Former NSW digital government minister Victor Dominello will take a seat on the Tech Council of Australia board, replacing inaugural board member and former federal assistant innovation minster Wyatt Roy.
In what is his second appointment following his retirement from NSW politics at the March state election, Mr Dominello will join the TCA board as an executive director alongside former Queensland innovation minister Kate Jones.
Mr Dominello will fill the shoes of Mr Roy, who is stepping down from the board next month. Mr Roy, also a senior advisor at McKinsey and adviser to other companies, has been on the board since the inception of the technology industry group in July 2021.
With both Mr Dominello and Mr Roy former Liberal MPs, the switch will ensure the board maintains a bi-partisan model, which the TCA said was important to “ensure broad-based and lasting support for the sector”.
The TCA board is chaired by Tesla chair Robyn Denholm, and counts Atlassian co-chief executive Scott Farquhar, Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht, CultureAmp founder and chief executive Didier Elzinga and :Different co-founder Mina Radhakrishnan as members.
In a statement, Robyn Denholm thanked Mr Roy for his “significant service” on the board, remarking that his “expertise, industry knowledge, and insights [had] delivered several crucial wins for the tech sector”.
“As a former federal minister in the Australian government, Wyatt has bought a unique perspective to the organisation. We wish him well in his future endeavours as he continues to support the tech sector through his private and philanthropic work,” she said.
Mr Roy, who was the youngest person ever to be elected to Parliament, said he was “incredibly proud” of what the TCA has achieved over the last two years by helping “give the tech industry a powerful and unified voice”.
He thanked his friend Ms Jones for being great fun to work with on the board, describing her political instincts as “formidable” and a “massive asset to the TCA”, and said he knows this will continue with Mr Dominello.
“I am thrilled to be passing the baton to my friend Victor Dominello. I can think of no one more qualified for the role than Victor. He set the gold standard for digital government and will continue to bring an important perspective to the national discussion on tech,” he said on LinkedIn.
Mr Dominello acknowledged the “tremendous work” of Mr Roy over the last two years – a legacy he now hopes to “build on” as the TCA continues “leading advocacy in the tech sector and providing a unified voice on critical issues”.
The former state minister comes to the board with 14 years’ experience as an MP, including four as NSW’s inaugural Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government and two as Minister for Finance, Services and Property.
During his time as digital government minister, he oversaw significant changes to government digital services that built on the introduction of the Service NSW model by the O’Farrell government in 2013.
Earlier this month, Mr Dominello became the inaugural director of the new Trustworthy Digital Society Hub, a digital trust research initiative between the University of NSW and the University of Technology Sydney.
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