Rob Southey went to the University of Melbourne and later the Melbourne University Business School. After 18 months gold mining in Western Australia, he worked as a journalist in the UK for News Limited and the BBC. On returning to Australia, he was appointed senior industrial correspondent for “The Australian” and later served as a policy adviser to Victorian and Commonwealth cabinet ministers. He also worked for the international marketing and packaging company ACI International Ltd.

A partner of Amrop Cordiner King for 23 years, Rob was arguably Australia’s leading consultant in higher education, where he advised on the appointment of vice-chancellor and president to six of the country’s top eight universities. In the public sector he worked principally in the areas of health, treasury and finance, the environment and the arts.