Dianne Hill

Thank you, Chancellor, and good morning Deputy Vice Chancellor, Faculty Dean, UTS staff, my colleagues at UTS Insearch, distinguished guests, graduates of 2018 and family and friends. Thank you for coming today to celebrate the achievements of our business school graduates, and of those who have taught and supported us so that we can stand here today.

I’d like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, upon whose ancestral lands this amazing place known as the University of Technology Sydney now stands.

As a 15-year-old in 1970, starting my working life as a receptionist, I certainly never imagined that I would be standing here to receive this great honour and to join such an illustrious group of people who have been conferred as honorary fellows of UTS. I want to sincerely thank those who nominated me, the UTS Council and my colleagues at UTS Insearch with whom I share this honour.

How I come to be standing here today is a story of how education changed the predetermined path of my life. I grew up in Adelaide in the 50s; my wonderful mum started her working life at 14 in a factory until she got married and my dear dad was an apprentice electrician. In my era, parents’ aspirations for their children were for the boys to become a fitter and turner at the Chrysler car factory and for the girls to get a job in a nice office up until they got married. My parents sent me to a girls’ technical high school to learn the office skills of shorthand, typing and bookkeeping, plus the wife or life skills of sewing, cooking and home economics. There was no higher school certificate year for us, because Year 10 was the end of our education and the beginning of our working life.

Interestingly, six years before I started my first job, UTS started its life in 1964 as the NSW Institute of Technology. Back then, and it is a while ago, only 0.7 per cent of the population were enrolled in higher education in Australia, with 12 per cent of those students in the Faculty of Business and Economics. By 1974, student enrolments had increased to 1.8 per cent of the population, with 18 per cent in business and IT, and there were approximately three males for every female student. Around this time, I reopened the door to education through an accounting course at the local technical college, and with encouragement from my lecturers, I cajoled my way into the South Australian Institute of Technology to enrol in a BA Accounting and became part of what is now known as first-in-family students.

Today, it’s a very different picture. Over 1.5 million richly diverse students are enrolled in Australian universities, and they’re now more female than male students. So, as you leave the stunning Frank Gehry building with your undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications from the top young university in Australia and join over 200,000 UTS alumni to pursue your own professional adventures, I thought I would share a few tips from mine.

My first tip is: make people feel comfortable. In the early days in my professional life in chartered accounting, I was the only female in the audit team, and when we were being introduced to our major client, he looked at me and said, ‘I see you have brought your tea lady with you.’ Yes, I know, it’s really shocking, but back then we did have actual tea ladies in the office. Anyway, the story gets worse, because very unprofessionally, I mumbled back, ‘Well, you can get stuffed too.’ Surprisingly, I didn’t lose my job, and although this was a one-off, I did regularly have to contend with men who wouldn’t shake my hand and clients assuming I was the junior and not the manager.

In those early days, I often felt like I didn’t belong. So, I decided to do what I sought for myself and that was to ensure others would feel welcome and accepted – that there was more strength in making people feel comfortable, regardless of who they were or what the circumstances. Wonderfully, this approach also helped me to get to know my peers and leads to my second tip: build professional relationships, because this is what will sustain you through the usual ups and downs of your professional life, and you’re already off to a great start. Here at UTS, your relationships with your fellow students, faculty and staff will provide you with support and connectedness for your lifelong learning.

Build and value your professional relationships and take the opportunities that may arise, which is my tip number three. The opportunities for giving and receiving will come in many different ways and disguises. My usual response to receiving an opportunity is, ‘Thank you – that sounds great. Don’t know if I can do it, but I’ll jump in and give it a go.’ You never know where things might lead. For example, when my daughter was little, I started a book club with some friends. From this, we decided to start an investment club and Emily, who’s here today, had the great idea that we should write a book about that experience. From that, we ended up with two books on the business bestseller list.

Conversely, the opportunity to give to help others has been the most rewarding part of my professional life, and I’d really encourage you to take the time to do that. It could range from being a UTS Business School mentor, or to having a coffee with someone who’d like some guidance. The key is they all make a difference. In 2008, I had the wonderful opportunity to join the board of UTS Insearch, whose mission is to bring university success within reach of more people around the world, and I am particularly proud of our Indigenous scholarship program.

My final tip is ROI. And of course, coming from a business background, I do think about returns on investment, and the most important asset is that we all have our time and efforts. Your current and future organisations, and indeed the ones that you’re going to create yourself, are made up of people, and sometimes, just sometimes, we can individually or collectively make dumb decisions. In many challenging circumstances, how you choose to act as a professional is what really counts. Consider investing your time in areas that generate positive returns for your professional life.

Congratulations, because you’ve already made an excellent investment decision in choosing UTS as your university. I wish you all the very best for your future, and finally, and most importantly, have fun. Thank you.