Heather Ridout AO is a company director with a long history as a leading figure in the public policy debate in Australia. She was formerly chief executive of the Australian Industry Group, a major national employer organisation representing a cross-section of industry including manufacturing, construction, defence, ICT and labour hire, until April 2012. Mrs Ridout was appointed chair of the AustralianSuper Trustee Board in May 2013, having joined the board in 2007. She has also been a director of Sims Metal Management since September 2011 and a director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra since December 2012. Mrs Ridout is a member of the ASIC External Advisory Panel. She was a board member of the Reserve Bank of Australia from February 2012 to February 2017, Infrastructure Australia, the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency, a member of the Henry Tax Review panel, the Climate Change Authority and the Prime Minister’s Taskforce on Manufacturing.
