Canberra is unique in Australia in hosting the country's major national cultural and research institutions, most of which are headquartered in the national capital. The leaders of these institutions carry a public cultural responsibility that extends to all Australians, and their decisions about what to collect, preserve, show, and prioritise shape the national cultural record.

16. Nick Mitzevich

Nick Mitzevich has been Director of the National Gallery of Australia since July 2018, overseeing one of Australia's most important cultural institutions with a collection of more than 166,000 works of art. Under his leadership, the NGA has expanded its education programs, deepened its First Nations collecting and curatorial work, and launched an ambitious 2026 exhibitions program including the Fifth National Indigenous Art Triennial. He was previously Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia from 2010 to 2018.

In 2026, Mitzevich affirmed the NGA's commitment to championing artistic excellence and the cultural ideas shaping Australia's identity, framing the year's program as revealing the vast possibilities of storytelling through art, from Arthur Boyd's spiritual tapestries to the work of First Nations artists telling stories of rebirth and regeneration. His curatorial and strategic leadership has positioned the NGA as both a nationally significant collecting institution and a publicly engaged civic institution in the life of the capital.

17. Alison Dellit

Alison Dellit became Director-General of the National Library of Australia on 9 April 2026, appointed for a five-year term following the retirement of Marie-Louise Ayres after nine years. A graduate librarian who joined the NLA in 2006, Dellit was part of the original working group that developed Trove, the NLA's landmark digital discovery service, and served as Assistant Director-General Collaboration since 2017. Over nearly two decades she helped position the National Library as a global leader in digital cultural services.

On her appointment, Dellit said the role was an honour and that she was excited to work with the council, executive, and staff to bring inclusive, exciting, and engaging programs to Australians. Library Council Chair Professor Larissa Behrendt AO welcomed the appointment, noting Dellit's collegial reputation across the cultural sector and the depth of domain knowledge she brings. Her appointment represents a rare case of a long-serving internal leader with deep institutional knowledge taking the top role at a major national institution.

18. Katherine McMahon

Katherine McMahon was appointed Director of the National Museum of Australia in February 2024, born and educated in Canberra in what The Canberra Times described as a refreshing appointment of a genuinely local leader to a national institution. She spent the first 15 years of her career at the Australian War Memorial, leading a decade-long program of gallery renewal including the acclaimed First World War galleries, before joining the National Museum in 2017 and serving as Deputy Director before her appointment as Director.

The National Museum Council Chair Ben Maguire AM described her appointment as one the council supported unanimously, noting her leadership, ambition, and vision to build on the institution's successes and drive it through its next pivotal phase. McMahon described 2024 as a fantastic time to lead the museum, citing significant government investment in Australia's cultural institutions as part of the national cultural policy Revive. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Curatorship from the Australian National University.

19. Louise Taylor

Louise Taylor was appointed Chief Magistrate of the ACT Magistrates Court, becoming the first Aboriginal woman appointed to that role in the territory's history. Her appointment was publicly welcomed by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, which congratulated her and noted the significance of the milestone for First Nations representation in ACT justice leadership. Her appointment to the territory's highest magistracy brings an Indigenous perspective to a court that deals with matters directly affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at a disproportionate rate.

The significance of her appointment extends beyond the ACT. First appointments of Aboriginal women to senior judicial roles at the territory and state level have been among the most watched institutional milestones in Australian law in recent years, and Taylor's appointment to the ACT Chief Magistracy places her among a small cohort of Indigenous women who have broken through the most senior levels of Australia's legal system in the same era.

20. Dr Jilda Andrews

Dr Jilda Andrews is a Yuwaalaraay cultural practitioner who was appointed Deputy Director, First Nations at the National Museum of Australia in February 2025. Her appointment as one of the four executive directors of the NMA signals a direct commitment to First Nations leadership at the executive level of one of Australia's most significant public institutions, and to the principle that First Nations stories require First Nations leadership in how they are curated, managed, and shared.

With a background in Indigenous cultural practice, Dr Andrews brings lived cultural authority to a role that shapes how the National Museum of Australia approaches its First Nations collections, community engagement, and the representation of 50,000 years of Indigenous heritage in a national public institution. The NMA's commitment to embedding First Nations leadership at the executive level, alongside her appointment, represents a structural shift in how one of Canberra's major cultural institutions is governed.

21. Kate Lundy

Kate Lundy is Chair of Canberra United FC, the women's A-League football club based in the ACT, and brings to that governance role over two decades of public sector and civic leadership, including 18 years as Senator for the Australian Capital Territory from 1996 to 2014. During her Senate career she focused on digital policy, technology, and community sport, giving her governance experience directly relevant to a club navigating the intersection of professional sport, community access, and women's leadership.

