The auDA Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Bruce Tonkin as auDA’s new CEO, commencing on 1 January 2025.
Bruce is well known to auDA and the broader domain name community having joined auDA in 2017 and served as auDA’s Chief Operating Officer since 2018.
Chair Alan Cameron AO said, “The auDA Board is delighted to welcome Bruce as auDA’s new CEO, following a competitive, international search. Bruce impressed the selection panel with his deep understanding of critical infrastructure systems, domain names policy and his breadth of executive and board experience at organisations including ICANN and Melbourne IT.”
Prior to joining auDA, Bruce held the position of Chief Technology Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Melbourne IT, where he was responsible for taking cloud-based services to global markets across the USA, Europe and Asia. Bruce has extensive senior leadership experience, having served on the Board of ICANN, the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers, from 2007 to 2016, during which time he was Vice-Chair of the Board from 2011 to 2015. He also served as Chair of ICANN's Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) from 2002 until 2007.
Alan Cameron said, “The Board is confident that Bruce, as a respected leader in the industry, is ideally placed to lead auDA as it continues to execute its Terms of Endorsement obligations, works to establish its forward five year strategy, drive growth in domain name registrations, embed its new Sustainability Framework and its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), as well as support auDA staff to reach their full potential.”
In-coming CEO, Bruce Tonkin said, “I am pleased to take up the role of CEO at auDA, which plays such a pivotal role in the digital lives of all Australians and in supporting our nation’s digital economy. I look forward to building on auDA’s strong foundations and engaging with auDA’s members and its multi-stakeholder community to ensure the ongoing resilience of the .au domain into the future.”
The Board thanks outgoing CEO Rosemary Sinclair AM for her dedicated and disciplined work at auDA since taking on the role in March 2020. Alan Cameron noted, “Rosemary has applied herself tirelessly in leading auDA’s response to the government’s 2018 review of auDA and to the recruitment and upskilling of staff to ensure auDA can meet the challenges of managing modern critical infrastructure in the interests of all Australians. Rosemary has been an exemplary leader and we wish her every success.”
Rosemary will finish at auDA at year’s end, after which Bruce will commence in the role.
ENDS