Simone gandur

Simone is a strategic communications leader with three decades of achievement across the public and private sector.

Simone has built her career on providing advice during times of crisis or tumultuous change. This includes as the Communications Director for the Department of Sustainability and Environment during the worst years of Victoria’s drought and where she led the $6 m Our Water Our Future water conservation strategy and asked and assisted the community and small and medium sized business to use less water. More than 30 billion litres of water saved.

Following on from this Simone Initiated and devised the $8.6 m Target 155 program – to ask Melbournians to use 155 litres of water a day. The success saved Melbourne entering Stage 4 water restrictions.

Simone has led reviews and extensive stakeholder consultations for the Victorian State Government including for the establishment of Respect Victoria, the prevention of family violence agency, to find alignment on sector and government views on the operating parameters for the agency. She has also conducted reviews for the former Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation and Department of Premier and Cabinet to determine world’s best practice for emergency communications response when multiple agencies are involved.

More recently, Simone managed the crisis communications for Victoria’s worst industrial outbreak of COVID for Cedar Meats. As well as the media and stakeholder relations the objective of this engagement was manage government relations, regulatory relations and all external relations to enable this very successful exporter to maintain its licence to China. All of which was achieved.

At a national and international level Simone has been a key member of the communications team and travelling party for a Federal Opposition Leader for two Federal election campaigns. She has been an adviser to the largest superannuation company in Papua New Guinea on its strategic marketing approach and has advised clients such as the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman on government reviews that would have changed its purpose significantly.

During Simone’s career she has had the privilege of leading large and multi-skilled teams of public affairs and marketing communications professionals.

She is a former lecturer and tutor at RMIT, a Fellow of the PRIA and has a Bachelor of Arts.