Dr Heather Smith PSM FAIIA
Dr Heather Smith PSM FAIIA has had 20 years’ experience in the Australian Public Service at leadership levels covering economic, industry, innovation, communications, resources, foreign affairs, national security, and intelligence matters. She previously served as Secretary of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (2017-2020) and the Department of Communications and the Arts (2016-2017), as Deputy Secretary in the Departments of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Foreign Affairs and Trade, and as Deputy Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence. Heather is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs and in April 2023 was appointed the National President of the AIIA. She was co-lead of the 2024 Independent Review of Australia’s National Intelligence Community.
Richard Iron CMG OBE
President, AIIA VictoriaRichard Iron CMG OBE is President of AIIA Victoria. He previously served in the British Army in Northern Ireland, the Falkland Islands, Oman, the Balkans, Sierra Leone and Iraq. He was a visiting fellow at the Changing Character of War programme at the University of Oxford and was lead editor of British Generals in Blair's Wars, and How Wars End: Theory and Practice.