Judges

Andrew Williams

Andrew Williams is an experienced executive with extensive operations, management and commercial experience. Serving 20 years as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy before moving into business, Andrew’s broad skill set and experience base spans a wide range of commercial disciplines in both private and public sector industries.

Most recently he was the Chief Executive Officer of The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), Australia’s peak advocacy body for communications consumers. In 2024 he decided to step back from full-time work and look to pursue a more flexible portfolio career. He is now semi-retired.

He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds tertiary qualifications in Arts, Business Administration, and Law.

Angela Flannery

Partner, Quay Law Partners

Angela Flannery is a partner of Australian law firm Quay Law Partners. Angela has over 20 years’ experience as a partner in private practice. She has also worked in senior Australian Commonwealth Government roles at the then Department of Communications and the Arts. She has broad commercial law expertise in transactional and regulatory matters, with a focus on telecommunications, media and technology, digital issues and privacy. Angela is also a Co-Chair of the International Bar Association Communications Law Committee, member of the auDA Licence Review Panel and a member of the global board of the International Institute of Communications.

Gary Smith

Chair, Communications Compliance

Gary Smith is currently the independent Chair of Communications Compliance Ltd. Prior to this role, he spent more than 30 years as a senior regulatory manager and telecommunications executive with Optus and the industry regulator AUSTEL. His work was guided by the view that competition, regulation, and industry coordination can and should drive better consumer outcomes.

Gary was a director of Communications Alliance for more than 15 years and was the 2021 Communications Ambassador. He was also engaged in the governance of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman scheme for a decade.

Prior to his telecommunications career, Gary worked in public policy and research roles, including with the Victorian Parliament, Victorian Treasury, and the Reserve Bank of Australia. He studied economics and econometrics at honours level

Grahame Lynch

CEO and Editorial Director, Communications Day

Grahame Lynch is the CEO and founder of Decisive Publishing, which has published Communications Day since 1994 and held the CommsDay Summit since 2001. He was the group editorial director of Advanstar Communications, which published America’s Network and Telecom Asia magazines, between 1997 and 2001. He has also contributed to the Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald, Telecom TV and other media outlets. He was recently awarded IT Media Pioneer in the Samsung IT Media Awards 2025.

John Stanton

John Stanton is a preeminent Australian telecommunications executive, best known for his 14-year leadership as CEO of the Communications Alliance (2010–2024). During his tenure, he served as the industry’s primary voice, successfully navigating the complexities of the National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout and championing the Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code. His ability to unify diverse industry interests made him a central figure in shaping Australia’s modern regulatory landscape.

Before leading the Alliance, John built a distinguished international career in the satellite and carrier sectors. He served as CEO of the ASX-listed People Telecom, steering it to profitability before its 2009 sale, and held senior global roles at Intelsat, including President of Global Sales & Marketing and Chairman of the Board. His career is uniquely grounded in his early experience as a political journalist for The Australian and as a senior advisor to Federal Ministers for Telecommunications and Foreign Affairs.

A foundational leader in Australia’s digital ecosystem, John was also the inaugural Chairman of the IoT Alliance Australia (IoTAA). Now in a post-executive advisory phase, he remains a highly respected authority on telecommunications policy, satellite services, and industry self-regulation.

Dr Lyndon Ormond-Parker

Co-Chair, First Nations Digital Inclusion Advisory Group

Lyndon Ormond-Parker is an expert in First Nations digital inclusion, cultural heritage and on-country learning.

Lyndon is an Aboriginal man of Alyawarr descent from the Barkly Tableland region of the Northern Territory and the Principal Research Fellow Digital Inclusion and Engagement in Indigenous Communities with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society RMIT University.

He is also an Australian Research Council Fellow (IN220100008) in the Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies of the Australian National University.

Lyndon has significant experience lecturing and coordinating tertiary-level subjects, including the delivery of ‘on-country’ learning. He continues in his roles of policy development and research, and negotiations at the national and international levels, focusing on Australian Indigenous communities in information technology, digital inclusion, cultural heritage, materials conservation, and repatriation.

Lyndon holds appointments as Co-Chair of the First Nations Digital Inclusion Advisory Group, Chair of the Indigenous Connections Committee of the National Film and Sound Archive, Co-Chair of the Indigenous Heritage Program ICOMOS GA 2023 Scientific Symposium and member of Advisory Committee for Indigenous Repatriation.

Malcolm Alder

Principal, GHD

Malcolm Alder works on strategy projects around the world with GHD, a global consulting firm that focuses on providing digital solutions in asset-intensive industries. He was previously a consulting partner at KPMG and started his career with Deloitte. During his career, Malcolm has worked with clients across all points of the business life cycle in Australia, Canada, Malaysia, China, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK as an adviser and investor. He has been a Board member of an ASX-listed media company and was listed on The Australian IT’s, ‘Top 50 Most Influential People in Technology’.

Mark McDonnell

Chairman, McDonnell Communications Research Pty Ltd

Mark McDonnell has an extensive background in the telecommunications, IT and media industries with a career encompassing government policy advice, business analysis, management consultancy, investment banking and stockbroking. For the past 40 years he has been actively involved in assessing trends and developments in the communications industry, and valuing listed companies in this sector. Mark is currently Executive Chairman of Advanced Fire and Electrical, Sydney based electrical contractors specialising in building re-wiring including both electrical and telecommunications connections, and leading new services such as electric vehicle charging.

Michelle Lim

Michelle Lim has 24 years of regulatory and commercial experience in the Australian and overseas telecommunications markets. She has been actively involved in championing regulatory reforms and competition policy for open, innovative and diverse industries to continually improve economic and consumer outcomes. She has significant experience in complex multilateral and bilateral agreements.

