Curtains Drawn at 2025 ClubsNSW Conference

Michael Crossland was the closing keynote speaker, telling delegates of the enormous obstacles he overcame after being diagnosed with Stage 4 neuroblastoma as an 11-month-old.

He was put on an experimental drug trial, where 24 out of the 25 people died from horrific burns — going on to survive and spending his life developing strategies to cope and recover. 

“I really believe outside of love, hope is the biggest word in the English dictionary,” he told delegates. “Adversity doesn’t define you, how you deal with it does.

“Your value doesn’t decrease based on your inability to see your worth… no one will ever tell you what you can do, they’ll only tell you what you can’t… I wanted to prove myself right.” 

Michael’s closing keynote address brought down the curtain on the third and final day of the Conference, held at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre.

The day began with Dominic Thurbon’s keynote Making Behaviour Change Happen, with a thought-provoking presentation on driving behaviour change in the face of external disruption.  

“We are living through the most profound time of disruption that modern business has ever faced,” Mr Thurbon told delegates.

“Across over 4000 CEOs in over 115 countries, 40 per cent say their company will cease to exist within 10 years if they do not radically transform, and I think clubs… need to understand we are living through this rapidly changing environment.”

Next it was National Cyber Security Coordinator, Lieutenant General Michelle McGuinness, presenting Cyber Resilience: Lessons from the Top, addressing delegates on the importance of planning for online threats. 

She said that regardless of your size, purpose or structure, no business is immune from the cyber risk, and that every time a cyber security professional resolves a threat, criminals are already thinking about their next method and target.

“If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail,” she said, adding that we teach our kids to swim between the flags and to wear seatbelts, yet we don’t plan for cyber threats in the same way.

The Political Landscape Forum is always one of the most popular components of the Conference program — and this year was no exception.

The Daily Telegraph’s National Affairs Editor James Morrow was joined by former NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and former Labor MP and Shadow Minister Mick Veitch.

Mr O’Farrell said given the club industry’s positive contribution to local communities, it was crucial for governments to continue supporting registered clubs.

“The more units we see across Sydney, then clubs are going to be a continuing feature because the element you’ve always had is that you’re a place where people socialise, and for that reason alone I think governments should continue to be supportive of clubs,” he said.

“Under the Carr/Egan Government, taxes increased and whoever went to clubs for a grant came to the government instead — and you spend your money better than governments spend our money.”

Breakout sessions dominated the middle part of the day, on a range of topical issues — including consumer trends, compliance and director oversight. 

In one of the sessions, John Tully of Tully Heard Consulting led a panel focussing on delivering club experiences for a younger crowd, joined in conversation with Belmont 16s CEO Scott Williams, The Doylo’s Hospitality Operations Manager Mark Irrgang and Chatswood RSL CEO Andrew Hoschke.

Each shared their experience in researching and developing an offering to attract a new generation of club member – including Chatswood RSL’s sports bar Yogi’s, The Doylo’s Ready’s and Belmont 16s’ Martha.

“We’re losing 100 clubs every five years, so we need to continue thinking how are we going to grow, how are we going to stay relevant,” said Mr Tully.

“We need to be doing more work on how we attract young markets… these three clubs have taken that journey on to attract new audiences.”

Scott Williams told delegates: “Like many of you, if we look at our membership and visitation, that female under the age of 50 was underrepresented, so unashamedly that was the market we targeted.

“The design brief was a casual, female-friendly contemporary F&B outlet on the water… that design brief was given to our designers and we’ve largely hit that in terms of the customer base.”

Following lunch, all delegates came together for the final session, AML Compliance: Risks, Realities and the Road Ahead. 

KPMG Partner Sue Bradford was joined by KordaMentha Executive Director, Financial Crime, Richard Lee, Addisons Special Counsel Lachlan Gepp and retired police detective and now club compliance manager Stuart Wilkins APM.

With a changing regulatory landscape when it comes to AML/CTF compliance obligations, the session supported delegates to better understand and be prepared for ongoing scrutiny and evolving legislative requirements.

The 2025 ClubsNSW Conference & AGM concluded with Michael Crossland’s inspirational closing keynote, The Power of Perspective.