An Open Letter to All Australian Leaders
Lead Boldly and #StoptheSpread
A coalition of Australian CEOs and leaders is asking our fellow business and civic leaders around Australia to #LeadBoldly and #StoptheSpread of COVID-19.
The impact of the new coronavirus disease, COVID-19, is being felt around the world. While the confirmed number of those infected in Australia may seem comparatively low, how we respond to the curve in the coming days will have the potential to dramatically alter the health and economic impact of the virus here in Australia for years to come.
Following the example from our neighbours in Singapore and Hong Kong, Australia’s urgent response to COVID-19 is critical in slowing down infection rates. We’ve since made important decisions as a country, with the newly imposed:
- strict self isolation requirements for 14 days imposed on newly arrived travellers;
- cruise ship arrivals banned for at least 30 days; and
- the ban of non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people, such as sporting games, music concerts, and ANZAC day services
While COVID-19 is an extremely fluid situation, there are a number of things that we can do to alleviate the pressure on essential services, ensuring that as a nation, we’re equipped to support everyone.
A Pledge to #StopTheSpread
To do this, we’re encouraging all of Australia’s business leaders, employees, our friends, and our families to pledge to:
- Commit to social distancing. Make working from home mandatory for all employees wherever possible and discourage unnecessary international and domestic travel. Abide by self-isolation regulations. Postpone events and ask employees to stop attending voluntary/social public events of ANY size.
- Support your team. Wherever possible — continue to support contractors and casual staff. A lot of people will be facing significant hardship; if your business has the financial capacity to continue to support your team, this is the time to do so. Every little bit counts.
- Support local businesses. Choose local wherever possible, online and only offline as needed.
- Respect and support frontline workers and first responders. ‘Flattening the curve’ is about reducing the pressure on essential services, especially healthcare. This helps to ensure that we avoid congestion and that we’re adequately equipped to provide support for everyone. Free up our healthcare from non-emergency situations as we move through this crisis.
- Stop panic buying — only purchase what you need. If you have more than you need, think about donating to someone who may have been forgotten or in need of the essentials.
- Stop sharing misinformation. False advice and fear-mongering can be just as harmful. Only refer to credible sources like the World Health Organisation.
- Be kind. Treat one another kindly in this stressful time, and stand up against any discriminatory behaviour.
There’s no doubt that these are testing times. However, COVID-19 outbreaks can be contained and transmission stopped, as has been shown in China and some other countries. That’s why right now — our unified action needs to spread faster. In doing so, we may be able to contain this situation and know our actions from today will help ensure a better tomorrow.
As business leaders, we have a social responsibility and moral obligation to work in cohesion with our government. We’ve been impressed to see the stance US business leaders have already taken (see their letter) and would like to affirm Australia’s commitment to boldly do the same.
To this end, please:
- Join this unified action pledge. Add your name alongside the other bold business leaders listed below by clicking here.
- Share this message with at least 3 of your friends, family and colleagues using #StopTheSpread on social media.
Like many other countries, as Australians we’ve certainly had our fair share of tough times this year. That said, we’re incredibly fortunate to be a nation of resilience and courage — we’ve proven time and time again that our greatest strength stems from rallying together.
The true test of society comes from our response in the face of a crisis.
Together, we can #StopTheSpread.
