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Kate Jones

Vice President, Paralympics Australia · Former Board Director at Tech Council of Australia

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Kate Jones

About Kate Jones

Kate Jones is Vice President of Paralympics Australia, whose board she joined in 2022, and has been an Australian Rugby League Commissioner since November 2020.

She represented Ashgrove and then Cooper in the Queensland Parliament between 2006 and 2020, with a break from 2012 to 2015, and was a minister for more than eight years. Her portfolios included Environment and Climate Change, Education, Tourism, Innovation and State Development, and she was the minister responsible for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

After leaving parliament she was an executive director and board director of the Tech Council of Australia, and in 2025 she became chair of Women in Digital.

On Day One she explained why the Tech Council of Australia was founded, and she appears in the documentary The History Of The Australian Startup Ecosystem.

In conversation.

3 episodes

Start hereKate Jones explains why the Tech Council of Australia was foundedHer own full interview, on why the Tech Council of Australia was set up and the one-million-tech-jobs goal that drew her to it.

Documentary: The History Of The Australian Startup Ecosystem

The History Of The Australian Startup Ecosystem - Part 3

Recorded as Executive director, Tech Council of Australia

With Michael Batko, Wayne Gerard, Petr Adámek, Peter Devine, Rohit Bhargava, Terry Hilsberg, Peter Bradd, Zrinka Tokic, Rachael Neumann, Zoe Piper, Susan Oliver, Silvia Pfeiffer, Murray Hurps, Rachel Yang, Yolanda Redrup, Peta Ellis, Sarah Pearson, Niki Scevak, Colin Kinner, Mark Pesce, Colette Grgic, Ian Gardiner, Lauren Capelin, Matt Barrie, Melissa Widner, Cameron Adams, Georgie Turner, Baden U'Ren, Evan Thornley, Alan Noble, Kate Cornick, James Alexander, Dharmica Mistry, Emily Rich, Lars Rasmussen

Documentary: The History Of The Australian Startup Ecosystem

The History Of The Australian Startup Ecosystem - Part 5

Recorded as Executive director, Tech Council of Australia

With Mark Pesce, Steve Grace, Eloise Hall, Isobel Marshall, Darryl Lyons, Megan Sebben, Phil Ireland, Wayne Gerard, Sam Jockel, Samantha Finnegan, Arthur Sinodinos, Peter Devine, Tim Fung, Peter Tippett, Trevor Folsom, Dean McEvoy, Moira Were, Daniel Flynn, Mick Liubinskas, Peter Bradd, Rachael Neumann, Chad Renando, Annie Parker, Aaron Birkby, Rachel Yang, Melissa Widner, Sarah Pearson, Colin Kinner, Lauren Capelin, Bruce Tulloch, Matt Barrie, Kate Cornick, Cheryl Mack, Andrea Gardiner, Niki Scevak

Go straight to the good bits.

Key moments from Kate Jones explains why the Tech Council of Australia was founded.

  1. 0:31Meet Kate Jones
  2. 1:00Kate's Involvement in the Startup Ecosystem
  3. 2:11Formation of the Startup Ecosystem in Queensland
  4. 2:55Educational Initiatives for Entrepreneurship
  5. 3:48Importance of Innovation for Economic Growth
  6. 5:08Overview of the Tech Council of Australia
  7. 6:07Challenges in the Startup Ecosystem
  8. 7:46Skills Gap in the Tech Industry
  9. 9:24Tech Council's Roadmap for Growth
  10. 10:26Supporting Traditional Industries with Technology

In their own words.

“One in every 16 Australians works for a tech company and already we're injecting more than $167 billion into our economy.”
Kate Jones — Kate Jones explains why the Tech Council of Australia was foundedThe History of the Australian Startup Ecosystem - Interview Series · 5 June 2022

The path so far.

  1. Now

    Vice President, Paralympics Australia

  2. 2009–2020

    Minister (Innovation and State Development, Education, Environment and Climate Change, Tourism) · Queensland Government

Sources: bandt.com.au

Across the network.

Spot something wrong? Suggest a correctionUpdated 29 October 2026

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