Under her chairmanship, Canberra United finished third in the 2025-26 A-League Women regular season and progressed to the finals series, reflecting competitive performance in a competition whose profile and audience has grown substantially in recent years. Her transition from federal Senate to community sport governance reflects a pattern of senior women applying institutional experience to the growing infrastructure of women's professional sport in Australia.

Health, Science, and Community Advocates Shaping Canberra

Canberra's health and community sector is shaped by leaders working at the intersection of national policy, scientific research, and direct community service. Several of the leaders in this category have built organisations or careers with influence that extends well beyond the territory.

22. Professor Rose McGready

Professor Rose McGready was named the 2026 ACT Australian of the Year, recognised for three decades of providing health services to displaced people in the border region between Thailand and Myanmar. Arriving as a young doctor, McGready discovered that refugees who had fled persecution in Myanmar could not access medical care in Thailand. She responded by establishing training programs for local staff focused on maternal health services and the critical period of childbirth.

Over 30 years she built a network of locally run clinics and outpatient services in one of the world's most complex humanitarian settings, producing research that has shaped the global evidence base for maternal and refugee health in conflict-affected regions. Her ACT Australian of the Year recognition at the ceremony on 17 November 2025 reflects a career of extraordinary public health contribution carried out far from institutional support systems, built entirely on clinical determination and local community partnership.

23. Megan Gilmour

Megan Gilmour is co-founder of MissingSchool, the organisation she established after her son Darcy's pre-leukaemia diagnosis and two-year school absence gave her a direct understanding of the 1.2 million Australian children at risk of missing school due to chronic health conditions. She was named the 2025 ACT Australian of the Year. In 2015, Gilmour co-authored Australia's first national report on school isolation, which led to a Commonwealth report in 2016.

In 2017, she launched the world's first telepresence robot service, which has reconnected over 7,000 Australian students with their classrooms in real time. She is an Honorary Fellow at Deakin University, and her 2024 public advocacy reached 14.1 million Australians. Her contribution is both a product of personal experience and a commitment to systemic change, combining research, policy advocacy, and practical technology to address one of the most overlooked equity issues in the Australian education system.

24. Verity Hawkins

Verity Hawkins has been Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Council ACT since October 2021, bringing over 25 years of nonprofit leadership experience to the role, having previously led organisations including Lifeline and YWCA Australia. A Harvard Business School alumna and graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, she serves on the boards of Canberra Art Biennial and Canberra Glassworks, reflecting genuine engagement with Canberra's civic life beyond her primary CEO role.

In 2026, she led Cancer Council ACT's Relay For Life at the AIS Track and Field Centre, an annual community cancer fundraising event that brought over 1,000 participants together for a 24-hour event, with every dollar raised staying in Canberra to support the local community's response to cancer. Her approach to leading the Cancer Council in the ACT combines systemic cancer prevention and policy advocacy with direct community engagement, reflecting a CEO style that prioritises visible presence alongside strategic leadership.

25. Dr Zoran Bolevich

Dr Zoran Bolevich is Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), the national independent agency responsible for producing authoritative data and statistics on Australia's health and welfare systems. Based in Canberra, the AIHW under his leadership produces the national data infrastructure that underpins policy decisions across health, aged care, disability, housing, and community services for governments at every level in Australia.

In April 2026, Bolevich participated in the Health and Technology Dialogue in Canberra alongside senior government and health technology leaders, focusing on building AI-enabled health systems that can proactively respond to future challenges, enhancing mental health and community wellbeing through digital innovation, and advancing Indigenous and inclusive health initiatives through ethical, culturally sensitive technology. His leadership of the AIHW at a time of rapid transformation in health data and digital health infrastructure makes him one of the most consequential figures in Australia's health policy ecosystem.

26. Lucinda Barry

Lucinda Barry is Chief Executive Officer of the Organ and Tissue Authority (OTA), the national agency responsible for leading and coordinating Australia's organ and transplantation system. Based in Canberra, the OTA under her leadership oversees DonateLife, the national donor register and public awareness program that drives Australia's donation rates and coordinates the hospital and clinical systems that make transplantation possible.

Barry has spoken publicly about the weight of the OTA's work, reflecting on what it means to lead an agency where conversations about donation occur at moments of profound grief and where every systemic improvement translates into lives saved or transformed. Her leadership of the authority focuses on building a system that gives more Australians access to life-saving transplants through better hospital coordination, public awareness, and policy frameworks that support families and clinicians through the donation process.

