Arca Credit Summit 2025 Agenda

The agenda structure is now available below. Please note that timings are subject to change.

*Workshops F2F only

Speakers

  • Anders Sörman-Nilsson (LLB / EMBA) is a global futurist and innovation strategist who helps leaders decode trends, decipher what’s next and turn provocative questions into proactive strategies. With an average of 240 international travel days a year, Anders’ view is that the future and the now are converging in a city or start-up near you, giving the curious, the creative and the courageous a competitive and sustainable edge. At the same time, that same future contains fearsome forecasts for futurephobes.

    This Swedish-Australian futurist has shared stage with Hillary Clinton, Nobel Laureates, and European and Australian heads of state. He is an active member of TEDGlobal, has keynoted at TEDx in the United States and Australia, was nominated to the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders in 2015, and was the keynote speaker at the G20’s Y20 Summit in Australia.

    His presentations are meticulously researched, highly energetic and always fascinating with content tailored to the audience, which is why clients like Apple, Cisco, Mercedes Benz, Hilton, SAP, Gartner and Macquarie Bank have turned to Anders over the years to help them turn research into foresight and business impact.

    His thought leadership has been featured in international media like Monocle, Business Insider, Sky News Business, Financial Review, CIO Magazine and Boss. He is the author of the books Seamless: a hero's journey of digital disruption, adaptation and human transformation (Wiley, 2017), Digilogue: how to win the digital minds and analogue hearts of tomorrow's customers (Wiley, 2013) and Thinque Funky: Upgrade Your Thinking (Thinque, 2009).

    In a world of disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Virtual Reality, Internet of Things, and Machine Learning, futurist Anders speaks about proactive responses such as disruptive thinking, innovation strategy, human transformation and digital adaptation.

  • Dr Joëlle Gergis is an award-winning climate scientist and writer.

    She is an internationally recognised expert in Australian and Southern Hemisphere climate variability and change who has authored over 130 scientific publications. Between 2018 and 2021, Joëlle served as a lead author on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on the Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report – the global authority on climate change science.

    Throughout her career, Joëlle has received prestigious Australian Research Council fellowships and numerous awards for her scientific research including the Eureka Prize for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Scientific Research – informally known as the ‘Oscars of Australian Science’ – and the University of Melbourne’s Dean’s Award for Research Excellence.

    As a media ‘go to’ climate change spokesperson, Joëlle spends a lot of time translating science for the public. Her general audience writing has appeared in The Saturday Paper, The Monthly, The Guardian, Griffith Review, The Conversation and Harper’s Bazaar.

    Joëlle is the author of three highly-acclaimed general audience books: Sunburnt Country: The History and Future of Climate Change in Australia; Humanity’s Moment: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope, and Highway to Hell: Climate Change and Australia’s Future. Her book Humanity’s Moment, was shortlisted for a 2023 Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) and the 2023 Queensland Literary Non-Fiction Award, and won the 2023 Scholarly Book of the Year. It was also shortlisted for the Penn Libraries 2024 Book Prize in Sustainability in the USA.

    She has also contributed chapters to landmark climate literature anthologies including The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg, Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility, edited by Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua, and On This Ground: Best Australian Nature Writing edited by Dave Witty.

    In recognition of her extensive public engagement, Joëlle received the AMOS Science Outreach Award, a national science communication prize awarded by the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS), Australia’s peak professional body for climate science.

    Alongside her research and writing activities, Joëlle has also served a scientific advisor to various organisations, including the Climate Council of Australia, an independent body providing expert advice to the public on climate change and policy; Veolia, a global company that aims to set the business benchmark for ecological transformation; and CLIMARTE, a Melbourne-based arts organisation supporting the creative arts sector’s engagement with the topic of climate change.

    Joëlle is currently focused on research consultancies, scientific advising, and communication work for government, business, cultural and community groups.

  • Michelle Kumarich has more than 15 years experience in alternative dispute resolution with extensive experience leading many varied operational teams including jurisdictional assessment, investigation, legal, conciliation and policy.  In her current role, she oversees AFCA’s systemic issues identification and reporting to financial services regulators as well as ensuring that AFCA operates within its jurisdiction.  She has experience and regularly leads leading transformation programs across whole of organisation.  

    Prior to joining AFCA’s predecessor schemes BFSO/FOS, Michelle worked as in house counsel at a number of big 4 banks.   Having practiced law for more than 20 years with a background in litigation, Michelle started her career as a lawyer at Clayton Utz.  She has experience in insolvency and general commercial litigation having appeared in Supreme Court, Federal Court and High Court matters.

    Michelle holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from Monash University and is a trained mediator.

  • Carly Kind commenced as Australia’s Privacy Commissioner in February 2024 for a 5-year term.

    As Privacy Commissioner, she regulates the handling of personal information by entities covered by the Australian Privacy Act 1988 and seeks to influence the development of legislation and advance privacy protections for Australians.

    Ms Kind was previously the inaugural director of the UK-based Ada Lovelace Institute, a research institute focussed on the ethical and societal impacts of data and AI.

    She has worked with the European Commission, the Council of Europe, numerous UN bodies and a range of civil society organisations.

    Ms Kind has a Masters of Science, International Relations (Hons) from the London School of Economics, a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, and a Bachelor of Arts (International Relations) (Hons) and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland.

  • Ms Cameron began her career at Clayton Utz, where she completed her articles and became a solicitor focusing on insurance and litigation. She then worked with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) focusing on regulatory policy and markets.

    In 2005, Ms Cameron moved into industry, where she operated as the General Counsel and Company Secretary for AIA Australia. As a member of the executive committee, she was responsible for all litigation, disputes and complaints resolution. Ms Cameron’s time at AIA Australia also spanned roles managing operations, pricing, distributor relationships and product. She later became CEO of AIA New Zealand.  A later role as COO of MLC Life in Australia saw her manage a team of over 800 people across claims, customer service and other areas.

