
The most loved HR event in the region


100%
would recommend to a colleague

Immerse yourself in a unique forum developed by the leaders of the HR community
A business’s success lies with its people, and harnessing and nurturing the talent within is crucial in maintaining and growing competitive advantage. The economic climate coupled with a more diverse workforce than ever before and growing employee expectations has only heightened the importance of the end-to-end employee experience, and HR leaders need to move quickly to adapt to these changes to set their business and their people up for success.
The HR Symposium is returning for its third year on the 7-8th August in the beautiful Hunter Valley. The event will bring together 120 of the most influential HR leaders from the leading organisations in Australia and New Zealand for an unrivalled two days of focussed peer-to-peer learning and conversation, away from the distractions of the daily routine.
The conference programme, crafted by a highly influential advisory board of HR leaders, has been designed to challenge our thinking and inspire change, and operating under Chatham House rules, the prestigious forum encourages participants to candidly discuss industry opportunities and challenges in shaping the future of our people strategies.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the daily grind, but this is an unrivalled opportunity to step outside of the routine and away from the to-do list. Operating under Chatham House rules, the prestigious event gives HR leaders a forum to candidly discuss industry opportunity and challenges, and shape the future of the workplace. There’s nothing else like it in the region.
Hear from our past delegates on why the symposium is the must-attend HR event in Australia.
Click the ‘Apply for your place’ button to join the most senior delegation in HR to gather in the ANZ (Australia and New Zealand) regions. We look forward to welcoming you to the HR Symposium.
HR Symposium 2025
WHEN
7-8 August 2025
WHERE
Rydges Resort Hunter Valley
formerly the Crowne Plaza
430 Wine Country Dr
Lovedale NSW 2325
WHO
Chief HR Officers
Chief Learning Officers
Chief People Officers
Heads of Organisational Development
HR Directors
Head of People and Culture
GMs of Culture, Talent and Leadership
ATTEND:
LET’S GET SOCIAL
HR Symposium
#HRSymposium

International Keynote:
Arun Serikar
Vice President of Digital HR
Schneider Electric
Arun Serikar is the Vice President of Digital HR at Schneider Electric, driving enterprise-wide transformation through digital innovation, AI integration, automation, and governance. Arun enables scalable, people-centric solutions that power global workforce experience.
With over two decades of experience in deploying complex HR digital solutions globally, Arun has held leadership roles at companies including Google, Deloitte, Whirlpool, and NBCUniversal.
Arun is a recognized voice in the HR tech space, frequently speaking at global forums such as SAP SuccessConnect, UNLEASH America, Day One, Argyle, sharing insights on digital innovation, AI, and employee experience.
Arun earned his Master’s degree from Lamar University in Texas and holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Amaravati University in India.

2025 International Keynote:
Rhona Tasmia Rabbani
Managing Director of Global Talent & Culture, FedEx
Rhona Tasmia Rabbani is an HR leader with over 20 years of global, cross-industry experience. Currently serving as a Managing Director of Global Talent & Culture at FedEx, Rhona leads enterprise-wide strategies for culture transformation, diversity, inclusion, and opportunity, impacting 500,000 team members globally. Her expertise spans strategic HR business partnership, talent management, learning and development, change and transformational leadership, working with and leading teams across Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, Europe and North America.
Prior to her current role, she led talent management, including talent acquisition strategy, learning & development and succession management for FedEx AMEA. Rhona’s career highlights also include leading HR and business transformations and M&A integration, transforming HR operations at Timothy Oulton – a leading innovator in the design, production and distribution of luxury furniture and lifestyle, and driving people strategy through strategic HR business partnership at Tesco Sourcing – the sourcing operation of Tesco Plc, UK’s largest retail group.
Currently based in Singapore, Rhona has lived in Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Turkey, USA and UK, with a love for traveling and exploring new cultures and cuisine. She is an active member of the HR community and passionate about coaching and mentoring, self-driven learning and fostering inclusive and innovative organizational cultures.
The HR Symposium
DELEGATE EXPERIENCE
PLAY VIDEO
Here’s what you can expect

IT’S LIKE A CHEAT CODE FOR STAYING AHEAD Seriously, it was a game-changer. For any fellow HR trailblazers, mark the next Symposium. It’s like a cheat code for staying ahead in the business jungle.

NATURAL CONVERSATIONS THAT YOU WOULD WANT TO HAVE The networking is quite different here because it feels so much more organic. It feels like natural conversations and extensions of the conversations that you would want to have.

THIS IS THE ‘ONE’ CONFERENCE I WOULD RECOMMEND Having attended multiple conferences in Australia and globally this is the ‘One’ conference I would recommend in Australia as a HR professional – A must attend event.

IT CREATES THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT FOR PEOPLE TO CONNECT MEANINGFULLY The environment that’s been created, the opportunities to connect informally, the way people are mixed up and then put in situations where it’s very relaxed, no one’s under pressure. It really just creates the right environment for people to connect and meaningfully connect.
HR Advisory Board 2025Driving the HR agenda…
Jessica Farrell
Publicis Groupe
General Manager People & Culture - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) & Operations
Platinum Partners




Gold Partners










Silver Partners





Event Partners

























Don’t miss our event updates


</section
Interested?

Jamie Carroll
Partnerships Director
Ashton Media
Ph: +61 425 138 250
jamie@ashtonmedia.com.au