We love Melbourne
Melbourne Day Committee produces events and activities to foster awareness of 30 August 1835 as Melbourne’s founding day.
It is a not-for-profit organisation registered in 1992 after businessman Hedley Elliott sought help from former Victorian Premier Sir Rupert Hamer to establish the facts of Melbourne’s founding, engage the community and get Victorian history taught in schools.
Sir Rupert was appointed inaugural chairman of the committee, which acknowledges not John Batman or John Fawkner as the city’s founders but those who came on the Enterprize and built the first permanent settlement, from which Melbourne flourished.
On behalf of the people of the state of Victoria, the committee works with businesses, authorities, community groups and tourism industry partners to raise awareness of Melbourne's story, celebrate its anniversaries and showcase everything that's great about our city.
The aims include:
- Encouraging Victorian primary and secondary schools to include Melbourne history into the curriculum and participate in the Melbourne Day program of events.
- Influencing the State Government’s Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to include Melbourne’s history in the formal curriculum at Victorian schools.
- Attracting funding through a partnership model and donations from the corporate and private sector.
- Working with partners to develop, promote and deliver an annual program of events primarily aimed at school children and their families to celebrate Melbourne Day.
- Educating and encouraging Melburnians to greater recognition of their heritage.
- Celebrating the remarkable city that Melbourne has become.
We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Land – the Wurundjeri (Woiwurrung), Boon Wurrung, Taungurong, Dja Dja Wurrung and the Wathaurung groups who form the Kulin Nation – that has always been an important meeting place and location for social, educational, sporting and cultural events and activities.
Campbell Walker
Chairman
Campbell is a prominent Melbourne businessman and director of facilities maintenance company UMS, energy business NuGreen and compliance management company Ultum.
He is involved with several charities and not-for-profit organisations, and is deputy chair of the O’Brien Institute at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. He took over the reins of Melbourne Day from former Victorian Premier Sir Rupert Hamer.
Sue Stanley OAM
Deputy chair and treasurer
A four-times World Cup Aerobics champion, Sue is a leading health and fitness media commentator, author, member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, an Australia Day Ambassador, recipient of the Advance Australia Award for contribution to sport, and director of Fitcorp — one of the top corporate fitness brands in Australia.
She is involved in a number of organisations and charities including Blue Ribbon Foundation, Variety — the Children’s Charity, and VicSport.
Sue was recognised in the Australia Day 2020 honours for service to sport and community, receiving an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the general division.
Claude Lombard OAM
Claude was recognised in the Australia Day 2018 honours for service to the printing industry and to the community, receiving an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the general division.
He is managing director of Lombard The Paper People, an Australia Day Ambassador for many years and a former director of Melbourne Tourism Authority.
He has spent almost 50 years building his family business into a formidable stable of Australia’s best-known packaging, party and marketing houses, and is now involved with almost every major event in Australia.
He has made huge inroads into business and the community through a determination to make the public feel included in special events and celebrations, including the Spring Racing Carnival, AFL and now Melbourne Day.
Dr Sally Cockburn (“Dr Feelgood”)
Dr Sally Cockburn, also known as Dr Feelgood, is a prominent Melburnian, Australia Day Ambassador, author, speaker, TV and media personality, and Australia's leading health communicator. She hosts the weekly Talking Health show on radio 3AW. She is a GP, with 25 years' experience in media. She chaired the Variety Club of Victoria, was a committee member of Interplast and the Thomaiy Breast Cancer Foundation. She also served the Monash Medical Faculty Foundation as chair of the community relations and alumni committee. She served as a member of the Committee of Management of Melbourne’s Metropolitan Ambulance Service for six years, and was also part of the 20-member Victorian State Ministerial Advisory Committee on Women’s Health. She was also Chair of the National Communication Strategy Project Committee for Organ Donation. Sally was also on the Board of Vic Health and Arthritis Victoria and Chair of Family Planning Victoria. She was also a Ministerial appointee to the Sexual Health Task Force and Mental Health Reform Council in Victoria. She is also an expert on Melbourne history. In June 2018, she was appointed to the State Government's inaugural voluntary assisted dying review board.
John Panteli
John manages high-profile Melbourne leaders, speakers, celebrities and entertainers as CEO of talent agency Professional Speakers Bureau. With broad experience in event and function planning and management, he has served in various roles the city's music, entertainment and performing arts industries. He also has significant experience in strategic business development, functional, operational, human resources management and change management.
Scott Chapman
Scott has extensive experience in business, marketing and event management. He is CEO of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (Victoria), a director of the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria and former City of Melbourne director of marketing and events.
Stephen Roux
Stephen was born and grew up in Melbourne with a passion for the international culinary, sporting, cultural and arts events and leadership that visit or call Melbourne home. He is CEO of Dragon Tree Capital and an advisor to a number of innovative companies in Australia and overseas. Stephen has served as a Director on listed and unlisted public companies and various private ventures. He has lead the sourcing, structure and financing on numerous projects in property, mining, healthcare, technology and venture capital. He has sourced and structured strategic capital for Australian and offshore transactions, with a focus on Asia, for a number of listed and unlisted technology and growth companies. Stephen is currently Vice Chair, ADC Asia 100 of the ADC Forum; Network Chair, Southeast Asia, YPO Global Diplomacy Network; and has held a long-term involvement in various capacities with global leadership networks ADC Forum, World Economic Forum, and Young Presidents Organisation. Stephen was previously a director of the Australian Institute of Management (Victoria/Tasmania).
Alen Rados
Alen covered Melbourne city for the Herald Sun and was the newspaper's founding online editor and digital services manager. He co-founded A-League club Melbourne Victory. He is an IT, fin tech and digital media communications specialist with government, global enterprise and not-for-profit sector experience. He has served on a range of community organisations, including the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Fund.
Kathryn Izzard
Kathryn is an events and festivals specialist. She has over 15 years' experience managing major campaigns, activations and events in commercial radio and the not-for-profit sector.
With a degree in media and a diploma of marketing, Kathryn has produced events for a range of public and corporate organisations, overseeing large-scale education conferences, international speaker engagements, radio broadcasts and promotions, charity fun runs and gala dinners.
Dr Judith Buckrich
Historian-specialist on Melbourne history
Judith is a professional historian, author, honorary fellow of Melbourne University's Historical Studies School, consulting fellow of the World Innovation Foundation and a managing committee member of Prahran Mechanics' Institute Victorian History Library. Her latest book is Acland Street: The Grand Lady of St Kilda.