27. Heather Reid AM

Heather Reid AM was named the 2026 ACT Senior Australian of the Year, recognised as a football pioneer who has spent decades making sport financially and socially accessible to women and girls. She established the Heather Reid AM Bursary to help pay registration fees for players who face financial hardship, ensuring that the cost of participation does not determine who gets to play. Her vision and dedication to inclusion and equality in Australian football have opened pathways for thousands of women and girls to take part in the sport.

Her 2026 Senior Australian of the Year recognition reflects a career that combined long-term advocacy for equal access to sport with practical community action to remove financial and social barriers to women's football participation. The bursary named in her honour stands as a lasting structural contribution to women's sport participation in the ACT and beyond.

28. Marion Le AM

Marion Le AM is a refugee advocate based in the Fraser suburb of Canberra who was named a finalist for the 2026 ACT Senior Australian of the Year. As a recognised contributor to the refugee and migrant community in the ACT, Le has built a sustained body of community advocacy that earned both an AM and national award nomination, reflecting a long-term commitment to improving conditions and support systems for people settling in the capital.

Her work focuses on the integration and wellbeing of refugees and migrants in Canberra, drawing on lived experience and long-term community relationship-building to advocate for systemic improvements in settlement services and community support. The combination of her AM and AoY recognition reflects a pattern of consistent, peer-recognised contribution to one of the most important community leadership challenges in the ACT.

29. Ben Alexander

Ben Alexander is a mental health advocate based in the Forrest suburb of Canberra who was named the 2026 ACT Local Hero at the Australian of the Year Awards ceremony on 17 November 2025. His community mental health work has made a documented contribution to wellbeing awareness and support in the ACT, recognised at the national Local Hero level alongside nominees from every Australian state and territory.

His recognition reflects a body of grassroots community advocacy carried out with the sustained commitment that Australian of the Year local hero recognition is specifically designed to surface. Mental health advocacy in Australia in 2026 operates in a policy environment where demand for services consistently exceeds supply, making the community-based advocates who supplement and humanise formal service systems among the most important contributors to population mental health outcomes.

Business and Entrepreneurship Leaders in the ACT

Canberra's business landscape is shaped by leaders who have built organisations in a city that combines government proximity, a highly educated workforce, a distinctive civic culture, and a business environment that rewards depth and relationships over scale. The leaders in this category span consulting, law, construction, urban development, and innovation.

30. Kylie Burnett

Kylie Burnett is Founder, Owner, and Co-CEO of Parbery Consulting, one of Canberra's leading management consulting firms specialising in government advisory, digital transformation, and organisational improvement. She was the naming rights partner for the 2025 Canberra Women in Business Awards, and in congratulating Business Woman of the Year Debra Parker at the ceremony, described the Canberra business sector as being in safe hands with the women leaders contributing to and shaping the community.

Parbery's positioning as a Canberra-grown government consulting firm with national reach makes Burnett one of the more strategically significant business leaders in the territory. Her dual role as Founder and Co-CEO alongside the firm's public commitment to the women's business community reflects an approach to business leadership that combines commercial success with civic investment, a combination that is particularly valued in Canberra's relationship-driven professional environment.

31. Debra Parker

Debra Parker is Founder and Director of Parker Coles Curtis and was named Business Woman of the Year at the 2025 Parbery Canberra Women in Business Awards. She is Canberra's only dual-accredited Family Law and Dispute Resolution Specialist, a professional credential that positions her at the highest level of practice in a field that deals with some of the most consequential legal decisions in people's lives. Her firm was built on a commitment to supporting women and families across the Canberra region.

In 2026, she was named a finalist in the ACT Law Society Law Week Service Awards, confirming continued peer recognition alongside her business success. Her recognition at the Business Woman of the Year level reflects both the commercial achievements of Parker Coles Curtis and a body of work in the community that goes beyond the practice of law to the active support of women navigating some of life's hardest transitions.

32. Anna Neelagama

Anna Neelagama was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Master Builders ACT in September 2025, bringing over nine years of CEO experience in real estate, the built environment, and agribusiness advocacy. She holds a Bachelor of International Relations from Griffith University and a Graduate Certificate in Property Development from the University of Technology Sydney. Master Builders ACT is the peak industry body representing the construction and building industry in the territory.

Her appointment came at a critical moment for the sector, as the ACT government pursues its 30,000 homes commitment and the missing middle housing reforms reshape what can be built on residential land across the territory. As CEO of the peak body, Neelagama occupies a central position in the policy dialogue between government and the construction industry over housing supply, workforce, and the regulatory environment for building in the ACT.