Thank you,
Melanie Perkins, Canva
Scott Farquhar, Atlassian
Patrick Llewellyn, 99 Designs
Darrin Grafton, Serko
Craig Scroggie, NEXTDC
Didier Elzinga, Culture Amp
Sam Chandler, Nitro
Cliff Obrecht, Canva
Cameron Adams, Canva
Mike Cannon-Brookes, Atlassian
Karl Redenbach, LiveTiles
Peter Nguyen-Brown, LiveTiles
Ashik Ahmed, Deputy
Michael Frizell, Pet Circle
Bruce Buchanan, Rokt
Bridget Loudon, Expert360
Niki Scevak, Blackbird
Rick Baker, Blackbird
Luke Anear, Safety Culture
Michael Batko, Startmate
Alexey Mitko, Eucalyptus
Tim Noakesmith, VOW
Kate Dinon, Of Character
Athan Didaskalou, July
Phoebe Gardner, Beyond Ag
Eamonn Colley, vexev
Doug English, Culture Amp
Rory San Miguel, Propeller Aero
Nicholas Crocker, Blackbird
Samantha Wong, Blackbird
Mason Yates, Blackbird
Brad Parsons, Movus
Alex Birch, XY Sense
Chris Duell, Elevio
Hon Weng Chong, Cortical Labs
Diana Abeleven, SLAM Solutions
Milad Mohammadzadeh, See-Mode
Alistair Venn, SafetyCulture
Alex Apoifis, Blackbird Ventures
Benny Kleist, Pilot Health
Stan Markiewicz, Markiewicz & Co
Jason Hosking, Hivery
Tom Richardson, InVision
Nikhil Parekh, New Edition
Shannon Poulton, Good Thnx
Samantha Payne, The Pink Elephants Support
Yes, Inspiring Rare Birds
Jo-Ellen Burston, Job Capital Pty Ltd
Jay Spence, Uprise
Marty Andrews, Chargefox
Prashan Paramanathan, Chuffed.org
Brian Mobbs, Thenward
Anna Guenther, PledgeMe
Petra Greifenstein, Vision Social Agency
Sam Rahmanian, Monsido
Nathan Whaley, National Fire Group
Luis Romero, Pinnacle Media
Matt Browne, Donesafe
Nick Gower , mentally Friendly
Jon Christensen, mentally Friendly
James Gildon, Latitude IT
Bronwyn Karaoglu, Genbook
Sergio Gutierrez, Kong inc
Keeva Stratton, Quip Brands
Philipp Liver, Genbook
Adam Hyman, Sportility
Tim Fung, Airtasker
Greg Moshal, Prospa
Ian Gardiner, Innovation Bay
Dean McEvoy, TechSydney
Andrea Gardiner, Jelix Ventures
Matthew Crozier, Bang the Table
Yaniv Bernstein, Airtasker
Sadaf Monajemi, See-Mode Technologies
Joanne Phua, Cult Worthy Socials
Elise Peate, Airtasker
Sylvain Mansotte, Whispli
Temre Green, Facilitators Heaven
Matt Trimarchi, Elevio PL
Bec Brideson, SUPERTAP
Mariette Snyman, Tricentis
Rachel Worsley, Neurodiversity Media
Sian Priest, Innovation Bay
Warwick Kirby, CAMMS
Leo Borovilas , Vasco Pay
Daniel Lohrmann, ikaros
David Ballantyne, HomeFront Australia
Sharnii Fisher, SleevesUp
Dimitry Tran, Harrison.ai
Scott Herrick, HRG
Jessie Summons, For The Makers
Megan Elizabeth, For The Makers
George Hartley, SmartrMail
Trena Blair, FD Global Connections
Manuri Gunawardena, HealthMatch
Anthony Woodward, Accelera Group
Andrew Moore, Spaceship
Josh Snow, Next Mile
Chris Hexton, Vero
Brian Neo, LJ Hooker Commercial Perth
Julie Alexander, CCI / Culture Incorporated
Jeeva Suresh, Helix Collective
Stephen Roux, Dragon Tree Capital
Gill Findlay, Vamp
Scott Smith, Over the Wire
Jack Zhang, Airwallex
Lucy Liu, Airwallex
Richard Swanton, Workconex
Dale Reardon, TravelForAll.Guide
Daniel Petre, AirTree Ventures
Luke Stow, Alchemy
Goli Tajadod, FlexRule
Frank Chamaki, HIVERY
George Peppou, VOW
Piers Tyler, Over The Wire
Nathan Chadwick, Airtasker
Sam Yeats, Orchestrated
Matt Fairhurst , Skedulo
Vicki White, VLWphotography
John Kearney, Deputy
Kirsten Kore, Designerex
Amy Sutton, Anthologie
Corinne Bot, Polyglot Group
Melissa Ran, AirTree
Michael Chanter, Thomas Duryea Logicalis
Djordje Dikic, Tint
Michael Wong, Raw.Studio
Yes, Telstra Ventures
Philippe Hong, Raw Studio Co Pty Ltd
Anna Kyriacou, AKA Group Accountants Advisors Mentors
Emma Jones, Project F
Elan, Cloud CFO
Nick Hough, GradeProof
Ross McKale, Ploy
Naby Mariyam, Coverhero.com and hustlecover.com
Anthony Willmott, Digital Agriculture Services (DAS)
Janice Chia, Ageing Asia
Andrew Kuik, Hatchstone Capital
Michelle Duval, F4S
Gerard McLennan, LBM Fleet
Jonny Wilkinson, Equitise
Vincent English, MEGAPORT
Gerald Fisher, Rumblr
Jean-Baptiste Gehin, Vistaprint
Heath Caban, coIB
Dr Ben Coorey, Archistar
