The full 2027 program can be found below:
09:00
The world of work is being rewritten in real time. AI, automation and rapidly evolving technologies are changing how organisations operate, how leaders make decisions and where human capability creates the greatest value.
For Executive and Personal Assistants, this presents both disruption and enormous opportunity.
Anders will open the summit by looking beyond the hype to explore the forces reshaping business, leadership and work – and what they mean for professionals operating at the centre of executive decision-making.
Rather than asking whether AI will change the EA role, this session will examine how the role can evolve alongside it. Anders will explore where automation is likely to take over routine work, which distinctly human capabilities will become more valuable, and how EAs can position themselves to play an increasingly influential role as organisations navigate constant transformation.
This is a big-picture look at what is coming next – designed to help you understand the changes ahead and make deliberate choices about the skills, mindset and contribution that will keep you relevant well into the future.
10:00
Some of the most valuable skills an EA possesses can’t be found in a job description.
Skills such as knowing when to speak up or recognising when something isn’t being said. Understanding what motivates different people. Reading the dynamics in a meeting. Building trust quickly. Anticipating how someone is likely to react before they do.
For EAs and PAs operating across executives, teams and stakeholders, the ability to understand human behaviour is a big professional advantage.
Milo Wilkinson brings a fascinating perspective to what makes people think, behave and respond the way they do. She will explore the behavioural patterns that sit beneath everyday interactions and how becoming more observant can dramatically improve the way you communicate and influence.
This session will help you become more attuned to the people around you, giving you practical insight into how trust is built, how behaviour can be interpreted and how to navigate relationships with greater confidence.
11:15
High performance is not just about managing your time, it’s also about managing the energy, attention and cognitive capacity you bring to that time. This is an important distinction for EAs and PAs. The role demands constant switching between priorities, people and problems – sometimes all within the same hour.
Organisational psychologist and host of the How I Work podcast Dr Amantha Imber has spent her career studying how people work, perform and change behaviour.
In this practical session, she will explore how to work with your energy rather than continually pushing through it. You will discover why sustained performance requires more than productivity hacks, and how smarter decisions around focus, recovery, boundaries and working rhythms can improve both the quality of your work and the way you feel while doing it.
12:00
Executive Assistants spend much of their professional lives helping other people plan ahead – protecting executive time, anticipating future priorities and making sure important things don’t fall through the cracks.
But how often do you apply that same long-term thinking to your own financial future?
Financial confidence is about far more than money. It creates options. It can reduce stress, increase independence, support career choices and give you greater control over what the next stage of your life looks like.
Bestselling author Canna Campbell has built her career around making wealth creation understandable, realistic and sustainable. Her philosophy is that building financial security should enhance your life rather than consume it.
Canna will help you think differently about your relationship with money and the steps you can take today to strengthen your future financial position – whatever your salary, career stage or starting point.
13:45
AI is changing the way EAs work and for those willing to embrace it, the opportunity goes far beyond simply saving time.
In this practical session, Executive Business Partner Holly Brown will share how she is using AI in her day-to-day role to streamline processes, improve the way she works with executives and create capacity for more strategic work.
Drawing on her own progression from EA to Executive Business Partner, Holly will explore how AI can help you deepen your contribution to your organisation and how you can continue to evolve your role.
Holly will share the tools, approaches and lessons she is using in practice, including examples that you can adapt immediately. She’ll also address the uncertainty many EAs still feel around AI, and why being curious, experimenting and sharing what works can be far more valuable than waiting until you feel like an expert.
The better you understand yourself, the more effectively you can lead yourself – and the more effectively you can work with everyone around you.
For EAs and PAs, self-awareness is especially powerful. Knowing your strengths is important, but understanding your triggers, behavioural patterns, values, blind spots and the impact you have on others can take your effectiveness to an entirely different level.
In this session, Claire will explore why self-awareness is one of the foundations of professional confidence, emotional intelligence and influence – and how understanding yourself more deeply enables you to respond rather than react, communicate more deliberately and make better decisions.
Some stories remind us what success looks like, while others redefine what strength means altogether.
Former world number four tennis player Jelena Dokic knows both extraordinary achievement and extraordinary adversity. At just 16 she produced one of Wimbledon’s greatest upsets, defeating world number one Martina Hingis, before going on to become one of the leading players in world tennis.
Behind that success, however, was a very different reality.
A two-time refugee who experienced bullying, racism and years of abuse at the hands of her father, Jelena’s journey ultimately became about far more than tennis. Her bestselling books Unbreakable and Fearless, and the acclaimed documentary Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story, have given audiences an extraordinarily candid account of adversity, mental health, survival, healing and the process of reclaiming her voice.
In this powerful closing keynote, Jelena will share the lessons that helped her move beyond circumstances that could easily have defined her.
Rather than pretending difficult things do not happen, this story is about courage when they do. About finding your voice, backing yourself, asking for help, developing perspective and discovering that resilience is not something you either possess or don’t – it is something that can be rebuilt.
Jelena will leave you with a reminder that your past does not have to determine your future, and that even in the most difficult moments, there is great power in choosing what comes next.
WOW. WOW! The PA Summit never fails to deliver a quality program. It re-energises me each year. I leave feeling motivated and inspired. Brilliant!
Penrith Lakes