33. Craig Gillman

Craig Gillman has been Chief Executive Officer of the City Renewal Authority since 2024, having served as Deputy Chief Executive of the authority since 2019. The City Renewal Authority leads the future development of Canberra's city centre, driving the urban renewal strategy for the Australian capital's central precinct. Prior to his CRA roles, Gillman served as acting CEO at the Suburban Land Agency and Executive Director at Transport for NSW and EY Canberra.

His deep familiarity with Canberra's development needs, combined with his track record in strategic delivery across public and private sector contexts, makes him a central figure in shaping the physical and commercial transformation of central Canberra through the late 2020s. The City Renewal Authority's work directly influences the liveability and economic vibrancy of the city centre that all ACT residents and visitors experience, making his role one of the more practically visible senior executive positions in the territory.

34. Mandy Hill

Mandy Hill is President of Canberra Women in Business, the not-for-profit organisation established in 1992 with the sole purpose of creating a meaningful platform for networking, professional development, and connection for women in the Canberra business community. In her presidential role, Hill oversees the annual Canberra Women in Business Awards, one of the most significant recognition programs for women's leadership in the ACT, and describes reading each finalist's story as one of the greatest rewards of her role.

Her continued service to CWB reflects a commitment to the collective infrastructure of women's business leadership in Canberra, investing in the recognition and network systems that make individual achievement more visible and more replicable. Her work at the organisational level, supporting the individual stories of women across all stages and sectors of Canberra business, represents a form of leadership that amplifies others rather than centering itself.

35. Petr Adamek

Petr Adamek is CEO of the Canberra Innovation Network (CBRIN), the ACT Government-backed innovation ecosystem organisation that connects entrepreneurs, SMEs, universities, researchers, investors, and government to accelerate innovation and economic diversification in the territory. CBRIN hosts over 7,500 participants annually across more than 200 events and delivers programs including the ICON Grant, which in 2025 distributed 237,000 dollars across eight local innovation businesses in its second round.

In April 2026, CBRIN hosted a leadership panel discussion marking a decade of ecosystem building, reflecting on the organisation's role in seeding what has become one of Australia's most active innovation communities relative to its city size. Under Adamek's leadership, CBRIN has built Canberra's reputation as a testing ground for new ideas and a place where deep collaboration between government, universities, and entrepreneurs is not aspirational but operational.

36. Brendan Baker

Brendan Baker is the founder of Mecro Group and the author of Valuable Change: What You Need to Know to Ensure Your Change Pays Off. Based in Canberra, he has consulted on more than 11 billion dollars in transformation projects across public infrastructure, aged care, government, and technology sectors. He was named among the top 12 change leaders to watch internationally in 2024 and is one of the more vocal advocates for simplification within change management practice.

His work represents a distinctively practical contribution to the change management field, combining large-scale project experience with public-facing thought leadership on what actually makes organisational transformation deliver value rather than complexity. His base in Canberra, combined with a client base that spans public infrastructure and government, positions him at the intersection of the two domains where the ACT has the most at stake in getting transformation right.

Social Change, Advocacy, and Community Leaders in the ACT

The ACT's social change leadership is some of the most concentrated in Australia, combining national policy proximity with a community sector that carries extraordinary civic ambition for the territory's size. The leaders in this category represent some of the most distinctive and consequential social contribution coming from Canberra in 2026.

37. Sita Sargeant

Sita Sargeant is the founder of She Shapes History, a historical tourism company and social enterprise dedicated to uncovering and telling the often-overlooked stories of women who have shaped Australian towns, cities, and national life. Based in Canberra, she was named the 2026 ACT Young Australian of the Year at the ceremony on 17 November 2025, recognised for forging a distinctive approach to storytelling and historical research that makes women's contributions to Australian history accessible and commercially viable.

She Shapes History bridges tourism, education, and social enterprise in a way that creates a sustainable business model around the recovery and amplification of women's history. Her approach treats the historical record not as fixed and complete but as something that can be actively expanded through research, storytelling, and community engagement, a perspective that is both intellectually serious and practically impactful in how it changes what visitors to Australian places know about the women who built them.

38. Anjali Sharma

Anjali Sharma is a Canberra-based climate change campaigner who was nominated for the 2026 ACT Young Australian of the Year. Her climate activism has focused on accountability mechanisms for government climate commitments, the legal dimensions of climate inaction, and the amplification of youth voices in national climate policy. Her Canberra base gives her direct proximity to federal policy processes that most community climate campaigners in other cities can only access indirectly.