Angela Chan, Hackathons Australia
Maria Padisetti, Digital Armour
Ahmed Latif, Linktech Australia
Fatima Said, eWave
Robbie Ferguson, Immutable
Sarah Mak, Folktale
Amber Rushton, Kickstart your marketing
Kuba Tymula, Mikara
Paul Breen, Calendar Club
Josh Goulburn, Foodbomb
Andrew Deveson, Kapitol Group
Damien Langley , Student Edge
Sarah Nelson, Sarah Nelson Advisory
Elzaan, EdApp
Peter Knock, Peter Knock
Jimmy Zhong, Syncio
Connor James, Law Quarter
Charles Watson , Workforce Guardian
Toby Wilcock, Cloudwerx
Quirin Schwaighofer, MadeComfy
Nik Jain, Digital Minds
John McAuley, Tanjiro PL
Ronnie Altit, Insentra
Thor Essman, Versent
Jon Ossip, Advent One
Preethi Mohan, Kuriet
Marcel Herz, Tiliter
Tony Walls, Objective
Yes, The Hacker Exchange
Steven Boi, Insentra
Michael Fox, Fable Food Co
Flavia Tata Nardini, Fleet Space Technologies
Tony Rothacker, Youngster.co
Nick Jenkin , Jenkin Beattie
Barry Brott, Square Peg Capital
Ryan Jenkins , Digital Eagles
Matt Williams, Adventure Bay / Australian.com
Mathew Benjamin, AsiaRecon
Nick Rameka, LiveTiles
Riley Batchelor , 2U
Ben Shi, GROW Super
Eitan Bienstock , Techbench Capital
Rachael Powell , Xero
Will Carman, Savills
Dan Bartlett, The Cloud Mode
David Dzienciol, NEXTDC
Andrew Thorn, DigitalMaas
Jaryd Wallis , Spring Professional
Frank Restuccia , Finder
Lenny Moses, FatSecret
Matthew Callender, Hunter Mason
Simon Robins, B.B.E
Judy Anderson, Startup Victoria
David Hyman, Lendi
Adam Jacobs, Hatch
Arsène Lavaux, REveo
Maria MacNamara, Advance.org
Stephen Pelosi, Hamlen
Filipa Preston, Software Optimisation Services
Fayann Dsouza, Chutzpah Creative
Sharon Latour, Marketing Bee
Trevor Folsom, Investible
Jindou Lee, HappyCo
Geoff Gourley, One10 Group & Impact Investment Fund
Trent Innes, Xero Australia
Dane Matheson, Alpha
Leila Naja Hibri, Australian Fashion Council
Sarah Pearson, DITID
Nik Sproal, Social Garden
Jarrod McGrath, Smart WFM
Philipp Thurner, NEXL
Dr Marcus Tan, HealthEngine
Ian Olson, Pointerra
Matthew Madden , DXN Limited
George Tzoumanekas, Beezy
Karl Flores, Unikrn Inc
Jason Hincks, SAP Australia User Group
Julia Nguyen , Lendi
Robert Wijaya, Exo Digital
Tristan Sternson, Arq Group
Ross McDowall, BlueMount Capital
Tracey James, Technoledge
Cam Potter, Brooklyn Dynamics
Anastasia Volkova, FluroSat
Rod Bishop, Jayride.com
Bede Moore, Antler
Jonathan Day, Aligent Consulting
sarah adam-gedge, Publicis Sapient
Leon Cosgrove, MineRP
Christopher Telley, Ripe Co.
Adam Callen, Made in Katana
Maud Lindley, Serendis
Andre Eikmeier, Good Empire
Paula White, MiClub
Ana Ouriques, Land Insight & Resources
Peter Maddison, MiClub
Myles Glashier, Phocas Software
Jodi Geddes, Circle In
Kate Pollard, Circle In
Brian O’Farrell, Talentpool Recruitment Group
Mike Rosenbaum, Spacer & Parkhound
Matthew Magain, Sketch Group
Stephen Coulter, Zipidi
Alex Teoh, Mint Payments
Kirsty Garrett, Doctors on Demand
Mikhara Ramsing, Ethnic LGBT+; Miks Chai
Jenny Thorman, Coastline Credit Union
Vincent Maquinad, Pet Circle
Alexis Soulopoulos, Mad Paws
Karim Mouahbi, Mad Paws
Theresa Lim, Play2Lead
Rob Broadhead, 2020 Fire Protection Pty Ltd
Angus Stewart , Rugby 1st
Chris Clark, Archistar.ai
Samantha McKenzie, Acustico Lighting
Wolfgang Roffmann, e-Motion Concepts Pty Ltd
Dominic OHanlon, Rhipe
Josh Foreman, InDebted
Will Davies, Car Next Door
Paul Marshall, RateCity.com.au
Ryan Hanly, Travello App
Phil Catley, Telstra
Paul Warren-Tape, Biometric Vision
Albert Chu, Hampr
Ainhoa Martinez, Sample Coffee
Adrienne Tan, Brainmates
Graeme Armstrong, Transfit
Karl Treacher, The Brand Institute of Australia
Carrie Mott, PagerDuty
Bia Affonso, The Agile Eleven
Vuki Vujasinovic, Sling & Stone
Daniel Pritchard, Simple Machines
Megan Dwyer, Victorian Amateur Football Association
Nigel Mendonca, Smartsheet
Matt Macfarlane, iCetana Ltd
Andrew Akib, Maslow
Theo Belekas, Vertel
Alana Bennett, Connected Experience
Beata Koropatwa, Auslaser Business Solutions
Sam Brown, Pelikin
Jack Karikas , RUBIX.
