Welcome to

The Pearcey Foundation

The Pearcey Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 1998 in memory of a great Australian ICT pioneer Dr Trevor Pearcey. The Foundation operates broadly across the Australian Information Computing and Telecommunication (ICT) technologies sector, from celebrating achievements through national and state awards, to being involved in debate and public policy on critical national issues such as productivity, the digital economy and national infrastructure.

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Australia 4.0 Summit - REGISTER NOW

AUSTRALIA 4.0
Summit

The Consumers' Grid

Australia 4.0 is a constructive space for all stakeholders to discuss the challenges, opportunities and solutions for the transition of Australia to a Net Zero energy system.

Session Recordings and Reports:



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Download the Australia 4.0 Communiqué .................. and White Paper
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This is our 27th year of awards, focussed exclusively on outstanding individuals drawn from across our vast geography.

We present 12 awards each year, and have done so for a long time - recognising over 245 Australian ICT luminaries and entrepreneurs, as highlighted on this website.

Coming Events

Event Date

Australia 4.0 Summit

5 virtual debates
each Friday
from 17 Oct

National Awards
(Melbourne)

21 Nov 2025

Pearcey National Event

Please join us for the presentation of:

  • 2025 Pearcey Medal
  • 2025 Pearcey Hall of Fame
  • 2025 Pearcey National Entrepreneur Award
  • 70 Years of Computing Research Leadership

In collaboration with Melbourne University:

  • Friday 21 November 2025
  • 4pm - 8pm
  • Melbourne Connect, 700 Swanston Street, Carlton
  • Free event, refreshments provided

For more details:

Free Event - register here Free Event - register here


Latest News

TAS Awards2025
2025 Tasmanian Award
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Oct 29, 2025

2025 Tasmanian Award

Roxane Bandini-Maeder, CEO and co-founder of climate tech startup Geoneon, was awarded the 2025 Tasmania Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year at the Enterprize Tasmania Demo Day in Hobart.

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QLD Awards2025
2025 Qld Award
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Oct 16, 2025

2025 Qld Award

Dr Clarissa Yates, biotechnology innovator and co-founder and CEO of Ketim Technologies was awarded 2025 Queensland Pearcey ICT Entrepreneur Award at a gala dinner held in Brisbane on 23 October 2025.

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NSW Awards2025
2025 NSW Award
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Oct 14, 2025

2025 NSW Award

The 2025 NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award recipient is "robot nerd turned drone lover turned CEO/cofounder" (in his words) Rory San Miguel. The award was presented at a special Pearcey Foundation event on Tuesday 14 October in Sydney by Emma Weston, the 2023 NSW award recipient.

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Industry News2025
Pearcey Entrepreneur does it again!!
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Oct 3, 2025

Pearcey Entrepreneur does it again!!

As reported in The Age, Grant Petty, National and Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur award recipient in 2020, has partnered with APPLE to once again make professional video creation and editing accessible to every creative effort.

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ACT Awards2025
2025 ACT Award
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Oct 2, 2025

2025 ACT Award

Professor Lachlan Blackhall, Founding Professor of the Battery Storage and Grid Integration Program at the Australian National University and previously co-founder of Reposit Power, is the recipient of the 2025 ACT Chief Minister's Pearcey Award. The award was presented by ACT Chief Minister, Andrew Barr at the 2025 Pearcey Round Table in Canberra on Thursday, 2 October 2025.

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Pearcey Entrepreneur AwardsVIC Awards
2025 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award
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Sep 7, 2025

2025 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award

The 2025 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award presented to Sam Kroonenburg, co-founder and CEO of A Cloud Guru, co-founder and co-CEO of Cuttable. Award was presented at a special dinner in Melbourne, by Professor Eduard Hovy, Executive Director of Melbourne Connect at the University of Melbourne. This was the flagship event of the Melbourne Connect Innovation Week.

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Computing HistoryHistory of ICT
Oral History of Australian Computing
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Aug 21, 2025

Oral History of Australian Computing

Australia has a rich and dynamic history of invention, innovation, and commercial success in developing electronics products in computing and allied fields. Many of these achievements are within living memory. In this series of interviews by documentary expert Karl von Moller we hear first hand from the people who pioneered this era of modern electronics innovation in Australia.

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2025Pearcey InitiativePearcey News
IT Innovation in AU joint Study
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Aug 20, 2025

IT Innovation in AU joint Study

The Pearcey Foundation and the Business School at the University of Sydney are proud to release a detailed project report looking at IT Innovation in Australia, A Long-Term Perspective.

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WA Awards2025
2025 WA Award
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Jul 18, 2025

2025 WA Award

The 2025 WA Pearcey Entrepreneur Award was presented to Chris Morrissey, founder and CEO of Ever Nimble, at the 34th WAITTA Incite Awards in Perth on Friday 18th July 2025.

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Computing History2025Guest blogHistory of ICTWomen in IT
Grandmother of the Web
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Jun 22, 2025

Grandmother of the Web

Guest blog by Barbara Ainsworth

Mary Lee Woods enjoyed a short career in Australia at Mount Stromlo. Her son, Tim Berners-Lee, is known as the “Father of the Web”. Mary accepted the name “Grandmother of the Web’. She should be celebrated for her own career in programming.

