John Gardner

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John Gardner Strategic Adviser | Former SA Minister | Public Policy, Education & Stakeholder Engagement | Governance | GAICD

A new role! Following last night’s AGM, I’m very pleased to have been appointed Chair of Grandcarers SA.I’m taking over ...
15/10/2026

A new role! Following last night’s AGM, I’m very pleased to have been appointed Chair of Grandcarers SA.

I’m taking over from the wonderful Kath House AM, who has been an outstanding Chair and a tireless advocate for the families GrandCarers SA supports. I’m delighted she’s staying on our volunteer Board.

GrandCarers SA does terrific work supporting grandparents and other family carers who are raising children, often in very challenging circumstances. I’m looking forward to working in this new role with CEO Michael Feszczak, our Board and the wonderful staff and volunteers who make such a difference for South Australian families.

If you’re not familiar with Grandcarers SA, I’d encourage you to take a look at the important work they do: https://grandcarers.au/

📷 With Kath and Michael at last night’s AGM.

Frances Adamson has been an exceptional Governor of South Australia as she has been throughout her life in all the other...
07/10/2026

Frances Adamson has been an exceptional Governor of South Australia as she has been throughout her life in all the other roles she has held.

Along with her wonderful husband Rod Bunton, our Governor worked tirelessly to serve our State for five years, and I think their touch has been felt in every corner of South Australia.

She brought experience, wisdom and compassion to every room she was in, from Executive Council to the classrooms of the hundreds of schools she and Rod visited over the last five years.

As a former Education Minister I am particularly grateful for the priority the Governor placed on her engagement with schools. At events for school leaders, such as the one pictured, I was most impressed by the number of students who recalled meeting Rod or the Governor at their school.

She offered strong support to civics education and played an active and constructive role in encouraging the leadership potential of hundreds, if not thousands, of school leaders from every school in South Australia.

As a South Australian I am grateful for their service, and along with her excellent predecessors I am sure that she will continue to serve our state in other ways in the years ahead.

As we wish our outgoing Governor well, congratulations also to our incoming Governor, Grant Stevens. I hope he and his family enjoy this new avenue of service, as they join a distinguished class of South Australians who have taken on this important role.

It was a real pleasure to spend time in Singapore last week with inspirational MindChamps Australia founder David Chiem ...
28/09/2026

It was a real pleasure to spend time in Singapore last week with inspirational MindChamps Australia founder David Chiem and his global team.

Speaking at Friday’s Teacher Development Training day was a particular joy. The energy in the room with nearly one thousand Singaporean and Malaysian teachers and early childhood educators was electric, and the engagement from dozens of international centres (including in Australia) was very impressive.

Just before this picture was taken, the ‘young Champs’ had just performed for us with enthusiasm, composure and talent. They were skilled musicians and sang their hearts out - in tune - with smiles on their faces. What little champions!

Catching up with old friends and making new ones at the Montevergine Festa today, with our girls. Highlights for the gir...
27/09/2026

Catching up with old friends and making new ones at the Montevergine Festa today, with our girls. Highlights for the girls were the procession (pictured), the petting zoo (pictured) and the Gelati (eaten before pictures could be taken)…

A glorious afternoon to support Adelaide Crows AFLW with our girls!
12/09/2026

A glorious afternoon to support Adelaide Crows AFLW with our girls!

While higher education rapidly adapts to digital learning to accommodate students’ work and family commitments, Don Mark...
31/07/2026

While higher education rapidly adapts to digital learning to accommodate students’ work and family commitments, Don Markwell’s “The College Ideal” argues the case for residential academic college life as the idyllic educational experience.

To remain relevant in an increasingly polarised world, where many traditional graduate pathways are being disrupted by rapid technological advancement, Don Markwell draws on his recent experience as head of St Mark’s College to highlight the role residential colleges can play in foregrounding values and character in their students, over and above knowledge and skills.

A former global head of the Rhodes Scholarship, Markwell also highlights the responsibility of Colleges to create safe spaces for academic exploration and debate, free from racism, sexism and xenophobia, and using their philanthropic potential to ensure that they are not restricted to serve only the privileged.

I was so pleased to catch up with Don at the launch last night, and encourage anyone interested in these important questions to have a look at The College Ideal – available now from Wakefield Press: https://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/product/the-college-ideal/.

Hat tip to local Rhodes Scholar Oliver Douglas for his outstanding speech launching the book.

A really worthwhile session today with the James and Diana Ramsay Foundation on building the philanthropic capacity of g...
29/05/2026

A really worthwhile session today with the James and Diana Ramsay Foundation on building the philanthropic capacity of grant partners.

Thank you to Kerry de Lorme and the Foundation team for the leadership you provide in strengthening communities across South Australia and supporting organisations to maximise their impact.

Pleased to attend alongside Michael Feszczak on behalf of . Lots of valuable ideas and conversations to take away from the day.

A really worthwhile session today with the James and Diana Ramsay Foundation on building the philanthropic capacity of g...
29/05/2026

A really worthwhile session today with the James and Diana Ramsay Foundation on building the philanthropic capacity of grant partners.

Thank you to Kerry de Lorme and the Foundation team for the leadership you provide in strengthening communities across South Australia and supporting organisations to maximise their impact.

Pleased to attend alongside Michael Feszczak on behalf of Grandcarers SA. Lots of valuable ideas and conversations to take away from the day.

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Rostrevor, SA
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