Her work operates at the intersection of advocacy, law, and civic engagement, drawing on Canberra's unique position as the seat of the policy decisions she is seeking to influence. Her nomination for the Young Australian of the Year recognises a documented body of community contribution to the climate conversation in Australia from a base in the capital.

39. Howard Maclean

Howard Maclean is a housing advocate based in the Kingston suburb of Canberra who was nominated for the 2026 ACT Young Australian of the Year. His advocacy focuses on housing affordability and accessibility in the ACT, an issue that sits at the top of the territory's social policy agenda as housing costs have risen sharply relative to income over recent years. His nomination reflects a body of grassroots community contribution to the housing debate in a city where the problem is both acute and politically contested.

Canberra's housing challenge is simultaneously a local and a national story. As the federal government drives a national housing agenda and the ACT government pursues its own targets, community-based advocates like Maclean who centre the lived experience of those most affected by housing insecurity provide an essential counterweight to institutional discussions that can lose sight of the human dimension of the problem.

40. Thomas Emerson

Thomas Emerson has been a member of the ACT Legislative Assembly for the Kurrajong electorate since October 2024, elected as a candidate for Independents for Canberra, a party he co-founded in January 2024 and later vacated to serve as an Independent. The son of former federal minister Craig Emerson, he began his political career as an advisor to Senator David Pocock after volunteering for his 2022 election campaign.

At 32, Emerson is among the youngest sitting members of the ACT Legislative Assembly and holds the Kurrajong electorate seat formerly held by Rebecca Vassarotti of the Greens, in one of the more politically significant independent wins in the 2024 territory election. His election represents the continuing influence of the community independent movement that reshaped the ACT and federal political landscape from 2022 onward, bringing a new generation of elected representation into Canberra's governance.

41. Calvin Bruton OAM

Calvin Bruton OAM is a basketball leader based in the Gungahlin district of Canberra who was nominated for the 2026 ACT Senior Australian of the Year. His OAM reflects recognised service to basketball and the Canberra community across many decades, spanning his playing career and an extended period of community contribution to basketball's development in the territory. He has been one of the most significant contributors to basketball culture and participation in the ACT region.

His recognition at the AoY Senior Australian of the Year level places him among the most distinguished community contributors in the ACT's sporting history. Basketball is one of the fastest-growing participation sports in Australia, and leaders like Bruton who have invested long-term in developing the game at the community level are central to that growth in the national capital region.

42. Lauren Cannell

Lauren Cannell is an advocate and humanitarian based in the Bruce suburb of Canberra who was nominated for the 2026 ACT Australian of the Year in the main category. Her advocacy work has earned peer recognition through the nomination process, reflecting a documented body of community and humanitarian contribution in the Canberra region. She was nominated alongside three other ACT advocates in the main Australian of the Year category for 2026.

The Australian of the Year nomination process is rigorously competitive, and nomination at the ACT level reflects a genuine community judgment about meaningful contribution. Cannell's nomination in the primary category, alongside the eventual winner Professor Rose McGready, places her work within the highest tier of community impact recognised in the territory for the 2026 awards cycle.

Technology, Government Reform, and Senior Public Leadership in Canberra

The ACT's senior public service, combined with the federal public service headquartered in Canberra, produces a deep concentration of technology, policy, and government reform leadership that is unlike any other city in Australia. The leaders in this category are shaping the systems and institutions through which government serves the Australian community.

43. Fay Flevaras

Fay Flevaras is Chief Digital Information Officer at the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, one of the most consequential technology leadership roles in the Commonwealth public service. Based in Canberra, her work focuses on building digital health systems that can proactively respond to complex challenges including pandemic preparedness, population ageing, and rural health access. She has been a prominent public voice on AI-enabled health systems and digital transformation in government health services.

In April 2026, Flevaras participated in the Health and Technology Dialogue in Canberra, alongside the CEO of the AIHW, focusing on three critical themes: building adaptable AI-enabled health infrastructure, enhancing mental health and community wellbeing through digital innovation, and advancing Indigenous and inclusive health initiatives through ethical technology. Her role at the intersection of digital transformation and public health makes her one of the most consequential technology leaders in the Commonwealth public service.

44. Michael Pettersson

Michael Pettersson is the ACT Minister for Business, Arts and Creative Industries, having been sworn into the Fourth Barr Ministry in November 2024. He represents the Murrumbidgee electorate in the ACT Legislative Assembly, elected in 2020. In his business portfolio, Pettersson has been an active presence at the 2025 Canberra Women in Business Awards, where he praised women-led businesses for making a significant contribution to the ACT economy and inspiring future generations of leaders.

