Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar has been named the new chair of the Tech Council of Australia, succeeding Tesla chair Robyn Denholm after three-and-a-half years.
Mr Farquhar, one of the founding members of the peak industry body representing Australia’s tech sector, will take up the role later this month, although Ms Denholm will remain on the board.
“I’m proud to take on the role of chair and help continue the work we started in advocating for a thriving tech ecosystem,” Mr Farquhar said in a statement on Thursday.
His appointment comes just months after stepping down from Atlassian, the software company he founded with university classmate Mike Cannon-Brookes in the early 2000s.
Since September, he has focused more of his time with the TCA, as well as on Skip Capital, the private technology investment fund he co-founded with wife Kim Jackson.
Tech Council chief executive Damian Kassabgi welcomed Mr Farquhar, who he described as “one of Australia’s original tech success stories, proving that Australian tech can go global and that we can keep and foster international talent locally”.
“Scott’s leadership will be invaluable in shepherding the industry forward and ensuring the TCA continues to champion policies that unlock Australia’s tech potential,” he said.
Mr Kassabgi thanked Ms Denholm for her tireless work over the past three-and-a-half years, having “set the foundation for the tech industry to be recognised as a major economic force”.
“Having a global tech leader like Robyn as our inaugural chair has been instrumental in establishing the TCA as a key advocate for the Australian technology sector,” he said in a statement.
The Tesla chair departs just as shares in the electric car maker continue to dive and the company’s CEO Elon Musk steps up his court battle to save his $100 billion pay package, which has been rejected by a judge twice.
Ms Denholm will remain as a director on the board, as a direct replacement for Mr Farquhar, giving the TCA key input into the ongoing root-and-branch review of research and development.
“I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved together – including our bipartisan jobs goal, critical changes to migration policy and my ongoing work on Australia’s R&D review,” she added.
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