Maxine McKew AM
Advisory Board Member
Australia
Maxine McKew AM With a background in both journalism and politics, Maxine McKew is now a non executive board director with over twenty years of experience serving on boards. © Maxine McKew
Areas of Expertise
Government policy & relations, strategy development.
Board Term
Since 2026Biography
With a background in both journalism and politics, Maxine McKew is now a non executive board director with over twenty years of experience serving on the boards of listed companies, state authorities, advisory groups and think tanks.
Among them - State Library Victoria, New Energy Solar, Per Capita, Respect Victoria, and Macquarie University.
She currently serves on the board of the Australian Contemporary Opera Company.
Maxine is best known for her long professional career with the ABC. Her hosting of prestige programmes such as Lateline and 7.30 helped secure her reputation as one of the country’s most authoritative interviewers. Her work in journalism has been recognised by her peers with both Walkley and Logie awards and with her induction into the Australian Media Hall of Fame.
Making the switch to national politics in 2007, Maxine secured the seat of Bennelong in Sydney, making her only the second person in Australian political history to defeat a sitting prime minister.
She subsequently served as parliamentary secretary for early childhood education, and then infrastructure and local government in both the Rudd and Gillard governments.
Maxine is also a published author, and until recently worked at the University of Melbourne in the Education Faculty as a Hon Professorial Fellow.
Her work across these fields was recognised in the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours when she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia.