“Australia’s supply chain security: sovereign supply chain capability and economic resilience”

Date: Tuesday, 15 September 2026, 12.15 for 12.30–2.00 pm AEST
Venue: Union University and Schools Club, 25 Bent Street, Sydney (corner of Bent and Philip Streets)
Enquiries: by email to RSNSW Events 
Registration: Registration is required  before 2.00 pm AEST on Thursday, 10 September 2026
Cost: $75 (RSNSW or UUSC members); $85 (non-members/guests). A warm meal and wine will be served.
UUSC dress code: Business Dress. To avoid embarrassment, please note that a jacket and tie are required. Denim, trainers and shoes with white soles are not permitted. Attendees not dressed appropriately may be refused entry by the Club.
Flyer: Downloadable from this link

Click here to register before
2.00 pm AEST on Thursday, 10 September 2026

Australia’s supply chain security:
sovereign supply chain capability and economic resilience

The war in the Middle East has brought supply chain disruption into sharp focus.  Despite the seemingly endless optimism of financial markets, the stalemate continues with endless posturing on the negotiation of peace terms between the US, Iran and Israel.  Ship movements through the Strait of Hormuz are uncertain and risky and there is now the threat of disruption to shipping from the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb (the “Gate of Grief”).

Supply of crude oil and refined petroleum products (particularly diesel) and fertilisers have been substantially disrupted.  But there are also many petrochemical intermediates that are shipped from the Persian Gulf for further processing across Asia.  Supply chain security implications continue to put the global economy at great risk.

This series started as an exploration of the Future Made in Australia (FMiA) program that will see investment of $22.7 billion over the next decade focused on two major streams: Net zero transformation; and Economic security and resilience.  Nothing could have greater relevance in the current geopolitical circumstances.

This panel of three internationally-renowned supply chain experts will explore the implications for the Australian economy, exposing key risks and highlighting the importance of both government and private sector responses to improve Australia’s long-term supply chain security.

Dr John Gattorna is Executive Chairman of Gattorna Alignment, a specialist supply chain advisory firm. He has held several professorships, with the most recent being Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology, Sydney, the SP Jain School of Global Management, and Foundation Professor to CIPS Australia. Dr Gattorna has been a relentless contributor to shaping the thinking, understanding and practice of logistics and supply chain management, globally, for more than 40 years. In particular, his writing, teaching, mentoring, presentations and consulting have helped to increase the profile of the supply chain as a key strategic lever within the organisation.

For the last two decades, John has been working with major blue-chip companies applying his framework and adopting a multi-disciplinary, whole-of-business approach to the design and management of enterprise supply chains. His work has influenced the strategic direction of many large organisations, including Schneider Electric, Ralph Lauren, DHL, Dell, Unilever and entire industries, including the livestock and grains industries in Australia. He was also one of the first to recognise the power of sophisticated decision support tools in the supply chain, using network modelling from MIT to design large retail and industrial supply chains from the late 1980s.

Deborah Ellis has conducted supply chain and strategy consulting projects over the last 20 years in Australia, Asia, Europe and the US in diverse industries including fashion, consumer goods, retail, industrial, resources, banking, and agriculture. Apart from Gattorna Alignment, she has consulted with LCP (Logistics Consulting Partners) in Hong Kong.

Earlier in her career, Deborah held operational roles in logistics with Mars and Swire Group companies in Australia. Prior to moving to consulting, she headed the Logistics function for Master Foods in Australia.

As a consultant, Deborah has led strategic and analytical engagements including network modelling projects, and a series of ground-breaking projects for the Australian banking industry, applying supply chain principles to the distribution of cash. She has collaborated with John Gattorna on industry-level strategy for the Hunter Valley Coal Chain, the Australian Meat and Livestock industry and the Western Australian Grains industry and on research for the Textiles, Clothing and Footwear Industry.

The projects conducted with companies have been diverseRalph Lauren,  a major multi-national FMCG company – Unilever, a multi-national pharma company – Roche Pharmaceuticals, Teys Australia, and Schneider Electric.

Associate Professor Sanjoy Paul is the program director of the Master of Strategic Supply Chain Management programs and an Associate Professor at the UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney and is a globally renowned researcher in supply chain risk and resilience.

Sanjoy has received numerous awards in his career, including the Editorial Contribution Award from Springer Nature, Research with Relevance Award from UTS Business School, Global Sustainable Supply Chain Management Award from IEOM Society, ASOR Rising Star Award, Excellence in Early Career Research Award from UTS Business School, and the Stephen Fester Prize for most outstanding thesis from UNSW.

Sanjoy frequently contributes to television, radio, and news media through his expert opinions, commentaries, and analyses on supply chain disruptions and contemporary business and societal issues. His commentaries and analyses have been published in leading news, radio and television media outlets, including The Conversation, ABC Television, ABC 7.30, ABC News, The Guardian, Nine TV News, SBS News, The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, news.com.au, Herald Sun, The New Daily and The Daily Cargo News.

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