The 2025 ACI Annual Conference, held on 15–16 October at Rydges Melbourne, was a resounding success, uniting compliance, risk, and governance professionals from across Australia and beyond for 1.5 days of learning, collaboration, and connection.
Centred around the theme Compliance Excellence for a Changing World, this year’s event reflected the profession’s growing influence in shaping ethical, resilient, and future-ready organisations. With over 20 expert speakers, including regulators, academics, and industry leaders, the conference delivered an engaging mix of strategic insights, practical sessions, and open discussion, setting a strong foundation for the profession’s future direction.
Setting the Scene for Compliance Leadership
The conference opened with a warm welcome from ACI Chair Annette Donselaar, followed by a keynote from Sarah Court, Deputy Chair of ASIC, who then joined Annette for a fireside chat exploring some of the key priorities shaping ASIC’s current agenda.
Their discussion touched on regulatory simplification and what it means for compliance professionals, the emerging challenges of maintaining integrity in private markets, and ASIC’s perspective on Australia’s new mandatory climate reporting obligations. Together, they provided delegates with valuable insights into how these evolving priorities are influencing regulatory expectations and the role of compliance leaders across industry.
This was followed by Carly Kind, Australia’s Privacy Commissioner, who shared the Regulators’ Roadmap for 2025, offering critical foresight on privacy reform, data governance and community expectations shaping Australia’s regulatory landscape. Together, these keynotes set an energising tone for a program built around innovation, integrity and impact.
Morning sessions delved into the challenges of technology and privacy, chaired by Iain Kennedy (StarCompliance), and crisis-proofing compliance, chaired by Chris Fintan (UBank – NAB). These discussions emphasised the balance between innovation and accountability, exploring how organisations can adapt while maintaining trust and ethical boundaries.
Insights, Engagement and Actionable Takeaways
Across the one-and-a-half-day program, delegates had the opportunity to participate in focused technical streams and interactive sessions that tackled emerging issues head-on. Topics included AI and data ethics, ESG obligations, CPS230 operational resilience, and career pathways for compliance professionals; each designed to help practitioners translate theory into action.
Expert panellists such as Dr Greg Adamson (Department of Transport & Planning VIC), Vito Giudice (ASCENTIUM), Louise Hall (Fair Supply), and Julian Fenwick (GRC Solutions) provided diverse perspectives on the future of responsible technology and sustainability.
The session “Implementation in Action”, chaired by My-Linh Ty-Shing, and “Building Resilience in a Disrupted World” with Dr Rebecca Michalak (PsychSafe), gave delegates practical insights into bridging compliance frameworks with real-world operations and the human dimensions of resilience.
Day Two focused squarely on financial crime prevention and Tranche 2 AML/CTF reforms, led by Brad Brown (AUSTRAC) and Jamie Lynch (Gilbert + Tobin). From the “First 100 Days – Building a Compliant AML Program” workshop by Louise Lane (Lane Consulting & Advisory) to panels on fraud, financial crime and operational readiness, the sessions provided essential guidance to help organisations navigate the shifting regulatory environment.
Celebrating Professional Excellence
A major highlight of the conference was the ACI National Awards Dinner, held on the Bossley Rooftop overlooking Melbourne’s skyline. The evening recognised outstanding achievements across compliance, ethics and risk management, celebrating those who continue to raise the bar for professionalism, innovation and integrity across the industry.
The Awards Dinner also offered a relaxed opportunity for delegates to connect with peers, sponsors and industry leaders, strengthening the professional networks that underpin the compliance community.
ACI extends its sincere thanks to the 2025 Conference sponsors, Diligent, StarCompliance, and GRC Solutions, whose partnership and commitment to advancing governance, risk and compliance made the event possible.
A Profession United by Purpose
Reflecting on the success of the event, ACI CEO Joanne Phillips said: “This year’s conference truly showcased the strength and diversity of Australia’s compliance community. The knowledge shared, and the relationships formed over these two days, will continue to influence how our profession evolves in response to an increasingly complex world.”
Delegates departed the conference inspired and better equipped to navigate the road ahead; armed with practical tools, peer insights, and a renewed sense of purpose in advancing compliance excellence.
Conference presentations, speaker materials, and delegate feedback are now available to attendees via the ACI Resource Centre, with the official Conference White Paper to be released soon.