Nick Whiteside, Checked Australia
David Brand, Clevr Pty Ltd
Jag Khangura, InDebted
Pat Mulroney, Venatus Media
Albert Jing, OneFriends
Patricia Kaziro, Radiate Coaching
Ullash Tiwari, Vuelo Eyewear
Craig O’Kane, Office of the Queensland Chief Entrepreneur
Nicholas Lennon, Mimecast Australia
Natalie Chapman, gemaker
Adam Reid, Equifax
Vicki Weston , Vicki Weston
Kay Koplovitz, Springboard Enterprises
Lara Vandenberg, Publicist
Alex Wesr, Swoop
Valeria Ignatieva & Gemma Lloyd, WORK180
Bastien Vetault, Sherpa Pty Ltd
Mehran Granfar, Mothership Ventures
Vanessa Gavan, Maximus International
Grazia Pecoraro, Perspective Hive Communications, Flexibility & Inclusion Consulting
Christopher Shermer, Chargebee
Brent Duffy, Maximus
Drewe Apps, Olly’s Box
Tom Mackintosh, Talent
Oliver Lewis, Spot Parking
Brent Duffy, Maximus International
Brendan Maree, 8x8
Matt Rockman, ROCKCorp
John Hoffman, Altis Consulting
Damion Brown, Data Runs Deep
John Hanna, SXiQ
Cameron Smith, SXiQ
Alana Sudale, Sudale Communications
Samantha Hurley, Marketing Entourage
Sophie Hampel, Inkling
Tim Slattery, APN Property Group
Susannah George, Urban List
Prue Bauer, Airgarden
Usman Iftikhar, Catalysr
Kurt Hansen, Pure Security
Luke Smorgon, Transpire
Lucas Ng, Appliances Online
Emma Raidis, Raidis Estate Wines
Simon Sheikh, Adam Verwey, Kirstin Hunter , Future Super
Martin Hosking, Redbubble
Adam Friedman, Shareable Apps
Abhishek Tiwari , D3 Metalab
Chris Zapris, PMI
Richard Edmondson, Edmondson James Recruitment Group
Jey Srikantha, jeylabs
James Cooke, Hello Human
Susanna Zaleski, Hannover Consulting
Jamie Bourbon, Rack World Systems
Athula Bogoda, Silicon Beach
Justin Bohlmann, uno Home Loans
Susan Park, Zen Imports / Fjallraven
Sharon Evans, Evans Greens
Natasha Fiess, Tash’s Remedial Massage
Paul Migliorini, Amazon Web Services
Michael Huggett, CHD Partners
Fadi Ali, FBA International Pty Ltd / Ezy Storage
Jim Kelly, SafeWork NSW
Nathan Reese, Secure Code Warrior
Ashley Davie, Elite Logistics Australia
Pieter Danhieux, Secure Code Warrior
Dave Mason, Mantis Technologies
Yes, MiCare Global
Matt Baxby, Revolut
Li-Ann Scott, One Fine Collective
Alison Atkins, acQuire Technology Solutions
Woj Kwasi, Kwasi
Fiona MacDonald, ScienceAlert
Michael Dunne, Epic Sales Group
Paul Velich, Headspin Inc
Chris Haylock, Azupay
Taskin Karlar, ADA Studio
Monica Savanovic, ADA Studio
Victoria Smith, UBS
Karl Mohan, Wirecard
Peter Forbes, HROnboard
Tim Brown, Bamser
Jackson Dickfos, SportsCube
Adrian Waters, Exec Fitness Club
Ben Graetz, Grassrootz
Heather Macindoe, David The Company
Jean-Marc Barthe, Azuron
Martijn Wilder , Pollination
(and more — please add your name here!)
