Phillip Adams

Phillip Adams is an influential and often controversial figure. Billed as the "godfather of the Australian film industry", Phillip was elected one of Australia's 100 National Living Treasures in the inaugural poll conducted by The National Trust. For almost 50 years, the broadcaster, filmmaker, author, archaeologist, controversialist, social commentator and satirist, writes columns in major newspapers and magazines and is known to provoke discussion and outrage.

He is the author of over 20 books that have sold over a million copies, including The Unspeakable Adams, Adams Versus God, The Penguin Book of Australian Jokes, Retreat from Tolerance, Talkback, A Billion Voices and Adams Ark. His most recent book, Adams Versus God: The Rematch was published in 2007 by Melbourne University Press.

As a consultant to prime ministers and premiers, Adams played a key role in the establishment of the Australia Council, the Australian Film Development Corporation, the Australian Film Commission, the South Australian Film Corporation and the Australian Film Finance Corporation.

Adams is currently Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Centre for the Mind at the University of Sydney and the Australian National University in Canberra. In 2009 Premier Rann appointed him Foundation Chairman of the Australian Centre for Social Innovation. His scores of board memberships have included Greenpeace, CARE Australia, the National Museum of Australia, Adelaide's Festival of Ideas and Brisbane's Ideas Festival.

As a broadcaster, Adams has interviewed over 15,000 of the world's most prominent politicians, philosophers, economists, scientists, theologians, historians, archaeologists, novelists and scholars. His radio program, 'Late Night Live' is broadcast twice a day over the 250-station network of ABC's Radio National and around the world on Radio Australia and the World Wide Web. Late Night Live is Australia's most successful 'podcast' program, both in Australia and around the world. In 2008 there were 13 million downloads.

Honours awarded to Adams include two Orders of Australia, the Senior ANZAC Fellowship, the Australian Humanist of the Year, the Republican of the Year 2005, the Golden Lion at Cannes, the Longford Award (the highest award of the Australian film industry), a Walkley award, a UN Media prize, four Honorary Doctorates and the Responsibility in Journalism Award at New York University. In 2006 he received the Human Rights Medal from the Australian Government's Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission. In 2008 he was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

Adams currently writes for The Australian newspaper.

Client Ovations: Absolute silence for the 1 hr presentation. Total focus on Phillip by everyone in the room. Then a collective WOW. He was outstanding and his presentation went to the heart of so many issues surrounding 'multicultralism' yet from a different perspective to the average speaker.

The Ethnic Communities Council Conference Queensland