His arts and creative industries portfolio complements the broader arts policy work carried out by Attorney-General Tara Cheyne, giving him responsibility for the business dimensions of Canberra's ambition to become Australia's arts capital. His dual focus on business support and creative industry development reflects the ACT government's understanding that a thriving arts sector requires both cultural investment and sound commercial infrastructure.

45. Suzanne Orr

Suzanne Orr is the ACT Minister for Education and Youth Justice and represents the Murrumbidgee electorate in the ACT Legislative Assembly. She was sworn into the Fourth Barr Ministry in November 2024. As Minister for Education, she oversees the ACT Education Directorate, which delivers public schooling services through 87 government schools in the territory, registers non-government schools, and is responsible for the ACT's consistently strong education outcomes.

The ACT's public schooling system has long been recognised as setting a national standard for high-quality education, and Orr's portfolio encompasses the policy and investment decisions that maintain and extend that standard. Her Youth Justice portfolio adds a dimension of direct engagement with the ACT's most vulnerable young people, particularly those at risk of or engaged with the justice system, in a territory that has been developing its approach to youth diversion and restorative justice.

46. Marisa Paterson

Dr Marisa Paterson is the ACT Minister for Corrections, Minister for Justice Health, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, and Minister for Fire and Emergency Services, having been sworn into the Fourth Barr Ministry in November 2024 and representing the Brindabella electorate. Her portfolio sits at the intersection of justice, health, and Indigenous affairs, a combination that positions her to address the interconnected challenges facing the ACT's most marginalised residents.

In 2025, Paterson publicly acknowledged that truth-telling had not taken place in the ACT in relation to the treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners, and supported a board of inquiry into the treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at the Alexander Maconochie Centre. Her portfolio of corrections, justice health, and Aboriginal affairs gives her direct responsibility for some of the most politically sensitive and humanly consequential decisions made by the ACT government.

47. Catherine Rule

Catherine Rule is Director-General of the Health and Community Services Directorate in the ACT Government, one of the new directorates established as part of the ACT Government's machinery of government changes in July 2025. She brought to the interim director-general role four years of experience as Director-General of the former Community Services Directorate and previous experience as a Deputy Secretary in the Commonwealth departments of Human Services and Social Services.

The Health and Community Services Directorate's establishment reflected the ACT Government's decision to integrate community and health services administration more closely, and Rule's appointment to lead it brought continuity and experienced public service leadership to a major organisational change. Her background spanning both territory and Commonwealth social services makes her one of the most experienced senior public servants in the ACT government in the critical domain of health and community services policy delivery.

48. Ben Maguire AM

Ben Maguire AM is Chair of the National Museum of Australia Council, providing strategic governance oversight to one of Canberra's anchor national cultural institutions. He presided over the appointment of Director Katherine McMahon in February 2024, publicly expressing the Council's unanimous support and describing her leadership, ambition, and vision as exactly what the institution needed for its next pivotal phase. His AM reflects recognised service to Australia's arts and cultural sector.

As Council Chair of the NMA, Maguire provides the governance infrastructure within which the institution's director and executive team operate, setting the tone for how the Museum responds to government policy, manages its collections, and engages with the Australian public. His role exemplifies the importance of board-level cultural governance in institutions whose decisions about what to collect, preserve, and display shape the national record for generations.

49. Dr Adele Stevens

Dr Adele Stevens is a palliative care advocate based in the Rivett suburb of Canberra who was nominated for the 2026 ACT Senior Australian of the Year. Her advocacy focuses on improving the quality and accessibility of palliative care services, one of the most important and chronically under-resourced areas of Australia's health system. Her nomination reflects a documented body of community contribution to end-of-life care advocacy in the ACT and nationally.

Palliative care advocacy in Australia in 2026 sits in a policy environment shaped by questions about ageing, dignity, resource allocation, and the rights of people with life-limiting illness. Community-based advocates who bring professional expertise and personal commitment to the field, as Stevens does, are essential to sustaining the public and policy attention that palliative care requires to receive adequate investment and systemic support.

50. Yu-Lan Chan

Yu-Lan Chan is a senior executive leader in the ACT Government who has served in acting Chief Operating Officer roles across Access Canberra and the City and Environment Directorate. She has held a variety of senior executive roles across the ACT Government over more than 18 years, leading policy, regulation, program, corporate, and digital teams across multiple directorates. In 2026, she was featured as a speaker at the Women Unlimited Leadership Summit in Canberra, where she was recognised for her expertise in guiding high-performing teams through reform and transformational change.

