AHRI SA Conference 2025
30 and 31 October, Adelaide Convention Centre
Day One Program
Thursday 30 October | 8:30am – 6:00pm
Day One delves into the future of work and what it means to HR. Focused on building energising workplace cultures, the agenda explores how integrating HR with Work Health & Safety (WHS) practices can enhance psychosocial wellbeing and overall health.
8:30am
ARRIVAL AND NETWORKING
9:00am
OPENING COMMENTS
9:35am
OPENING KEYNOTE
AI: The real human resource
Stephen Yarwood, futurist and former Lord Mayor of Adelaide, will set the scene with an exploration of how artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping not only the HR profession but also the very nature of future employees. Drawing from his passion for the “future citizen”, Stephen will go beyond the transformative role of AI in automating routine tasks and enhancing workforce productivity, and explore how technology will revolutionise talent management, performance tracking, and employee engagement. Crucially, this session highlights that tomorrow’s employees will expect and require different skills, support systems, and workplaces — prompting HR to adapt and proactively design inclusive, flexible, and responsive organisational cultures.
This keynote will challenge HR professionals to lead proactively, blending strategic foresight with cutting-edge technology to create unified workplaces, capable of attracting, nurturing, and retaining the empowered, tech-savvy, and purpose-driven employees of tomorrow.
10:30am
MORNING TEA, EXPO, NETWORKING
11:00am
SESSION 2
Embedding culture across the employee lifecycle to drive engagement and performance
In this session, you will discover the key elements that make high performing teams thrive — including how to foster a culture of meaningful feedback where values are REALLY lived.
Explore the powerful link between culture, behaviours, and performance, and learn how to apply these insights across every stage of the employee lifecycle — from recruitment and onboarding to performance management, retention, and exit. Walk away with practical, actionable strategies that not only elevate team performance but also create a lasting competitive advantage for your organisation.
11:30am
SESSION 3 - INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP
Cultivating collaboration and productivity through cultural intelligence
Our cultural coding shapes the way we think, feel and act. Australia is a multi-cultural nation, what do we need to know to be truly inclusive and improve collaboration and productivity in our workforce?
Our 2025 Global Report synthesises data from 170,000 respondents across 204 organisations in 62 countries. With focus on implications for Australia, this session will explore what the data reveals about leadership, safety culture and employee expectations. We will also discuss how to manage organisational culture performance with the same discipline and precision as a CFO manages an organisation’s financial health.
12:30pm
SESSION 4
From TGIF to TGIM: Global lessons for Monday ready workplaces
The best workplaces don’t just survive the week — they make people look forward to Monday.
In this globally informed and deeply practical session, renowned HR leader Rabia Dhody will share powerful lessons from cultures she’s built and observed across sectors and borders. From “Thank God It’s Friday” (TGIF) to “Thank God It’s Monday” (TGIM), discover what the world’s most admired workplaces get right — and what many still get wrong. Explore how trust becomes measurable, psychological safety becomes cultural currency, and purpose becomes deeply personal.
Walk away with global insights, mindset shifts, and actionable ideas to bring back to your team — if you’re not designing for trust, you’re designing for turnover.
1:00pm
LUNCH, EXPO, NETWORKING
2:00pm
SESSION 5
What neurodiversity really is and what HR gets wrong
Neurodiversity is more than a buzzword — it’s the future of talent, innovation, and inclusion. Yet many HR systems remain designed for sameness rather than cognitive difference.
In this thought-provoking session, international NeuroInclusion expert Aisling Smith reveals the most common misconceptions HR teams make about neurodivergent employees and reveals what to do differently! Blending personal stories, practical strategies, and cutting-edge insights, Aisling will challenge assumptions and empower HR professionals to rethink recruitment, leadership, and workplace culture for every kind of brain. Because the future of HR isn’t just inclusive, it’s NeuroInclusive.
2:45pm
SESSION 6
Integrating HR and WHS: Using a multidisciplinary approach to improve psychosocial safety
With the strengthening of legislation in Australia, psychosocial safety has become an increasingly critical priority for workplaces.
This interative session explores how integrating Human Resources (HR) and Work Health and Safety (WHS) perspectives can create more comprehensive and sustainable approaches to managing psychosocial risks. Participants will deepen their understanding of the essential roles both HR and WHS play in psychosocial risk management, and collaborate to design actionable strategies that align legal obligations with organisational culture goals.
Whether your role is in HR, WHS, or spans both areas, this session will equip you with practical insights and tools to foster cross-functional collaboration and build safer, healthier workplaces.
3:30pm
AFTERNOON TEA, EXPO, NETWORKING
3:55pm
SESSION 7 - WORKSHOP
There’s a bear in there
Discover how to create a powerful story that leads your organisation towards a lighter, brighter and more purposeful future. But first, you must courageously face the old stories—the ones that keep people stuck in the past and resistant to change.
“There’s a Bear in There” is a transformative workshop for visionary leaders who are ready to facilitate game-changing strategy and lead uplifting culture shifts through the power of new storytelling.
Dr. Gemma Munro and Mia Handshin combine 40+ years expertise in developing leaders to share their know-how for bravely airing old stories, boldly creating new ones and consciously leading real transformation as a result.
4:50pm
CLOSING COMMENTS
5:00pm
NETWORKING FUNCTION
Wrap up the day with great conversations, meaningful connections, and connect with changemakers shaping the future of HR in a vibrant networking atmosphere.