Michelle is currently involved with consulting engagements. Her prior roles include; Chair of Commpete, the Industry Alliance for Competition in Digital Communications and Director of Communications Alliance. She has contributed as a member to many Government and regulator committees and working groups. Michelle is the President of Telsoc, the Australian telecommunications learned society. She was MC of recent CommsDay industry events.

She holds both a Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from University of Technology Sydney, and a Macquarie Graduate School of Management Diploma. Michelle has also completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors program.

Mohammad Chowdhury

Founder and CEO, Long Street Advisors

Mohammad Chowdhury leads Long Street Advisors, an advisory and investment firm focused on supporting meaningful digitisation. Mohammad considers how connected technologies impact Society, Economy, Government and Nation, and serves clients around the world. He has 30 years experience in the connectivity and digital industries, and worked across 80+ countries, having worked at Vodafone Group, IBM and PwC.

Mohammad is a Visiting Fellow at University of Technology, Sydney, a Council Member of the Australian Institute of International Affairs, is based in Melbourne. Border Crossings, a memoir of his journey with identity, was published in 2021.

Narelle Clark

CEO, Internet Association of Australia

Narelle Clark is a data communications and Internet specialist who has been working in advanced technology areas consistently throughout her career. Specialising in the application of networks and systems, Narelle has a broad technical and strategic view of Internet scale ICT delivery and has been a user, builder, operator and researcher of Internet networks since 1986, both for major telcos and research agencies. With a strong background in public (government and not-for-profit) and private sector organisations in both organisational leadership and governance, Narelle has both practical and academic expertise.

Narelle holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Physics), a Masters in Engineering (majoring in information systems and telecommunications), and a postgraduate diploma in management.
Narelle has been involved in one of ISOC’s strongest chapters, ISOC-AU, since it was formed in 1996, and is its past president. During this time ISOC–AU has been a thought leader in Internet development in Australia.

In addition, she is the Former Deputy CEO of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) and participates in a range of consumer consultation forums on communications issues. ACCAN is the peak body for advocacy on behalf of communications consumers in Australia and campaigns actively for affordable, accessible and available communications.

The Hon Paul Fletcher

Paul Fletcher served as a Liberal MP in Australia’s parliament from 2009 to 2025. From 2013 to 2022 he was successively a Parliamentary Secretary, Minister and Cabinet Minister.

Apart from nine months as Minister for Social Services, Paul’s front bench service was largely in communications and infrastructure. He was Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts in the Morrison Government.

In his last term Paul was Shadow Minister for Science, Arts, Government Services and the Digital Economy, and Manager of Opposition Business in the House.

Since leaving Parliament, Paul has established Paul Fletcher & Associates, providing advisory services with a focus on the communications, infrastructure and digital sectors.

Before politics, Paul’s extensive private sector experience included eight years on the Senior Management Team at telecommunications company Optus.

Paul has spoken and written extensively on communications and technology policy issues, including writing two books, Wired Brown Land: Telstra’s Battle for Broadband (UNSW Press, 2009) and Governing in the Internet Age (Monash University Press, 2021).

Paul has dual first class honours degrees in law and economics from Sydney University and an MBA from Columbia University in New York where he was a Fulbright Scholar.

Professor Ray Owen

Head of Telecom Research Unit, Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney

Ray Owen is a leading expert in network resilience, telecommunications infrastructure, and digital modelling, with over 30 years of experience spanning industry, research, and governance.

He earned a PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Birmingham (UK) in 1995, where his research focused on modelling high-frequency acoustic scattering from rough surfaces. He also holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical and Electronic) from King’s College London (1992).

Currently, Ray is a Professor at the Faculty of Engineering and IT at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), where he leads the UTS Telecom Research Unit, managing contracts with telecommunications companies across Australia and internationally. His research and commercial expertise cover telecommunications resilience, fixed-line networks, wireless networking, and network modelling. He is also the Director of the Australian National Telecommunications Resilience Centre, spearheading efforts to strengthen the robustness of national and global telecom infrastructures.

Beyond academia, Professor Owen is an equity partner at Tech Audit Partners, a U.S.-based consultancy specialising in network resilience and audits for governments and enterprises. He also provides high-level consultancy on network outages, their causes, and recovery strategies for major management consulting firms.

His extensive 35-year industry career includes leadership roles such as: Chief Technology Officer at nbn; Managing Director at Nokia Australia & New Zealand; General Director at Motorola Vietnam; and multiple R&D leadership positions.

With a distinguished track record of innovation and technology leadership, Professor Owen continues to shape the future of telecommunications resilience and infrastructure worldwide.

Rosemary Sinclair AM

Board Adviser, Immediate Solutions

Rosemary Sinclair AM FAICD FCPA FGIA, has deep experience as a non-executive and managing director on private company, government and international association boards. Rosemary has senior operational and governance experience in highly regulated sectors – telecommunications, media, higher education and energy. Rosemary was CEO of auDA (.au) until December 2024 focusing on critical infrastructure cybersecurity standards and multi-stakeholder global internet governance.

Rosemary chaired the Regional Telecommunications Inquiry Review (2012) which recommended support for mobile network expansion. Rosemary chaired the Victorian Electricity Network Outage Review (2024) which highlighted the importance of access to communications services during extreme weather and natural disasters.

Rosemary has been a part-time member of the ACMA and is currently a member of NSW IPART Energy Network Regulation Committee.

Rosemary is a member of Chief Executive Women and a 2018 AFR 100 Women of Influence finalist.