Rebecca Huntley

Rebecca is one of Australia's foremost researchers on social trends, having spent years travelling the country, getting to know what's in our hearts and minds.

Rebecca holds degrees in law and film studies and a PhD in gender studies. For nearly nine years, she was at the global research firm Ipsos, where she oversaw the seminal Mind & Mood Report, Australia's longest-running social trends report.

Her experience ranges from community to academia to media to government. She's on the Artistic Advisory Board of the Bell Shakespeare Company, is an adjunct senior lecturer at the School of Social Sciences at The University of New South Wales, and provides research counsel to Essential, an integrated research and communications agency in Australia and New Zealand. She was a feature writer for Australian Vogue, a columnist for BRW and the presenter of Drive on a Friday on Radio National.

Rebecca has written numerous books, the latest of which, Still Lucky: Why you should feel optimistic about Australia and its people, forms the title for her Communities in Control keynote. In her presentation she'll tackle some of the biggest social questions facing Australia now: Why do we fear asylum seekers? Why are women still underpaid and overworked? Why do we over-parent? Why do we worry even though we are lucky?