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2025Pearcey NewsPearcey Hall of Fame
UNSW Quantum Professor presented Hall of Fame
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Feb 14, 2025

UNSW Quantum Professor presented Hall of Fame

Prof Andrew Dzurak was elevated to the Pearcey Hall of Fame in November 2024. Unfortunately, Andrew was overseas at the time of the presentation and so the Chair of the Pearcey Foundation presented the certificate in person on Friday 14 February at the Diraq lab at UNSW Campus in Kensington, NSW.

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2024Industry News
Dr Ian Oppermann Appointments
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Dec 20, 2024

Dr Ian Oppermann Appointments

Congratulations to Dr Ian Opperman on his appointment as the Chair of the Federal Government committee for Data Standards for Digital ID and Consumer Data Right. Ian is Chair of our Australia 4.0 Committee and was our 2024 Pearcey Orator.

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Pearcey News2024Pearcey Events
2024 National Awards Gala
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Dec 1, 2024

2024 National Awards Gala

An evening of celebration and recognition, the Pearcey National Awards Gala incorporated the Queensland Entrepreneur Award, the National Entrepreneur Award, the Pearcey Hall of Fame and the Pearcey Medal. These most prestigious awards recognise outstanding Australians in the ICT sector for their entrepreneurial spirit, achievements and lifetime commitment to the betterment of our society through technology enabled change.

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Pearcey Hall of Fame2024
2024 Pearcey Hall of Fame
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Nov 19, 2024

2024 Pearcey Hall of Fame

Professor Svetha Venkatesh, Professor Andrew Dzurak and Jan Kornweibel were inducted into the 2024 Pearcey Hall of Fame at the Pearcey National Awards night on 19 November 2024 in Brisbane. The presentations were made by David Tudehope (2023 Pearcey Medallist) and the Honourable Kate Lundy (2017 Pearcey Hall of Fame inductee).

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Pearcey Entrepreneur Awards2024
2024 Pearcey Entrepreneur Award
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Nov 19, 2024

2024 Pearcey Entrepreneur Award

The 2024 Pearcey National Entrepreneur Award was presented to Ian Croser AM and David Gaul, founders of CEA Technologies. The presentation was made by Emeritus Professor Roy Green AM at the Pearcey Foundation National Event on 19 November 2024 in Brisbane.

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Pearcey Medals2024
2024 Pearcey Medal
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Nov 19, 2024

2024 Pearcey Medal

The prestigious 2024 Pearcey Medal was awarded to Professor Svetha Venkatesh at the Pearcey Foundation's National Event in Brisbane on 19 November 2024. The event also celebrated the 75th anniversary of Australia's first computer, CSIRAC, running its first software program in November 1949.

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QLD Awards2024
2024 Qld Award
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Nov 19, 2024

2024 Qld Award

The Queensland Pearcey Entrepreneur for 2024 was presented to Andrew Bate, co-founder and CEO of Swarm Farm Robotics. The presentation was part of the Pearcey Foundation's National Event Gala Dinner on Tuesday 19th November 2024 in Brisbane.

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Pearcey NewsHistory of ICT2024Computing History
Biography - Trevor Pearcey
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Nov 11, 2024

Biography - Trevor Pearcey

Mrs Barbara Ainsworth, Curator of the Monash Museum of Computing History has published a new biography of Dr Trevor Pearcey, Dean of the School of Computing and Information Systems (1980-1984).

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Awards

The Pearcey Foundation's annual awards recognise and celebrate outstanding individuals in Australian ICT. 

National Awards • State Awards • Nominations

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The Heritage Project

The Pearcey Foundation intends to extend the Heritage Project well beyond Phase One (the book) – with the aim to become ‘the’ central repository – hosting a ‘virtual museum’ of Australia’s computing artefacts, documents and oral histories from key players. 

The Project 

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Kind Words

     

    Australians have all too often seen themselves as observers rather than participants in the digital revolution, but that does not do justice to our history. The Pearcey Foundation plays a very important role in highlighting the real contributions Australians have made in the past, and in so doing will help inspire the next generation of Australian digital innovators.


    Charlie Day
    Former CEO, Innovation and Science Australia



     

    The Pearcey Foundation’s project to document Australia’s achievements in the computer age is a critically important endeavour. A central repository, that documents the central role of our universities and CSIRO and the individual contributions of academics and entrepreneurs, will be an essential resource for future policy makers and for students, research workers and entrepreneurs.


    Alex Zelinsky AO
    Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Newcastle



     

    Australians are a nation of storytellers. Stories make us laugh and they make us cry, they remind us who we are and they inspire us, and let us celebrate our successes and failures. Australia has much to celebrate when it comes to the digital age, from pioneering work in computer science through to innovative cloud services. The Pearcey Foundation Heritage Project will be an inspiration to future generations of Australians.


    Founder
    Australian Ocean Lab and Former Engineering Director, Google Australia



Initiatives

The Pearcey Foundation is actively involved in many initiatives to help promote and accelerate the Australian ICT industry. 

Thought Leadership • Australia 3.0 • Australia 4.0 •  ICT Heritage • Pearcey Institute

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In memory of

Dr Trevor Pearcey

The Pearcey Foundation Inc. was established in 1998 to raise the profile of the Australian Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Industry and profession. It was created in the memory of one of the greatest pioneers of the Australian ICT industry, Dr Trevor Pearcey.

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