'The most significant technology oration in the nation'
The Pearcey Oration is an event not-to-be-missed, for so many reasons ... a vital window on our future, national thought leadership, networking with influential members of industry, academia, government and society all served up with some incredible insights and learnings.
Presented each year by an eminent expert, the Pearcey Oration is an opportunity to explore, in depth, critical contemporary issues arising from the introduction and adoption of new and advanced technologies into our society. Building on the inspiration of Dr Trevor Pearcey, who put Australia at the very forefront of the digital computing age when he built CSIRAC in 1947-49.
Please join us at the 2026 Pearcey Oration, to be held on Tuesday 8th September at Melbourne Connect, 700 Swanston Street, Carlton.
The 2026 Pearcey Oration will be delivered by the Aidan Tudehope. Aidan co-founded the Macquarie Technology Group with his brother David, and has served on its board since 16 July 1992, a tenure of more than three decades that few people in Australian technology can match.
As Managing Director of the Hosting Group (Cloud Services & Government and Data Centres), he drives growth, operational excellence, cyber security leadership and an uncompromising standard of customer satisfaction. He heads the Government business unit, where Macquarie's Secure Government Cloud and Cyber Security offerings have set the benchmark for protecting the nation's most sensitive data.
Peviously, as Chief Operating Officer of the Macquarie Technology Group, Aidan shaped the strategy and direction of the Hosting business from the ground up — beginning with the opening of Intellicentre 1 in 2001, the Group's first data centre and one of Australia's most established — and he was the architect of Macquarie Technology's data networking strategy.
In 2023, his contribution was recognised with the Pearcey Medal, the Australian ICT industry’s most prestigious individual accolade for lifetime achievement.
The Pearcey Oration, along with the presentation of the Victorian 2026 Pearcey
Entrepreneur Award,
will be a sit-down dinner at Melbourne Connect on Tuesday, 8th September 2026.
The 2026 Pearcey Oration is a flagship event of Innovation Week.|
Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award
The Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award is presented each year to a mid-career individual, or team who are outstanding for their achievements and contributions in the development and/or application of information and communications technologies. More about this important award and past recipients can be found here. In the past 26 years, the Victorian award recipients have gone on to be selected as the National Pearcey Entrepreneur more than a third of the time - that's more than double any other state or territory.
The 2026 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award is a flagship event of Innovation Week.
Please note: This event will be video and audio recorded, and a professional photographer will be present on the night. All the images and recordings will be edited and used for marketing by the Pearcey Foundation and its event partners. If you do not want to be recorded or photographed please make that known to the staff at the beginning of the night. This may require reallocating your seating.
The Pearcey Foundation works to realise a better future for all Australians. We welcome your support by choosing to purchase a Sponsor
Table.