Her experience spans the breadth of ACT Government operations, from regulatory services and access programs to the city planning and environmental functions that shape Canberra's liveability. Her career within the territory public service, combining policy and operational leadership across multiple executive roles, makes her a central figure in the institutional capacity of the ACT Government to deliver on its policy commitments. Her public leadership voice, including her participation in events focused on women's leadership in the public sector, reflects both professional standing and a commitment to building the next generation of ACT public service leaders.

Notable Voices We Almost Included

Several leaders came very close to inclusion in this list but did not make the final 50. Dr Marie-Louise Ayres FAHA, former Director-General of the National Library of Australia for nine years until April 2026, built the NLA into a global leader in digital cultural services through her tireless work developing Trove. Her retirement closes a remarkable period of national library leadership from Canberra. Shane Rattenbury, who retired as Leader of the ACT Greens in May 2026 after 13 years in the role, was the longest-serving state or territory Greens leader in Australian history and served in the ACT Cabinet as Attorney-General and Minister for Climate Change under multiple Labor-Greens coalition agreements. His contribution to ACT climate and justice policy over more than a decade is one of the most sustained achievements in ACT crossbench governance.

Bradyn Gillies, an emerging leadership voice in the ACT startup and innovation sector, and Michael Cook, the National Museum's Deputy Director for Growth and Engagement appointed in February 2025, are both leaders whose contributions are growing in significance and who may well feature in a future edition of this list. The ACT's innovation ecosystem, public health leadership, and community sector contain many more leaders doing consequential work than any single list of 50 can capture.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Engaging with Canberra's Leadership Community

The most common mistake that organisations make when engaging with Canberra's leadership community is treating it as a single network centred on government. Canberra's influence extends across eight quite distinct ecosystems, each with its own relationships, values, and decision-making dynamics: territory government, federal parliament and the senate, the public service, the national universities, the national cultural institutions, the health and community sector, the innovation and startup community, and the civic business sector. Leaders who belong primarily to one of these ecosystems may know very few leaders in the others. Coming in without understanding that distinction leads to superficial engagement that fails to land.

A related mistake is assuming that proximity to government equates to actual policy influence. The most influential people in Canberra are not always the most politically prominent. A researcher whose work shapes a Commonwealth review, a nonprofit CEO whose evidence base drives a policy change, a community advocate whose lived experience is sought by a ministerial office before a bill is drafted, these are forms of influence that do not produce public profiles but are often more consequential than the profiles of elected representatives or senior public servants. Many of the most important leadership relationships in Canberra are built at the intersection of formal institutions and informal networks, in events, in working groups, and in the sustained professional relationships that develop in a city where people from different sectors are likely to be neighbours, parents at the same school, or members of the same community organisations.

A third mistake is underestimating how deeply Canberra's leaders think about legacy. In a city built explicitly as a national project, the leaders who matter most tend to have a long time horizon. They are asking not just what impact they can have this year but what contribution they are making to the city's and the nation's trajectory over decades. Engaging with Canberra's leadership community in a way that reflects that orientation, showing genuine understanding of the long-term challenges the city and the country face, will produce very different relationships than a transactional approach.

Implementation Guide: Building Relationships with Canberra's Leadership Community

The ACT's leadership community rewards consistency and depth more than most Australian cities. Because Canberra is relatively small and deeply relationship-driven, a single genuine interaction at the right level can open networks that would take years to access in Sydney or Melbourne. The starting point is identifying which of the eight ecosystems outlined above is most relevant to your purpose, and then investing in that ecosystem specifically rather than trying to engage the Canberra leadership community as an undifferentiated whole.

Events are an important entry point. The Canberra Women in Business Awards, the CBRIN Innovation Showcase, the IPAA ACT Future Leaders Program, the Australian of the Year awards ceremony, and the various sector-specific conferences and forums that Canberra hosts annually all bring the city's leadership community together in ways that facilitate genuine connection. The difference in Canberra relative to larger cities is that event attendance tends to lead to real follow-up conversations and relationships, because the community is small enough that people who meet at events are likely to encounter each other again.

LinkedIn is a useful but limited tool in the ACT context. Many of the most influential people in Canberra, particularly in the public service, national institutions, and research sectors, have very limited LinkedIn presence. A Tier 1 approach to identifying and connecting with Canberra leadership on LinkedIn will find you the visible voices but will miss many of the most consequential people. A more effective approach combines LinkedIn engagement with direct outreach, sector-specific professional networks, and the relationship-building that happens in person.

For organisations that want external support in building team performance, executive alignment, and leadership culture within Canberra or the wider ACT, Jonno White is available to facilitate Working Genius workshops, executive team offsites, and leadership keynotes for teams across the corporate, government, nonprofit, and education sectors. International travel is often far more affordable than organisations expect, and many clients find that bringing Jonno to Canberra for a full team session delivers significantly better outcomes than online-only engagement. Email jonno@consultclarity.org to discuss what that might look like for your team.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the most influential leaders in Canberra right now?