    Ms Cameron joined AFCA in June 2020, initially as Lead Ombudsman of Investments & Advice.  Following 6 months acting in the role, Natalie was appointed Lead Ombudsman, Banking & Finance, in July 2022.

  • Micaela Cronin serves as Australia’s inaugural Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner, appointed November 2022. With over 30 years in the social service sector, she began her career in front line roles in family violence and sexual assault services before moving into leadership roles across the sector, including President of the Australian Council of Social Services.

    Her international experience includes serving as CEO of a non-government organisation based in Asia, working to build global service delivery and strategic partnerships to tackle human trafficking and human rights abuses, and providing expertise to governments on domestic violence, child protection and juvenile justice law reform.

    Micaela holds a Bachelor of Social Work and an MBA and completed Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Not-for-Profit Management program.

  • Oriel Morrison is one of Asia-Pacific’s most recognisable business journalists and a leading communication expert.

    She is a highly regarded professional presenter, MC, and moderator, known for her ability to bring clarity, authority and insight to high-profile events around the world.

    Oriel is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of APAC Network. Prior to launching the platform, she spent over a decade anchoring CNBC’s flagship shows Squawk Box and Street Signs, which aired globally. Her work has taken her to the world’s premier business events, providing live coverage and in-depth reporting on finance, markets, and geopolitics.

    Over her 20+ year career in business and financial news, Oriel has interviewed some of the world’s most influential leaders including former U.S. President Bill Clinton, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, Disney CEO Bob Iger, former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and numerous corporate heavyweights.

    Before CNBC, she held senior presenting and reporting roles at Bloomberg Television and Radio, the Nine Network, Sky Business News, and Channel 7.

  • As Founding CEO and Director of the Thriving Communities Australia a for-purpose charity, Ciara Sterling convenes over 350 organisations across sectors, together with people with lived experience, to forge deeper understanding of vulnerability and drive ecosystem change through social design innovation.

    Ciara is also a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Consumer Action Law Centre (CALC), is a member of the White Ribbon Advisory, a founding member of the Economic Abuse Reference Group (EARG) and sits on various corporate, government and regulatory advisory committees.

    She has over 20 years’ experience collaborating across corporate, government, regulators, Ombudsman, community sectors and lived experience to address the root causes of vulnerability, domestic abuse and inequality.

    A key example of this is the development the One Stop One Story Hub a world-first cross-sector digital wrap around support platform enabling frontline workers in corporate, community and government organisations to connect and refer people to a range of supports through a single access point. She believes in the power of cross-sector collaboration to create genuine systemic change.

  • Professor Peter Greste is Australia’s most unlikely convicted terrorist. A foreign correspondent with 25 years experience. Peter was in Egypt covering the unfolding political crisis when he and two colleagues were arrested and charged with terrorism offences.

    After leaving Australia in 1991, he worked in London for the BBC, CNN and Reuters before being appointed the BBC’s Afghanistan correspondent. He moved to London in 1997 to help the BBC launch its 24-hour domestic news network, News 24. The following year, he went back on the road, covering Latin America for five years.

    After the 9/11 attacks, he briefly returned to Afghanistan as a part of the BBC’s award-winning coverage of the collapse of the Taliban. Peter relocated to Africa in 2003, reporting from some of Eastern and Southern Africa’s most volatile regions and in 2011, he won a prestigious Peabody Award for a BBC documentary on Somalia.

    Later in 2011, Peter left the BBC and joined Al Jazeera as its East Africa Correspondent. He went to Cairo to cover the Christmas/New Year period in 2013, and two weeks after he arrived, security agents burst into his hotel room and arrested him and his colleagues. He was charged with aiding a banned organization – the Muslim Brotherhood; financing a banned organization and broadcasting false news to undermine national security. The court convicted Peter and his colleagues, and sentenced them to between seven and ten years of hard labour.

    While in prison, Peter began a masters degree in International Relations with Griffith University. Later in 2015, became an honorary doctor of the university, for his services to journalism.

    In February 2015, Peter was deported on an order of the Egyptian president, though he was included in the subsequent retrial that began a month later. Peter and his colleagues were once again convicted in the retrial though with their sentences reduced to three years. Their case has been widely condemned as an abuse of due process and their fundamental human rights.

    After an intense international campaign, he was released after 400 days.

    In April 2016 Peter was awarded the ANZAC Peace Prize. He has also been awarded the International Association of Press Club's Freedom of Speech Award; and the Australian Human Rights Commission Medal.

    Peter’s book 'First Casualty" was published in October 2017 where he talks about his experiences in Egypt and on the role of journalism in the War on Terror.

    In 2018 Peter took up the position of UNESCO Chair of Journalism and Communications at the University of Queensland.

    In 2022, Peter started as an adjunct professor of journalism at Macquarie University. The story of how his family took on the Egyptian government to get him out of prison is told in the book Freeing Peter (Penguin 2016).

    Peter is Australia’s most recognisable media freedom activist, and regularly writes for The Guardian, The Australian, Crikey, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Conversation.

    For his advocacy, he has won numerous awards including from the Royal Television Society in the UK, the International Association of Press Clubs, the Australian Human Rights medal, and a Walkley Award.

    In his inspiring, entertaining, and at times harrowing presentation, Peter speaks about his experience behind bars, the psychological strategies he used to survive, and the lessons he still draws on today.

    Based on the riveting true story of Australian war correspondent Peter Greste’s shocking imprisonment in Egypt in 2013, THE CORRESPONDENT was released in April 2025. The movie is a gripping biographical thriller about the relentless defence of the truth and triumph of the human spirit.