Businessman Stuart Crosby has been appointed as the new chairperson of migrant and refugee settlement agency AMES Australia.

Mr Crosby has had a distinguished corporate career culminating as President and CEO of Computershare, an S&P/ASX 50 company with over $2 billion in revenue and over 14,000 employees worldwide.

He was also Chairman or Director of several joint venture companies in South Africa, India, Hong Kong, Germany and Japan; and Director and key driver of the Computershare Change-a-Life Foundation, which supported development and relief projects in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.

Mr Crosby said his interest in humanitarianism and development projects had developed over many years and he was pleased to be able to make a contribution to AMES Australia’s work in helping migrants and refugees settle here.

“One of the things that interested me about AMES Australia is that it does practical, hands on work in the migration and refugee sector and it achieves tangible results,” Mr Crosby said.

“Migration has been incredibly important in the economic and social success this country has achieved and it has delivered the wonderfully diverse and interesting society we have today,” he said.

“Australia is a lucky country but that good fortune brings obligations as well as benefits. I think as a nation we have a responsibility to ensure that everyone who lives here, or comes to live here, experiences inclusiveness and access to opportunity,” Mr Crosby said.

AMES Australia CEO Cath Scarth said the organisation was delighted to now have access to Mr Crosby’s professional skills, experience and strategic thinking.

“Stuart’s experience and commercial acumen will help us to explore future opportunities and capitalise on our existing capacities and strengths,” Ms Scarth said.

Ms Scarth thanked executive search firm Egon Zehnder for providing pro-bono recruitment services.

“Without Egon Zehnder’s help we may not have been able to find someone of Stuart’s calibre to be out chair,” she said.

AMES Australia is a leading provider of humanitarian settlement, education, training and employment services to refugees, asylum seekers and newly arrived migrants in Australia.

A statutory authority of the Victorian Government, the organisation also manages a range of federal and state government contracts.

For images, interviews and more information please contact AMES Australia Media Advisor, Laurie Nowell at nowelll@ames.net.au on 03 9938 4031 or 0498 196 500.