The most influential leaders in Canberra right now span multiple sectors. In civic governance, Andrew Barr as the longest-serving current Premier or Chief Minister in Australia holds the most sustained executive authority in the territory. In federal representation, Senator David Pocock has had an outsized influence as the ACT's first independent senator. In higher education, Bill Shorten at the University of Canberra and Rebekah Brown at ANU are navigating some of the most complex leadership challenges in the sector. In national institutions, Nick Mitzevich at the National Gallery and the newly appointed Alison Dellit at the National Library are shaping Australia's cultural record from Canberra.

What makes Canberra's leadership community unique in Australia?

Canberra's leadership community is unique because it combines national institutional leadership with a relatively small, tight-knit city of roughly 470,000 people. The same community that produces national policy, leads the country's premier research universities, and directs Australia's major cultural institutions also shares schools, sporting clubs, and community organisations. This combination of institutional seriousness and genuine community embeddedness creates a leadership culture that is simultaneously more consequential and more accessible than most Australian cities its size would suggest.

How do I connect with influential leaders in Canberra for professional purposes?

The most effective way to connect with influential leaders in Canberra is through sector-specific professional events, industry bodies, and the community networks that bring Canberra's leadership community together regularly. The CBRIN First Wednesday Connect, the Canberra Women in Business events, IPAA ACT programs, and the various sector conferences held in the ACT are well-established entry points. Building genuine relationships in Canberra's leadership community requires sustained engagement, because the city rewards depth and consistency over volume and visibility.

How does Canberra's leadership landscape compare with Sydney and Melbourne?

Canberra's leadership landscape is more concentrated in governance, research, and national institutions than Sydney or Melbourne, both of which have larger commercial and financial sectors. Canberra has a higher proportion of its leadership in public sector roles and in national institutions with explicit public mandates, which gives the city's leadership culture a distinctive orientation toward policy, evidence, and long-term national interest. For a full picture of influential leadership across Australia's capitals, see the companion directories of influential leaders in Sydney and influential leaders in Melbourne.

Final Thoughts

The 50 leaders on this list represent the breadth and depth of what makes Canberra one of the most consequential cities in Australia despite its modest size. They are governing a territory, representing the ACT in the national parliament, leading research institutions whose work shapes policy and practice for the whole country, directing the cultural institutions that hold and interpret Australia's national story, building businesses and innovation ecosystems that diversify the ACT's economic base, and doing the community advocacy work that addresses the most persistent challenges in the city's social fabric.

What they share is not a sector or a sector and not a political perspective. What they share is a commitment to doing consequential work from Canberra, a city that is often dismissed as a government town but is in fact one of the most intellectually and institutionally rich cities in the Southern Hemisphere. The leaders who understand Canberra that way, who see the depth of what the city does and the reach of its influence, are the ones doing the most interesting work.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, author of Step Up or Step Out, and leadership consultant who has worked with schools, corporates, and nonprofits around the world. His book Step Up or Step Out has sold over 10,000 copies globally, and his podcast The Leadership Conversations has featured 230+ episodes reaching listeners in 150+ countries. Jonno founded The 7 Questions Movement with 6,000+ participating leaders and achieved a 93.75% satisfaction rating for his Working Genius masterclass at the ASBA 2025 National Conference. Based in Brisbane, Australia, Jonno works globally and regularly travels for speaking and facilitation engagements. Organisations consistently find that international travel is far more affordable than expected. To book Jonno for your next keynote, workshop, or facilitation session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Sources

National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling: ACT household income data, 2024. Australian of the Year Awards: 2025 and 2026 ACT recipients and nominees, November 2024 and November 2025. ACT Government media releases: Fourth Barr Ministry portfolios, November 2024; sports grants announcement April 2026; City Renewal Authority CEO appointment 2024. National Library of Australia: Director-General appointment announcement, March 2026. National Museum of Australia: Director appointment, February 2024. University of Canberra: Vice-Chancellor appointment, January 2025. Australian National University: Interim Vice-Chancellor announcement, September 2025. Canberra Women in Business: 2025 Parbery CWB Awards results, October 2025. Wikipedia/ACT Legislative Assembly: current membership and portfolios, June 2026. Women Unlimited Leadership Summit: 2026 Canberra speaker profiles.

Next Read: For other Australian city leadership directories, see 50 Influential Leaders in Sydney or 42 Influential Leaders in Melbourne.